The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock

Washington Post reporter Weigel draws on interviews with musicians, industry insiders, and fans in this history of progressive rock. He traces its beginnings from the early 20th century to its initial influencers in the 1960s, full emergence in the ’70s, and downward turn in the ’80s and ’90s, profiling numerous musicians along the way, including the Beatles, ELO, Kansas, and King Crimson. Voice actor Sanda stands in for Weigel in the audio edition, but never captures the author’s enthusiasm for his subject. Too often, his narration is flat. The book makes use of a lot of quotes from the people Weigel interviewed, but in Sanda’s reading there’s no way of distinguishing when a quote ends. As with other productions that adapt text about sound into an audio format, this one fails to capitalize on using sound creatively or to its advantage. A Norton hardcover. (June)