Prog Songs
Here is where we have songs that are not by prog bands, but have prog elements to them:
| If ever there was an odd band to deliver an
entry for this list, CCR is it. This may not be
the strongest hidden gem of this sort, but,
taking it's provenance into consideration, it
succeeds, almost without trying, to not only
deliver on the promise of it's title, but even
goes so far as to make itself listener-friendly
to several subgenres of the Total Rock Domain. It
simultaneously hints at the area of experimental/industrial
landscapes, toys with space/noise, studies
Krautrock, and possesses song structure.
Introducing itself with what seems an insipid
classical guitar-type lackadaisicalness, this
instrumental moves into space/backwards guitar/fx
territory, to fairly creepy effect, somewhat like
the first section of ELO's "Fire On High",
but more primitive, much less involved in it's
simple instrumentation. Although the total effect
is achieved more by means of basement execution,
the later moments are very much an entry into
early Kraut space weirdness, and would doubtless
give a heart attack to the stoned. It may be said
without fear of unannounced nightmare reprisal
that it fulfills it's stated mission. -Mark Dumke |
| If, unfortunately, only a peripheral entry
into the Book Of Occulted Prog Gems, it does
nonetheless serve to demonstrate how a rock
band's instrumental compositions stand in
contrast to their typical vocal work, allowing
for the showcasing of other instruments, even
though little more than the outside assistance of
The Royal Martian Orchestra, for instance. Still
into their bluegrass-rock period of yore, this
piece is continually kept within the sphere of
the old west, dubious courtesy of the fiddle and
picking, it's vague atmosphere of uncommitted
mystery never achieving anything close to a
presence. As a very minor contender for inclusion
in the above-named volume of neglected musical
lore, it is certainly enjoyable but fails to
evoke the full potential demanded by the song's
title. -Mark Dumke |
| This album, as marks most of their earlier
work prior to finding their forte in some
excellent and highly elaborated, ambitious funk-pop,
is far too inconsistent in both it's variety (heavy
funk and soporifically dull ballads) and
juxtapositioning of songs. However, taken by
themselves, many are good, and of three
instrumentals, two differ from the Top 40 oeuvre,
as good as it was back then, and make the cut to
this page. "Spasmodic Movements" introduces itself as a free jazz irritant, quickly and deftly switching to a more traditional jazz workout, but presented sufficiently within a progressive fusion context that the brevity of this very cool piece is totally unforgivable. - Mark Dumke |
| "Caribou", directly following,
begins as a realistically muted and warped field
recording of African tribal doings, then, as if
quickly remembering the country in which they
comfortably reside, not to forget the sheer
effrontery of the pretense, pauses and jumps
right into a very saplessly upbeat jazzy number,
scat-type vocals in appropriate abundance,
reminiscent of the Fifth Dimension or perhaps
Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66-era pop of a few
years prior, meriting, if not a studious prog
nod, at least a wishful glance. Longer than the
previous track, I wish it were yet much longer.
It works well as a great jazz-pop song, but it's
high creativity holds many possibilities for what
amazing results it could easily have yielded with
just a few extra minutes. - Mark Dumke |
| A killer jazz/fusion workout that was left
off of the Next album and remained
unreleased until the box set. - Joe B. |
| A song that hearkens back to their earlier
prog days, though this one is more symphonic(actually
a bit of hard rock prog). It floats along, as the
title suggests and would not be out of place if
it was on one of the first three albums. - Joe B. |
| Some bands just come out of nowhere with
their proginess. This is definitely a nod to prog
with horns, violin, flute and the rest of the
band showing that they can play other things
beside mindless pop(note: this is on the same
album as "My Music", which is in the
same vein as "Mamma Can't Dance and Your
Daddy Don't Rock & Roll" ugh!!!). With a
little more work this could have been a killer
Kansas or Kansas II-type song, but it is a good
song, anyway. - Joe B. |
| Supposedly this is edited down from a 20 minute version that I would REALLY love to here someday. |
| A nice Pink Floyd-type piece with haunting
piano(courtesy of Pat Leonard), mellow vocals(by
Kevin Gilbert) and nice fluid Gilmore-like guitar
work(courtesy of Tim Pierce)on an otherwise
killer pop album influenced by Jethro Tull,
Gentle Giant,Genesis and Steely Dan. - Joe B. |
There is more out there.....I just can't think of them all. Feel free to help out!!