View source for Neo-prog

{{short description|Subgenre of progressive rock}}
{{Distinguish|Progressive_rock#New_prog{{!}}New prog}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Neo-prog
| other_names       = Neo-progressive rock
| stylistic_origins = {{Flatlist|
* [[Progressive rock]]<ref name="romano" />
* [[hard rock]]<ref name="romano" />
* [[funk]]<ref name="romano" />
* [[punk rock]]<ref name="romano" />
}}
| cultural_origins  = Early 1980s in England, UK
| derivatives       =
| fusiongenres      =
| regional_scenes   =
| other_topics      = [[New prog]]<br />[[Post-progressive]]
}}
'''Neo-progressive rock''' (commonly abbreviated '''neo-prog'''){{sfn|Covach|Boone|1997|p=5}} is a [[subgenre]] of [[progressive rock]] that developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, [[Marillion]], achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genre have continued to record and tour.<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web | url= http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/neo-prog-ma0000012218 | title= Pop/Rock » Art-Rock/Experimental » Neo-Prog | publisher=AllMusic | access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghostland.com/ghostland/editorials.asp?ID=7 |title=Neo-Prog and the Bad Rap by Jerry Lucky, author of 'The Progressive Rock Files' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007024958/http://www.ghostland.com/ghostland/editorials.asp?ID=7 |archive-date=7 October 2008 }}</ref>

== Characteristics ==
Neo-prog is characterised by deeply [[emotional]] content, often delivered via dramatic [[lyrics]] and a generous use of imagery and theatricality on-stage. The music is mostly the product of careful [[musical composition|composition]], relying less heavily on [[improvised]] jamming. The subgenre relies very much on clean, melodic and emotional [[electric guitar]] [[Solo (music)|solos]], combined with [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]. The main musical influences on the neo-prog genre are bands from the first wave of progressive rock such as early [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], [[Camel (band)|Camel]], and to a lesser extent [[Van der Graaf Generator]] and [[Pink Floyd]].<ref name="AllMusic" /> [[Funk]], [[hard rock]] and [[punk rock]] were also influences on the genre.<ref name="romano">{{cite book|last=Romano|first=Will|title=Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock|date=2010|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-991-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2lVMAgAAQBAJ&q=mick+pointer+tolkien&pg=PT390|access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>

== History ==
In the book ''The Progressive Rock Files'', author Jerry Lucky dedicates a chapter to neo-progressive rock with the title "A Neo Beginning!", stating that this subgenre "surfaced in late 1981, bearing testimony to the lasting values of this musical form" of progressive rock, but distinguishing it from this main genre, saying, "Sure the sound was a bit different ... a little more bite, a little more eighties". Later in the same book, Jerry Lucky suggested that neo-prog peaked in the mid-1980s: "As 1984 dawned all of the British neo-progressive rock bands release material." Famous neo-prog albums were [[Marillion]]'s ''[[Fugazi (album)|Fugazi]]'', [[Pallas (band)|Pallas]]' ''[[The Sentinel (album)|The Sentinel]]'', [[Pendragon (band)|Pendragon]]'s ''Fly High Fall Far'', [[Twelfth Night (band)|Twelfth Night]]'s ''[[Art and Illusion (album)|Art and Illusion]]'', [[Solstice (progressive rock band)|Solstice]]'s ''Silent Dance'', [[IQ (band)|IQ]]'s ''[[The Wake (IQ album)|The Wake]]'', and [[Quasar (band)|Quasar]]'s ''Fire in the Sky''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1116|title=QUASAR|website=Progarchives.com|access-date=7 January 2021}}</ref>

A predecessor to this genre was [[The Enid]], who fused rock with classical but were more heavily influenced by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] than by more modern composers.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|pp=184–185}} The change of approach can be heard in the shift toward shorter compositions and a keyboard-based sound in the 1980s Rush albums ''[[Signals (Rush album)|Signals]],'' ''[[Grace Under Pressure (Rush album)|Grace Under Pressure]],'' ''[[Power Windows (album)|Power Windows]]''  and ''[[Hold Your Fire]]''.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|pp=183–186}} Neo-progressive bands emphasised individual solos instead of group [[improvisation]], and they included more world-music elements. Lyrics became more personal and less esoteric. Concept albums were still created, but not as frequently and on a smaller scale.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|pp=183–186}} [[Digital synthesizer]]s took over many of the roles formerly filled by bulkier keyboards such as Mellotrons and organs,{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=35}} and their modern sound tended to minimise the folk influences that had been typical of 1970s progressive rock.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|p=242}} Heavy metal bands such as [[Iron Maiden]] and [[Queensrÿche]] began to explore the mythological themes and extended concepts that had previously been the territory of progressive rock.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|p=187}}

Early neo-prog was marked by sophisticated [[lyrics]] and often dark themes. While the accessibility of neo-prog to the mainstream is debatable, the form did generally seem more radio-friendly, with shorter and less complex songs than earlier progressive rock. Nonetheless, neo-prog never achieved the heights of popular success that the first wave of progressive rock in the 1970s did, with only one band, Marillion, achieving arena status.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gepr.net/genre2.html | title = A Guide To Progressive Rock Genres (section IV.B.11) | access-date = 29 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151207201957/http://www.gepr.net/genre2.html | archive-date = 7 December 2015 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Marillion achieved major success across Europe in particular and produced eight top ten UK albums between 1983 and 1994, peaking in popularity with their album ''[[Misplaced Childhood]]'' in 1985, which topped the UK album chart and produced two top five hit singles in the UK. The album has been called "the cornerstone of the entire 'neo-prog' movement".<ref>{{cite web | url= http://ultimateclassicrock.com/marillion-misplaced-childhood/ | title= 30 Years Ago: Marillion Release 'Misplaced Childhood' | work=Ultimate Classic Rock | first=Ryan | last=Reed | date=17 June 2015 | access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> Following this peak, neo-prog declined in popularity as a genre, although several bands have continued to record and tour, with Marillion and their ex-singer Fish in particular both maintaining a large [[cult following]]. Along with Marillion, Fish and Edison's Children, [[alternative rock]] band [[Radiohead]]'s ambitious work has been credited with inspiring a revival of interest in progressive rock.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8266922.stm | title= It's back... Prog rock assaults album charts | work=BBC News | date=23 September 2009 | access-date=23 December 2015}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Covach|editor-last2=Boone|editor-first1=John|editor-first2=Graeme M.|title=Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-510005-0}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hegarty|first1=Paul|last2=Halliwell|first2=Martin|title=Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock Since the 1960s|year=2011|publisher=The Continuum International Publishing Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8264-2332-0|author-link1=Paul Hegarty (musician)}}

== Further reading ==
* Lucky, Jerry. ''The Progressive Rock Files''. Burlington, Ontario: [[Collector's Guide Publishing]], Inc (1998), 304 pages, {{ISBN|1-896522-10-6}} (paperback). Gives an overview of progressive rock's history as well as histories of the major and [[Underground music|underground bands]] in the genre.  Neo-progressive rock is referenced in the book throughout, starting with the section titled "A Neo Beginning" (Page 79).

==External links==
*[https://www.allmusic.com/style/neo-prog-ma0000012218 Neo-prog] on [[AllMusic]]

{{Progressive music}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neo-Progressive Rock}}
[[Category:Progressive rock]]
[[Category:English styles of music]]
[[Category:Rock music genres]]
[[Category:Neo-progressive rock]]