Sub-genres of Progressive Rock

Alternative progressive rock, progressive folk and progressive metal/hard rock are, in my opinion, on the cutting edge of the progressive rock genre. This is due to the fact that while other areas of the genre seem to have remained stagnant in terms of musical creativity and innovation, bands like Dream Theater have been utilizing influences other than classical music in order to play something new. By allowing themselves to be influenced by heavy metal, hard rock and folk these musicians gave themselves an opportunity to create new sub-genres within progressive rock.

The music of Rush can be traced back to earlier progressive rock groups as well as more hard rock groups. The group also appears to discuss many of the same themes within their music as groups from the counter culture, such as individualism. According to Chris McDonald this is due to the fact that the group greatly disliked their suburban upbringings, which they regarded as dull and where persons such as themselves could and would be lost if they did nothing to advance themselves. More evidence for this can be seen in the opening shot of “Subdivisions,” in which a camera pulls away from a busy intersection and pans across a sea of buildings that stretches to the horizon. Later groups, such as the aforementioned Dream Theater, were clearly influenced by Rush as well as Heavy Metal groups. This gives their music a similar feel, yet with a distinct metal punch that changes the sound of the music entirely. For me, I appreciated the music of Dream Theater a lot more than Rush, as I felt Rush was too much like the progressive groups that inspired it, while Dream Theater added a new sound to their music while retaining only the basics of the progressive genre.

Progressive folk artists on the other hand, while being influenced by seventies progressive artists, moved in essentially the opposite direction as Dream Theater and Rush. While these bands show an appreciation for the symphonic music of many progressive rockers, they infused this with folk and acoustic sounding music. This resulted in a more natural sound that was not possible with the heavy electronics used by other groups. Surprisingly, I actually had a great appreciation for this natural sound, as I felt the sound was cleaner and did not risk losing itself within layer upon layer of music. I also found myself enjoying the vocalists for these groups as the differences in each voice were made apparent and capitalized on in a way that is not normally done with today’s popular music, where vocalists seem to be encouraged to sound alike or distort their voices.