Your Prog Rock Hot Takes

I had to google that, I didn't know what it means. 

As someone currently promoting a new album that crosses some genre boundaries, this rings so true to me right now.

I believe there are some more "objective" factors in music (meaning one can nail them down in a transparent way so that pretty much everyone can agree) like originality, complexity, virtuosity etc., and some factors that depend on individual emotionality like whether certain melodies and sounds appeal to you or not. There is some inexplicable "magic" in this, and it will work for some and not for others. Camel for me is much about the emotions; it's hard to convey how their melodies and sound appeal more to me than that of many other bands, and I'm not surprised that they leave some people cold. There's just some invisible emotional bond between them and me that you may have with entirely different material. 

That said they have some seriously good instrumentalists for sure, and they know what they're doing. (But them this description also fits some bands that I don't get.)  

Prog is widely considered the realm of faeries, dragons and UFO's. That is, where its even considered at all.

I am very well versed in the opinions about that album. That's why I'm here in the "Hot Takes" thread. It doesn't really change the way I feel about their post-...Puppets discography. 

Siberian Khatru, despite its exotic-sounding title, really just sounds like a country jazz tune. The unusual rhythms on the chorus sound like Bruford dropped something on his drumkit. Close to the Edge itself is mostly extremely harsh-sounding.

That being said, it can still sometimes be fun to listen to, but I just don't experience it as the be-all-end-all of prog rock mastery that seems to be expected of it. And I find most of Topographic Oceans to be far more listenable.

Completely full-blown Prog Rock is concept albums.