Progressive or "prog" rock was a largely British development of late 1960's and 1970's psychedelic rock scene, in which bands such as The Nice, The Moody Blues and King Crimson began breaking down and extending the traditional song structure in favour of a more symphonic style, with various sections often held together on individual albums by a concept.
The first true concept album is usually taken to be The Beatles' "SGT.PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND" from 1967, although The Beach Boys' "LITTLE DEUCE COUP" - from 1963 and The Kinks' 1966 album "FACE TO FACE" were both strongly themed.
The idea was picked up and carried forward by Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes ( a band often regarded as the ultimate prog. rockers ), and by the multi-talented Mike Oldfield in his ground-breaking 1974 epic "TUBULAR BELLS".
The length of individual tracks and the experimental nature of the music made this genre far more suited to the L.P. market, which it dominated in the mid-1970's, than the singles charts. Many prog rockers have nevertheless written songs now regarded as classics of their type, for example Justin Hayward - "Nights In White Satin", Syd Barrett - "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", Roger Waters - "Money" and "Another Brick In The Wall" and Peter Gabriel "Solsbury Hill". Even Robert Wyatt, a leading light of avant-garde jazz rockers Soft Machine has revealed an idiosyncratic songwriting talent since the band broke up in 1976, a description that could also be applied to another ex-Canterbury scene figure, Kevin Ayers.
Despite it's occasional digressions into the popular mainstream, by the late 1970's progressive rock as a genre was widely despised as indulgent and pretentious, and was blown away by the explosion of punk. The 1980's nevertheless saw a revival led by latecomers Marillion, and the genre survives today in the experimental approach of ex-britpop outfit Radiohead.

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