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Taken from The Tom Dunne Show (Apr 12, 2016)
Yes Guitarist Steve Howe on Prog-Rock
Think Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Focus, Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to name but a few.
This is a genre defined by the desire of musicians in the late 60's and early 70's to elevate rock to a new level, to give it more weight, more credibility, and break the limits of music as it was known.
Blending classical, jazz, psychedelic, and rock, orchestras, off-kilter structures, and some humor for good measure- the musicians behind this development were the avant-garde of music. But for better... or for worse?
Legendary virtuoso guitarist of prog-rock band 'Yes' - Steve Howe joined Tom to talk about his part in defining and developing the genre over a career spanning more than 50 years. They may often be slammed by critics as symphonic self-indulgence, but 'Yes' are still going strong, and will embark on another tour of America this summer.
Howe discussed the idea that punk destroyed prog, and how the band responded:
"The NME - after calling us the people's band in 1973, called us rock dinosaurs in 1978, so you can see where it was going. Then again, we came up with 'Drama', which is one of the albums we're going to be playing on this tour, and that shows you that we couldn't ignore that there was an edge in the music - and that album is kind of nicely edgy".
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