PROG ROCK BRITANNIA - AN OBSERVATION IN THREE MOVEMENTS (2009)
A BBC film documentary about British progressive rock music and the generation of bands that were involved, from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to the trials and tribulations of lesser-known bands such as Soft Machine, Caravan and Egg.
The film is structured in three parts or "movements", charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange, and quintessentially English, literary influences.
It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late 1960s, the golden age of progressive music in the early 1970s, complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves, and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.
Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer, Steve Howe and Ian Anderson.
Plus this DVD special bonus feature:
Compilation of some of the greatest names and British bands in what they still dare to call prog rock, filmed live in the BBC studios in the early 1970s. Expect to see stadium names like Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer alongside much-loved bands of the era including Caravan, Family, Atomic Rooster and more.
- The Nice - America
- The Moody Blues - Question
- Jethro Tull - The Witch's Promise
- Wishbone Ash - Vas Dis
- Atomic Rooster - Tomorrow Night
- Family - In My Own Time
- Yes - Yours Is No Disgrace
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
- Soft Machine - Fanfare All White
- Caravan - The Dog, The Dog, He's Doing It Again
- Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
- King Crimson - Frame By Frame