Editing Progressive rock (section)

==Reception==
The genre has received both critical acclaim and criticism throughout the years. Progressive rock has been described as parallel to the classical music of [[Igor Stravinsky]] and [[Béla Bartók]].{{sfn|Covach|2000|}} This desire to expand the boundaries of rock, combined with some musicians' dismissiveness toward mainstream rock and pop, dismayed critics and led to accusations of elitism. Its intellectual, fantastic and apolitical lyrics, and shunning of rock's blues roots, were abandonments of the very things that many critics valued in rock music.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=168-73}} Progressive rock also represented the maturation of rock as a genre, but there was an opinion among critics that rock was and should remain fundamentally tied to adolescence, so rock and maturity were mutually exclusive.{{sfn|Martin|2002|p=107}} Criticisms over the complexity of their music provoked some bands to create music that was even more complex.{{refn|group=nb|Yes' ''[[Tales from Topographic Oceans]]''{{sfn|Martin|1996|p=145}} and "[[The Gates of Delirium]]"{{sfn|Martin|1996|p=158}} were both responses to such criticisms. Jethro Tull's ''[[Thick As a Brick]]'', a self-satirising [[concept album]] that consisted of a single 45-minute track, arose from the band's disagreement with the labelling of their previous ''[[Aqualung (Jethro Tull album)|Aqualung]]'' as a concept album.{{sfn|Anderson|2008|}}}}

Most of the musicians involved were male, as was the case for most rock of the time,{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|p=204}} although [[Annie Haslam]] of [[Renaissance (band)|Renaissance]] was a notable exception. Female singers were better represented in [[progressive folk]] bands,{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=135}} who displayed a broader range of vocal styles than the progressive rock bands{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=204}} with whom they frequently toured and shared band members.{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=131}}

British and European audiences typically followed concert hall behaviour protocols associated with classical music performances and were more reserved in their behaviour than audiences for other forms of rock. This confused musicians during US tours, as they found American audiences less attentive and more prone to outbursts during quiet passages.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=263}}

These aspirations towards [[high culture]] reflect progressive rock's origins as a music created largely by [[Upper class|upper]]- and [[Middle class|middle]]-class, [[White-collar workers|white-collar]], college-educated males from [[Southern England]]. The music never reflected the concerns of or was embraced by working-class listeners,{{sfn|Macan|1997|pp=144–48}} except in the US, where listeners appreciated the musicians' virtuosity.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=156}} Progressive rock's exotic, literary topics were considered particularly irrelevant to British youth during the late 1970s, when the nation suffered from a poor economy and frequent strikes and shortages.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|pp=163–164}} Even King Crimson leader Robert Fripp dismissed progressive rock lyrics as "the philosophical meanderings of some English half-wit who is circumnavigating some inessential point of experience in his life".{{sfn|Tamm|1990|}} Bands whose darker lyrics avoided utopianism, such as King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Van der Graaf Generator, experienced less critical disfavour.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=78}}

In 2002, Pink Floyd guitarist [[David Gilmour]] said, "I wasn't a big fan of most of what you'd call progressive rock. I'm like [[Groucho Marx]]: I don't want to belong to any club that would have me for a member."<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Echoes' to be Floyd's final cut?|magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]|issue=36|date=January 2002|page=15}}</ref> In 2014, [[Peter Gabriel]] remarked, "Despite prog probably being the most derided musical genre of all time there were—as today—a lot of extraordinary musicians trying to break down the barriers to reject the rules of music. It was genuinely pioneering at the time. We didn't always get it right, but when it did work we could move people and get some magic happening. I see it all as a very healthy part of growing up."<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29159619 | title= Peter Gabriel honoured at Prog music awards | publisher=[[BBC News]] | first=Tim | last=Masters | date=12 September 2014 | access-date=15 April 2023}}</ref>

[[Ian Anderson]], the frontman of Jethro Tull, commented:

<blockquote>I still like the original term that comes from 1969: progressive rock – but that was with a small "p" and a small "r". Prog Rock, on the other hand, has different connotations – of grandeur and pomposity [...] I think looking back on it that most of it was a pretty good experience for musicians and listeners alike. Some of it was a little bit overblown, but in the case of much of the music, it was absolutely spot on.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ian Anderson Admits Prog Was 'A Little Bit Overblown' |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ian-anderson-prog-overblown/ | work=Ultimate Classic Rock | first=Jeff | last=Giles |date=29 July 2014 | url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427001121/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ian-anderson-prog-overblown/ |archive-date=27 April 2019 |access-date=30 April 2018}}</ref></blockquote>

While music fans for years have declared progressive rock to be dead,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weigel |first=David |date=18 July 2017 |title=Can't Prog Rock Get Any Respect Around Here? |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/18/534577902/can-t-prog-rock-get-any-respect-around-here |access-date=5 February 2023 |website=[[Morning Edition]] |department=NPR Music |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> the scene is still active with many sub-genres.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Progressive rock music discography & reviews |url=https://www.progarchives.com/ |access-date=5 February 2023 |website=Progarchives.com |language=en}}</ref>