Doug Van Pelt

The problem with prog rock

I was listening to an advance cd of the new re-release of the Kansas Live: Two For The Show album. The second disc includes a song that didn't make the "edit" when they re-released the late-70s double live album onto CD for the first time. That song was the great "Closet Chronicles" tune, about a "king hiding in the closet, hiding from today ... for though he owns all fortunes, this room is where he'll stay, his world is full of darkness, turning gray." That's just a fantastic song. To make this a special re-release for this year, some 30 years after the original live album release, they added 10 previously unreleased tracks from that tour.

Listening to the album on the way to work this morning (with my daughter in the car with me, by the way), I was struck with the difference between this band and so many crap prog rock bands.

First of all, it starts with a great vocalist. Steve Walsh has a golden voice. You could listen to this guy sing the phone book, for crying out loud.

Secondly, Kansas knew how to write a good melody. Their songs usually went somewhere. A key ingredient was the classic rock sound of Kerry Livgren's riffs and solos. If progressive music is going to be "prog rock," it's got to have rock in there somewhere. Dream Theater came along in the early 90s and added metal to the prog formula, which was cool. They had the beautiful and strong vocals of James LaBrie, and songs that had good strong hooks. Prog Rock would, by it's very nature, have some rock. The classic rock sensibilities of this band made their music great and keeps it standing the test of time all these years.

I listen to a lot of prog rock, unfortunately, that just noodles along, going nowhere. It's fine if a guitartist or keyboardist can play. Hoorah! for virtuoso players! Ho-hum when that's all they can do. A poor vocalist singing all alone atop the quiet dynamics of a prog rock ditty has nothing to hide behind. No mic stand to hold, no big riff to gallop alongside. He or she has to have the goods. Many times this is just not the case. There's plenty of weak vocals in prog rock. Sometimes it's a guitarist who can play and write good songs, but he or she has no powerful vocalist to do that thing.

"Turn off that crap now!" I say. Prog rock tests the patience of music lovers like almost no other genre. If the payoff is never going to be there, then why waste my time? Even a secondary song like "Child Of Innocence" has staple classic rock guitar or golden vocals to fall back on if the song gets boring in places. Jamming is good, but like folks are wont to way: "Don't bore us, get to the chorus."

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 2, 2008 11:32 AM