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Rating: Who invented prog?
No one can answer with certainty, since the evolution of rock almost never happens suddenly but through a slow movement of trends and ideas involving thousands of bands and artists. So the question doesn't make much sense.
It is certain, however, that if one were to choose which five groups more than others have made progressive rock into what it has become, the Nice would be among the first to be mentioned. This little band, which lasted a good three years, was led by none other than Mr. Emerson, a young man who played the piano excellently, but had quite an attitude about it. A great example of what this young man was up to before founding Emerson Lake & Palmer is actually given by "Ars Longa Vita Brevis." Innovative album, but not unlistenable, and it starts that blend of classicisms, psychedelia, and jazz that will go on to form the musical genre we all love so much.
"Daddy, Where I Come From?" opens the album with a piano riff that fades in less than a minute into a dissonant pattern of bass and organ, supported by a two-quarter drumbeat. Then an almost naive bridge re-introduces the opening theme, which closes the song. "Little Arabella" is a wonderful track where the bass beats a simple but not trivial harmonic riff, the organ and piano flutter gracefully, and the voice follows a humble but fantastic melody in its own way. My favorite track on the entire album. And then there's "Happy Freuds," a surprising track with some unusual harmonies. I'd say Koji Kondo had the beginning of this song in mind when he composed the Super Mario soundtrack. In the "Intermezzo From The Karelia Suite" the Nice render Sibelius in a rock style, and even though the purely classical-oriented listener would probably be swept away by indignant spasms, I must say that as an experiment it works. In this case, too, the main theme is broken in two by a psychedelic-dissonant digression. The "Prelude" is a track where the drums and bass are practically just a pretext for Emerson's organ virtuosity, which is quite successful overall.
The second half of the album is slightly less enjoyable than the first. The long title track, in fact, dissipates some good ideas in some digressions lacking a precise structure. Not that it’s unpleasant to listen to, but I find that the ideas and innovations it proposes add, all in all, nothing particularly interesting to what was already said, without giving up catchiness and irony, in the first songs. Except for the third movement, a track with Bach-influenced elements at the edge of decency, but terribly enjoyable to listen to, both in the more classical moments and the more psychedelic and rocking ones.
In short, make of it what you will.
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