10 Best Non-Rock Songs By Rock Artists

The goal of prog rock was always to expand beyond the traditional rock song structure. Whether it was the off-the-rails kookiness of something like Rush or the storytelling ambitions of Genesis, every band worth their salt was trying to take the power of rock and roll and marry it to more sophisticated musical arrangements. That would mean a little bit of jazz, a little bit of avant garde, or in Emerson Lake and Palmer's case, the deep well of classical music.

Collaborating with classical musicians certainly wasn't new by the time ELP were breaking, but this was the first time a rock band had tried to create an orchestra all by themselves. As opposed to pulling from Bach or Brahms, Fanfare for the Common Man is based on the sketches of Aaron Copeland's classical piece of the same name.

While the initial attempt from these prog heads wasn't necessarily in the realm of classical music, it certainly stood out as some of the most complicated rock music around, with Emerson dominating the song from behind his gigantic organ.

With no words to dissect, Fanfare for the Common Man is the sound of three instrumentalists in union with one another, trying their best to make music that tells you a story without having to utter a single sentence. It was time for prog to reach for the stars, and Fanfare is all of those classical ambitions being blown wide open.