Prog Rock

..."mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." 

 Characteristics: 

• Form:  break from tradition verse-chorus-verse/exaggerated dynamics/extended instrumental passages/improvisation
• Timbre: variation of instruments, usually associated with folk or jazz/Moog synthesizer/Mellotron/Hammond organ
• Rhythm: variety of time signatures (straying from the more traditional 4/4)
• Melody & Harmony: tend to be modal rather than based on a pentatonic scale/ I-IV-V less common 

Must hear songs (10 tracks)

Solsbury - Peter Gabriel (in 7/4)
Dark Matter - Porcupine Tree 
Firth of Frith - Genesis
Turn It On - Genesis (parts in 13/8, 8/8 and 5/8)
21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
Roundabout- Yes 
Killer - Van der Graaf Generator 
Tom Sawyer - Rush
Misplaced Chilhood (concept album) - Marillion 
Catherine of Aragon - Rick Wakeman

'Yes' line-up : songs to hear: 'Close to the Edge', 'Owner of A Lonely Heart'

'Genesis' line up: must hear album: 'Selling England by the Pound'


p.s. geek fact of the day: it took me forever to figure out all those time signatures, only to find that there is a whole wikipedia entry devoted to odd time signatures. The entry even includes the songs I slaved over...