Product Description
The Show That Never Ends is the behind-the-scenes story of the extraordinary rise and fall of progressive (“prog”) rock, epitomized by such classic, chart-topping bands as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Emerson Lake & Palmer, and their successors Rush, Styx, and Asia.
With inside access to all the key figures, Washington Post national reporter David Weigel tells the story with the gusto and insight Prog Rock’s fans (and its haters) will relish. Along the way, he explains exactly what was “progressive” about Prog Rock, how it arose from psychedelia and heavy metal, why it dominated the pop charts but then became so despised that it was satirized in This Is Spinal Tap, and what fuels its resurgent popularity today.
With inside access to all the key figures, Washington Post national reporter David Weigel tells the story with the gusto and insight Prog Rock’s fans (and its haters) will relish. Along the way, he explains exactly what was “progressive” about Prog Rock, how it arose from psychedelia and heavy metal, why it dominated the pop charts but then became so despised that it was satirized in This Is Spinal Tap, and what fuels its resurgent popularity today.
Reviews/Praise
"David Weigel's The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock comes from a national reporter for The Washington Post and is narrated by Rudy Sanda, who contributes a solid and engrossing voice to this story of the rise and fall of rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and more." — Donovan's Literary Services Audio Review
"This is one crazy, shining diamond of a book. David Weigel delivers a winding, completist saga that leaves no chord unexplored, no story untold, with a few theramin solos thrown in for good measure. The Show That Never Ends is everything you’d want from a book on prog." —Charles Bock, author of Alice & Oliver
"As is only appropriate, given the ambition, audacity, and—now and then—lifestyle of the musicians whose fondness for 10/8 time signatures and tritone chords have found a deft and sympathetic chronicler in Dave Weigel, I loved this book excessively." —Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow
"Finally, a book that makes the case for the most maligned music of the last century. A wildly entertaining and revealing look into the all-too-human artists who sang about elves." —Tom Scharpling, host of The Best Show
"The Show That Never Ends doesn't skimp on detail. . . . [Weigel's] training as a journalist is everywhere, from the crisp reporting to the deeply researched quotes." —NPR