The Album That Killed Prog?

...never mind.

'And Then There Were Three' was my first exposure to Genesis so I'll always have a soft spot for it and while in retrospect it is one of their weaker albums, the only thing really different about it was the songs were shorter; it still had the trademark Genesis sound. Actually all those are just weaker releases by prog bands. If I had to pick one album that had a devestating effect on 70s prog, I would say the Sex Pistols 'Never Mind the Bullocks'

I love Genesis but I'm forced to vote for "A trick Of The Tail", this album was the beginning of prog's death.

My vote goes to the most lyrically concentrated, poorly written, interlude-filled, emo, overrated album...The Wall


Edit: If it weren't for the poorness of The Wall, I'd probably say 90125 is the next album...then Love Beach, then Discipline.


Edited by Lucent - October 10 2007 at 17:40

Prog-man wrote: TheProgtologist wrote: Prog isn't dead,but alive and kicking.   So I pick none of them.           Agreed!!

me too  

I'm also in agreement here that prog isn't dead by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, it seems to be having a resurgence, as the indie rock scene is becoming increasingly artsy. 

However, I think there was a significant low point in the mid-to-late 1970s (esp. 1977-1978), and some of the major prog bands took a serious nose dive, which took prog out of the limelight.  Actually, I think the extended hiatuses that Yes and ELP went on in the mid 1970s were actually quite damaging, and the albums they produced after the hiatus, in my opinion, are not great.  Aside from "Awaken", Going For The One is simply dreadful, and I have difficulty listening to any of the Yes albums with Wakeman from 1977 on because his keyboard choices irritate me.  I would even say that 90125 is more enjoyable than GFTO for me.  I really think it would have been interesting if Yes had kept Moraz and released an album between Relayer and GFTO (and I don't count Fish Out Of Water). 

Camel's output from this time was truly atrocious as well--"I Can See Your House From Here" sounds like disco to me.  I'm not familiar with their output beyond that, but when Ferguson and Bardens left, they jumped the shark.

Interestingly, I do actually think there was a bit of a resurgence in 1980-1983, and there were some interesting (and in my opinion, highly successful) attempts at fusing the prevailing New Wave style with prog, including Yes' Drama and KC's Discipline.  I'd also have to agree with Teh_Slippermenz about Genesis' output at the time.  Everyone around here seems to think Abacab is the plague, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.   It's actually kind of a subversive, ironic album in a lot of ways, and it is definitely prog in my opinion, but in a different way.   Honestly, I'd say it's proggier than what I've heard of ATTWT.

-Topographic

darqdean wrote: Tapfret wrote: jplanet wrote: If any one album is to blame for the demise of the golden era, it wasn't a prog album, but Sex Pistols' "Nevermind the Bollocks"...    I couldn't have put it better myself... eventhough I have tried in this thread... many many times.

The original progressive rock bands had been heading downhill for a long time before the Pistols showed up, I know, I was there. If anything pulled away bored progressive rock fans it was jazz fusion, early artsy pre-new wave bands and progressive funk bands, as well as various types of folk music.

Edited by Easy Money - October 06 2007 at 14:13

What about Yes' TFTO? I thought that pushed it over the edge. Hah, a pun.

jplanet wrote: If any one album is to blame for the demise of the golden era, it wasn't a prog album, but Sex Pistols' "Nevermind the Bollocks"...

i don't think prog is dead, so i can't vote. it certainly isn't as popular as it once was but by no means is it dead. we have website like this one to keep it alive.