What decade did you first get into prog?

One of the things that this poll tells me is that the big resurgence for prog happened in the 2000's. I think the big factors for that were the festivals happening at the time, the prog magazines(namely PROG which was initially at least part of classic rock magazine) and even this website. Porcupine Tree played a big role in that resurgence too imo.


So now I'd like to give my personal breakdown:


1960's- The proto progressive era: The Nice, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Canterbury scene(Soft Machine, Caravan etc), Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention and even the Beatles(mostly for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band album). These artists all planted the seed for prog. Some of them were the link between psych and prog others were more purely progressive without much of the psych influences. I don't think many people considered themselves prog fans in this decade though. The genre had yet to fully develop but this is where prog's roots are nonetheless. Key albums: Pink Floyd-Saucerful of Secrets, Moody Blues-Days of Future Passed, Procol Harum-Shine on Brightly, King Crimson-In the Court of the Crimson King.

1970's- Prog takes off in a big way in this decade. The major players are YES, ELP, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Camel, Van der Graaf Generator, Focus, Renaissance, Gong, and UK among many others. This is where prog had(at least until recently)picked up most of it's hardcore fans and followers. This site would not be here and prog would not be where it is today for the success of these bands. This is the golden age(and hey day)of prog. Key albums: ELP-Brain Salad Surgery, Pink Floyd-Wish you were Here, YES-Close to the Edge, Genesis-Selling England by the Pound.

1980's- Prog was in hibernation during this decade. In the late seventies punk came along and helped to bury prog(the music industry and radio stations lack of promotion and disinterest in prog didn't help either). However, a new subgenre known as neo prog developed(mostly in the UK)and mostly with the success of Marillion helped to keep the prog flame alive. Also, it's worth noting that YES, Genesis, Pink Floyd and RUSH were all pretty big in this decade with all of them having quite a bit of commercial success(albeit mostly with a watered down form of prog in many cases). However, the exposure given to these bands during this decade helped keep prog's visibility up and allowed fans of these bands to discover the prog genre as a whole later on. Key albums: Marillion-Misplaced Childhood, Queensryche-Operation Mindcrime, Anderson Bruford, Wakeman Howe-same, Jethro Tull-Crest of a Knave.

1990's-Like the 80's this was another very quiet decade for prog. While the big named bands weren't doing much the scene was growing mostly in the underground. So while there weren't as many fans jumping on the prog band wagon by discovering the most well known bands the genre benefited from the newly formed world wide web and internet which allowed access to knowledge about the genre. This is the decade when many prog fans rediscovered prog. Although the rediscovery outweighed the discovery by new fans it is an important decade for prog's survival. Key albums: Dream Theater-Images and Words, Echolyn-As the World, Spock's Beard-Beware of Darkness, Anglagard-Hybris


2000's- This is when prog really resurged imo. Festivals that had started in the nineties such as Nearfest, Progday, etc were going strong and keeping the prog flame burning. The internet played even more of a role with social networking sites and sites like progarchives. Also magazines, most notably "PROG" which had started also helped to give prog a greater visibility. Bands such as Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Transatlantic, Opeth and others gave prog the biggest fanbase it has had since the seventies. Key albums: Transatlantic-first two albums, Flower Kings-Space Revolver, Porcupine Tree-In Absentia, The Mars Volta-Deloused in the Comatorium, IQ-Dark Matter

20010's-Prog continues to grow but perhaps at a slower pace than in the previous decade. Still, prog doesn't show any signs of slowing down and there continues to be a growing number of younger fans which will no doubt help keep this genre alive. Key bands: Big Big Train, Beardfish, Moon Safari, Phideaux, Riverside etc.


Edited by Prog_Traveller - March 31 2014 at 16:59

cstack3 wrote: I'm 57, I was completely blown away by ITCOTCK and its Mellotrons!  1969

Dean wrote: Prog_Traveller wrote: One of the things that this poll tells me is that the big resurgence for prog happened in the 2000's. I think the big factors for that were the festivals happening at the time, the prog magazines(namely PROG which was initially at least part of classic rock magazine) and even this website. Porcupine Tree played a big role in that resurgence too imo. Meh.. nah. Prog magazine is new and is a reaction not an instigator. I think that all the factors you list are a reaction to the new interest in Progressive Rock.

Dean wrote: genbanks wrote: Dean wrote: Prog_Traveller wrote: One of the things that this poll tells me is that the big resurgence for prog happened in the 2000's. I think the big factors for that were the festivals happening at the time, the prog magazines(namely PROG which was initially at least part of classic rock magazine) and even this website. Porcupine Tree played a big role in that resurgence too imo. Meh.. nah. Prog magazine is new and is a reaction not an instigator. I think that all the factors you list are a reaction to the new interest in Progressive Rock. As I said before got into prog rock into the 80s, but only with the big bands editions, even with Marillion and then, here, the editions stopped. In 2008 and thanks a specialized magazine edited here Mellotron Magazine, a new world of prog rock opened before my eyes, and almost at the same time with progarchives, and as a second part of a movie, I got in prog by another side with all this prog bands from the 90s and 2000 till present, just a new musical world. Well just to say that unless in my case, this Mellotron Magazine was an instigator for  me (but surely the edition of the magazine was a reaction to the progrock revival of the 90s) I suspect that Mellotron Magazine is limited to Argentina too.

00's. Thanks PA 

I got to know some prog bands since the 90's, specially Pink Floyd. Though, I really became aware of prog as a genre, and became a fan of it, on the 00's, specially with Yes.

70s for me

Fragile was my first prog album that I wore out
CTTE and the Yes Album were played frequently as well.

also got into Jethro Tull in the 70s

Zeppelin was probably my fave band of all back then.
I still don't think of them as prog though.

1954.

I came into Prog in the 80's, with Pink Floyd's DSOTM and The Wall and the chileans Los Jaivas.

1987 with Pink Floyd The Wall on VHS. I rented the movie that summer from some newly opened video store called  Blockbuster, which I drove to with my new drivers license (I was 16).  

Edited by Tedhead - April 02 2014 at 19:03