The Prog Mind

 

Edited by dr wu23 - August 23 2013 at 23:44

dr wu23 wrote:     "Nah, I absolutely believe that human existence has value (but no meaning)   How can there be any 'value' if there is no meaning to existence? It all becomes arbitrary and totally  subjective.....kind of like prog rock reviews.               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(personal_and_cultural) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life

Well, duh. Life is arbitary and totally subjective.  

Whu gives a ****.

To me, life certainly has a value and a meaning, even if the meaning of life is sometimes hard to find.  But everyone of us has the potential to enrich the world by contributing to the creation of new and beautiful things, and to the construction of a better society with a higher quality of life for everybody.  I call this the "progressive mindset", and I feel that it is important in progressive rock (especially in classical progressive rock, most pronouncedly in the music of Yes; but also in later progressive rock styles).

Progressive rock thereby differs fundamentally from many of the music genres that have been fashionable since 1975, such as punk, hardcore, gothic and extreme metal, which express a nihilistic mindset according to which life has no meaning and all one can thrive for is to grab as big a stash as one can before one dies.

Progressive rock is refreshingly different from that, and it tells a lot that despite researching the matter for years, I haven't yet found any progressive rock that expresses extreme-right ideologies (though there are some right-wing bands, like Sol Invictus, that sometimes sound much like Tool, but that is a different, independent usage of the word "progressive rock" that has very little to do with the music of Yes, Pink Floyd, Rush, Marillion, IQ, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard etc.).  Progressive rock simply is too permeated by the progressive mindset to be a viable option for those who seek to express hate and cynicism through music.