15 of your fave non-Prog albums from the '80s?

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

 Psychedelic Paul wrote:

 Logan wrote:

In doing this list I am trying to avoid everything in PA, although I do think that I could include albums by Laurie Anderson Kate Bush and others as non-Prog.

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who considers Laurie Anderson and Kate Bush (& Tori Amos) to be non-prog artists. 

I hadn't read the early discussion when I wrote that, but I find myself in agreement with various of your appraisals and perspectives here and elsewhere when it comes to classification (nomenclature is the bane of the serious archivist).

I expect that you'd find lots over the years, and I was someone that led to Laurie Anderson being in PA as I was pushing arguments for the relatedness to music in PA, although I did not vote on it.    Her Big Science album is an early favourite of mine. Tori Amos was a controversial addition.  Kate Bush was, I think, in Related before.   I think my views are a little more nuanced than some, however.  I think some are very narrow-minded when it comes to such things and box their thinking in with limited perspectives.

1.  Being in PA does not make one Prog, nor does being out of it make one not Prog.
2. Prog does not have clear boundaries.  It is amorphous as it is used and nebulous and lacks one clear definition.  
3.  Artists across discographies and even on one album can be given various genre and stylistic attributes.
4.  I tend to label by the album.  I don't call bands or artists Prog generally, I call specific music they made Prog or not Prog when I even bother with that label (I don't really like the Prog term due to its lack of a clear, universal definition which has a a consensus -- what is Prog is so subjective)

Labeling by the album or even song is useful to me.  While I don't think of Kate Bush as Prog, like Laurie Anderson I think of her music as more Art Pop (even progressive pop) and I would assign various other labels before the Prog one, I could loosely think of some of her music as Prog (really, prog related to me): the Ninth Wave suite, Rocket's Tail, various later music.

As for Talk Talk which was mentioned, this is again where it makes more sense to label by the album.  I would not call Talk Talk Prog.  The early albums are Synth Pop.  The it got more Art Pop.  Then more Post-Rockish and experimental rock-like....  I'd sooner label the individual albums.  When I was on the Eclectic Team, that was also the way I evaluated for PA -- I thought about the pieces and then where it best work as a whole.  I find some people are very black and white in their thinking, like it's prog or not prog.  I think more that things can be considered both, not only depending on the specific work you are talking about, but also depending upon the subset of Prog one is working with and the definitions one is using.

And for me too, whether I think something should or shouldn't be in PA has nothing to do with my appreciation for the music.  I don't see being labelled Prog as a badge of honour.  Many of my favourites are not considered prog (many I would put in the greater umbrella)  and many are definitely not Progressive Rock.  EDIT: OR actually, I should say, except when it comes to certain site considerations, I don't care if an act is even in PA or not, and whether I consider that music prog, non-prog, quasi-prog or prog-related has little to do with whether or not I enjoy it.  I do have quite diverse music tastes, although not as diverse as some.

Edited by Logan - March 20 2022 at 05:15