Time... and a Word
PROG-ROCK BLEW MY young mind in 1971, and it was largely thanks to Yes and a magnum opus called “Roundabout.” I’d been amazed by the Beatles’ dreamlike “A Day in the Life,” thrilled to the Tilt-a-Whirl ride of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” and been dazed by the surreal centerpiece of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” Each of those was a mini symphony, with the various movements added on like musical boxcars.
“Roundabout” was different, and in so many ways. For one, everything gelled together, with each new movement evolving harmoniously from the previous one, taking the song further along, sometimes to entirely new stylistic juggernauts, but always reconnecting to the original theme, not just seamlessly but joyously, like a thrilling homecoming. I suspect that congruity has a lot to do with the song’s commercial success. “Roundabout” has many sections and changes, but it’s never hard on the ears or requires harmonic leaps that detract from the music’s enjoyment.
It’s also entertaining as hell. That is largely down to the virtuosity of Steve Howe, Yes’s then rather new guitarist (he’d joined the year before) and the co-author of this bit of musical majesty. Howe’s stylistic diversity was one thing, but he also played with remarkable precision and speed, and without ever relying on clichés. “Roundabout” and Fragile, the album on which it appears, were major successes and helped progrock break into the mainstream, where it brought a new level of musicality and virtuosity to rock seemingly overnight.
But what is prog? It’s been notoriously diffficult to define. Both rock-driven and symphonic, as well as folk and electronic (no popular genre of the time made more generous use of synthesizers), it’s the most catholic of musical styles. That much is evident by looking at another album that came out in 1971, a prog-rock record remarkably different from Fragile. I’m talking, of course, about Jethro Tull’s
Aqualung. Influenced more by rock, folk and jazz, Aqualung is nevertheless graced with the same baroque grandiosity as Fragile. Just as Yes showed that elaborate symphonic-like works could rock out, Jethro Tull demonstrated that folk and jazz could also kick ass in the rock medium.
Together, Fragile and Aqualung saw their respective groups bring a new focus to their music. In doing so, each band not only created a style and sound that would define their place in music for years to come but also shaped the look and sound of rock for a good part of the 1970s.
In this issue, we go back in time with the creators of those two albums to discover how they came to be in the first place. In what has to be one of the most informative and entertaining interviews with Steve Howe I’ve ever read, Joe Bosso gets to the heart of how Fragile came together. In an equally illuminating talk, Mark McStea speaks with former Tull guitarist Martin Barre about how the group found the perfect mix for its blend of blues-rock, folk and jazz on Aqualung.
To round out the issue, we’ve gathered the prog-centric insights of 25 guitarists who have plied their trade in the genre. Of course, prog-rock has shifted more toward prog-metal in recent decades. To get a better sense of where it’s heading, we spoke with 10 guitarists currently shaping the scene and giving new expression to this most difficult-to-define genre.