In 2014 Jason Hanley, director of education at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, told Prog about his record collection from the first vinyl album he wore out to his more recent discoveries – and predicted that the American music institution which employs him would focus more on the genre as time passed.
“Long Island, 1984: I was just about to go to high school, aged 14 years old and a Beatles fan. I heard Owner Of A Lonely Heart on the radio and that song made me buy Yes’ 90125. Nowadays it’s looked at as a very pop album; but to a 14-year-old it was so fresh and so different. On Hold On, Changes and Leave It, hearing all the voices combining, it was complex but catchy so it pulled you in. 90125 is one of the albums in my life that I’ve played through multiple vinyl copies. It taught me that you can destroy a piece of vinyl!
My Uncle Greg heard me listening to that and he said, ‘That’s Yes, right? I’ve got a bunch of records that you have to listen to.’ He gave me Close To The Edge first, and even though it sounded very different to 90125 it drew me in right away. He also gave me Jethro Tull, Jefferson Starship and Meddle. Then he gave me Traffic’s Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory. To this day that stands out – good vocals, good melodic lines.
Many people want to define prog by its complexity, and that’s part of it, but having a good hook and sound that goes with it. You’ve Roll Right Stones with moments that drop out, slow down, a great bassline, multiple sections – it’s a 13-minute song! I don’t think it’s a concept record, but I made my own story from looking at the vinyl with the cut-outs on the cover and the really trippy picture. It ends with Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired, which seems like a good wrap-up to the theme.
In 1986 I picked up Peter Gabriel’s So. I hadn’t got into Genesis too much; I knew Abacab from the radio. I was hooked by Sledgehammer but there were other tracks such as Don’t Give Up with Kate Bush and We Do What We’re Told. I thought, ‘Wow, this Gabriel guy’s got something cool going on here!’
Then I bought Security and Melt and got really into the art rock sound of the back catalogue. I was 16 and starting to like records that challenged me, and the next record that changed me again was The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. A double record in a freaky sleeve, and in the gatefold was the story that Gabriel had written which made no sense! Then you pull the records out and the lyrics are on there. It was a treasure trove.
By the late ’80s my music tastes were very eclectic. I did a PhD on industrial rock, so one minute I was listening to Ministry, Front 242 and Throbbing Gristle, the next I was meeting people at college interested in prog rock. A big Rush fan lived in my dorm and he turned me on to them; and because I was listening to a lot of synthesizer industrial stuff, Grace Under Pressure stuck with me. It’s great, synth-heavy stuff, plus Alex Lifeson’s guitar sounds so biting. Some tracks had a reggae vibe that The Police were using.
Next I got into a group that opened up my love for kosmiche music – Can. What they were doing rhythmically, playing with different layers and textures, I’d choose Tago Mago for Halleluwah alone. It’s 18 minutes long and it doesn’t feel it at all, constantly pulling you into its next moment. Jaki Liebezeit is one of the most underrated drummers in rock and roll.
Later, new bands weren’t ashamed to show their love of prog, going back to multipart songs, concept albums and a complexity that takes rock and roll and stretches it. Radiohead signalled to me that it was coming down the pipe again. I was teaching music at the time, Creep had been a bit hit song, and a student gave me OK Computer, saying, ‘I think you’ll love this, from the stuff you’re teaching in class’. My first instinct was shock at how much like Floyd it sounded. It’s fairly clichéd to say how amazing it is, but I can’t deny how important that record is, going back to the experimentation that had already happened years ago and doing it in a contemporary environment with success.
My favourite current bands are Coheed And Cambria and The Dear Hunter. With Coheed, it’s all about Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow. Someone I work with told me to check them out when they came to the Rock Hall in 2008. They played a bunch of acoustic tunes and I was like, ‘This is really good!’ I bought the album right away. It felt new again to me, like 90125, or OK Computer.
I went to see them the next year and The Deer Hunter was opening for them, so I bought Act II: The Meaning Of, & All Things Regarding, Ms Leading. That’s a record where you open it up and there’s all these things that you pull out and it flashed me back to The Lamb…. Casey Crescenzo is such a good songwriter, and prolific. Their album Migrant is very orchestral – reminding me of Yes with Time And A Word.
Prog went out of favour, but people are looking at it in a different way. It’s escapist and beautiful
More prog is being inducted into the Rock Hall. A lot of it has to do with tastes changing; prog went out of favour, but now people are looking at it in a different way. It’s escapist and beautiful, but it can also be poignant and talk about important things. It endures and can be shared. At gigs I see generations of families. I recently went to Yes with my daughter, who plays bass, so that proves a point, right?
Over the years I’ve interviewed people such as Yes, Asia and Alan Parsons, and I’ve been nervous, particularly when it’s Yes. You try to be professional, but there’s a 14-year-old boy inside screaming, ‘I’m on stage with my idols!’ I’m a very lucky man.”
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