Skeletons Crowding the Closet, Progressive Rock Edition

I've mentioned before that I own some embarrassing records, some of which I can defend ("I own it for the ironic value!"), some of which I truly believe in ("One day the world will know the genius of Gilbert O'Sullivan and Ian Anderson!"), some of which I can claim as excellent examples of pop-craft (ABBA, and umm, the Turtles), some of which I just have to plead guilty (Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Seals and Crofts) --- and then there are the guilty pleasures that I really have a hard time defending: progressive rock. Kaftans, brown rice, album covers that only revealed their full meaning under black lights -- yes, that sounds like psychedelia, but in one sense, progressive rock was the next step. For bands convinced they were above rock's primitivism, each new album was a further step in complexity, intricate time signatures, and denser lyrical content. Why couldn't rock progress toward something like classical music? Fans loved it, but everyone else hated it (and critics found some place beyond hate.)

Imagine: a few friends stop by my college-era apartment, begin to thumb through my LPs, I bask in the reflected coolness (Joni Mitchell, John Fahey, Miles Davis, Fairport Convention, John Martyn)...and then they find the Camel album. Uh oh. Then Genesis (oh crap). And finally, Yes. (Well at least they didn't find any Rush albums, but who knew Rush would finally attain the status of Totally Cool Because They Totally Aren't Cool ?).

So, may I address the jury? First of all, the Camel album was a live album, and they sufficiently rocked out, avoiding the tight-ass quality of some of the studio albums. Yes, I said "rocked out" referring to Camel. (My reference is my sister-in-law, a Bad Company fan, who was impressed with the guitar pyrotechnics of "Never Let Go").

 Genesis? Let's begin the defense by noting that Peter Gabriel is on several of the Genesis albums I own. Peter Gabriel, these days The Earnest Voice Of Environmental, Political And Social Causes, was over the top, but clever and unconventional enough to earn a passing grade from most critics. I remember playing (LOUDLY) bits from "Wind and Wuthering" (post-post Gabriel), giving my stereo a workout, thinking "THIS is high fidelity!" Later, so much later, I realized I was listening to some studio sheen plastered on top of synthesized sound -- nothing sounded like a real instrument! (I remember when every single audio equipment store played Steely Dan's "Aja" as their go-to demo LP, itself engineered and polished until nothing was left but a shiny Lemon Pledge-d version of real music -- but it sounded great, and I still listen to Steely Dan all the time, knowing that I'm being aurally manipulated, and I'm fine with that.)

Well, enough for this post. Next time: Yes! And the fate of lesser known bands that escaped the progressive mantle, for better or worse, but still tried to carry the banner.