Progosopher wrote: When many of us think of the 70s we go from one extreme to the other - it is either Prog or Disco and Punk. But there was plenty of middle ground. Many mainstream bands and artists used methods that we consider typically Prog - among them sophisticated time signatures, nonstandard structures, and key changes on occasion. Remember, Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, and Pink Floyd were very popular at the time. King Crimson and Genesis not so much, but the latter's popularity was growing even before they went commercial. Popular music then was much different than the canned popular music of today.

I mean Billy Joel from Piano Man until 52nd Street was exactly that perfect middle ground between prog and punk/disco imo. Glass Houses, onwards.... not as much. Def more punky/disco-y.

As I mentioned above, Piano Man has some prog undertones throughout the whole album.
Edit: I think Turnstiles is actually his proggiest album.

Edited by bardberic - March 04 2023 at 17:13

Not prog imo but her writes lot of very well carved song ... du beau travail ;-)

Wasn't Attila proposed as a band suggestion to PA at one time? Did it get rejected?

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Attila - Wonder Woman - and if you wonder what that's got to do with Billy Joel, that's him looking like a long-lost member of Kiss in the centre of the album cover.

Hi, AJ. I have moved this from the Prog Music Lounge to General Music Discussions because this part of the forum is intended for music already included in our Prog categories at PA. It's a bit of a learning process where things best fit and even long-term members with many posts incorrectly place things. See Site Rules and Guidelines -> Creating new threads in the forum page CLICK Here I don't mind moving it at all, and only ever bothers me when people keep doing the same after being alerted to the guidelines. David has had a particular concern with Prog Archives turning into an All Music Site be because sometimes music acts not deemed as Prog gets mentioned in the Prog forums. While officially acts are not considered Prog until they are included in PA, of course many other acts flirted with and were dominantly Prog (how much can depend on the listener and ones personal definitions and parameters for Prog). Lots of big name and lesser-knowns artists made Proggy music, especially in the 70s, like Elton John with "Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding" (which to me complements "Fool's Overture" by Supertramp nicely). And of course lots of what is included in PA also made music that is not Prog -- some describe artists/bands as Prog, whereas, I tend to think on the album and song level and describe music made by acts as Prog rather than the acts themselves. Some concentrated more on Prog than others, and some who concentrated more on Prog were more progressive than others. The Prog/Non-Prog dichotomy presented by some purists never made much sense to me. I think some bring in their preconceptions and aren't willing or able to fairly judge specific music and albums. I think of Prog as an amorphous quite nebulous thing. I think it generally better to focus on the topics of others that one likes (finds interesting/ entertaining and has something constructive and commonly positive to add) than to post in order to complain and/or push one's own agenda.

Back to Billy Joel, I don't have much to add as I have not been a fan of Billy Joel (haven't explored much) but I am really enjoying his "Scandinavian Skies" right now -- it's more than a place for Norwegian Blues (not for dead parrots pining for the fjords). I will be looking more into his music, so thanks for making this topic.

Edited by Logan - March 03 2023 at 15:44

Edited by suitkees - March 03 2023 at 14:23

AJ Junior wrote: sorry you feel this way. How can I improve my posts? Im newer to the forum.

You have nothing to worry about, don't sweat the snark.

I think his proggiest would be "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," but I'm no expert.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Attila - Wonder Woman - and if you wonder what that's got to do with Billy Joel, that's him looking like a long-lost member of Kiss in the centre of the album cover.  .............

David_D wrote: I guess, these "Prog Lounges" get less and less interesting for proggers.