Getting estranged from prog

I can appreciate your feelings here. But I would say that once you have listened to a certain amount of prog albums and bands, that you're going to hit a 'wall" where you find that most acts don't offer anything more than what you're already heard done before, or done better. My experience has been that it happens no matter the genre, in my case the hard rock & Heavy Metal scen.

And recently having stumbled upon some 70s prog obscurities like Orion, Odyssee, and Rainbow Theater, I've come to believe that even a favourite prog sub-genre of mine - Symphonic, has its' share of bad & mediocre albums. The first two are decent, but nothing that will excite the Symphonic fan.
I even went back and listened to groups like Pentacle & Memoriance and found them to be average. But they are now in my collection, and so every now & then, they'll get their turn.

So really, if you're at that point, what I do now is go back and play a lot of the albums that I haven't given that many listens so far (VDGG's Pawn Hearts is still ebing given a chance to grow on me, while World Record already has).
And as for the production, I would say that you are among the many who miss the analog recordings, even when they weren't as pristine, clear or whatever term is used when praising modern music production techniques. We've seen that with the Genesis remaster box sets, where they've actually re-mixed the albums. So you end up with a "better" sound, but not the one that you necessarily fell in love with when you first heard the LP or CD.

BaldFriede wrote: De gustibus non est disputandum. You say you recognize all the "little quirks" in The Red Masque; I could say the same about Mastodon. They are a bit too tonal for my taste, and apart from playing fast and loud with lots of meter changes I don't see much to hold my interest. But I will give them that: At least they use distortion, which is something I miss in most metal bands. On the other hand they use double bass-drumming, which definitely is on my no-no list.; being a drummer myself I consider it to be a cheap gimmick. But as I said: De gustibus non est disputandum.

I love you! I mean your opinion.  I absolutely agree! I'm 20 and don't like the loudness and metallization that many modern prog bands use. The "Machine-alike" playing on drums, seem to go again in many modern prog bands. The double bass drum often ruins the melody (and all other good stuff) and makes bands very familiar imo. Often I don't feel anything when I hear their music. It sounds like they are a machine or something (And it's very, very often the drums that ruins it for me). Also the 70 didn't have the same loudness, today it seem that the higher volume the better music *sigh*. Loudness and metallization is very popular nowadays and it seems to me that we have learned very little from the 70's music!

I'm a drummer too, btw .  Sorry for bad english, I'm not so good at it.

Lately I've been getting more into stuff like psychedelic, indie, post-punk, electronic, classical, jazz, ambient, etc.  I still love some prog, like VdGG, Yes, Genesis, PF, etc. and definitely the kraut, experimental, and weird stuff, but some of it I don't really care for as much anymore.  I don't mind really, I think as a whole I've been getting into much more music than growing out of, and I even appreciate metal and "neo" prog on occasion, but pretty rarely honestly.

Progs still my favorite genre, and I don't think that will change for a while.  I'd like to get into more stuff though, mostly non-prog but still a lot of prog.  My favorite bands are still mostly prog, although I think it's great having diverse taste (prog is a diverse genre, but there is a lot more out there).


Edited by Mikerinos - January 06 2009 at 23:11

I suppose its comes in cycles. There was a slight time in the past where music in general wasn't really on my radar...stop listening to it as much as I had...seemingly less stuff on my want list...but then it just seemed to turn around as quickly as it had gone. Don't know why...didn't really discover anything that made me burst with joy, nor did I rediscover the older stuff that I've been ignoring.

Hmm...interesting thread thanks.

I understand (at least I think I do) what you are trying to say, Friede. For a good part of 2008, I almost gave up listening to prog music. I had become disinterested in all eras including the classic 70's. However, my interest was revived when I took a plunge and started to listen to "Gentle Giant" and Italian maestros, "Le Orme" and "PFM". Having not explored these areas of Prog in the past - I found I was intrigued and at the same time perturbed, that I had not discovered them earlier. Never mind - I now love the intricacies of "Gentle Giant" and the often beautiful and bombastic nuances of Italian Prog. Just when I thought there was nothing new to like or enjoy about Prog, I am rediscovering some of the older heroes and have now  started listening to others such as "Nektar".

Mr ProgFreak wrote: I still listen to those bands occasionally (examples: Faithless, The Prodigy, Underworld)

I've felt estranged from prog for almost two years now. I consider this quite natural, seeing as how I gave it 3-4 years of my life almost exclusively. I still love the stuff I've discovered in the past, I just can't seem to find anything new anymore. In the meantime, I've pointed my direction towards other, equally interesting genres. I don't see this as a problem, I still enjoy my music just the same. I'd say just go with the flow, and let music take you to different places. I'm sure the prog bug will bite me again someday, but I'm in no hurry.

progmetalhead wrote: Mr ProgFreak wrote: I still listen to those bands occasionally (examples: Faithless, The Prodigy, Underworld)   Thats interesting to hear Mike.   I also listen to the bands you mention above when I want a break from rock/metal (rarely though that is). I also enjoy Massive Attack from time to time.

I never got into Massive Attack - I guess I was put off them by Unfinished Sympathy. Also with the artists above I'm really particular about their albums - for example I *adore* Faithless's Reverence, but I *hate* Sunday 8 p.m. (I even sold it). The Prodigy - Songs for the Jilted Generation is a masterpiece, but I can easily live without their other albums. Only Underworld were continuously great, with my favorite album being Beaucomp Fish.

Other recommendations: Propellerheads - Drumsanddecksandrocknroll, Lamb - Cotton Wool, Portishead - Live ... for any of you who are tired of prog and don't know these albums yet: Give them a spin - you never know.

I've said in another thread that I find that music that fits under the prog "umbrella" (at least on this site) has such a variety of sounds, textures, and moods that there is invariably something I can find to fit whatever listening yen I have at any given time.  That's not to say that I'm not also enjoying branching out into (umbrella-term) classical and jazz (particularly free jazz greats like Ayler and Coleman), but prog remains the major bulk of my listening and I still get excited about it.  Of course most of what I listen to now is in the RIO/Zeuhl area as well, but I try to keep my ears and mind open to new stuff happening in other subgenres.