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.