top of page
Search


The difficult second
A band's second album (American: sophomore) is frequently cited as 'difficult' but should it tread the same ground as its predecessor?

garethsprogblog
Mar 118 min read


Anthem?
I’ve just reposted, with only minor editing, the blog ‘ 100 not out ’, the story of Prog magazine reaching its 100th edition in ten...

garethsprogblog
Dec 20, 20249 min read


Progressive rock in 1974
By 1974 I’d had over a full year of immersion into progressive rock, a term which wasn’t yet being applied to the genre, though what I...

garethsprogblog
Nov 16, 20249 min read


Maths lesson
My first dalliance with a form of rock music other than progressive or jazz/jazz-fusion came in the guise of Robert Fripp and the League...

garethsprogblog
Dec 18, 20237 min read


Coffee and prog
Any fool knows that progressive rock was invented by the English and by extension, the best beverage to consume while you’re listening to...

garethsprogblog
Mar 18, 202311 min read


Prog and the violin
Sometime in 1978 or 1979 in a Zoology class at Goldsmiths’, fellow students Jo Wallace and Karen Fraser were discussing the use of the...

garethsprogblog
Mar 18, 20228 min read


Live albums for lockdown (part 1)
By this time of the year in 2019, even with a slow start, I’d seen ten gigs and attended Steve Hackett’s The Edge of Light playback,...

garethsprogblog
Jul 3, 20207 min read


100 not out
Producing a magazine dedicated to prog every 6 weeks traces a difficult path, catering for those stuck in the past and the more open-minded

garethsprogblog
Jul 12, 20196 min read


A ProgBlog guide to Amsterdam
My first visit to Amsterdam was as a 20 year old, the first stop on a month-long journey around western Europe by train with university...

garethsprogblog
Feb 24, 20197 min read


Hallowe'en
Something strange is going on in my local area. I’ve been around at home most evenings for the past two weeks and the fireworks...

garethsprogblog
Oct 28, 20177 min read


No future?
What will the future of prog look like, assuming there's still life on earth...?

garethsprogblog
Sep 5, 20177 min read


The perfect length
I’ve just ripped a rather large pile of my wife’s CDs to mp3 for her which according to the categories ascribed by Windows Media Player...

garethsprogblog
Jul 11, 20176 min read


John Wetton
I bought myself a bass guitar shortly after my 18th birthday, a Fender Precision copy with a sunburst finish and no manufacturer’s...

garethsprogblog
Feb 4, 20177 min read


Lake district
If we accept that the progressive rock genre started in 1969 and proto prog has been around since 1967 it’s hardly surprising that, given...

garethsprogblog
Dec 10, 20165 min read


The Fender Rhodes
The desire for the authentic sounds of the 70s harboured by some modern prog bands has led to a quiet revolution in digital samples. The...

garethsprogblog
Apr 25, 20165 min read


Automobiles
If musical genres were modes of transportation, prog would be some form of public transport and Italian prog would be a tram!

garethsprogblog
Feb 13, 20169 min read


Come on the Amazing Journey, and Learn All You Should Know
(A guest blog by Mike Chavez) The scene: a dimly lit village hall around 7pm in a small town in rural Wiltshire. A group of middle-aged...

garethsprogblog
Nov 28, 20155 min read


Broad church
Early in the new millennium, when progressive rock was emerging from underneath rocks and dragging itself out of slimy ponds, I...

garethsprogblog
Mar 28, 20157 min read


The magic flute
Back in 2015, the lack of availability of albums by progressivo Italiano band Jumbo forced me to buy a download of DNA, the first of...

garethsprogblog
Jan 31, 20156 min read


The instruments of Prog: the Mellotron and the mini-Moog
I’ve been lucky enough to play around on a Mellotron but I didn’t have the foresight to buy the Beast. The instrument was in a music shop...

garethsprogblog
Jul 12, 20147 min read

bottom of page