Has the flame finally gone out?

HolyMoly wrote: If we count "the flame" as the last remaining artistic worth of the so-called Big Five, then yes, it's probably fizzling out about now, with the possible exception of King Crimson.  But if we think of "the flame" as the ongoing tradition of progressive rock, then I agree with others above that there are scores of bands with plenty more to offer - and not just in the sense of rehashing the classic prog styles, I mean really going out there and ripping it up.  Some of them are so progressive they don't even belong on this site, lol.

Right on Steve.

I'm not concerned that more recent Yes releases might get poor ratings - to echo Raff, no one is confiscating my copies of Tales or Relayer, I can stick with the music that made the band great, while focusing on great music that is being made by (relatively) current (younger, newer) artists.

If we count "the flame" as the last remaining artistic worth of the so-called Big Five, then yes, it's probably fizzling out about now (or if we're being less charitable, it fizzled out by 1980), with the possible exception of King Crimson.  But if we think of "the flame" as the ongoing tradition of progressive rock, then I agree with others above that there are scores of bands with plenty more to offer - and not just in the sense of rehashing the classic prog styles, I mean really going out there and ripping it up.  Some of them are so progressive they don't even belong on this site, lol.


Edited by HolyMoly - November 10 2014 at 15:05

richardh wrote: Power To Believe is a great album so King Crimson can safely be left out of this hypothesis.( however read my later comments) Other than KC the big five were on slippery slope from about 1975 onwards. King Crimson has bucked the trend by to all intents and purposes being an ongoing project of Robert Fripp rather than a band in any traditional way. A band has to have an ongoing collaboration of a core membership. King Criimson barely had that at all. Fripp decides what he wanted to to do and then recruites accordingly. Nothing wrong with that and avoids the possibility of lurching head first into self parody which often happens to bands that have been around for thousand of years.

The Power to Believe may be an anomaly, the previous three albums and the one after only rate around a 3.5. I guess that was the measure I was using in my opening statement, the mediocre ratings of between 2.5 - 3.5 of recent releases as compared to the 4 plus we get on the most highly recognized 'Big 5' output. Right or wrong, that's what made me ask the question.

Raff wrote: There is plenty of great progressive music begging to be heard outside the "Big Five". If we want the flame of non-mainstream music to survive, we must support the newer bands and artists, and stop pining for what has been.  No one is going to take those Seventies masterpieces away from us: now it is time to give the newcomers (many of whom are not so new any longer) a chance.

So if they aren't new any longer, wouldn't that mean they've had their chance and again come up short. Or is it that our expectations for "Great music" far outweighs the potential of the available contributors? Or put another way, are the current 'new' bands you're thinking of trying too hard to be progressive?

^indeed, dont' hang on too much on those hyped new albums, there are a lot of new bands on the scene where you can dig enough gems

The Power to Believe has a rating of 3.97 - i don't see that as bad.  But all the symphonic artists are putting out bad music - so kinda. 

With the recent release of the long awaited Pnk Floyd album we once again see that our heroes have fallen a little flat. As I look back at the last few releases from what has become roughly known as the big 5, I see them garnering lower and lower ratings. From ELP to Yes to King Crimson, none seem to be meeting their fan expectations. While a few new bands certainly try to capture the essence of "Progressive" music, our founding fathers have withered.

So I ask...

Has the flame carried by the innovators of this very divisive genre finally gone out?


Edited by JD - November 10 2014 at 14:26