Why old prog - for me - is better than new prog

(Oh dear, stirring the pot here !! )

Well since you're basing your argument on "memories", consider the fact that some do not possess similar memories, therefore factoring nostalgia is not a good idea in this case (or EVER).

micky wrote: sleeper wrote: Sigh, nostalgia is the bane of the modern world. sigh, nostalgia is the bane of objectivity...

   to both - and this from a person who very often reminisces about the past. At my first NEARfest, in 2009, I was almost in tears when PFM played "Impressioni di settembre" - remembering hearing that song on the radio in the summer of 1972, when I was all f 11 years old and vacationing in the Alps with my family. However, I also have many wonderful memories of much more recent shows when "new" bands or artists were performing - such as the incredible show put up by Gösta Berlings Saga at NEARfest 2012.

There is nothing wrong with a stroll down memory lane. Nostalgia is not the bane of existence unless you let it be the bane of existence.

I wasn't born until Dark Side of the Moon had been on the charts for a year, yet I prefer old prog because I think it's plain better than most recent releases. Granted, I've found good listening on many recent French and Italian albums, but nobody's pushing the envelope for me as they did 30+ years ago.

I should point out that I have no problem with memory association itself, but when you start making it the central reason to why you prefer one album over another then it kind of marginalises the music of both to being superficial to the experience, that is not healthy at all.

OP, That's a weak argument, I basically never revisit the music I listened to when I was a child.  That's why music exploration is so awesome:  you grow up and you move on to new music, and you no longer find the old stuff enjoyable to listen to.

Davesax1965 wrote: (Oh dear, stirring the pot here !! ) Hi folks, and now !! A thread where I tell you why - for me - old prog is better than new prog. Really simple reason.... Association. When I stick on "Dark Side", I'm sitting around at my uncles' house in 1975 with a Mathmos oil lamp on. I stick on King Crimson, and I'm back with my mates in the early 1980's, smashed out of my mind and talking complete gibberish in a selection of grotty flats in Manchester at 2am. I put on something like Hawkwind and I'm back at UMIST rock night with my mates in the mid 80-'s, full of beer and, er, herbal tobacco, officer.  And so it goes. Not just the music but the memories. I am knocking on the door of 50, so I have very few associative memories concerning "new prog". Really, it's not just about the music but the scene that the music evokes.

You give us serious concerns about your ability to navigate successfully to a door, kitchen or even any metaphorical 'pot' that might require stirring therein but regardless, your talent for talking complete gibberish has clearly not deserted you in the interim. The solution to your dilemma is equally simple: get completely chipped off your tits while listening to any music released say post '79, wait thirty years or so then start another thread about getting nostalgic for something that never happened in the first place. By that stage (circa 2045) cultural revisionists will have supplanted the current conventional wisdom to conclude that both Ian Curtis and Tony Wilson were actually slain by the Macclesfield Illuminati (And So it Goes)

There is no such thing as 'new Prog' but there are sh*tloads of contemporary (and historical dammit) artists creating adventurous, challenging, innovative and forward thinking music for everyone to enjoy irrespective of the entrance examinations for PA. The fact that we are still banging these new round pegs into our very old square holes or excluding artists entirely based on a largely static set of historical criteria is a different matter altogether. Our failure on PA to wake up to the reality that we must choose to remain an archive for the historical phenomenon of 'Prog' or become a progressive music appreciation site is at the heart of the crossroads we currently face. The ramifications for the latter eventuality would be massive and certainly dwarf the resources that any volunteer website has at its disposal. e.g. the inevitable flood of eligible artists would drown the capacities of the now redundant genre teams. I've always believed that this, with some justification, is probably the main reason that we continue fudge the issue. (Cue another Micky rant...)

Warning: This post contains traces of sarcasm

Hi,

This is so weird!

You don't go around saying that Stravinsky is OLD.

You don't go around saying that Mozart is OLD.

You don't go around saying that Gregorian Chants are OLD.

Why the fudge would you say that some progressive/prog stuff is now "old", when it was merely a reflection of its time and the instruments they had, THEN!

It was music ... when it was music, with that they had to do music with! It's like we're comparing oranges to apples again!

My next question is ... are you sure you are listening to music?

Edited by moshkito - January 10 2015 at 11:18

I have incredible memories associated with all the classics as well. Listening to dark side for the first time, a good friend introducing me to Genesis and air drumming Phil's parts, etc. One thing I also remember is the thrill of being wowed by something new and different. You can't get that again by returning to the well.

^Everyone has their peak and decline Mosh. Even Einstein's greatest thinking came in his twenties and was never repeated again in his life.