Classic Rock Prog Special: HFoS Thinks…
Not quite sure why, but I felt a little underwhelmed by the Classic Rock Presents… Prog! special I mentioned earlier this week. I’ve had it a couple of days now and despite there being some excellent interviews and features on the mighty Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, ELP, etc.(and who’d have thought Matthew Wright of Channel 5′s The Wright Stuff would be a prog fan?) I was left with the uneasy feeling that it could’ve been better.
Granted, it may well be my prejudices colouring my opinion, as the Head Full of Snow musical tastes tend to start late 1966 and peter out around 1979. Despite the occasional sojourn into the realms of the modern, albeit admittedly retro (see Matt Berry’s Witchazel review), it’s between these 13 solid years that they largely remain.
Unfortunately (for me, anyway) the magazine had too many items on modern progressive rock. I wanted to read about the bands of the 70s in all their barmy, spaced out, self-indulgent glory. I wanted tales of excess and folly from the likes of Camel, Web, Arthur Brown, Gentle Giant, The Pink Fairies et al. Fickle, I know, but that’s the cut of my jib. The review pages were largely made up of post 1980 stuff too.
Another prejudice reared its ugly head with the selection of Phil Jupitus to write about the Genesis album covers. His smugness grates with me and isn’t helped by the fact he seems to pass himself off at every given opportunity as an expert on every musical genre going.
Then there’s the cardboard wallet the magazine came in. Pretty? Yes. But what’s the point of it other than to bump up the cover price? Which raises the final gripe. The cost.
Seven pounds and ninety-nine of the Queen’s own! I fear this peculiarly high price may deter many from buying. I know I was in two minds while I stood in WH Smiths staring blankly at the cover and trying to come to a bloody decision. I’m aware that for such a niche subject they need to cover their costs and might very well end up running at a loss but even so, £7.99 is way too much for a magazine, beautifully designed cardboard wallet or not.
But personal prejudice and minor gripes aside, Classic Rock Presents… Prog! is a move in the right direction. It’s certainly a brave move to bring out a quarterly magazine dedicated to such a derided and, in this day and age, ostracised genre as prog rock. Whether it will find an audience remains to be seen. The inclusion of the modern-day stuff is clearly to cast the net as wide as possible and it might just work.
However, in three months time I would personally like to see a lower cover price or at least something a bit special other than a bit of cardboard to justify it.
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I saw a comment reportedly from prog rock scion Robert Wyatt recently that went something like…”Progressive Rock? – it was rather a silly term really. What could be more progressive than Bach, Handel and Haydn?”
Oh well, when you’re considering things within that sort of time frame……….
Haven’t shelled out for a copy of ‘Classic Rock’ or its offshoots yet – I only tend to buy the unsealed stuff – and ‘Record Collector’ is one of the few mags I do occasionally buy where I can read the whole thing from cover to cover and find it all interesting. Big problem of course is that today’s younger writers didn’t experience the prog era, so fill their pieces with inaccuracies & omissions without conveying the huge impact these groups, sounds and surrounding culture had at the time….
I’ll try to get Borders to find me a copy of ‘Shindig’ – but best by far of course was ‘Beat Instrumental’ magazine with its concise, snazzy, poppy slant, brilliant photos, and promo ads of naked ladies draped over Simms-Watts 100watt amplifier stacks…….!
Fraid I fall into that bracket of younger writer, as I wasn’t even born when the stuff I review first came out. Even so, I hope I’m free from inaccuracies and unintentional omissions.
I agree that ‘Record Collector’ is a quality read and should perhaps try and get it more often – trouble is finding the time to slot it in with everything else currently on the plate.
Thanks, as always, Martin. Your contributions bring an extra, firsthand depth to the proceedings.