You left them behind, surprised they're here.

Catcher10 wrote: ghost_of_morphy wrote: I suppose I'm most shocked that Black Sabbath is listed here. me2

me 3. As much as I was weaned on Sabbath up to Technical Ecstasy, I  was very surprised to see them on PA as 'Prog Related' - hugely influential on heavy rock and metal yes, but the discernible Sabbath elements that can be found in some fully fledged prog are simply those same heavy rock and metal ingredients that Prog musicians and fans happen to like. You're married to your wife but you ain't related to her....(I hope)

I also grew up listening to and loving the Who*, Queen, John Cale and Talking Heads but really couldn't make any sort of cogent argument for any of them being Prog Related but hey ho, the more good artists we have on PA the better I guess.

*Ok maybe Tommy and Quadrophenia means they can go the ball but their toes looks awfully cramped in those slippers


Edited by ExittheLemming - July 28 2011 at 04:02

^ a valid point but that would mean every single early metal band you describe should be in 'Prog Related?'

ExittheLemming wrote: ^ a valid point but that would mean every single early metal band you describe should be in 'Prog Related?'

We prefer to be more selective and for that I think those early metal bands we do have are representative rather than being inclusive. As David says Maiden and Metlaica are here, Zepp, Purple, Budgie and Heep (not metal but heavy at times) are also here.

 ^ Yes, yes they do have similar cred, and I wouldn't be bothered by the Allmans or the Dead here, but this is really the great un-had discussion at PA, isn't it ;  Between about 1969 and 79 we had an age of prog, which is to say almost every rock band of any merit was doing some sort of progressive rock.  Do we recognize that period by including the bands that were a part of it whether considered Prog or not, e.g. UFO, Velvet Underground, Lennon/Oko, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell, Scorpions, many others I can't think of.

Good question.  Where does one draw the line?  You believe ELO was, or was considered, Pop--  and you're right, they were indeed a pop band.  But that's kind of the point.  For a time, Prog was pop; it was the cutting edge popular music (it certainly wasn't Billy Joel or Seals&Crofts).  How do we deal with that startling reality?

Yes, it is a conundrum as there is a danger that we might continue to pine for a period when (as David so adroitly points out) when many plain vanilla rock and pop bands were charting with singles that do represent a distillation of the questing and adventurous risk taking spirit that we adore so much in Prog. I baulk at such nostalgia as I can understand why such irritates the younger brethren on PA. (Gawd, I'm the new Walter Dig Tunes - Lemming Digs Squat)

^ Yep, I dunno when this started exactly but something faintly unwholesome happened when the money men took a controlling interest in popular music i.e. they demarcated the eclecticism that was a feature of progressive artists and started a phoney brand patriotism war. I've always thought that Hendrix, Crimson and the Nice exemplified an attitude that 'music' was an indivisible whole where no rules should apply to mixing the ingredients. I better stop now or I'm just gonna sound like I'm nostalgic for something that never even happened in the first place...

Thanks for the tips on Kraftwerk and ELO should I reconsider and check them out anew.  I don't even remember how I got into Kraftwerk in the first place.  I think an abbreviated version of Autobahn got a little radio play.  ELO did have a good reputation for their earlier albums amongst prog loving friends at the time.  I think I just had my hands full exploring the usual suspects.  I don't think we were calling that stuff prog but art rock or just really good music.

Most of my prog friends were actually my brother's (three years older) friends and he had built up a decent collection.  There were pretty much none of my classmates but one that was really into that kind of music.

Chicago is another that comes to mind.  More of a favorite of my brother's but I never had any of their albums.  They were added after I was already here though.


Edited by Slartibartfast - July 28 2011 at 06:13

To many to mention, but im fine with that, all just a matter of how you define things.

Can't Get it Out of My Head (if that's the official title of that track) is one of the most
amazing songs ever written/engineered/performed.  It has that ghostly quality that
I've only found with some songs like "If You Could Read My Mind" by Lightfoot, or
a few dreamy songs by the Ronettes (seriously, lol).  In prog, I find "The Venture"
by Yes, to have a bit of that quality, and of course, Genesis veers into that territory
often as well.