Can it be Prog if I like it at 1st listen

Trotsky wrote: Answer to you question, Dieter, is of course yes ... because most prog albums you listen to, you already approach as a prog fan ... If you can cast your mind back to the days before full-fledged prog fandom though ... what is very unlikely is that the first time you hear a kind of prog that you haven't heard before, you will enjoy it straight away ...

Yes, a person's listening history does often play a big part in this matter, I agree. I have certainly noticed how it gets easier to get into different kind of musical landscapes once the ear has been "trained" to hear prog in the first place. But what it really seems to come down to is attitude. If you are ready to be exposed to something completely different, even as a complete "prog dummie" it is easier to embrace it from the start. I remember hearing Hemispheres for the first time and even though it was certainly weird (Led Zep was the most intricate music I had been listening to thus far), it still got my attention because I was, well, EXPECTING weird. I took an almost childlike delight in all those time signatures and odd meters and truly wanted to figure them out; not drumming-wise -apart from tentatively trying to air-drum along with Neil, lol- but to make sense of them as an integral part of the songs. Someone here compared prog music to a musical jigsaw and that's it, exactly: the desire to put all those pieces together in your mind. 

When I say that I haven't been able to fall in love with any prog records on the first listen, it doesn't mean that they didn't excite me and intrigue me from the very beginning -they did. But I definitely needed at least two or three spins before I could admit to true love.

Of course, I forgot the wonderful exception called Wish You Were Here...so far the only record in my collection that WAS true love at first hearing.   

Ray Lomas wrote: Listening to prog or any music becomes 'easier' when you're more 'experienced', that's true. Having said that I have had some difficulties getting to bebob Miled Davis. It seems just very confusing music. The most difficult experience for me so far. And I have already listened and liked some Magma, Amon Düül II etc. So does anyone have any experience with Miles Davis? Maybe I should approach this the same as to prog and listen more 'easy' jazz music first. Any suggestions? I know that this isn't exactly prog but relates to the topic.

Try tribute albums ... they're often not as "hard-core" as the original albums. John Coltrane is another case of rather inacessible yet absolutely divine ground-breaking music. I like Karrin Allyson's album "Ballads - remembering John Coltrane" ... it prepares you for the rather "giant steps" of the man.