STYLES
Progressive (Prog) Rock Vs. Punk






King Crimson's "Starless" (1974) is the archetypal (perhaps ultimate) Prog song. Note the elaborate structure; the favouring of epic sound textures - the mellotron being a much-valued instrument in the genre; the use of counter-melody; the reappearance of musical motifs in various parts of the song; the variations in time signature and exploration of non-standard metre (eg. the section beginning at 4.30 is in 13/4); the general emphasis on technical virtuosity. Note, perhaps, the pomposity!

The Buzzcocks' "Boredom" (1977) was one of the tracks on the first independently released punk record, the Spiral Scratch E.P.  Note the musical features: basically the opposite of everything listed above. Although it's a little bit simplistic to characterise punk as an oikish backlash to the overly ornamental style of Prog, that's the line that tends to be trotted out by most critics and music writers, even today.