Symphonic Rock

Symphonic rock on vinyl: rock meets orchestra

In short: Symphonic rock combines rock with the sound of an orchestra and with forms from classical music. In the late sixties bands such as The Moody Blues, The Nice and Procol Harum worked with orchestras; in the seventies Electric Light Orchestra and many progressive rock bands in Europe took the idea further. The Vinyl Room currently has 14 symphonic rock records.

What is symphonic rock?

Rock meets orchestra: The Nice are represented with “Five Bridges”, Procol Harum with their live album with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, plus ELO with “Time” and The Moody Blues with “The Present”.

Progressive rock from Europe: Triumvirat from Germany with “Illusions On A Double Dimple”, Osanna from Italy with “Preludio Tema Variazioni Canzona” and Finch from the Netherlands with “Beyond Expression”. Under this style tag we also have David Axelrod and Walter Murphy’s “Discosymphony”.

What to look for

Our symphonic rock records date mainly from the seventies; label, catalogue number and year of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

From our stock

First pressings

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FAQ

What is symphonic rock? Rock that works with orchestral sound and forms from classical music.

Which bands played with orchestras? Among others The Moody Blues, The Nice and Procol Harum.

What is the difference from prog rock? The boundaries are fluid – symphonic rock puts particular emphasis on orchestral sound and classical models.

Which symphonic rock records do you have? Here, for example, The Nice’s “Five Bridges” and Triumvirat’s “Illusions On A Double Dimple”.