New book highlights complex meaning behind progressive rock music

Across 35 chapters, The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination explores the genre's history and storytelling power, traversing thousands of years and everything from mythology to political criticism. The book's reach is wide, and students across a range of courses - from popular music and religious studies to literature - can benefit from the knowledge and criticism shared within it.

Dr Anderton, who supervises PhD students at Solent, says: "In the last twenty years, progressive rock has seen a significant revival, with concert tours, festivals and magazines championing the music, and lyrics that regularly address contemporary cultural, social and political issues. Academic interest has also grown, with a regular biennial event held since 2014. This book came out of those events, intended to provide an account of the many engaging ways that prog rock from around the world draws on literary sources and ideas to tell stories."

Compiling insights from experts in the field, this new academic text discusses progressive rock in a unique variety of contexts, including the works of JRR Tolkien and Ray Bradbury to the music of Black Sabbath, Roger Waters and Tool. The book itself was born out of The Progect Network for the Study of Progressive Rock - an influential association which Dr Anderton sits on the steering committee of.

Find out more about the book here.