Depends on what album. There is a load of orchestrated folk-rock songs in their catalogue too, e.g. Ashes Are Burning LP (1974) But yeah, Renaissance were mostly Art Rock. Of course, their Art Rock is not in a direction like 70s Bowie, early Roxy Music and pre-Ambient Brian Eno, i.e. the acts that people with a lesser knowledge about Art Rock mostly first associate with this genre; Renaissance were more like Kate Bush. My favourite song by them:
Of course. My favourite song by them (and I like this vid very much, 'cause it's so artsy and it's so Seventies) :
Electric Light Orchestra also have to be mentioned in this thread that is dedicated to English Art Rock.
To me, art rock is a, what we in Sweden call an "umbrella" term, meaning a collective term for subgenres such as progressive rock, jazz-rock, folk rock, psychedelic rock, etc.
In ex-Yugoslavia, we weren't doing that because we were good students of Melody Maker, Sounds and NME, as those British zines were available here on the kiosks in the 70s.
I don't recall hearing the term "art rock" back in the 70s. Best example I think I have in my collection would be Jackson Heights.
Art Rock is what they called bands before the term progressive rock came into play. Most English bands of the period from 1966-1969 went to art school just to name a few Pink Floyd, Genesis, Soft Machine, King Crimson, Yes, Rare Bird, Cressida, and so many more The Nice and so on. Art Rock & Progressive Rock are basically the same thing. The OP has Elton John as Art Rock which I respectfully disagree and David Bowie was "Glam" in 1969-1972. Elton John was in Simon Dupree & The Big Sound in the late 1960s which the Shulman brothers were in until they formed Gentle Giant. Art Rock & Progressive Rock Proto - Prog all have classical structures.
Slightly off-topic, now people call too many things "glam". Now e.g. Sweet are also become "glam-rock". However, in the 70s, for Sweet and such bands was reserved the term "glitter-rock", while the term "glam-rock" was used more for e.g. Marc Bolan and T-Rex than for David Bowie which 70s albums were tagged primarily as Art Rock, or just "pop" by those who didn't like "pigeonholing".
I would say in the early 70's Bowie was known for "Glam" Ziggy Stardust was "Glam" all the music you cite is not Art Rock so I respectfully disagree with you.
Awesome track by English Art Rock supergroup 801, from their 801 live LP (1976) as one of the best live albums ever recorded in the Seventies (now underrated) :
Well I am not sure of the labels but I sure like most of the artists and albums we are talking about here.
love this one. For me, this is art-rock. BTW, as a non-English speaker, I have no idea what is the difference between glam and glitter.
A great text. Especially this part I like: "(...) Ever since its beginnings, art rock has shared connections, musical ties and even presents apparent overlaps with Experimental Rock and Progressive Rock (eventually also bearing a relationship with styles like Art Pop, Glam Rock, Krautrock and Jazz-Rock). While art rock strives to find a level of complexity similar to the one present in these two affiliated genres, it generally features a mix of rock music that tends to follow certain Pop-based structures or patterns along with the aforementioned set of eclectic influences and certain degree of complexity and conceptuality, in contrast to the more classical/jazz-mimicking or inspired patterns of prog suites, or the more radical and angular experimental rock. (...)" I disagree with the author only about mentioning of Pink Floyd as an Art Rock band. Pink Floyd and Psychedelic rock were almost synonyms in the Seventies. Though, at the end of the Golden Decade, i.e. on The Wall (1979), they went to Art Rock.
Sooo if 'Art Rock' is considered a precursor to Prog, how do you classify the stuff people like Robert Wyatt and Slap Happy and Henry Cow and Fred Frith were doing? I always thought that was considered Art Rock....
As "Glitter-Rock" were tagged English bands and solo artists in the first half / mid-Seventies like Gary Glitter, The Glitter Band, The Sweet, Slade, Mud, Hello and The Rubettes. As "Glam-Rock" were tagged English bands and solo artists that were considered as, let's say, "more seriously" pop-rock bands like Marc Bolan and T-Rex, Arrows (English / American band from London), Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Roy Wood and his band Wizzard, post-1971 Elton John and so on.
In the Seventies, Rober Wyatt was regarded as Progressive / Jazz-Rock / Experimental rock artist, Slap Happy were regarded as Art Pop, while Henry Cow and Fred Frith were regarded as Experimental rock acts. (...) "Individually they are all committed socialists but as the band they are one of the few authentic groups of experimental rock, Henry Cow pursue their musical ideas with impeccable determination. This genre don't ensure them a lot of job in the UK, but they have a lot of loyal fans in Europe, especially in France and Italy." - from "Henry Cow" chapter in The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock by Nick Logan & Bob Woffinden, Salamander Books Ltd, London 1976.
