Which Prog Band Made The Best Pop?

 

Damn, I was just getting warmed up.

 

I can't speak for England in the 1970's but I can speak for New York City, USA in 1977.  Genesis played a sold out Madison Square Garden to 20,000 screaming lunatics (each night) during the Wind & Wutherinig tours.

 

I saw RUSH before Moving pictures; the arena was packed with 18,000 insane fans as RUSH played songs like Xanadu in their entirety, afterward the crowd shook the building.

 

Pop has always been the opiate for the masses, mostly for those who don't play or don't want to "listen" to music but want to experience an "event"  kinda like "Euro Disney".

 

Pop is not a disease solely for Prog. Pop has infected Jazz as well and all other forms of music.

 

I don't mean to be so hard on pop.  But it does seem to come at the expense of music not in addition to it. 

To a cheapened commercial extent, I should think the following is a good example.

 

The most famous "pop" singer in India, who has BILLIONS of fans, which puts to shame ALL of England & USA's pop acts combined, does not even sing!   She mouth's the words!  Because her & her producers know, its not about music.  Its about fame & the event & popularity.

 

Now perhaps we have a disagreement on terms.

 

Does a song have to be long and extended to be a good song?.  Of course not, any musician can compose a good song, length is not a requirement, or even the amount of soloing.  Some great short songs:

 

Carol King - JazzMan

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The Who - Going Mobile

YES - Wonderous Stories

Guess Who - These Eyes

 

Alan Parson is a great example.  He made short songs from day one, but good ones, not even sure if his stuff is prog, who cares/needs labels?  When he tried to get into the dance clubs, a blatant attempt at commercializing, his music reflected that and went into the rubbish bin.

 

In addition, most pop music is written by the same group of commercial composers and in the same style as to be transposed quite nicely & commercially to whatever pop diva de jour, whether it be , Madonna or Britney Spears or Shakira or Beyonce. Same formulaic music, just the fashion is diferent.  I'm trying hard to forget the world wide plague that was known as "Spice Girls"...  yuck.

 

About 90125 YES... people seem to forget that 75% of the crowds at those shows were prior YES fans.  Just a reality check, before we give Trevor & MTV too much credit for saving YES.

 

Man, you really got me going on this "pop" thing.            

 

Oh, about Genesis pop tunes.  I rather enjoy Jesus He Loves Me, it is catchy, but that and the other pop tunes from that CD have no staying power and become quite annoying after a few listens, why???

 

Because they were intentionally constucted to pop song standards.  Strict rules of pop formula. Unlike the short songs like Harold The Barrel which were written from inspiration & creativity mostly, it just turned out "Harold" was short.

 

The strict rules of pop:

 

 

When an artist takes his/her creativity and crams it into the above tiny box of rules, well the result

is torturous after some listens

 

Somebody put it best.  Only a pop tune can get you on the very first listen, but then it wears out almost immediately

and you never want to hear it again after a while.  Then you need a new pop tune to repeat the cycle.

 

I think music on any level (prog, jazz, country, blues, etc...) should aspire to just a little more, that is all I am trying to say.

I agree  Great blend of prog and pop even as late as Ammonia Avenue.  Often in the same song.   Also agree on Mike Oldfield and Moody Blues.

To mention one that has not been mentioned yet, ANYONE's DAUGHTER from Germany  Their self titled and Neu Sterne in particular straddle the line very well

 

Circa Survive with their release "Blue Sky Noise" and Mars Volta with "Octahedron."

 

Steven Wilson with "Insurgentes."

 

Blackfield.