The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music [Paperback]

Bradley Smith (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823076652
• ISBN-13: 978-0823076659
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,134,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly progressive rock but album reviews are excellent, June 27, 2002

By 

"herycoll" (Kennesaw, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (Paperback)

This book is essentially a compilation of album reviews with a very personal approach by the author.

Most of the book is dedicated to avant-garde, ambient music, electronic music, modern classical works, jazz-fusion and lengthy instrumental and experimental music in general that is closely related to prog-rock but it is definitely not progressive rock and sometimes not even rock music.

However many progressive rock albums are also included. Some of them real classics, others over-rated due to the author preferences and of course many important classic works and artist are missing.

On the other side, the album reviews are excellent.

The reviews usually open with an excellent and brief overview of the band, followed by a little more extensive album overview and a song by song analysis.

The articles are very smart, nice to read, full of valuable information and his analysis reflect solid knowledge of music and a clear understanding of its meaning on every context.

Even when Bradley writes with love about a music I hate, it is a pleasure for me to read his article and his arguments sustain equally his love and my hate.

I would say that this book becomes a "must" for a prog-rock fan when we consider that most of prog album reviews sources like GEPR, AMG and even some other books and web site are very poor and amateurish.

This book offers excellent comments on the albums you already know. It will introduce you to many other less known and excellent bands and it eventually would open a door to other music styles closely related with the progressive rock.

But definitely not for novices who should look for an approach closer to the progressive rock classics.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Progressive Music: Not Progressive Rock, February 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Nick Brandon (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (Paperback)

This book is very misunderstood by those who have critiqued it thus far, and I feel like some of thier critisisms have a lot of validity. I mean yes, Smith should have included those progressive greats such as Van Der Graf Generator, Gentle Giant, and Dream Theater... and Brian Eno did a lot more for Progressive Rock than only the 3 albums that Smith chose to review. But what anyone who reads, reviews, or even just glances at this book need to understand is that Smith has written this book about the genre of Progressive Music, not just Progressive Rock Music, hence the including of such New Age artists as Liz Story and Emerald Web and Space Music artists such as Tangerine Dream and Lightwave. He is exploring a huge genre of music that goes way past Progressive rock, but deals with progressive music on the whole. If you are a progressive rocker, this book is less value to you, and I suggest Paul Stump's book; but if you are truly interested in exploring not just progressive rock but all progressive music, then this book is without a doubt for you! So criticize all that you want critics, but Smith absolutely knows his stuff when it comes to progressive, and the book has become a guide for my personal progressive music collection. A GREAT BUY FOR MUSICIANS!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Unpopular Music, June 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (Paperback)

When applied to musical styles, the meaning of the term "progressive" has always been hopelessly elusive. This book does not solve that problem. In fact, Smith makes things even more difficult by claiming that "Progressive" is a distinct genre of music, not just a qualitative judgement. Most of his examples of this genre are rock-based, but many are not. He also states that this music is structurally different from modern classical idioms, although there are exceptions to this rule also (Terry Riley, Annea Lockwood, Robert Ashley). Adding to the confusion, Smith considers only that music which is currently progressive, leaving out progressive music which apparently no longer qualifies as such. As a result, many readers will detect glaring omissions from Smith's inventory, and many readers with be baffled by his seemingly inappropriate inclusions. Perhaps "progressive" should be abandoned completely, in favor of terminology less vague. Personally, I prefer the term "Unpopular"--which is exactly what most of this music is. As Bertrand Russell said, "If not popular, then unpopular."

Footnote- Two caveats: (1) Smith stresses the importance of well-designed album covers. Therefore, it is a bit amusing that this book features such cheesy graphic design. Why is that Eddie Van Halen look-alike on the cover, and why is he holding a Gibson hollowbody? (2) Some of Smith's prose is certain to rub many readers the wrong way. He describes "dewy washes" of keyboards, "saucy" interludes, etc. Yuck!