Was Anglagard the reason why Prog rock rebirth?

Mellotron Storm wrote: I think the influence would have been a lot bigger if the internet was a factor then. A huge album in my opinion.

This. The reason we've seen a resurgence of prog in the last 10 years (and don't give me any of that "prog never died" crap - it was at the very least extremely marginalised, undervalued and widely-ridiculed through much of the 80's and 90's) is largely down to the internet. The effortless sharing of content (legal or otherwise) coupled with the opportunities to seek out and communicate with like-minded individuals breathed new life into prog.

Obviously the internet isn't the only factor, and Anglagard certainly were amongst the first of the new breed to really show that there was still an appetite for new prog (they played that careful balancing act of 70s nostalgia and modern sensibilities to perfection) but ultimately the second coming of prog is down to a lot more than the contribution of any singular group or artist.

Anglagard had beautiful "retro-modern" sound. Yes, they use real Hammonds and mellotrons (not a synthesized samples), but their sound was modernly-agressive  . Nobody in 70thies (including Yes, Genesis) played like this. And that's good for Anglagard - bring some modern feel into music, even use retro-instruments and technologies

Also, there is an interesting fact that Swedish prog-rock have something very subtle in common - Anglagard, Anekdoten, PLP, Sinkadus (and even Samla - which is in it's very separate category). I don't know where this "Swedish-born melodism" coming from, but I feel it in the music of all above mentioned bands . Maybe it's a subtle influence of Swedish folk music ?

Anglagard isn't even that much of a well known band in PA.

caretaker wrote: To answer the question I would say no. But I do like Anglagard. Prog is an era unto itself like the different periods of classical music. It never died so it  doesn't need to be reborn.

To answer the question I would say no. But I do like Anglagard. Prog is an era unto itself like the different periods of classical music. It never died so it  doesn't need to be reborn.

Our hero strikes again! 

richardh wrote: The ninties saw a  general shift in attitude about music. Proper bands that could play their own instruments came back into vogue basically because people got fed up with the prefrabicated over produced bullsh*t that littered the eighties music scene. Nirvana and Oasis became massive in the 90's showing this shift as well as anything. The most important band to me in the British rock scene was Mansun who produced one of the best albums of the decade with Attack Of The Grey Lantern including more than a few nods to progressive rock. Radiohead also emerged and were actually tagged 'prog rock' in some quarters. It was a safe time for prog bands too emerge from the closet properly and with a proper sense of pride about what they were doing. There was also too some extent a positive re-evaluation of progressive rock. It was just a very healthy decade for music (despite what Walter may think otherwise)

That atrocious narrative deserves to be shot in the back of the head with a Colt 45. Its absolute rubbish. The 1980s were the last decade that offered modernist innovation, for it was a time where faith in the promise of technological achievement allowed new sounds to develop thanks to the digital revolution. The 90s were the beginning of the end, a dark age when banal slackers recycled old ideas and sold them as new. Oasis and Nirvana and Anglagard? Give me a break. None of these idiots ever came up with an idea that wasn't already done (in a superior fashion) before 1989. They had no sense of fun or originality; dour derisive and derivative, their crimes against culture should be prosecuted by all nations.

The Swedish Art Rock Society was the reason......Anglagard was the symbol of the rebirth.

Anglagard was an important band in the 90's scene (sometimes called third wave).  Sweden was important to that.

 I'd cite the Swedish Art Rock Society, founded in '91, which sought to restore the traits of classic progressive rock, and had Par Lindh as chairman. That was important and played a part in the rise of a neo-classic Prog scene that got going in Sweden, and spread.  Bands such as Par Lindh Project (Par Lindh being chairman), Anekdoten, and Anglagard  were spring-boarded, to quite an extent, due to the foundation of the Swedish Art Rock Society's values which was concerned with bringing back qualities/ spirit of classic progressive rock, and set out to do so, but progressive rock never ceased to exist.  I guess they helped to popularise more retro prog in a way (or neo-classic prog revival).  And then Sweden's The Flower Kings quickly followed, which is obviously retro.

Par Lindh and the Swedish Art Rock Society were important to the third wave.

I don't think so, even though their first album is great.