The Uncarved Blog, part 1

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Q: What is Prog?

A: Nobody knows.

Actually, that's
not true- everybody knows. Every single person who visits this site has
a clear idea of what progressive rock is, and which bands belong. It's
just that every single person's definition is (at least) slightly
different. Everyone knows what prog is, but no two people completely
agree on it.

There's a few bands that nobody in their right mind
would deny: Genesis, Yes, ELP, King Crimson, Pink Floyd...well,
actually, there's some people out there who privately or publically
dismiss Pink Floyd for one reason
or another. They didn't mess around with time signatures much, and few
people are willing to argue that Waters, Gilmour, Mason or Wright are
grandmasters of their respective instruments. So even within what most
of us would consider the 'core' of prog, there's room for dissent.

Part
of the trouble is that there's such a huge difference between prog
bands, arguably more so than any other single genre of music. What do
Dream Theater and Magma have in common? Or Echolyn and Can? Compounding
the issue is the fact that many bands, past and present, either refuse
to call themselves prog- or at the very least did not set out
specifically to make progressive rock. Clicking on the "Prog Rock ?"
button at the top of the screen will bring you to a very thoughtful and
convincing description of the genre, but it won't tell you why few
question the 'progginess' of certain bands while just mentioning
Radiohead and Queen is sure to spark shouting matches at your next prog
dinner party.

Personally, I always just say that prog is the
music that prog fans listen to. Yeah, I know...it's unsatisfying- not
to mention that my college philosophy professors would have me skinned
alive if they read such a circular definition. Most of Western
thought has relied on the method of reducing concepts to basic units
for classification, and only then tracing useful relationships between
those units. We'd much rather have a clear definition, with specific
requirements.

But one big thing that my definition has going for
it is that it concentrates on the fans rather than any quality of the
music itself. I believe that prog fans have considerably more in common
than prog bands have in common. Fundamentally, most of us like to
'talk' music...I can bore people to tears with discussions of musical
influences and the capabilities of various guitarists. You can call me
a 'music nerd' if you like; I don't find the phrase demeaning. Being a
little socially dysfunctional is a small price to pay for caring
passionately about something. It's hard to remember if I had this
tendency before I discovered prog (I suspect I did), but there's no
doubt the genre caters to it. Yes, one can have rousing discussions of
the virtuosos of post- bebop jazz or the resurgence of analog
synthesizers in Acid House, but prog almost begs to be talked about.
It's as if every band in these archives has a sticker on their albums
that reads: "Listen, and then discuss."

For some of us, music is
a passion...for others, a hobby. But very few of us prog fans are
content to let our musical tastes slip into a mere lifestyle attribute
or vague character identification ("What's your favorite color?"
"Blue." "What sort of music do you like?" "Progressive Rock.").
Nah...with us it approaches a religion, a nationality beyond borders,
an undergound movement. We've all seen the expressions on the faces of
our friends and loved ones when we start betraying our secret nerd:
blank, usually, but also often derisive, condescending, or humorously
tolerant at best. Try engaging your neighbor with a casual discussion
about Van Der Graaf Generator and see how far it gets you (well, maybe
not my neighbor...he happens to be a jazz bassist who loves Weather
Report, but I doubt you're so lucky).

I suppose, objectively,
that part of it is an outgrowth of the adolescent need for social
acceptance and desire to classify the world around you along
superficial lines. "What music do you listen to?" is the oft-heard
refrain in many a high school or college, and the answer can seriously
affect your further social activities. Perhaps we're all somewhat stuck
in that not-quite-grown-up world. Prog doesn't have an instantly
obvious 'look' like goth or hip-hop, and relatively few prog bands
offer sew-on patches or t-shirts to clue you in (the guy wearing the
"2112" or "Dark Side of the Moon" t-shirt could just be a
garden-variety classic-rock dude). You really have to stick your neck
out to find other proggers, or you used to, anyway...now we have
websites such as this one, communities of more-or-less like-minded
people; we enjoy a certain level of solidarity and understanding that
many of us never experienced in those prehistoric days before the
internet. In those underground days during the reign of the Lester
Bangs ideology, declaring a preference for prog was something like
admitting communist sympathies during McCarthyism or revealing
homosexual tendencies during...well, anytime, really. Though I don't
know of anyone getting beaten to death for being a Camel fan, so let's
not take the comparison TOO seriously.

So now we have a
situation in which prog fans are finally able to come together en
masse, at least on their PCs. One might think that universal joy and
brotherhood would be the result, but in practice there's more argument
and debate than anything else. Why is this? Two main reasons:

1.
Because (like any other group of nerds) we proggers are touchy about
our tastes and very conscious about distinctions. We feel we've earned
our opinions a little more than more casual music fans. We've endured
the little oppressions and put in extra time with repeated listenings
and research. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but prog fans are
more entitled to their opinion about prog- just as theoretical
physicists are more entitled to their opinion about Relativity. I'll
bet that physicists have forums full of arguments about that one, too.

2.
Because it's part of who we are. Proggers are the sort of people who
like to talk about music. If there was nothing to argue about, there
would be a lot less to talk about ("Hey, Radiohead is prog, right?"
"Yep." "Okay, then...well, uh...how's the weather there?"). Sure, it
would be great if there was a little less bickering and a little more
constructive discussion, but that's asking a lot of human beings, no
matter what the topic. We're not trying to build a nation here, just
getting together to learn and listen and discuss the music that we like.

Because we're prog fans, and that's what we do. Talk about the music we like...whatever that music happens to be. 

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