Music Blog 5

Rush: “2112” (1976), “Free Will” (1980), “Tom Sawyer”, “Red Barchetta” (1981), “Subdivisions” (1982)

One of the most striking things about Rush is that fact that their songs, in fact, do repeat the same theme in a variety of ways, yet Rush is still considered an authentic progressive band. All of their songs sing about and to the white, middle-class male in suburbia. Rush utilized the concept of drawing on things present in the current culture and society, made music surrounding those concepts and subsequently “hailed” a huge number of fans who fell into those categories and felt connected to the music on an extremely intimate level. This new level of fan-fare isn’t something we see much anymore.

Artists such as Lady Gaga, however, are following in their footsteps by re-creating the business model and finding ways to directly relate to large amounts of the general public to achieve a fan base and ultimately success. What is ironic about this comparison is how eerily similar the two models are. Rush plays to the middle-class white man in the mainstream 70s culture who lives in a cookie-cutter lifestyle and they feel like they just don’t fit in. Maybe they’re a little nerdy or geeky, but they aren’t popular and they don’t fit in with the cool kids. Lady Gage plays to her “little monsters,” who are generally a female popular who feel like they don’t fit in because of the way they look or the things they’re interested in. Gaga refers to herself as their “Mama Monster,” because she’s playing off experiences from her childhood when she was picked on and teased by other kids for her physical appearance. Similarly, Rush bases their music around their personal experiences and the tribulations they are undergoing. For instance, they emphasize the importance of family and continuing your career and progressing in said career throughout your life. That’s exactly what they’re doing in their own careers as musicians: growing as a band, having families, trying to get ahead as three guys from Canada who belong to immigrant families. Therefore, Rush in particular represents the American Dream of the 70s through their music and the motivation for suburban males.

Rush is able to maintain their authenticity and fame with this audience, despite essentially re-writing the same songs over again due to their incredible talent musically. Not only does Rush incorporate the modern technology of synthesizers, but they also display their extreme talent as musicians through their music by playing music that others musicians refer to as some of the hardest music to play. They also maintain the concepts of progressive rock within the group through songs such as “Tom Sawyer,” where the synthesizer has its own solo that displays the technology and a spacey sound similar to that of Pink Floyd. This is followed by a guitar solo which is noticeably complicated and filled with speed, exemplifying the talent these musicians have. All the while Rush has these musical talents, Neil Peart provides intellectual lyrics that to this day mesmerize audiences with their complexity. Also, I find it interesting that Peart would be considered and intellectual and his parents recollect him always reading as a child. Peart is then able to take these concepts from the books he has read and incorporate them into the music in an understandable manner, thus causing the audience to seek out these various literary devices to further expand their progressive nature as fans.

Overall, I would venture to say that Rush is the last of the true progressive artists, and possibly one of the best in my opinion based on their musical ability and intellectual lyricism combined with their recreation of the music model and fan-following.

Marillion: Misplaced Childhood (1985) & Flower Kings: Unfold the Future (2002)

I find it funny in a way that Marillion has been characterized as the first tribute band to the progressive rock era despite not being a self-proclaimed tribute band. It’s not surprising, however, because of their inability to adhere to traditional progressive rock norms such as singing about bigger concepts outside of the self, concept-oriented pieces of music that defy traditional lengths of a track, and the schizophrenic style of progressive rock that avoids melodies and is intent on shocking the listener and creating music that is unexpected with strange time signatures. Instead, Marillion sings about the difficulties they face as a band, such as drug and alcohol addictions. The include long pieces of music in the style of progressive rock, but they are not concept-oriented pieces of music. Here they simply missed the memo on why progressive artists such as Genesis and Yes incorporated long pieces of music to expand on the concepts that weren’t meant to fit into 3-4 minutes tracks. Lastly, Marillion is extremely melody-oriented, such as in “Misplaced Childhood,” thus creating a more jam band style to their music with hints of progressive rock. As a whole, Marillion in my opinion lacks the entire concept of progressive music but simply sounds like the music created in the 70s.

Dream Theater: Greatest Hits, Porcupine Tree: Stupid Dream (1999), Opeth: Still Life (1999), The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute (2005) & Steve Wilson: Insurgentes (2009)

Other bands such as The Mars Volta have successfully incorporated progressive rock influences into their music with talented musicians and a high pitched voice that sounds very similar to the original progressive artists, namely Yes. What is more interested in the acceptance into the underground society in modern society of The Mars Volta. Before this course I had heard many acquaintances and friends recommend and speak about the band as thought they were very influential in their lives. This may be perhaps due to factors that The Mars Volta is aimed at a similar audience that Rush hailed in the 70s.

The Mars Volta also has similar characteristics as foreign progressive artists such as the Italian, Swedish and German artists of pat generations. For instance, The Mars Volta has the ability to sing in both their foreign language and English, thus optimizing their acceptance and fame among different cultures around the world. Even songs such as “l’via l’viaquez” are catchy despite any knowledge about the words being sung. I like how cultural techniques are introduced into this song as well. At one of the bridges, the songs takes on a very south american or cultural sound lacking electric instruments and resorts to percussion instruments that create an ethnic sound along with chimes.

Another thing I noticed about The Mars Volta was the presence of very long songs through their album. Rather than just a few long songs, many of the songs are either very long or very short. For instance, one track is less than one minute but another is over 13 minutes. The variety of lengths was a very interesting choice in my opinion but creates a much more fluid sound to the album that could be interpreted as a concept album as a whole.

Radiohead: Kid A (2000)

I’ve never been interested in Radiohead despite their popularity during my teenage years and the (what I would call) infatuation with them among teenagers in the early 2000s. “Kid A” beings with a technologic beat produced by synthesizers that seems very familiar in comparison to the ambient sounds created by minimalist artists in the progressive era. The mechanized voice in the beginning is somewhat frightening and confusing but makes sense coming after the grunge era of the 1990s. In a number of ways, Radiohead takes on this minimalist approach, both through their lyrics and musical styles. Songs such as “Kid A” and “How to Disappear Completely” provid and very vague rhythm of music and very simplistic lyricism which incorporating progressive techniques produced in the studio, such as a similar spacey sound of movement as familiarly hear in Pink Floyd’s “On The Run.”

Also, I think Radiohead was influenced, probably indirectly, by Rush in the fact that they appeal to a loner person who does’t quite fit in. I gathered this from the lyricism in “How to Disappear Completely,” which states “That there, that’s not me/I go where I pleaseI walk through walls” i float down the Liffey/I’m not hear/This isn’t happening/I’m not her, I’m not here.” While some of these lyrics promote a self-sufficient vibe, the vocalists sings in a depressed drone that is more sad than anything else. There is a clear emphasis on the music and the lyricism as well, rather than the quality of the vocals. Synthesizers stream throughout the song moving back and forth through the song in no apparent fashion creating somewhat of a melody for listeners to follow, but the lyrics are the focus of the song overall.

Music Blog Four

Van Deer Graaf Generator -- “Lemmings,” “Man-Erg,” “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” (1971)

“Lemmings” immediately reminds me of Yes with the higher pitched vocals and extremely dense instrumentation throughout the song. The lyrics start off “I stood alone upon the highest cliff-top/Looked down, around, and all that I could see/ Were those that I would dearly love to share with/Crashing on quite blindly to the sea.” The song tells a transformative story of the lemmings, which is a story we probably all know of the lemmings following one another and jumping off a cliff to their death.

This type of lyrical story-telling is quite perfect for the progressive era and their countercultural backgrounds. As we’ve discussed in class, many of the progressive artists, even in foreign countries (aka not the U.S. or U.K.), retained many of the same ideologies of the counterculture, which were of course later modified. The progressive rock in the 1970s mirrored many of the themes of the earlier counterculture, mainly individualism, which is emphasized in Van Der Graaf Generator’s “Lemmings.” In this case, the vocalist expresses his dissatisfaction with the actions of the lemmings making decisions as a whole group and following one another to their deaths rather than choosing individualism and staying alive.

“A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” is composed similar to classical music in that is contains eight sections and transitions throughout the song. This track also uses various pastural imagery to convey the message of individualism. Such themes are portrayed through lyrics including “Camps of panoply and majesty, what is freedom of choice?” For lyrics such as these, Van Der Graaf Generator could be considered part of the “progg” movement through its incorporation of radical lyrics.

Renaissance -- Live at Carnegie Hall (1971), PFM -- Chocolate Kings (1975) & Banco del Muto Soccoroso -- Darwin (1972)

Ash Ra Tempel -- Ash Ra Tempel (1971), Can -- Tango Mago (1974), Tangerine Dream -- Phaedra (1974), David Bowie -- Low (1977), Kraftwerk -- Man-machine (1978) & Krautrock -- Masters and Echoes (compilation 2010)

Ash Ra Tempel’s “Amboss” starts off as extremely ambient music with a growing cymbal reverberating in the background then fading out again. This type of ambient music follows the previous countercultural ideology in that the music is meant to guide the listener along a spiritual journey and find oneself through the music. The music in this case is providing the listener with a somewhat psychedelic experience that is not drug-induced. The music in “Amboss” takes a series of twists and turns that are sometimes unexpected and catch the listener off guard. The density of the music builds and grows through various progressions then dies down again. This is somewhat reminiscent of Yes’ “Ritual,” where the beginning of the song (before lyrics are introduced) takes the audience on a spiritual journey through the composition of the music and its growth and disintegration.

David Bowie was particularly interesting to me since he was not heavily discussed in class, and because I know about his impact on music through his physical androgynous appearance, so naturally I was curious in hearing what his music sounded like in the late 70s. One of the differences I immediately notice in Bowie’s music compared to the other artists in this same time period is the length of his songs. Rather than having 20-minute-long songs, Bowie sticks to the traditional 2-4 minute tracks. However, it’s quickly apparent that Bowie’s use of synthesizers and such technology make him easily relatable to other artists during this progressive era. He, however, uses the synthesizers and computer technology to emphasize the music he is already producing. By utilizing synthesizers in such songs as “What in the world,” Bowie is able to use the instrumentation to make his music exciting and different while still essentially being a pop artist. In other songs, like “Breaking Glass,” the synthesizers become more background music and are rare, or even serve as the climax of the instrumentation.

Other Bowie songs, such as “Art decade,” incorporate more classical sounding instrumentation as well as snippets of synthesizer to reveal a more futuristic music despite the overall orchestral sound of the main melody. The use of synthesizers grows throughout the song to create a more space-y and alien sound. It reminds me of space movies and aliens talking to one another.

Kraftwerk takes the use of synthesizers to a whole other level, introducing the beginnings of techno music in “Man-machine.” This album clearly represents the infatuation this era of music had with space, alien life forms and virtual reality. “Robots” continues the theme established by artists such as ELP and emphasizes the presence of robotic life on earth and technology as both positive and negative. While this song appears to be a more positive premonition of robotic life, it certainly is creepy the way the vocalists filter their voices in order to literally sound like robots while using the constant use of synthesizers to emphasize the technological progression.

Virtual reality and the emphasis on life in space is further progress with songs such as “Spacelab” by Kraftwerk through the introduction alone. The introduction uses the build-up of stretched synthesized noises to create a sense of moving through space before introducing a very quick rhythm that, in my opinion, is designed to speed up the heart beat through its constant beat. I also find it very interesting that the ability to play a beat like a machine was very appealing during this progressive era and the use of synthesizers. Also, Karftwerk is interesting in that they only use vocals that are filtered to create a technological vocal sound rather than any normal vocals.

These early- techno bands focused on the spiritual journey induced by their music and believed that by attending more events and simply engrossing oneself in the experience, they could learn more and proceed through that spiritual journey. I wonder is people who listen to modern rave and techno music still hold this ideology true? Rather than going to just get messed up on drugs, is there a significant portion of techno-lovers and rave-goers who go for reasons of spiritual relaxation and journey.

Caravan -- In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971), Gong -- The Flying Teapot (1973), Robert Wyatt -- Rock Bottom (1974) & Hawkwind -- Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975)

It’s interesting to me that Caravan falls into the progressive rock category due to their silly lyrics and less virtuoso musical abilities. Also because of the fact that they sing about sex, it doesn’t quite fit that they fall into this category, despite their minute use of synthesizers, because of the ideology of other progressive artists, case in point ELP, who denounced singing about sex in order to sing about more intellectually important concepts. “In the Land of Grey and Pink” pokes fun at the pretentious virtuoso nature of many progressive artists through songs such as “Golf Girl,” which sounds like music from the 1960s, such as The Beatles.

Immediately judging from the title of Gong’s album, “The Flying Teapot,” it appears that they have taken on a similar path of progressive music as Caravan where sillyness and imagination overrides the need to be an amazing musician. In “Radio Gnome Invisible” it sounds like they are running their fingers across their lips the way that little kids do for fun. To incorporate this as part of their music I suppose brings in a sound that probably nobody else had used up to this point, however strange it may be. Throughout the song they continue this element of sillyness through the vocal style of being short and slurry their words, which may not even be real words if you listen close enough. Further, the whole imaginary concept of their album, being about gnomes (or is it fairies) flying to a magical land in a teapot, is beyond absurd and clearly meant to be more fun than talented. However, Gong still emphasizes the concept of spiritual journey through their music, just in a very different way. In this case the only way you can actually see these creatures flying in their teapots is by making a spiritual journey through the music to be able to access it.

Hawkwind initially strikes me as a very conservative progressive band due to their dedication to countercultural ideology in the form of “not selling out.” When discussing the Isle of the White Festival, which was apparently larger than Woodstock, Hawkwind chose to play outside of the gated area in order to show the audience that they were not laying for their money and were committed to playing music for the pure joy of playing music. This ideology is something that I believe has transcended time in that underground artists today are often happy being underground throughout the duration of their existence and audiences support this through their immense dissatisfaction with artists upon actually making a living off their music and “selling out.”

Much like many other artists, Hawkwind focuses on the obsession with space and psychedelic themes. However, due to their encouragement of LSD, I believe their countercultural roots are even more apparent in that they believe their music is meant to be aided by drugs in order to gain the ful experience, whereas other progressive artists wanted their music to be the sole reason the listener was experiencing the spiritual journey.

Music Blog Three

King Crimson -- In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)

When listening to In The Court Of The Crimson King and particularly “21st Century Schizoid Man,” I instantly realized that this music was very different from everything we have listened to previously. Not only were there a lot of dark sounds effects, such as the filtered vocals, but the ambient introduction leading to a more composed sounding verse. However, I noticed a lot of striking similarities as well. At one point in “21st Century Schizoid Man” the band performs what The Beatles referred to as an “orchestral orgasm,” which they used in “A Day In The Life” on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band. Also, the lyrics and message of the music is very similar to other messages we have seen before. I mentioned in my previous blog how The Jefferson Airplane shifted from an optimistic atypical hippie perspective to a downtrodden, depressed perception of society not changing and thus looking for an escape. This is a trend that continues in King Crimson’s In The Court Of The Crimson King through their lyricism. As a song about people going literally insane at the end of the 20th century, “21st Century Schizoid Man” refers back to this ideology that there must be an escape from what society has created.

Pink Floyd -- Dark Side of the Moon (1973) & Wish You Were Here (1975)

Possibly one of my favorite things about Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is their transitioning between songs. The transition is seamless, as opposed to more contemporary styles which separate each song from one another as completely separate pieces. Therefore, as a concept album so to speak, Dark Side of the Moon is extremely appealing for its ability to be listened to as a complete piece of art a an album.

In songs like “On The Run,” I feel as though Pink Floyd is not only experimenting with production abilities to make certain sounds in their music, but also the concept of space and technology through sounds. At several points you can hear the electronic drone move from a faint sound gradually getting louder and then softer again as though the object making the noise has approached you physically and moved away, passing you in a sense. These types of effects inevitably create a very psychedelic experience through audio. Combined with the hysterical laughter in “On The Run,” the song makes for an interesting audible experience as a listener.

The documentary profiling Pink Floyd was extremely enlightening on their techniques and goals as a band. For instance, for the song “Time,” the band synchronized various clocks to go off accordingly to record their sound and be used in their song. In both of these songs, the theme of movement is present. In “On The Run,” there are no lyrics but the audible sounds make you feel as though you or the things around you are moving through space and in “Time,” not only do you heard clocks that symbolize the passing of time but the lyrics express this concept as well. They sing “Taking away the moments that make up a dull day/You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way” in their first verse followed by concepts such as “And then one day you find/Ten years have got behind you/No one told you when to run/You missed the starting gun.” Pink Floyd is expressing the need to keeping moving forward and not waste for your life to simply pass you by and taking advantage of time and your ability to be mobile in your life, no matter what that means for you individually.

Dark Side of the Moon’s “Money,” one of Pink Floyd’s hit songs, continues the expression of the countercultural beliefs, which we will see throughout other progressive artists in the 70s well after the counterculture and hippie movement has dispersed and exists no longer.

Yes -- Fragile (1971) & Close To The Edge (1972)

Upon hearing “Cans and Brahms” for the first time, it sounds very classically conducted in the beginning, excluding the fact that the instrumentation is clearly more modern with synthesizers the like. In my opinion in seems that through songs such as this, Yes was essentially poking fun at classical music and “spicing it up,” so to speak, making it more appealing to the younger audiences. This is similar to the actions by other bands, including ELP, which took this exact same approach to classical music.

Other songs such as “We Have Heaven” incorporate more modern production techniques, including double vocal melodies, which seems to be a common technique for many progressive rock artists. This song is also interesting in its own way because the lyricism is extremely repetitive and uses words and language to create the desired sounds. This was a common technique by Yes, since they did the same thing in “Roundabout.” Although the words are not intended to be interpreted literally, their linguistic sounds are key to the outcome of the song.

Genesis -- Selling England by the Pound (1973)

Genesis takes on a similar approach to progressive rock as Yes on Selling England by the Pound through the combination and intensive incorporation of classical instruments and musical styles, especially through songs like “Firth of Filth.” To begin with, there is an extremely classical sounding introduction which then turns to a more modern sounds verse. However, synthesizers that sound like church organs can still be heard in the background.

Other tracks, such as “More Fool Me” appear to be the predecessors to glam rock ballads in the 1980s. One of the interesting things that appears in this song, as well as many other progressive rock songs, is the presence of a story through the lyrics. This isn’t always something we see in contemporary music.

ELP -- Tarkus (1971) & Brain Salad Surgery (1973)

“Karn Evil 9” is by far the most intriguing track on ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery album. Having a sore spot for clever lyrics, ELP’s lyricism in this song really intrigued me due to their ability to combine so many criticisms and characteristics of culture in one song. While the vocalist initially takes on the role of a carnival barker calling people in to see the show, my second impression of the song was that the vocalist comes off similar to a preacher due to the extensive use of synthesizers in the music as well. His lyricism is at first semi-preachy and southern sounding.

In ways, “Karn Evil 9” pokes fun at certain cultural concepts while still being critical of society and maintaining that ability from the 60s counterculture. For example, “There behind a glass is a blade of grass/Be careful as you pass” pokes fun at the frenzied ecological activists while still manages to make a comment on the state of the earth in an upbeat way. One of the common themes, particular of the Brain Salad Surgery album is that of the role of technology in society. Not only does this weariness of technology include the presence of computers in everyday life but also the effects these technologies will have on society and our culture as a whole, which includes the harmful side effects that may result impacting the Earth.

Further, this song questions the desensitization of the society regarding sexuality in particular through lyrics such as “Performing on a stool we’ve a sight to make you drool/Seven virgins and a mule/Keep it cool, keep it cool.” This is such an outlandish statement regarding sexual performances that comments on the nature of sexuality within the culture as being desensitized and needing more in order to be satisfied.

In a way, the album as a whole comments on the insatiability of the culture in the 1970s. Not only have they become desensitized to a variety of topics (sex, religion, violence) as expressed through “Karn Evil 9,” but they inevitably want more to satisfy them, which is what ELP questions and provides in a way. ELP provides intelligent music by a cast of highly talented musicians while having concise and concepted lyrics at the same time.

Music Blog Two

The Jefferson Airplane

Of all The Jefferson Airplane’s albums, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off is probably the most appealing to me. In my opinion, this album has a slightly edgier tune than The Beatles despite their parallel characteristics. “Let’s Get Together” emphasizes these similarities. While there are somewhat sing-y lyrics and vocals, there is more of a swing and underground feel.

The later albums produced by The Jefferson Airplane had been my initial introduction to their music, including Crown of Creation, which left me not very interested in hearing more. The waling between the vocalists and heavy streams of guitar strokes created a very ominous musical style, so when I heard their earlier work from Jefferson Airplane Takes Off I was shocked at the shift that took place within a few years time. The in-class discussion regarding this shift was particularly interesting to me because it reflects the changes in the counterculture during the same time period. The lyrics had arguably the most dramatic change, with lyrics from Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, released in 1965, consisting of themes such as “Hey people smile one another” and “Love one another right now” (taken from “Let’s Get Together”) switching to lyrics from After Bathing At Baxter’s consisting of “Mulligan stew for Bloom/The only Jew in the room/Saxon’s sick on the holy dregs/Their constant getting throw up on his leg” (taken from “Rejoice”) finally to “In loyalty to their kind/They cannot tolerate our minds/ In loyalty to our kind/ We cannot tolerate their obstruction” (taken from “Crown of Creation). This progression tracks their mindset from free love hippiedom to LSD experimentations and finally their rejection of society as a whole and desire to escape.

After Bathing At Baxter’s i a very interesting album to me because of its nature as an experimental album. With a highly detailed and metaphorical album cover, it seems to me that this one the point in time that The Jefferson Airplane truly came into their own rather than changing simply to fit the desires of the counterculture. With Surrealistic Pillow, it was obvious that their album art was a blatant attempt at surrealism, but that of After Bathing At Baxter’s takes it to a whole new level and is one the most interesting album covers I have ever seen. The music to go along with it is interesting to say the least. It’s not exactly my cup of tea, but to me this album was created for the musicians themselves. The lyrics are hard to follow and often completely random (or apparently highly influenced by LSD), the music is sporadic and there’s not really a theme, all on top of the complexity and time that went into the album art, including the sleeve of the record.

Later records, including Crown of Creation and Volunteer push the limits of The Jefferson Airplane and the hippie ideology by bring out profanity in “We Can Be Together” and by developing an ultimatum of escape due to what they believe to be the apocalypse of the Earth. Their beliefs that the industrial era had ruined the world and that the apocalypse was now inevitable really astounds me in a way. I can’t help but to think that these reflections and ideologies on the part of the counterculture and its musicians were a result of building so much hype around creating a new culture and society, realizing they didn’t know what the hell they were doing and pouting about it acting as though the world was now over. I think this is especially true due to the fact that many hippies were now flat out getting old. The Jefferson Airplane themselves make note of the fact that one of their band members had reached the age of 30 in their song “Lather,” an age that you weren’t supposed to trust people beyond. With the counterculture literally growing up and realizing they were now their own enemies, they needed a new stance and the post-apocalyptic mindset was that stance.

Jimi Hendrix

Not everyone would be able to tell you who the artist is, but if you played the introduction to “Purple Haze,” everyone has heard it. I’m no guitar player, but obviously I’ve heard that he’s one of the greatest guitar players of all time. I can’t say that I agree or disagree, but from listening to Are You Experienced I can say that the roots of modern rock music are very defined throughout his music. Notably so, his music and guitar is generally louder than his vocals, something that I believe to be unique to him. For instance, when listening to The Beatles I noticed that sometimes I could hardly hear the guitar riffs, but in Hendrix’s work there’s no missing it. With that I think he definitely brought the loud musical rock style to the scene on top of his countercultural lyricism.

Interestingly, I noticed despite being released in 1967 Are You Experienced’s lyrics involve a lot of content regarding girls and love, “Purple Haze” and “Manic Depression” to note a couple. The Beatles had written a lot about relationships and girls in their earlier records, Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966), but shifted away from those themes with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, the same year Hendrix released Are You Experienced. Therefore, I wonder if Hendrix was a little behind the curve on this shift or had he simply not made that musical decision.

Pink Floyd -- Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

I’ve never enjoyed listening to Pink Floyd personally due to the fact that I feel as though they’re only a band enjoyable on drugs. In their first track, “Astronomy Domine,” something that caught my attention was the falsetto male voice combined with the production efforts to make the vocals during the bridge sound as though the were being transmitted via radio to a space ship, perhaps. This track in particular, however, is interesting because of the fact that vocals are used in order to make sound effects rather than introducing production techniques such as sound clips, even though The Beatles had been able to do so in this exact year.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn has similar characteristics of other musicians that I’ve picked up. In their song “Matilda Mother” I felt like I was listening to a strange composition between The Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles and Frank Zappa, which I suppose gives them a very unique sound. In this track there are both sing-y lyrics in each of the verses that are very abstract concepts, including “For all the time spent in that room/The doll’s house, darkness, old perfume/And fairy stories held me high/On clouds of sunlight floating by,” and strange LSD induced sounds, such as whining. There’s a lot going on throughout their album and it’s apparent why Pink Floyd was popular among the LSD influenced underground counterculture in Britain.

The Beatles -- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

This album is off the start very different than their previous music. The fact that this album was produced with no intents of being performed is really interesting to me, and I think this allowed The Beatles more room to explore with production effects and techniques within the studio, including pushing the levels of their lyricism. They pushed the limits of the music industry through this album in a variety of ways. First, they took their lyrics and the words they said to a new level of shock. In “With a Little Help From My Friends,” The Beatles directly state the action of taking drugs by stating “I get by with a little help from my friends/I get high with a little help from my friends.” Also, in “A Day in the Life,” which McCartney admits they consciously decided to include, by singing “I’d love to turn you on.” “A Day In The Life,” as one of the most studied musical compositions of The Beatles, is very complex and interesting regarding the decisions they made to have a traditionally composed piece while including drugs references, an “orchestral orgasm” all while maintaining their sing-y verses and melodies promoting their worldwide popularity. In comparison, Sgt. Pepper’s was to The Beatles what After Bathing At Baxter’s was to The Jefferson Airplane.

Moody Blues -- Days of Future Passed (1967)

Right off the bat, I’m not sure if I’m listening to the right music. Moody Blues takes an entirely unique approach to the countercultural ideology, using traditional orchestral instruments and compositions combined with relatively professional vocals. The man’s voice certainly doesn’t sound like the dumbed down, lazy Bob Dylan vocals or the raspy Jimi Hendrix vocals. However, the message is the same. In “Dawn Is A Feeling,” the lyrics state “Do you understand/That all over this land/There’s a feeling/In minds far and near/Things are becoming clear/With a meaning.” The song goes on to sing “Now that you’re knowing/Pleasure starts flowing.” I’m in utter shock of the tone and technique being used by Moody Blues in the same year The Beatles and The Jefferson Airplane are both going downhill in their optimism of the counterculture. Perhaps the motive behind this uniqueness if to reach a different audience while still projecting the same message beyond the scrounge-y hippie stereotype.

Procol Harum

I can’t help but to feel as though “Conquistador” is a metaphorical story of the plight of the hippie movement, at least that’s my interpretation. The hippies believed that society needed to be completely rebuilt and had many ideas for what such a society should look like after the complete destruction of straight society, which “Conquistador” describes through “And though I hoped for something to find/I could see no maze to unwind.” This lyric foreshadows the plight of the hippies once they realize that the straight society is not going to listen to them and they must disband. This journey can be envisioned addressing the counterculture through the following lyrics: “And though I came to jeer at you/I leave now with regret/And as the gloom begins to fall/I see there is no, only all/And though you came with sword held high/You did not conquer, only die.”

I only have no idea what to make of “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The only thing I can take away from this song is the acceptance that the culture is not moving forward, which I picked up through lyrics such as “If music be the food of love/The laughter is its queen.”

Music Blog One

Prog Rock Sampler

The progressive rock sampler provided a wide range of what progressive rock is for me. There are both sounds I’ve hear before and songs I could live without ever hearing again, as well as exciting, upbeat songs and dreary ones.

“Day In The Life” was one of the songs I had heard before. I found this song really interesting because it combines unusual sound effects, which I would associate with “head music,” particularly the climax of what I presume to be orchestra instruments at the bridge, with seemingly optimistic, anecdotal lyrics similar to alternative rock music today.

“Siberian Khatru” immediately reminded me of a strange combination of Michael Jackson, jazz and modern guitarists such as Joe Satriani. The fact that this pice starts in an instrumental manner insinuates the meditation style of the hippie generation while providing upbeat lyricism and exciting guitar riffs.

“Lucky Man” was interesting to me, but almost no build-up left it hard for me to become interested until the chorus kicked in. The guitar in “Lucky Man” is very quiet and almost delicate, which ends up balancing the strong vocals of the chorus when they do come about. The chant/choir style also enhances the ability to meditate to this music while throwing in some stronger guitar riffs at the bridge.

“Dogs” required a lot of patience from me due to the slow build up of guitar chords. The vocals, however, were very intriguing and unique-sounding to me. They sounded music more modern with active lyricism. Once the entirety of the instruments kicked in it became apparently to me that it had a very 1970s feel and tune.

Overall, I found this sample to be efficient in showing the unique combination of music that comes out of the progressive rock label. It became obvious to me through a couple songs where some of the modern techniques used in rock music developed from as well.


Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (1965) & The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1965)

I’m not particularly fine of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited purely based on his vocal style. While this is part of his persona and musical style particularly in the period, which makes sense, it doesn’t interest me in any way other than sounding whiney. The harmonica in “Like a Rolling Stone” really made me cringe, too.

Dylan has a rambling technique of lyrics while interjecting political opinion. For example, in “Tombstone Blues,” Dylan says “The bald with for Jack the Ripper who sits/At the head of the chamber of commerce.” This proves that Dylan was not an unintelligent person, which might have been inferred from his folk musical and vocal styles. While many of his songs maintain a folk sound, others have a blues outlook.

Movement is a prominent theme throughout Highway 61 Revisited. The most obvious example of this is through “Like a Rolling Stone” where Dylan exemplifies the concept with lyrics such as “How does it feel/To be on your own/With no direction or home/A complete unknown/Like a rolling stone.” This in particular mirrors the experiences of the hippies at that point in time who would stay anywhere they could for a night or two in order to avoid falling into the commercial trap that they believed America to be. This concept of movement is also inferred through songs such as “Ballad of a Thin Man” through the anecdote of wandering into a room where there is a strange man standing naked.

The Beatles’ Rubber Soul is a very “feel good” sound in my opinion, but it is also too “bubble gum pop” for my personal taste. It still strikes me as interesting that at this point in history, The Beatles were classified as a rock band as witnessed in the documentary we viewed. In today’s musical landscape The Beatles would never be classified as “rock,” but rather pop or easy listening. All of the songs are very catchy, however. They seem very danceable and singable thanks to what I would call the “choir technique” during several choruses, including “Nowhere Man” and “You Won’t See Me.” Also, even though The Beatles were part of the electric blues and British Invasion, many of their songs are not obviously blues tunes beyond their structure, which I found interesting.

The Beatles promoted this idea of no leadership in the 1960’s hippie movement through “Do What You Want.” The lyrics themselves state “Do what you want to do/And go where you’re going to/Think for yourself/Cause I won’t be there with you.” This concept follows in line with the fact that there were no prominent leaders in the hippie movement and The Beatles established that they did not wish to be the leaders even if they were a revolutionary music group at the time. They go on to say “Although you’re mind’s opaque/Try thinking more/If just for your own sake,” further encouraging another trend of the hippie movement -- to look within oneself to find answers and leadership.

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out! (1966) & The Beatles: Revolver (1966)

My first impression of Frank Zappa and The Mother of Invention’s Freak Out! was annoying, based on the drab slurry vocals presented in “Hungry Freaks, Daddy.” That said, I was really drawn in my some of the riffs throughout the album in bridges. I felt like overall this album took a lot of patience for me to listen to because there was no draw-in or build-up at the beginning of songs.

Freak Out! follows the political mindset of the hippie movement as well, which can be seen through lyrics immediately on the album. In “Hungry Freaks, Daddy” they state “Mister America on by/Your schools that do not teach/Mister America walk on by/The minds that won’t be reached/Mister America try to hide/The emptiness that’s you inside.” This mindset continues throughout the album in songs such as “Who Are The Brain Police.”

I also felt like portions of Freak Out! would definitely be considered “head music” in my book. Songs such as “Who Are The Brain Police” really threw my for a loop with the section of “Wahh I think I’m gonna die,” because it was a very abstract musical style and hard to listen to. I think the point of such a concept being put into music was for the internal examination of each listener to discover themselves and what these particular songs meant in their own interpretation.

Right away I ended the introductory riffs of “Taxman” on The Beatles’ Revolver. This song was obviously meant to be a parody of actual taxmen throughout the country and a political statement against the number of taxes citizens undertake every year, through lyrics such as “If you drive a car/I’ll tax the street/If you try to sit/I’ll tax your seat/If you get too cold/I’ll tax the heat” and on and on.

This album portrays The Beatles in a more rock style in my opinion. The riffs and musical instruments stand out more and more of a prominent source of sound in Revolver. In Rubber Soul, vocals were a main source of sound in a cappella style. This new rock sound is best seen in “Eleanor Rigby,” “Good Day Sunshine” and “Yellow Submarine.”

A wide range of other sounds were presented in “Yellow Submarine” that I found both interesting and distracting. There are wave sound effects, people yelling, choir effects and what sounds like a bong bubbling. There is simply a lot going on in this song that is based on an acid trip, which is both interesting and makes sense. The distracting effects reflect what an acid trip would be like, experiencing multiple visions and sounds all compacted into one strange theme: a yellow submarine.