dimanche 9 novembre 2014

A Brief History On Scandinavian Prog Rock

By Christa Jarvis


Progressive rock is known to actually be a very interesting and a very well loved sub genre of the core genre rock and roll. Now this sub genre actually originated from the country United Kingdom but quickly spread to other nearby countries too. It was because of this influence that the style Scandinavian prog rock was born and shot into the scene.

Now progressive music is something that stemmed out from a combination of a lot of genres that melted into one rather complicated style. Now the reason as to why it is labeled complicated is simply because there are often a lot of sudden changes in tempo and beat. Because of these sudden changes, listeners would often be given a variety of sounds to listen to in just one song which can be quite appealing.

Now the this sub genre of music is especially popular in the Scandinavian region of Europe. Now for those who do not know, this region is made up of three countries namely Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Included in the list of countries here would also be Finland, Holland, Greenland, Iceland and a few more others.

Now one of the first bands that came out for this music scene was a band known as Steppeulvene from Denmark. After the emergence of this band, many more other bands like Ache, Blue Sun, and of course the very famous Alrune Rod. What makes these bands really authentic is that they would make songs in their own native language and played songs inspired by their folk music.

Now one of the biggest names in this field would of course be Burnin Red Ivanhoe which was formed also in the very late sixties. Their unique sound fused so many genres together in order for them to produce something new. They also made use of a lot of different instruments like organs as well as violins, harmonicas, and trumpets.

Now the Swedish also had their own bands that they could be proud of. Now one thing to take note of is that prog rock did not become that popular among the Swedish unlike around the Dutch. This type of music only became extremely popular in the nineties when many artists and bands emerged from the underground.

Now another country that had become popular in this line of music would of course be the country of Holland. Their innovative bands would often copy the tunes from old folk songs and tried to fuse the it with rock elements. It is for this reason that most of the bands would produce melodic songs that would still have fast changes in tempo and rhythm.

So as one can see, the progressive scene is actually quite a big thing in the region of Scandinavia. Now one should remember that even if this type of music did originate from the United Kingdom, its influence spread to the countries beside it. Of course it was because of this spread that the genre was able to gain a lot of popularity.




About the Author: