It’s easy to be scathing about prog rock: the highfalutin ideals, extensive instrumental meandering, the pseudo-intellectual lyrics and the ambitious concept of the ambitious concept album, complete with ultra-designed cover art. Even some of the artists who epitomise the genre are reluctant to accept the label but there is no denying that prog rock has many fans. Far from dying an elaborate death after the glory days of the 70s, the genre weathered the sneer of punk and the roller disco days to reach new peaks of popularity in the 21st century with modern bands including Dream Theater, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Opeth and The Mars Volta coming to the fore.

As a genre, prog took its lead from the rock music of the late 60s, borrowing the experimentalism of jazz and the unashamedly epic vision of classical music, grew arms, legs and curlicues and reached a zenith in the 70s. Leading proponents in the beginning included Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Rush and Pink Floyd, all with barely a handful of hit singles between them -- prog works best when allowed to develop over the course of a minimum 10-minute track. Since those days, many sub-genres have emerged, in many cases taking their lead from the dominant influences evident in their music – from the psychedelia of space rock (Hawkwind and Tangerine Dream) to the harder edge of progressive metal (Queensrÿche and Fates Warning) and on to the aural pleasures of Americana-inspired progabilly, as self-described by Dreadnaught.