http://mp3.rhapsody.com/charts?cat=artist&category=genre&genreId=44&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rssTop Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody OnlineArt & Progressive Rocken720Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:20:33 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://mp3.rhapsody.com/charts?cat=artist&category=genre&genreId=44&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69132&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:01 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.69132 art.69132 Pink Floyd art.69132 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69132&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69132&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Dark Side of the Moon. The concept album par excellence, Moon utilizes a narrative lyric structure and musical leitmotifs to give the album a sense of coherence. These compositional strategies culminated in '79s harrowing magnum opus, The Wall, an unflinching look at England's soul -- its educational system, its flirtations with fascism, the conservatism leading up to Thatcher. After Waters' defection, the remaining members came down with a crippling case of the blands but decided to stick it out, releasing a series of flashy (note '95's Pulse), nostalgic commodities that basically sounded like David Gilmour solo efforts (even if they continued to sell like genuine Pink Floyd productions). In July 2005, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Roger Waters reformed for the Live 8 charity concert. Sadly, in July 2006, Syd Barrett died at the age of 60, from complications of diabetes. - Chad Driscoll]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69088&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Hard Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:40 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.69088 art.69088 Queen art.69088 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69088&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69088&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.4817&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Brit Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:40 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.4817 art.4817 Radiohead art.4817 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.4817&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.4817&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss The Bends (1995) that Radiohead transcended the formula, crafting the patient, heart-wrenching "Fake Plastic Trees" and the magnetic, sunshine-driven "Black Star." Thom Yorke's signature falsetto began to operate in a more deeply emotional capacity at this point. Finally producing to the caliber of their songwriting, Radiohead's OK Computer demonstrated a staggering attention to detail, probably ranking as one of the greatest commercial artistic successes of the '90s. Rarely does a record offer masterpieces in varying moods. From the thunderously suspenseful "Airbag" to the moody chime of the blustery "Let Down," Radiohead emerged victorious. The alt-rock superstardom and critical gushing that followed pushed them into their darkest and most creative space yet, and they delivered the electronic-tinged Kid A in 2000 and Amnesiac in 2001. Many critics and fans claimed to not "get" the group's twisted, skittering melodies and complicated, chorus-free rock songs but to the devout the band's cerebral art rock was like manna from the heavens. 2003's Hail to the Thief offered up a mixture of guitar-driven tracks amid a more restless desire to experiment. In 2007, Radiohead shook up the music industry with In Rainbows, an album released via their website in which fans could name their own price. - Kelly Bauman]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.774&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Classic Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:41 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.774 art.774 The Who art.774 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.774&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.774&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss
All four band members grew up around London – Townshend, Daltrey, and Entwistle in the working-class Shepherd's Bush area. Townshend's parents were professional entertainers. He and Entwistle knew each other at school in the late-1950s and played in a Dixieland band when they were in their early teens, with Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on trumpet. They played together in a rock band, but Entwistle left in 1962 to join the Detours. That band included Roger Daltrey, a sheet-metal worker. When the Detours needed to replace a rhythm guitarist, Entwistle suggested Townshend, and Daltrey switched from lead guitar to vocals when the original singer, Colin Dawson, left in1963. Not long after that, drummer Doug Sandom was replaced by Moon, who was then playing in a surf band called the Beachcombers. By early 1964 the group had changed its name to the Who, and not long after, the excitement inspired by Townshend's bashing his guitar out of frustrating during a show ensured it would become a part of the act.

Shortly thereafter, the group came under the wing of manager Pete Meaden, who renamed them the High Numbers and gave them a better-dressed Mod image. The High Numbers released an unsuccessful single, "I'm the Face" b/w "Zoot Suit" (both written by Meaden), then got new managers, former small-time film directors Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. By late 1964 the quartet became the Who again, and with Lambert and Stamp's encouragement they became an even more Mod band, with violent stage show and a repertoire including blues, James Brown, and Motown covers, solely because their Mod audiences loved that music. In fact, despite the billing, the Who's original songs were anything but classic R&B. The group's demo of "I Can't Explain," with sessionman Jimmy Page adding guitar, brought them to producer Shel Talmy (who had also worked with the Kinks) and got them a record deal. When "I Can't Explain" came out in January 1965, it was ignored until the band appeared on the TV show Ready, Steady, Go. Townshend smashed his guitar, Moon overturned his drums, and the song eventually reached Number Eight in Britain. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" also reached the British Top Tem, followed in November 1965 by "My Generation." It went to Number Two in the U.K. but only reached Number 75 in the U.S. But the Who were already stars in Britain, having established their sound and their personae. Townshend played guitar with full-circle windmilling motions, Daltrey strutted like a bantam fighter, Entwistle (whose occasional songwriting effort revealed a macabre sense of humor) just stood there seemingly unmoved as Moon happily flailed all over his drum kit.

After the Who's fourth hit single, "Substitute" (Number 5 U.K.), Lambert replaced Talmy as producer. Their second album, A Quick One (While He's Away) (Happy Jack in the U.S.; Number 67, 1967), included a 10-minute mini-opera as the title track, shortly before the Beatles' concept album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. The Who also began to make inroads in the U.S. with "Happy Jack" (Number 24, 1967) and a tour that included the performance filmed at the Monterey Pop Festival in June.

The Who Sell Out (Number 48, 1967) featured mock-advertisement songs and genuine jingles from offshore British pirate radio stations; it also contained another mini-opera, "Rael," and a Top Ten hit in England and the U.S., "I Can See for Miles." In October 1968 the band released Magic Bus (Number 39, 1968), a compilation of singles and B-sides, while Townshend worked on his 90 minute opus, Tommy. The story of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy turned pinball champion-pop idol turned autocratic messianic guru was variously considered both pretentious and profound. Most important, however, Tommy was the first successful rock opera. The album hit Number Four in the U.S., and its first single, "Pinball Wizard," went to Number 19. The band would perform Tommy in its entirety a handful of times – -at London's Coliseum in 1969, at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House on June 6th and 7th, 1970, and on some dates during its 1989 reunion tour. Excerpts, including "See Me, Feel Me," "Pinball Wizard," and the instrumental "Underture," were thereafter part of the live show. Troupes mounted productions of it around the world (the Who's performances had been concert versions), and Townshend oversaw a new recording of it in 1972, backed by the London Symphony and featuring Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood, Sandy Denny, and Richard Burton, among others. In 1975 Ken Russell directed the controversial high-pop film version, which included Eric Clapton ("Eyesight to the Blind"), Tina Turner ("Acid Queen"), and Elton John ("Pinball Wizard"), as well as Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, and Jack Nicholson. Moon (as the lecherous Uncle Ernie) and Daltrey (in the lead title role) also appeared in the film.

Bits of Tommy turned up on Live at Leeds (Number Four, 1970), a juggernaut live set, which was followed by Who's Next (Number Four, 1971), a staple of FM rock radio. It included Townshend's first experiments with synthesizers – "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain," "Won't Get Fooled Again" – three songs that Townshend originally conceived as part of another rock opera entitled Lifehouse. The singles comp Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy (Number 11, 1971) was followed two years later by the Who's second double-album rock opera, Quadrophenia (Number Two, 1973), a tribute to the tortured inner life of the Mods. It too was a hit and became a movie directed by Franc Roddam in 1979, with Sting of the Police in the wordless role of the bellboy.

While the Who were hugely popular, Quadrophenia signaled that Townshend was now a generation older than the fans he had initially spoken for. As he agonized over his role as an elder statesman of rock — as he would do for years to come — the Who released Odds and Sods (Number 15, 1974), a compilation of the previous decade's outtakes. The Who by Numbers (Number Eight, 1975) was the result of Townshend's self-appraisal ("However Much I Booze"); it lacked the Who's usual vigor, but yielded a hit single in "Squeeze Box" (Number 16, 1975). The band could dependably pack arenas wherever it went, but it took some time off the road after By Numbers.

The group members — whose personality clashes are almost as legendary as their music — began pursuing more individual projects. Moon released a novelty solo disc, Two Sides of the Moon, which featured guest stars galore; Entwistle recorded two solo LPs with bands called Ox and Rigor Mortis. Daltrey also recorded solo; his first two efforts are widely regarded as mediocre and he only had one Top 40 hit in the U.S., "Without Your Love," from the McVicar soundtrack. The Townshend-penned "After the Fire" received substantial video exposure when released in 1985. Daltrey found considerably more success as an actor. Besides Tommy, he starred in Ken Russell's over-the-top "biography" of composer Franz Liszt, Lisztomania (1975) and McVicar (1980), the true story of the famous British criminal John McVicar. In the mid-1980s he played the double role of the Dromio twins in a PBS production of Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors. He's also appeared on the London stage (The Beggar's Opera, 1991) and on British television (The Little Match Girl, 1990). In 1999 he played Scrooge in a stage version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol in New York City.

In 1970 Townshend contributed four tracks to Happy Birthday, a privately released, limited edition album recorded as a tribute to Townshend's guru, Meher Baba. The following year, I Am, a similar limited-edition Baba tribute album, was released. It contained another Townshend track, a nine-minute instrumental version of "Baba O'Riley." As both these records were heavily bootlegged, Townshend's response was to create an "offical" version of both albums. The result, Who Came First (Number 69, 1972), was Townshend's first "real" solo album. It included the tracks from Happy Birthday and I Am, plus new songs, and demos of the Who tracks "Pure and Easy" and "Let's See Action." His second solo release was a collaboration with ex-Faces Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix (Number 45, 1977), which featured a number of FM/AOR radio staples: "Street in the City," "My Baby Gives It Away," and "A Heart to Hang on To."

Meanwhile, punk was burgeoning in Britain, and the Sex Pistols among others were brandishing the Who's old power chords and attitude. Townshend's continuing identity crisis showed up in the title of Who Are You (Number Two, 1978), but the title song became a hit single (Number 14) that fall, and the album went double platinum. It was the last and highest-charting album of the original band.

The next few years brought tragedy and turmoil, and in a sense, the end of the Who in the death of Keith Moon. Moon always reveled in his reputation as the madman of rock, and his outrageous stunts, onstage and off, were legend. His prodigious drinking and drug abuse (he was once paralyzed for days after accidentally ingesting an elephant tranquilizer) had begun to diminish his playing ability. In 1975 he left England for L.A., where he continued to drink heavily. He returned to England and was trying to kick his alcoholism, but on September 7, 1978, Moon died of an overdose of a sedative, Heminevrin, that had been prescribed to prevent seizures induced by alcohol withdrawal. Although the group continued for another three years, each of the three surviving original members has stated repeatedly that the Who was never the same again.

In 1979 the Who oversaw a concert documentary of their early years, The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack, Number Eight, 1979), and worked on the soundtrack version of Quadrophenia (Number 46, 1979), which also included a number of Mod favorites performed by the original artists (such as Booker T. & the M.G.'s' "Green Onions" and James Brown's "Night Train"). Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, replaced Moon, and session keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick began working with the Who. The new lineup toured, but tragedy struck again when 11 concert goers were killed — trampled to death or asphyxiated — in a rush for "festival seating" spots at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum on December 3, 1979. The incident occurred before the show, and the group wasn't told of it until afterward.

After 15 years with Decca/MCA, the Who signed a band contract with Warner Bros., and Townshend got a solo deal with Atco. His Empty Glass (Number Five, 1980) included the U.S. Top 10 hit "Let My Love Open the Door" and "Rough Boys," a song long believed to have been an angry reply to a punk musician who had insulted the Who during an interview. Much later, in a 1989 interview with writer Timothy White, Townshend denied that was the case, saying, "It's about homosexuality," and adding that "And I Moved" was as well. Townshend's admission of having "had a gay life," and the statement "I know how it feels to be a woman because I am a woman," came as a surprise to many, including his band mates.

In 1981 Townshend performed solo with an acoustic guitar at a benefit for Amnesty International, which was recorded as The Secret Policeman's Ball. His falling asleep onstage was the first public sign of his deepening drug addiction. Since the year before, Townshend had been abusing alcohol, cocaine, and freebase cocaine mixed with heroin. He subsequently developed an addiction to Ativan, a tranquilizer he was prescribed during treatment for alcoholism. Ativan combined with freebase and heroin resulted in a highly publicized, near-fatal overdose during which he was rushed to the hospital from a London club. Townshend subsequently underwent electro-acupuncture treatment and cleaned up in 1982.

Amid all this, the revamped Who soldiered on. Face Dances (Number Four, 1981) included the hit single "You Better You Bet" (Number 18, 1981) and "Don't Let Go the Coat." But Townshend later called the new lineup's debut album a disappointment. One month after Face Dances came out, the Who's former producer/manager, Kit Lambert, died after falling down a flight of stairs; he was 45. (Pete Meadon had died three weeks before Moon, in 1978.) Townshend released the wordy All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (Number 26, 1982), and soon followed it with the group's It's Hard (Number Eight, 1982), an album Daltrey has since been quoted as saying should never have been released. It produced the group's last Top 30 hit to date, "Athena" (Number 28). The Who then embarked on what they announced would be their last tour, ending with a concert in Toronto on December 17, 1982. Although the group officially broke up then, the Who have reunited to perform several times since. They appeared at Live Aid in 1985 and at a U.K. music-awards program in 1988. They celebrated the group's silver anniversary in 1989 with a 43-date tour of the U.S. which included guest-star-studded performances of Tommy in L.A. and New York, and later in London. For this tour Jones was replaced by session drummer Simon Phillips. It was also during this tour that Townshend, whose hearing was extremely damaged from years of listening to loud music through headphones, had to play standing behind a plastic baffle to block the onstage noise.

Townshend also released a number of solo projects throughout the 1980s: Scoop (Number 35, 1983) and Another Scoop (Number 198, 1987) collect demo tapes, home recordings, and sundry tracks of historical interest to fans. White City — a Novel (Number 26, 1985) is a concept piece, the soundtrack to a long-form video of the same title and includes "Face the Face"; The Iron Man: The Musical is the star-studded (Daltrey, Nina Simone, John Lee Hooker) soundtrack to Townshend's rock opera based on a children's story by poet Ted Hughes. Deep End Live!, released with an accompanying live video, barely scraped into the Top 100.

Townshend wrote in the liner notes to the 1994 box-set career retrospective Thirty Years of Maximum R&B: "I don't like the Who much . . . " Through the years of his derisive attitude toward the group has rung false at worst, disingenuous at best. In fact, Townshend's pride (and joy) in performing with the Who was abundantly clear during the band's 2000 tour, when he introduced it, happily, as "the fucking Who."

Despite Townshend's other projects and endeavors, including an editorship with book publisher Faber and Faber and publication of his collected stories, Horse's Neck (1985), the Who legacy endures. In 1993 the Broadway production of Tommy won five Tony Awards, including one for Townshend for Best Original Score. The next year saw the release of Townshend's PsychoDerelict (Number 118, 1994), a concept album that includes pieces written originally for the Lifehouse project. An examination of rock stardom's ravages, PsychoDerelict was also performed as a theater piece and filmed (it was subsequently broadcast on PBS). That year he also embarked on his first solo tour with a set list that included a number of Who classics, including "Won't Get Fooled Again." In February 1994 Townshend, Daltrey, and Entwistle reunited for Carnegie Hall performances in celebration of Daltrey's 50th birthday. Accompanied by a 65-piece orchestra, the trio was also joined by guest stars including Sinéad O'Connor, Eddie Vedder, and Lou Reed, and the show was filmed for cable television.

Two years later, the group recruited drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr) along with a 12-piece backing band and embarked on a series o dates in which they performed the Quadrophenia album in its entirety for the first time. Townshend again stuck to rhythm guitar to preserve his hearing, leaving electric guitar duties to his brother Simon Townshend.

In 1999 Townshend reunited the band again for a charity concert at the House of Blues in Chicago, which led to yet another reunion tour the following year. This time around, however, the Who toured as a quintet: Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle, Starkey, and John Bundrick on keyboards, with Townshend returning to electric guitar. The no-nonsense approach resulted in glowing reviews hailing the group's 2000 shows as some of their best in nearly two decades. A live album, Live: The Blues to the Bush/1999, was issued online via a partnership with Musicmaker.com, and the band even began talking about the possibility of a new studio set in the future. To cap their year, the Who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd annual Grammy Awards.

In the midst of all the Who activity in late 1999 and 2000, Townshend returned yet again to his lifelong Lifehouse project. The BBC broadcast a Lifehouse radio play in December 1999, and in February 2000, Townshend performed the rock opera himself at London's Sadler's Wells Theater. Shortly thereafter he released a six-disc box set, Lifehouse Chronicles, on his own Eelpie label via his Web site; a single-disc version, Lifehouse Elements, was released in stores by Redline Entertainment. Daltrey has continued planning his pet project, a film biography of the life of Moon.

In October 2001, the Who appeared at the Concert for New York City, a 9/11 benefit, where the band was received with the most warmth of any act on the evening's program. But before they could continue on the road again the following summer, John Entwistle died of a cocaine-fueled heart attack in his hotel room. They went out anyway, with session bassist Pino Palladino filling in. In 2004, Townshend and Daltrey recorded a pair of new songs, "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy," for a compilation. (The Who have released more compilations since their initial breakup than they did studio albums before it.) In July 2005 they appeared in London as part of Live 8. In October 2006, the Who released Endless Wire, their first album under that name in 24 years. It reached Number Seven and received middling reviews. November 2007 saw the DVD release of Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who, an extensive band documentary. ]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68579&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Classic Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:13 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.68579 art.68579 Santana art.68579 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68579&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68579&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1444&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:43 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1444 art.1444 Rush art.1444 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1444&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1444&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Permanent Waves and Signals, albums that yielded radio hits with "Tom Sawyer" and "New World Man," thus cementing Rush's place as the premier prog band of the decade. Things began to slow down starting with Grace Under Pressure and by 2000 they had pretty much fallen off the radar, despite continuing to draw huge crowds on tour. With 2002's Vapor Trails, they dispensed with the freaky keyboard sounds of their heyday and became a solid-rocking band, a style they adopted through Snakes & Arrows which came out in 2007. - Mike McGuirk]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43290&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:44 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.43290 art.43290 Genesis art.43290 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43290&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43290&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound. In concert, allegedly to combat shyness, he would wear masks and make-up, use props, and tell stories. Gabriel ended his relationship with the band in 1975, following the release of the incredibly ambitious double album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. When drummer Phil Collins took over vocal duties, Genesis grew to be one of the biggest-selling acts of the '80s, slowly shifting away from art rock and toward highly-produced, pop-oriented fare designed for mass consumption. Genesis still march on today with another singer in tow (Ray Wilson) and compilation releases of rarities and previously unavailable material. - Will Lerner]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1999&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss AOR Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:39:29 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1999 art.1999 Styx art.1999 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1999&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1999&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Kilroy Was Here. Their epic songs and Rock Opera sensationalism, as well as the elastic falsetto singing of Dennis DeYoung and androgynous charisma of Tommy Shaw, gave Styx an odd hit-or-miss chemistry that overwhelming amounts of music listeners either didn't understand, or to which they completely identified. - Charles Hodgkins]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1185&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:40 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1185 art.1185 The Moody Blues art.1185 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1185&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1185&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Days of Future Passed(1967). Embraced by flower children and art rock lovers alike, the album-story winds through a prototypical day before ending with their most famous song, "Nights in White Satin." Over the top? Absolutely. Pretentious? Possibly. So, the Moodies dropped the orchestra and placed more importance on keyboardist Mike Pinder's mellotron and the rest of the group's ability as multi-instrumentalists. The streamlined sound served them well, especially on songs such as the joyous rocker "Ride My See-Saw." After making a series of albums in this vein, the band went on hiatus, only to reemerge in the late 1970s. They never again broke new ground in popular music, but they did have enjoy a few more hits, most notably "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986). The band has continued frequent touring and the sporadic release of records into the present day, with Keys of the Kingdom, Strange Times and December appearing in 1991, 1999 and 2003, respectively. - Will Lerner]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6448&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:46 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.6448 art.6448 Yes art.6448 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6448&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6448&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69196&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Adult Alternative Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:45 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.69196 art.69196 Peter Gabriel art.69196 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69196&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69196&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss
Gabriel's first solo album was an eponymously titled effort, as were his next three. (The idea, he once explained, was to suggest issues, as one would for a magazine.) The first and second LPs drew attention for the respective singles "Solsbury Hill" and "D.I.Y." The third, produced by Steve Lillywhite, yielded "Games Without Frontiers" (Number 48, 1980) and showed Gabriel striving to break rock conventions: For instance, drummers Jerry Marotta and Phil Collins (Gabriel's former Genesis bandmate) were prohibited from using cymbals.

Gabriel's fourth album, subtitled Security (1982), was the singer's first to go gold; it also gave him his first Top 40 single with "Shock the Monkey." That same year, Gabriel financed the World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD) Festival, designed to bring African and Far Eastern music - which had increasingly influenced his work — to Western ears. To offset the festival's debt, he staged a Genesis reunion concert and released a WOMAD album, featuring cuts by himself, Robert Fripp (the producer of his second LP), and Pete Townshend alongside ethnic-music sources. The WOMAD Festival became an annual event, and the organization eventually spawned an education program and record label.

In 1984 Gabriel was tapped to score Alan Parker's film Birdy; the singer consequently won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. In 1985 he founded Real World Inc., aimed at developing cross-cultural projects in technology and the arts. The following year, he started the United Nations University for Peace, intended to fund an international human-rights computer network, and set up Real World Studios, a recording complex near Bath, England, where artists including Van Morrison and New Order have since worked. (A Real World record label, dedicated to exposing ethnic music from around the world, was established in 1989.)

_The year 1986 also saw Gabriel's commercial breakthrough. So, coproduced with Daniel Lanois, reached Number Two and produced the funky, chart-topping "Sledgehammer," which Gabriel accompanied with a groundbreaking video full of provocative live-action-animation images. A video for "Big Time" (Number Eight, 1987) followed suit. Other singles included "In Your Eyes" (Number 26, 1986) and "Don't Give Up" (Number 72, 1987), a duet with Kate Bush.

Gabriel joined U2, Sting, and others for a 1986 tour on behalf of Amnesty International. A 1988 Amnesty tour followed, with Gabriel, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour (who had sung on So). Also in 1988, Gabriel performed "Biko," his tribute to South African civil-rights martyr Steven Biko (from 1980's Peter Gabriel) at a Nelson Mandela tribute at London's Wembley Stadium, and composed music for Martin Scorsese's controversial adaptation of The Last Temptation of Christ. The 1989 soundtrack album won a Grammy for Best New Age Performance.

Gabriel's next studio album, 1992's Us, was inspired by his mid-80s divorce from childhood sweetheart Jill Moore and the breakup of a subsequent relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette. The album reached Number Two and generated "Digging in the Dirt" (Number 52, 1992) and "Steam" (Number 32, 1992). In 1993 Gabriel enlisted an international roster including Sinéad O'Connor, Crowded House, James, and P.M. Dawn for a WOMAD tour. The 1994 double CD Secret World Live was recorded during two Italian concerts in 1993. Also in 1994 the musician added another branch to his corporation, called Real World Multi Media, to use technology as another creative outlet. The division published its first CD-ROM, Xplora 1, an interactive look into Gabriel's various projects, that year. A follow-up, Eve, featuring Gabriel's music and the work of several visual artists, was released in 1997. The musician helped develop an attraction for the London Millennium Dome, which opened on New Year's Day 2000; he also issued a soundtrack, OVO, for the attraction, which included a drawn storybook.

After 2001, Gabriel continued to work on soundtracks. In 2002, he wrote the soundtrack to the Australian film Rabbit-Proof Fence as well as releasing the critically unsuccessful Up, his first solo album in 10 years. A remastered edition of Us was also issued in 2002. Hit, a compilation of Gabriel's greatest, was released in 2003. Gabriel continued to record songs for a plethora of films, most recently "Down to Earth" for Disney's Wall-E. ]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5814&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss AOR Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:42 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.5814 art.5814 Kansas art.5814 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5814&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5814&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.42557&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Lite Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:44 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.42557 art.42557 Alan Parsons Project art.42557 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.42557&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.42557&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon). Typical of the studio indulgences of the '70s, the Alan Parsons Project involved themselves in dense fluff with notions of classicism. In 1975, Tales of Mystery and Imagination spelled out their highbrow ambitions on a concept album dedicated to the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Eye in the Sky (and its title track) brought the band their widest success in '82, as well as the indefatigable chorus "I can read your mind" and a record cover that would fool a generation of Siouxsie and the Banshees fans into buying their first soft-rock LP. Ammonia Avenue, released in 1984, balanced classic rock with the electronic inclinations of contemporaries like Hall & Oates. In 1987, the group indulged its most grandiose urges with Gaudi, an audio portrait of the visionary Catalan architect. - Philip Sherburne]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44067&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:42 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.44067 art.44067 Jethro Tull art.44067 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44067&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44067&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss j-tull.com, finds them with the usual arsenal of wind instruments and palatable riffs for both knights and knaves. - Jon Pruett]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3711&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Hard Rock Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:56:27 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.3711 art.3711 Alice Cooper art.3711 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3711&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3711&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Trash. Though respected by a new generation of hard-rock fans, he never reached that kind of popularity again.

Vincent Furnier, son of a preacher, assembled his hard-rocking band in Phoenix. They were first known as the Earwigs, then the Spiders, and finally the Nazz (not to be confused with Todd Rundgren's band). They moved en masse to L.A. in 1968. Billing themselves as Alice Cooper (who, according to a Ouija board, was a 17th-century witch reincarnated as Furnier), they established themselves on the Southern California bar circuit with a bizarre stage show and a reputation as the worst band in L.A. Frank Zappa's Straight Records released their first two albums, which sold poorly and, with tour costs, left them $100,000 in debt.

The band members moved to Detroit, where they lived for several months in a single hotel room before the release of their major-label debut and breakthrough album, Love It to Death. Joining Cooper's taboo-defying lyrics to powerful hard rock, the album became the first in a string of gold and platinum releases and included "Eighteen" (Number 21, 1971). Subsequent hit singles included "School's Out" (Number Seven, 1972), "Elected" (Number 26, 1972), "Hello Hooray" (Number 35, 1973), and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (Number 25, 1973).

In 1973 Surrealist master Salvador Dalí filmed the singer, wearing diamond necklaces and tiara, as he bit the head off a small replica of the Venus de Milo for a holographic work. With such widespread success, even amid the gruesome stage sets and macabre makeup, Cooper seemed less threatening.

The band broke up in 1974 and Cooper began using such musicians as ex–Lou Reed guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. (In 1977 former band members Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith formed Billion Dollar Babies and recorded one unsuccessful album.) "Alice Cooper - The Nightmare," an April 1975 prime time TV special, seemed to indicate Cooper's acceptance as a mainstream entertainer, as did a handful of appearances on The Hollywood Squares. His then-current hit, "Only Women Bleed" (Number 12, 1975), was a ballad, as were two subsequent hits: "I Never Cry" (Number 12, 1976) and "You and Me" (Number Nine, 1977).

In 1978 Cooper committed himself to a psychiatric hospital for treatment of alcoholism, an experience chronicled on From the Inside, which includes some lyrics by Elton John's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin and the hit "How You Gonna See Me Now" (Number 12, 1978). Neither the hard-rocking Flush the Fashion nor Special Forces was especially successful, and Cooper took a hiatus. He returned in 1986 with Constrictor, followed by Raise Your Fist and Yell, both deep in the heavy-metal vein. The Nightmare Returns Tour and MTV Halloween special brought Cooper's violent, twisted onstage fantasies to a new generation, and he closed the 1980s with the platinum Trash and "Poison (Number Seven, 1989), his first Top 20 single in more than a decade.

Cooper, for whom Alice is such a character that he speaks of him in the third person in interviews, has also appeared in several films: Prince of Darkness (1988), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and most notably Wayne's World (1992). For The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years, he rerecorded "Under My Wheels" with Guns n' Roses' Axl Rose, Slash, and Izzy Stradlin. Prominent among Cooper's legion of second-generation fans are Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx, Joe Satriani, and Slash, all of whom guested on Hey Stoopid; Soundgarden's singer, Chris Cornell, was on The Last Temptation, while Sammy Hagar and Rob Zombie appeared on the live recording A Fistful of Alice.

His career flagging in the late-1990s, Cooper moved away from the power ballads that had marked his 1980s records and reunited with producer Bob Ezrin (who had worked on Love It to Death, Killer, and School's Out, among others) on the indie release Brutal Planet, a science-fiction concept album. But despite the return of a guillotine (a mainstay of his 1970s shows) as an accessory on the Live From the Brutal Planet Tour, Cooper seems mild compared to the likes of Slipknot or Marilyn Manson, who arguably were directly inspired by him.

In 2001, Cooper released Dragontown (Number 197) and former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer guest-starred on the follow-up, The Eyes of Alice Cooper (Number 184, 2003).

These days not only does Alice Cooper play family-friendly places such as state fairs but he also opened a restaurant, Alice Cooper'stown, in Phoenix. Cooper increasingly seems to take delight in subverting his long-running (and somewhat overstated) horror-rock reputation: He's an avid golfer, as well as an occasional supporter of George H.W. Bush. That said, he still has some surprises left in him: His Dirty Diamonds (Number 169, 2005) album included a cameo from rapper Xzibit. In 2008, at the age of 60, Cooper released Along Came a Spider a concept album written from the perspective of a serial killer. ]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1976&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Rock Opera Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:56:20 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1976 art.1976 Meat Loaf art.1976 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1976&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1976&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Bat Out of Hell, which spawned the hits "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and its title track. The magic mix of classically tinged piano vamps, bar-room boogie, Todd Rundgren's production sheen, and Meat Loaf's powerful voice helped Bat Out of Hell climb the radio charts with ease. Then for all but the rabid faithful, Meat Loaf disappeared until his reunion with Steinman in 1993 for Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which flashed the proverbial pan with the hit "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." Both a rock icon and one of its flourishing survivors, Meat Loaf can now be occasionally found shooting his mouth off on late night television's pop culture microscope Politically Incorrect. - Eric Shea]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3719&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Progressive Metal Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:42 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.3719 art.3719 Dream Theater art.3719 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3719&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3719&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3864&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:20:23 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.3864 art.3864 Brian Eno art.3864 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3864&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3864&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss
Pop content is just one component in the Eno catalogue and melody doesn't seem to interest him half as much as sound itself. Consequently, trawling through the Eno catalogue can be as frustrating as it is rewarding, especially as his later albums tend more toward music that seems airy, empty, and maddeningly diffuse.

In that sense, perhaps the best way to approach the Eno oeuvre is by forgetting chronology and diving in with the box sets. I: Instrumentals is a delightful omnibus of sound sketches, studio experiments, and sonic art. Some of it is from collaborations with Bowie, avant-pop trumpeter Jon Hassell, minimalist composer Harold Budd, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, or the German electro group Cluster; some is from solo work using his own keyboards or session musicians. Invariably, Eno finds a certain idiosyncratic element in the sounds produced, and tickles them out. When his teasing tends toward atmospheric stasis, the results are generally dubbed "ambient" — sort of like New Age gets an MFA. But not everything there falls into that category; some tracks, such as "Energy Fools the Magician" or "Chemin de Fer," are as catchy and well-crafted as any pop single.

The second box, II: Vocals, has far more of that, and relies heavily on Eno's early albums. Applying what he learned about pop subversion from his tenure in Roxy Music to the revisionist aesthetic of new-wave rock, songs such as "Baby's On Fire," "King's Lead Hat," and "Here Come the Warm Jets" boast all the hook-driven appeal of hit singles, yet without the heard-it-before predictability of conventional pop. Eno rarely took the conventional give-the-singer-the-melody approach, however, and on a number of tracks, the vocal — which may be song, or speech, or some "found" bit of a movie or radio broadcast -- is just part of the overall sound, often almost incidental to the instrumental parts.

For fans of his vocal music, the key Eno albums are Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy), and Before and After Science. It may be easy to hear in both an anticipation of punk and an echo of Roxy Music in the arch clangor of Here Come the Warm Jets, but what shines brightest is the offhand accessibility of the songs. It hardly matters whether he's playing with style (as with the doo-wop undercurrent to "Cindy Tells Me") or fooling with form (the portmanteau construction of "Dead Finks Don't Talk"); the melodies linger on. Listening to it now, the album seems almost a blueprint for the pop experiments Bowie (with Eno producing) would conduct with Low.

Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) is just as pop-friendly and eclectic, but shies away from the abrasive textures of its predecessor, swapping distortion and dissonance for blurred edges and open-ended harmonies. Not that the album is entirely without teeth, as there's an itchy aggression to the breathless "Third Uncle" and an ominous urgency to the latter half of "The True Wheel." But Eno keeps such snarls on a tight leash; far more typical is the dry wit of "Back in Judy's Jungle."

But it's Before and After Science that stands as the greatest of Eno's "pop" albums. A nearly perfect album, it frames Eno's melodic instincts in every imaginable way, from the chilly funk of "No One Receiving" to the irrepressible vigor of "King's Lead Hat" (an anagram for Talking Heads), to the dreamy cadences of "Here He Comes."

After sitting out the 1980s, Eno returned to the pop form in 1990 with the brittle, uneven Wrong Way Up. Recorded with John Cale, it's a good attempt at recapturing the old magic, but frankly Cale's intense artiness undercuts Eno's instincts. My Squelchy Life was originally intended as the follow-up, but after making advance copies available to the press, Eno withdrew the album (which is now available only on bootleg). Instead, the unexpectedly funky Nerve Net became his next pop effort, and it mostly fizzles. Perhaps sensing the tenor of the times, Eno puts more effort into making good grooves than in writing memorable melodies, and while the resulting tracks are full of good energy and interesting sounds, they lack the hooky good nature of Before and After Science.

Then again, after Eno's having spent most of the previous decade releasing album after album on which texture was king, what were we to expect? Although some critics have derided his instrumental albums as being a sort of high-concept mood music, it wasn't mood he was interested in; it was atmosphere. On these discs, he took an almost functional approach to music, manipulating its sonic power in the same way a painter or interior designer might manipulate the power of light, color, and form.

Eno began moving in that direction with Another Green World. Here, he uses the studio itself as an instrument, molding directed improvisation, electronic effects, and old-fashioned songcraft into perfectly balanced aural ecosystems such as "Sky Saw" or "St. Elmo's Fire." Initially, he referred to these quiet soundscapes as "discreet" music, and on Discreet Music (a wry deconstruction of "Pachelbel's Canon in D") demonstrates his basic tools: minimal melodies, subtle textures, and variable repetition. Around this time, he had also been collaborating with the German synth duo Cluster on a pair of moody, coloristic electronic albums, selections from which may be found on the Begegnungen and Begegnungen II compilations. But it was Music for Airports that finally codified these experiments into an aesthetic, and even provided a label for the sound: ambient music.

As much as Eno understands about psycho-acoustics and the relationship between what is heard and what is merely sensed, the largely functional (and mostly tuneless) nature of the music limits the listening pleasure of subsequent ambient releases, such as On Land, Apollo, and Thursday Afternoon. (Eno also produced albums by other artists for his ambient series: both Harold Budd's rich, moody Plateaux of Mirror and Laraaji's shimmering Day of Radiance are slightly more energetic and engaging than Eno's own efforts.)

There were, of course, releases that didn't carry the ambient tag but seemed part of the same musical subspecies. The three volumes of Music for Film work very much on the same principle as the ambient albums, and feature some of the same collaborators. Likewise, there's an extreme emphasis on atmosphere in the spacey Shutov Assembly, the contemplative Neroli, and the delicately textured Drop.

Meanwhile, Eno continued to collaborate with others. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which takes its title from Amos Tutuola's novel, was recorded with Talking Headman David Byrne, and offers some insight into the cut-and-paste approach to groove the two applied while making Talking Heads' Remain in Light. Its "found art" approach to vocals (however scrupulously footnoted) is an acquired taste, but in hindsight it sounds like a true forerunner of hip-hop sampling. Spinner, recorded with former Public Image Ltd. bassist Jah Wobble, boasts gently insistent grooves and strongly Middle Eastern flavors, elements Eno had flirted with on the earlier Ali Click.

Eno also worked with the German DJ Jan Peter Schwalm. Their first collaboration, the Japanese-only Music for Onmyoji (literally, "Music for the Fortune-teller"), is a double album combining one disc of conventional, deftly crafted synth-scapes with a disc of manipulated and collaged recordings based on gagaku, the ancient traditional music of the Japanese Imperial Court. Drawn From Life is rather less exotic, relying on Western instrumentation and household sounds to generate a rich, surprisingly evocative sonic tapestry celebrating the rhythm of day-to-day life (hence the title).

There's a third stream to Eno's catalogue that isn't represented by a box, and that's his "installations." These are sound sculptures created for specific environments; usually instrumental, they are not compositions in the traditional sense, with a beginning, middle, and end, but are open-ended constructions designed to go on indefinitely without looping or intentionally repeating the material. (Opal is Eno's own label, and these discs are available online from www.enoshop.co.uk.) Some, such as Kite Stories or Compact Forest Proposal, for instance, come from environmental pieces in which multiple CD players, loaded with multiple discs, provide layers of music from varied locations. Obviously, the CD experience can only approximate the installation. Others, such as Lightness and I Dormienti, are more conventional ambient pieces. Perhaps the most interesting is January 07003: Bell Studies for the Clock of Long Now, which treats, toys with, and manipulates the sound of bells, a wonderfully transformative piece that provides new insight into everyday chiming.

More Blank Than Frank and Desert Island Selection are best-of albums emphasizing material from Warm Jets through Science. And Curiosities, Vol. 1 is essentially a collection of leftovers, tracks deemed by Eno too interesting to discard, but too singular to be included elsewhere. Completists only.

By the 1990s, Eno was an established voice in a range of contemporary music. In Low Symphony, composer Philip Glass spun off themes and variations of Bowie's Low, a work indelibly marked by Eno's stamp; ambient techno bands like the Orb and Irresistible Force owed an obvious debt to Eno. He has also long been interested in other media, his video installations having been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and his 1996 autobiography, A Year (With Swollen Appendices) having provided an index of his omnivorous interests. Eno continued to expand the vocabulary of music into the new millennium, composing for video games and producing albums by artists ranging from veteran Paul Simon to newcomer Coldplay.

In 2004 he teamed up with old friend Fripp for another ambient collection, and in 2006 he celebrated the 25th anniversary of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts with Byrne. The latter project had feet in both the past and future, as the marketing plan included a Website wherein fans of the classic work could legally download multi-tracks of two songs, remix them and then repost them for others to hear. That same year, Eno released the visual work 77 Million Paintings, a DVD/software package offering computer screens a constantly evolving painting with an ambient-music background. In 2008, after nearly 30 years, Eno and Byrne again reconnected for Everything That Will Happen Will Happen Today, a follow up of sorts to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

As a composer, producer, keyboardist, singer and multi-media visual artist, Eno is responsible less for a new sound and look in pop than for an entirely new way of thinking about music — as an atmosphere, rather than a statement, an experiment in sound, rather than a virtuosic expression. Combining the cerebral qualities of European high culture with the technological outlook of a futurist, he also has been responsible for an aesthetic movement that incorporates both Western and Third World sounds. ]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69090&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Progressive Metal Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:50 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.69090 art.69090 Queensryche art.69090 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69090&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.69090&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.920&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:22 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.920 art.920 Todd Rundgren art.920 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.920&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.920&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Something/Anything?) to the more complex progressive rock of Utopia, which did gain Rundgren a devoted cult following. Through it all, this multi-instrumentalist has maintained a prolific sideline career as a producer; he must also be regarded as a pioneer of rock video, interactive CD, and Web-based music.

Rundgren began playing in a high-school band, Money, then went on to play with Woody's Truckstop in the mid-'60s (a tape recording of the latter makes a brief appearance on Something/Anything?). In 1967 he formed the Nazz [see entry], which, contrary to then-prevailing West Coast psychedelic trends, tried to replicate the look of Swinging London in its clothes, Mod haircuts, and Beatles-ish pop sound. In some ways the Nazz was ahead of its time, especially in terms of Rundgren's studio facility and the band's musical sophistication. But the quartet remained a local Philadelphia phenomenon, with one minor hit single, the original version of "Hello It's Me." The Nazz broke up in 1969, at which point Rundgren formed the studio band Runt and hit the Top 20 in 1971 with the single "We Gotta Get You a Woman."

By this time Rundgren had become associated with manager Albert Grossman, who let him produce for his new Bearsville label. By 1972 Rundgren had taken over production of Badfinger's Straight Up LP from George Harrison (who was involved with his Bangla Desh concerts) and had engineered the Band's Stage Fright and Jesse Winchester's self-titled 1971 LP, as well as produced records by the Hello People, bluesman James Cotton, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Halfnelson (who later became Sparks). In 1973 he would produce the New York Dolls' debut LP, Grand Funk Railroad's We're an American Band, and Fanny's Mother's Pride.

For many, Something/Anything? (Number 29, 1972) is the high-water mark of Rundgren's solo career. On it he played nearly all the instruments, overdubbed scores of vocals, and managed to cover pop bases from Motown to Hendrix, from the Beach Boys to the Beatles. The album yielded hit singles in "I Saw the Light" (Number 16, 1972) and "Hello It's Me" (Number 5, 1973).

A Wizard/A True Star (Number 86, 1973), while in much the same vein, was more of a critical than commercial success. However, Rundgren's cult following was growing. In Wizard's liner notes he asked fans to send their names to him for inclusion in a poster to be contained in his next LP. As promised, 1974's Todd included that poster - with some 10,000 names printed on it in tiny type.

That same year Rundgren unveiled his cosmic/symphonic progressive-rock band Utopia, which gradually expanded his following to mammoth proportions. Utopia was a more democratic band, in which Rundgren shared songwriting and lead vocals with other members (from 1977 on: Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton, and Willie Wilcox). In the mid-'70s Utopia played bombastic suites with "cosmic" lyrics and used pyramids as a backdrop, but in the 1980s it returned to Beatles/new wave–style pop (Faithful [Number 54, 1976]). Despite some excellent music, the quartet never placed a single in the Top 40 or saw any of its 11 albums go gold. One of their songs, "Love Is the Answer," was a 1979 Top 10 hit for England Dan and John Ford Coley.

In 1975 Rundgren produced Gong guitarist Steve Hillage's L, on which Utopia played backup. A trip to the Middle East in 1978 led Rundgren to a brief flirtation with Sufism; that same year Hermit of Mink Hollow (Number 36, 1978) produced his first hit single in several years in "Can We Still Be Friends?" (a minor hit for Robert Palmer a year later). Rundgren also produced Meat Loaf's monstrously successful Bat Out of Hell. In 1979 alone he produced Tom Robinson's TRB Two, the Tubes' Remote Control, and Patti Smith's Wave; in 1980 he produced Shaun Cassidy's Wasp.

By that time Rundgren had taken a strong interest in the emerging field of rock video. By 1981 he had built his own computer-video studio in Woodstock, New York, and was making technically advanced surrealistic videotapes. In 1982 Rundgren embarked on a one-man tour, playing sets that were solo-acoustic as well as those in which he was backed by taped band arrangements, with his computer-graphic videos being shown also. He still concentrated on production (with the Psychedelic Furs, among others) and video art.

Utopia took an indefinite sabbatical in 1985. Sulton, in addition to recording on his own, has played with Joan Jett, Hall and Oates, Patty Smyth, and Cheap Trick. Powell, designer of a shoulder-strap keyboard called the Powell Probe, now engineers software for a computer-graphics firm, while Wilcox writes and produces. In 1992 the four reunited for a tour of Japan, captured on Utopia Redux '92.

The following year Rundgren went back out on the road as a high-tech one-man band to perform his unique new album No World Order. The world's first interactive music-only CD (available on Philips), it allowed listeners to reshape the 10 songs into an infinite number of versions. To hear the same version of a song twice, Rundgren claimed, users would have to play the disc 24 hours a day, seven days a week "well into the next millennium." Continuing in a similar vein, he then released The Individualist, an enhanced CD which paired each song with its lyrics, graphics, and video. At about that time he came up with the monicker TR-i (Todd Rundgren–interactive), to be used for his multimedia work. In typical fashion, though, his next move was to rerecord several of his old songs in bossa-nova arrangements on 1997's With a Twist...(which also featured Utopia bassist Sulton). That same year he was one of the few Westerners invited to play the Shanghai Festival.

Consistently fascinated with new technological developments, Rundgren created PatroNet, a Web-based service in which subscribers could purchase new songs after paying a yearly fee, in 1998. The 2000 release One Long Year collected some of the songs sold through PatroNet. That year he embarked on a tour in which he performed material from his entire catalogue in a power-trio formation that also included Sulton and drummer Trey Sabatelli. Rundgren toured solo and with Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band in the late-90s as well as produced Bad Religion's The New America and Splender's Halfway Down the Sky in 2000. An ongoing compilation, Todd Archive Series, included 11 different sets: The King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert, numerous full concerts, demos, and outtakes while Rundgren was alone, with Nazz, and Utopia, and a collection of Japanese-only rarities. In 2001 Rundgren played in the Beatles tribute tour, A Walk Down Abbey Road. In 2004, Rundgren released the political Liars on Sanctuary, making it his first rock album in thirteen years. In 2006, he assumed Rick Ocasek's duties in the Cars, henceforth named the New Cars. In September of 2008 Rundgren released Arena, which, with a surfeit of guitar-based rock and bombast, was something of a return to form. ]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9544862&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Emo/Hardcore Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:41:53 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.9544862 art.9544862 Angels & Airwaves art.9544862 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9544862&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9544862&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss We Don't Need to Whisper is several degrees of complexity and grandiosity beyond blink-182, layered with guitar and synth overdubs, dramatic electronic flourishes and big-budget production. - Jonathan Zwickel]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2191&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss New Wave Thu, 3 Dec 2009 22:53:33 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.2191 art.2191 Roxy Music art.2191 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2191&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2191&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Siren (1975), culminating in the lush, gorgeous music of Avalon (1982). They ended their career revealing just how intoxicating romance can be. - Will Lerner]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2069&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Adult Alternative Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:19:32 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.2069 art.2069 Kate Bush art.2069 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2069&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2069&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss The Kick Inside, to the No. 3 position, selling over a million copies in the U.K. alone. Her next album, Lionheart, reached No. 6 on the charts, and while it wasn't quite the sensation that its predecessor was, the record established her as one of the more inventive and risk-taking artists extant. Her spectral beauty, excessive stage shows -- which often contained nearly 20 costume changes -- extravagant mime work and over-the-top set designs spawned her long run (which continues to this day) as an object of cult devotion.

In 1980, Bush returned to the upper reaches of the charts with a more experimental offering, Never For Ever, which found the singer not only arranging her own material, but also co-producing the album. It yielded three hits ("Breathing," "Army Dreamers" and the ethereal "Babooshka"), and it displayed a compositional density and complexity not found in her earlier work. The Dreaming (1982) took her into a new realm altogether, moving the singer out of mainstream pop and into darker terrain. The self-produced offering was far less melodic, with jagged rhythms and atonal chants. It was clear from this point on that Bush would never again be pigeonholed as merely a charming, ethereal singer. Hounds of Love (1985) reinforced that: it finds the singer at the peak of her powers, showcasing her burgeoning talents as a writer, producer and singer, as she weaves Arthurian legend with Jungian psychology, creating what would be her master work. After such a prodigious effort, Bush took an extended hiatus and didn't return until 1989, with The Sensual World, a wonder-filled yet shambolic affair, what with Celtic harps, whips, uilleann pipes and a soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses woven into the title song. The album showed Bush to be a brave, provocative and atavistic artist.

Unfortunately, Bush's output has since dwindled. Her only release in recent years was 1993's The Red Shoes. Ostensibly christened after the movie of the same name, the album was dedicated to her mother, who had just died. While emotions run high on the collection, it is nowhere near as strong as some of her earlier stuff. In fact, it seems as if she is no longer in the service of her strange, otherworldly muse; instead she seems to embrace a more prosaic, lustier approach to life -- her panes to food, eroticism and romance might have everything to do with her long-time relationship with guitarist Danny McIntosh. More than a decade after her last album, Bush confirmed in a 2004 Christmas letter to fans that she is at work on a new album recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios. She plans to unleash the disc in 2005. - Jaan Uhelszki]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.165&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss AOR Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:40 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.165 art.165 Asia art.165 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.165&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.165&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Alpha. From there, a "Ten Little Indians" scenario played out over the years until an entirely different band, led by Downes and replacement singer John Payne, was performing as "Asia with John Payne." This continued until 2008, when all four original members of the supergroup finally reunited and recorded Phoenix. - Mike McGuirk]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.7098&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:49 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.7098 art.7098 Emerson, Lake & Palmer art.7098 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.7098&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.7098&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Spinal Tap punchline ignores what a startlingly original and ambitious group they really were, especially when you put them back in their early '70s context. Keith Emerson stands as one of the most innovative and talented keyboardists ever to beat up an organ. Not only did he elevate the status of his instrument, so that guitarists were no longer the rock world's only virtuosos, he was also one of the first players to put the Moog synthesizer in the spotlight. The other members of the group were likewise musicians of note: Carl Palmer astonished would-be drum wizards with his maniacal and versatile playing, while Greg Lake not only played bass and guitar (and sang with one of the sweetest voices in rock) but produced the band's records as well. - Will Lerner]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6134&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Classic Rock Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:56:21 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.6134 art.6134 Pete Townshend art.6134 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6134&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6134&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Tommy and Quadrophenia, the latter a stunning conceptual epic about his love/hate relationship with the U.K. mod scene of the mid-1960s. Townshend's dynamic, over-the-top guitar playing mellowed to a bluesy, rootsy, down-home strut when he collaborated with ex-Faces bassist Ronnie Lane for a solid duo album in 1976 entitled Rough Mix. Townshend's first pop-oriented solo album (1972's Who Came First was too eccentric for the mainstream market) was 1980's Empty Glass, featuring the chart-topper "Let My Love Open the Door." The criminally underrated All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (whose final song, "Slit Skirts," may be Townshend's most moving composition) followed two years later. Who reunion tours, less successful solo efforts, and the massively successful Broadway production of Tommy have dominated this English legend's career throughout the last fifteen years. - Eric Shea]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.10256&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Lite Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:46 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.10256 art.10256 Dave Mason art.10256 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.10256&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.10256&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Alone Together, which did well on the strength of the modest hit "Only You Know And I Know," a song previously performed by Delaney & Bonnie. Mason continued to release records into the '70s, moving in a lite rock direction all the while, but he did not hit it big until 1977's Let It Flow, which featured the aforementioned "We Just Disagree." Anyone born in the '70s is likely to know this song by heart, thanks to it having one of the catchiest choruses ever written and its success on AM and FM radio. But Mason's career flagged from this point, and he never scored another hit again. Nevertheless, he has always been respected as a talented, if minor, songwriter. - Mike McGuirk]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.63134&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Indie/Alternative Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:09:54 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.63134 art.63134 Minus the Bear art.63134 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.63134&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.63134&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Interpretaciones del Oso) and a TON of touring followed, cementing Minus the Bear's reputation as a very serious band. And hey, they even got rid of the silly song titles on 2007's Planet of Ice. (Well, almost..."Ice Monster"?!) - Rachel Devitt]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9489&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Jam Rock Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:56:28 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.9489 art.9489 Umphrey's McGee art.9489 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9489&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.9489&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Peanuts theme "Linus and Lucy." While album sales remained low, popularity soared as audiences continued the jam-band tradition of bootleg taping and trading. In 2000, U.M. became a sextet with the addition of second lead guitarist Jake Cinninger. One of their first productive jam sessions was in the Jimmy Stewart Ballroom of a Chicago hotel, spawning the name "Jimmy Stewart" for their onstage improv excursions. In 2002, they recorded Local Band Does OKlahoma, featuring the last appearance of Mirro, who was later replaced by Kris Myers. With a slew of studio and live releases, two DVD releases and never-ending tour seasons, U.M. remain at the forefront of the fourth-generation jam movement. - Sabrina Sutherland]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.443&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Lite Rock Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:41:02 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.443 art.443 10cc art.443 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.443&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.443&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68413&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Wed, 9 Dec 2009 10:53:49 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.68413 art.68413 Roger Waters art.68413 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68413&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.68413&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, not to mention a string of hugely selling records that were the ONLY music to listen to for thousands of tripping teenagers from the 1970s well into the '80s. After a bitter split with the rest of the group in 1983, Waters continued to produce electronically innovative records, tinkering with the Rock Opera genre with varying results. Today, we find Waters teaming up with big guns Ennio Morricone and Eddie Van Halen (!) for a single featured on the soundtrack for Tim Roth's new movie, The Legend of 1900. - Mike McGuirk]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43248&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:46 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.43248 art.43248 Procol Harum art.43248 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43248&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.43248&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss
The nascent art rockers began as members of the Paramounts, an R&B outfit featuring pianist Gary Brooker, drummer B. J. Wilson and guitarist Robin Trower. The band -- which the three friends had formed as 14-year-old schoolmates -- not only had a chart hit (with a cover of the Coaster's "Poison Ivy"), they also had the distinction of being named by the Rolling Stones as their favorite British R&B group. But after reaching a respectable #35 with "Poison Ivy," the band never again charted, and were eventually reduced to serving as a backing band for proto-pop stars Sandy Shaw and Chris Andrews.

In September of 1966, the members went their separate ways, Trower and Wilson joining other bands and Brooker becoming a full-time songwriter with partner Keith Reid. Within a year, the songwriting duo had a prodigious body of work, and assembled a band they inexplicably dubbed the Pinewoods, with Brooker as pianist/singer, Matthew Fisher on organ, Ray Royer on guitar, Dave Knights on bass and Bobby Harrison on drums. Their first effort, produced by Denny (Joe Cocker, Bob Marley, Tom Petty) Cordell, was a brilliant yet esoteric scrap of poetry penned by Reid called "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which Brooker set to music loosely based on Bach's "Air for G String" from Suite No. 3 in D Major. By the time the recording was ready to be released, the Pinewoods had changed members, as well as their name -- taking their new moniker from either Steven's cat, or a rather loose translation of the Latin word, "procul," meaning "far from these things," which reflected the rather occult mood of the 1960s. Cordell sent a copy of this idiosyncratic single to infamous pirate station Radio London, and listeners responded enthusiastically after the very first spin, calling the station to demand more plays of the rather arcane sounding song. Decca Records, who hadn't yet released the single, recognized the demand for the record by pushing up the release date, getting discs into stores a month early.

Problem was, this ad hoc band had only the one tune, and had never before played live. But they managed to put together a credible set list and opened for Jimi Hendrix at London's Saville Theatre in June of 1967, about the same time that "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" reached the top spot on the U.K. charts, where it remained for a full six weeks (it went on to peak at number five in the U.S.). By July, the song became the number one selling record in the world, and had initiated a new genre dubbed "classical rock." Heady with success, bandleader Brooker didn't crack open champagne bottles, but instead fired Royer and Harrison, replacing them with his old school chums-cum-band members Robin Trower and B.J Wilson, forming what would become Procul Harum's seminal line-up. A second single, "Homburg," was recorded with this entirely new line-up, and that too scurried up the charts, landing at a healthy number six, proving they were not left-field one hit wonders.

After those initial successes, Procol Harum went on to record a string of ambitious concept albums much weightier than anything the Who attempted, tackling themes of insanity, death, sex, and spiritual regeneration. As the band entered the '70s, the line-up shifted, the subject matter became less macabre, and the band oddly inched their way back toward their R&B roots with 1977's Procol Ninth, produced by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. The band continued to make credible albums which sadly sold fewer and fewer copies, until the group finally disbanded quietly in 1991 (though they frequently get together for reunion gigs, and Gary Brooker is an occasional participant in Ringo Starr's Allstars review). - Jaan Uhelszki]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5002&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:27:18 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.5002 art.5002 David Gilmour art.5002 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5002&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5002&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss About Face. After that, he concentrated on reforming Pink Floyd, touring and releasing records all the while maintaining a very public feud with Roger Waters (although that's all cleared up now). He recently released his third solo offering, On An Island, in 2006. - Mike McGuirk]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2320&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss British Invasion Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:30:55 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.2320 art.2320 Manfred Mann art.2320 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2320&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2320&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss deuce, another runner in the night," so grow up already. And secondly, Bruce Springsteen wrote that song, not Manfred Mann. Third and finally, you should know that Manfred Mann was originally a mod R&B band with a hip British invasion sound by way of Georgie Fame-inspired jazz influences long before the front man (actually named Manfred Mann) went out on his own to play and record Doobie Brothers by way of Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band-sounding bar rock. - Eric Shea]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44218&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Indie/Alternative Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:55:58 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.44218 art.44218 ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead art.44218 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44218&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.44218&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1388&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Psychedelic Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:30:58 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1388 art.1388 Spirit art.1388 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1388&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1388&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.67305&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Experimental Tue, 6 Oct 2009 09:54:15 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.67305 art.67305 Serj Tankian art.67305 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.67305&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.67305&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Elect The Dead, which was released in October 2007. He wrote, produced and played nearly every instrument, experimenting with classical cadences, progressive rock, manic metal, start-stop tempos and gutting vocals that flash between madman "la la la"s and haunting, cavernous drones. - Stephanie Benson]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1614&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Electropop Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:20:22 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.1614 art.1614 Kraftwerk art.1614 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1614&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1614&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.12239&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Indie/Alternative Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:12:05 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.12239 art.12239 The Fiery Furnaces art.12239 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.12239&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.12239&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Gallowsbird Bark, was released. At a time when many of their peers were claiming to be influenced by the blues and post-punk, the Fiery Furnaces managed to take those influences and create a sound much more unique. From music-hall theatrics, to Captain Beefheart's chunky blues abstractions, from the bare-bones Velvet Underground drones, to sloppy classic rock in the vein of Royal Trux, ­the Fiery Furnaces just sound different than anybody else. Eleanor Friedburger's vocals are distinct, tough and when she wraps them around phrases like, "you've got a wing in your snaggle tooth, and you can't kick it back with no 80-proof," it all makes sense in a surreal rock 'n' roll way that happens when nothing suddenly means everything. The release of 2004's Blueberry Boat upped the ante and tripled the song length. Each tune is like a version of the Who's mini-rock epic, "A Quick One," but with rather idiosyncratic lyrics about pirates and blueberries. Bold, ambitious, twisted and above all, great songwriters, the Fiery Furnaces continue to keep things interesting. - Jon Pruett]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5215&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Lite Rock Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:42:45 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.5215 art.5215 Gary Wright art.5215 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5215&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5215&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.61613&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss New Age Electronic Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:56 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.61613 art.61613 Tangerine Dream art.61613 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.61613&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.61613&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5709&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Hard Rock Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:03:36 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.5709 art.5709 Triumph art.5709 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5709&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5709&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.59390&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Adult Contemporary Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:20:20 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.59390 art.59390 Chris De Burgh art.59390 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.59390&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.59390&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3949&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss British Invasion Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:35 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.3949 art.3949 The Pretty Things art.3949 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3949&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3949&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss SF Sorrow (the first full-length concept album ever recorded), the Pretty Things have experimented with anything and everything. Their 1999 release Rage...Before Beauty is a solid and well-rounded recording that evinces the notion that the 1990s are, in fact, the 1960s turned upside down. - Eric Shea]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.11029253&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:53:04 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.11029253 art.11029253 Mew art.11029253 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.11029253&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.11029253&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.851&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Progressive Metal Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:04:34 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.851 art.851 Blind Guardian art.851 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.851&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.851&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.40505&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Adult Alternative Fri, 29 May 2009 09:35:43 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.40505 art.40505 Sparta art.40505 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.40505&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.40505&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6124&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Classic Rock Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:52:48 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.6124 art.6124 Edgar Winter art.6124 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6124&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.6124&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss They Only Come Out at Night, an album which, though his only commercial success, climbed its way to number three on the charts. It included the Funk-boogie instrumental hit "Frankenstein," as well as the bell-bottomed rock anthem "Free Ride." - Eric Shea]]> http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5693&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:06:26 -0800 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.5693 art.5693 Utopia art.5693 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5693&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.5693&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.20948424&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss Art & Progressive Rock Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:55:14 -0700 Top Art & Progressive Rock Artists on Rhapsody Online art.20948424 art.20948424 Scars On Broadway art.20948424 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.20948424&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.20948424&variant=data&rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fart-progressive-rock%2Fartist-chart.rss