The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock

Overall enjoyable read. Definitely for those that are interested in the Prog Rock back stories and fans of bands like Yes, ELP, etc. Also highlights a number of the lesser known bands from that era.

This book gets uniformly good reviews – this then is a devil’s advocate’s take, as I was less pleased by it. I was of record-buying age during the golden age of progressive rock, and while well researched, this look back is not the chronicle I had hoped for.First, it’s not much about the music. It’s an account of the people. In the few passages that deal with the actual music, the author tries to describe it with words, but not in music theory terms. For those that know these pieces, these descriptions don’t help; for those that don’t, they are less than useless.Second, this book seemed negative to me. Those years were exciting to have lived through. It seemed then that popular music had taken a hard (and presumably permanent) turn toward something magnificent before being derailed by a populist backlash through lesser forms and corporate shortsightedness. This book cites contemporary reviews, most of them disapproving of the genre. After the first four or five, I thought, “Maybe the author is choosing these with irony, like… ‘Can you believe someone wrote this about this classic album?’” But it continues on like this and paints a picture of a world laughing at the folly of this experimentation and innovation.The tales of the musicians are largely, “Artist X was stoned when he wrote this classic album,” and, “Artist Y was drummed out of the band because he was drunk all the time”…. “This one & this one had a falling out and called each other nasty names…” Not the stuff I focus on when I think back on that ambitious era of extraordinary accomplishment. I’m not questioning the accuracy of these tales; I just wish the focus was on what these people achieved rather than on what they threw up. The book begins with how standoffish our favorite artists are while on modern prog rock cruises and ends on the note that, ‘while prog isn’t dead, its aging audience is dying off.’ Ouch!Third, the audiobook. It’s not read by the author but by someone without familiarity with the material. Many, many words are mispronounced: the names of people, of equipment manufacturers, common words! Even words unfamiliar but clearly pronounced in the songs (e.g., Syrinx, Rael).It’s good resource I suppose for the areas on which it concentrates, but for me it was a bit of a bummer that I could have done without.

Tired of mainstream, too-cool music critics who ignorantly dismiss Progressive Rock as some aberrant, abhorrent "thing" that happened in the early-mid 70's? You'll find - as I did - author Dave Weigel's new book a welcome change, as he respectfully looks back on the Progressive Rock era through new interviews and years of archival material. The stories of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, and - as you might expect from the title - ELP form the core of the work, but Weigel delves into many different bands' histories, successes and failures. Prog fans being what they are, some will feel their favorite band doesn't get enough coverage ("Why isn't there more on Caravan?!?!"), but there are only so many pages in a survey like this.Weigel reminds the reader - this WAS mainstream rock in the late 60s and early 70s! These were the bands which were so successful record companies practically threw money at them for albums and tours, as they sold millions of albums and dominated the musical landscape. Weigel even quotes music critics who praised the bands' efforts, back in the day, jarring for readers who only knows of critical scorn for Prog Rock. While not intended as mere corrective, it is refreshing to find this ambitious genre treated with the analysis and respect it truly deserves, instead of dismissed as "overblown", "pompous", "self-indulgent" crap.As a Prog Rock fan who discovered these sounds in 1979 via Jethro Tull (yes, I do love "Stormwatch"...) there's never been a time during my love of the genre when the music press gave any kind of creative credit to these musicians and bands. Reading Weigel's book felt like some kind of vindication, I suppose. On a personal level, working in rock radio in the nineties, I tried to play Progressive Rock when I could - reading later chapters on Marillion and Steven Wilson and the Prog Rock "renaissance" during those years brought back fond memories (met Steven Wilson backstage after Porcupine Tree opened for Yes in Connecticut, and Jon Anderson stopped by to introduce himself to S.W. and praise his solo set - for one happy example). Also reminded me of what an uphill battle that was - explaining to Classic Rock Radio consultants why you're playing Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard in the mid 90s was a futile exercise ("Why are we playing it? Because this tune from "Snow" sounds like our top testing tune by Kansas...").It truly was refreshing to read a book on rock music that gives Progressive Rock respect and even honor. Thank you, Dave Weigel, for this love letter to the greatest music ever made - Progressive Rock!

2018 foi o ano em que entrei de cabeça no universo do rock progressivo. Desde os 12 anos de idade conheço Pink Floyd, algumas das minhas músicas preferidas são elaborados épicos de mais de 10 minutos (desde "Metal Contra as Nuvens", da Legião Urbana, até "Station to Station", do David Bowie) e eu gostava do 1º álbum do King Crimson e de "Roundabout" (Yes). Foi, contudo, há 7 meses, enquanto terminava minha tese de doutorado e precisava de música que me inspirasse, que de fato me aprofundei no "prog". Comecei ouvindo os álbuns do King Crimson e do Yes, e adorei; uma amiga disse que eu deveria ouvir Emerson, Lake & Palmer e Genesis; finalmente comecei a gostar da fase pós-Rita dos Mutantes; recebi dicas de donos de lojas de CDs (graças a eles conheci Focus e PFM, p.ex.) etc. Parece até que essa imersão foi para compensar os 27 anos que "perdi" sem conhecer tantas bandas incríveis.Foi sob esse pano de fundo que descobri e comprei "The Show That Never Ends". O livro entregou (quase) tudo o que eu esperava: escrita envolvente, boas anedotas, aprofundamento nas principais bandas de prog (o autor claramente é fã de King Crimson e ELP), panorama amplo (há uma ênfase na cena britânica, mas há um capítulo em que Weigel faz um giro pelo mundo e fala de bandas italianas, holandesas, canadenses etc.) e bom uso das fontes.Os únicos defeitos do livro são: 1) ter falado pouco do Pink Floyd, justamente a banda progressiva mais famosa (embora talvez tenha sido uma decisão consciente do autor, afinal já existem muitos livros sobre Pink Floyd) e 2) poderia ter coberto de forma mais completa a discografia de algumas das principais bandas (senti falta de uma análise de "Starless and Bible Black" e "Red", do King Crimson, e de "Selling England By The Pound", do Genesis).Li o livro em menos de uma semana, e o recomendo não só para fãs de rock progressivo, mas para qualquer pessoa que tenha curiosidade em saber, para além da "narrativa oficial" (que coloca o prog rock como uma era sombria, um excesso elitista e pretensioso entre a psicodelia dos anos 60 e o punk '77), a saga de alguns dos músicos mais intelectual e artisticamente ambiciosos do Século XX.

Lots of good historical info on the musicians that defined the Prog genre. The book could have used a discography, just to get conversations and perhaps arguments started! I find with books about music, it helps to have your music device at the ready, to stream the albums David is discussing.

A nice overview of prog. Almost unique in that it goes beyond the 70s heyday of the genre. A few minor factual errors, but nothing to detract from the reader's enjoyment. Ends all too soon. Recommended.

Well written, but didn't really discuss the rise & fall of prog...just a few of the protagonists such as King Crimson, ELP & Genesis. Very few mentions of other prog bands, old or new.Also, 40% of the book is taken up referencing the quotes in it.For a better read about all things prog, such as chapters on the Moody Blues, Camel, Rush & others, seek out "Ramblings of a Rock & Roll Nobody", a brilliant book by Simon Aston, which is great fun

A useful, objective history of the genre. Plenty of coverage of the best-known bands with valuable information about some of the less well-known ones. I'd have liked a little more from fans of prog, especially as it was a genre that - even at the height of its popularity - polarised people.