Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Is Progressive Rock Progressive? YES and Pink Floyd as Counterpoint to Adorno

2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/19401159.2015.1008344

1940-1167

Jérôme Melançon, Alexander Carpenter,

Musicology and Musical Analysis

Theodor Adorno insisted that progress in music depends upon an on-going, radical newness that breaks with convention as it strives towards aesthetic and social autonomy; it is not possible in popular music, which, as a mere cultural commodity, is necessarily formulaic, repetitive and static. There is, however, a genre of rock music that aspires to the high seriousness of art music, that eschews the market demands of the pop single, and that calls itself progressive. Progressive rock, exemplified by YES and Pink Floyd, both accords with and responds to Adorno's critique of popular music as meaningless and regressive, but also goes beyond what Adorno thought was possible for progressive music. As both musically and politically progressive, prog rock aspires to seriousness, meaning, and truth, challenges the aesthetic rigidity and capitalism of the music industry from within, and makes possible for listeners an awareness of the otherwise masked alienation of everyday life.