Did Punk Rock really kill Prog Music?

I think poor little punk gets a bad rap for prog's diminishing returns. I think it should be stated that not only progressive music peaked in about 1973 but so did progressive life in general. That is the year when the whole world's economic structures were manipulated. In the US Richard Nixon took the currency off the gold standard, debts from war and decades of frivolous spending had caught up. This year marked the decline of the good life as had been known and from that point on it would become harder and harder for one member of the family to support the rest. More women entered the workforce and work hours became longer and longer to make ends meet. In effect, the capitalists had usurped any social safety net structures and began dismantling them.

Progressive rock is a "luxury" type of music. It demands free time to create and consume. As time went on people had less and less time to invest in such complexities and settled for simpler and easier to access music. Also the educational system peaked about then in the US any way and it appears to me that progressive music attracts the educated types and as the public became dumbed down so did the popular music. I would argue that punk and disco were not the cause of prog's demise but rather a symptom of society in general. As the masses became less sophisticated, prog just seemed like some pie-in-the-sky nonsense that didn't deliver their emotional state of the times.

Yadda yadda but you get my drift. Don't forget that prog never died, it only took a nap and creativity comes from the dreamscapes during a siesta. The combo effect of all the aforementioned and the fact that the big bang of prog in the early 70s meant that descpite its siesta beginning in the late 70s that there was more than enough produced in a short time to nourish our prog souls for decades to come. Even those who have thousands of reviews on this site have not heard every single band or album and there is probably still a huge treasure trove of music out there that never saw the light of day at the time or only shortly so.

Also, music travels in waves. New generations always reject what came directly before and opt for something in total controdiction. It's not like prog was ever the top dog. Art rock, pop, hard blues and country were always more popular. It's always been an underground sorta music that just happened to step into the scene and get noticed at a certain time. I'm grateful it did but can't say i don't like some of the other musical genres that took its place.

Gerinski wrote: MellotronGhost wrote: Prog did appear to be past its best - although Genesis were becoming neo-prog during this period until Abacab in 81 when they morphed again and became a pop band. However, this hiatus ended when IQ came along in 85 and brought us their debut The Wake. Since then, neo-prog has got better and better. Stand outs are Seven by Magenta in 2004, Posthumous Silence by Sylvan in 2006 and On The Road by Minor Giant in 2014. There is so much high quality prog around now - it makes me glad to be alive! Sorry but The Wake was not their debut, that was Tales From The Lush Attic. And Marillion had started it all with their EPs for Grendel, Three Boats etc which would culminate in Script For A Jester's Tear.

MellotronGhost wrote: Prog did appear to be past its best - although Genesis were becoming neo-prog during this period until Abacab in 81 when they morphed again and became a pop band. However, this hiatus ended when IQ came along in 85 and brought us their debut The Wake. Since then, neo-prog has got better and better. Stand outs are Seven by Magenta in 2004, Posthumous Silence by Sylvan in 2006 and On The Road by Minor Giant in 2014. There is so much high quality prog around now - it makes me glad to be alive!

The Punk Rock scene developed attitudes. Attitudes that reflected upon how a musician played their instrument. In the early to mid 70's, there were all these bands playing a gymnastic style on their instruments, but when Punk invaded the world...it felt as if a band could stand on stage and give off the vibe...'Hey..look at us, we suck" and the younger generation of that time thought it was cool. Eventually it became the "in" thing to make fun of geeks who played their instruments well. I watched this happen as I traveled the road in the music business. However.....I don't feel that Punk Rock destroyed Prog. I believe the industry desired to cash in on Prog for a second time by forcing the bands to write in a more Pop style. 

Quite a few fun tangents though.

I think this is getting needlessly messianic.

SteveG wrote: ^ I am one of the Barbarian Goths.  Kneel before me, heathen.

In thy name of Prog I shall not!!

HolyMoly wrote: On the other hand, "..Most pure metals are either too soft, brittle or chemically reactive for practical use. Combining different ratios of metals as alloys modifies the properties of pure metals to produce desirable characteristics...." -- wikipoopia

HolyMoly wrote: On the other hand,"..Most pure metals are either too soft, brittle or chemically reactive for practical use. Combining different ratios of metals as alloys modifies the properties of pure metals to produce desirable characteristics...."-- wikipoopia

I concur Mein Herr. That's why soft brittle metal must be infused with strong prog to form a superior form of music.

Edited by SteveG - September 03 2014 at 19:43

On the other hand,

"..Most pure metals are either too soft, brittle or chemically reactive for practical use. Combining different ratios of metals as alloys modifies the properties of pure metals to produce desirable characteristics...."

-- wikipoopia