ELO is not prog?

stebo32 wrote: hehe, yea that is true then, I guess as long as radiohead, and such silly bands  stay in prog-related, its alright, i agree, they do sound better than the normal rock bands... but if i ever see system of a down or U2 in symphonic prog or canterubury, or psychedelic rock.. i will shoot myself and i will send a video of it to progarchives. And again, what you say about prog lyrics. is true, it takes a certain "personnality" (couldnt find a better word) to write prog lyrics, but some people would still disagree about how prog the lyrics of some bands are (like me).. I read the lyrics of Radiohead OK COMPUTER, it IS better than greenday and such, but I still dont like it... theres something unique about 60s and 70s prog lyrics (but yea i guess they can be considered modern prog lyrics) guess if we want the classic prog bands lyrics again, we should get a new timothy leary and give out acid to every one

Well, back in 1997 I didn't think that Radiohead were Prog Rock either - when I bought my copy of "OK Computer" I thought I was buying an album by an Indie band that were just a bit better than the rest of them (and in 1997, there were a LOT of good guitar bands, IMO).

However, as I listened to that album more and more, it struck me, more or less against my will, that in fact, Prog Rock was exactly what it is.

And check out the lyrics - Thom must've been on something scary to write this mind-blowing piece;

I am the key to the lock in your house
That keeps your toys in the basement
And if you get too far inside
You'll only see my reflection

It's always best when the light is off
I am the pick in the ice
Do not cry out or hit the alarm
You know we're friends till we die

And either way you turn
I'll be there
Open up your skull
I'll be there
Climbing up the walls

It's always best when the light is off
It's always better on the outside
Fifteen blows to the back of your head
Fifteen blows to your mind

So lock the kids up safe tonight
Put the eyes in the cupboard
I've got the smell of a local man
Who's got the loneliest feeling

That either way he turns
I'll be there
Open up your skull
I'll be there

Climbing up the walls

hehe, yea that is true then, I guess as long as radiohead, and such silly bands  stay in prog-related, its alright, i agree, they do sound better than the normal rock bands... but if i ever see system of a down or U2 in symphonic prog or canterubury, or psychedelic rock.. i will shoot myself and i will send a video of it to progarchives.

And again, what you say about prog lyrics. is true, it takes a certain "personnality" (couldnt find a better word) to write prog lyrics, but some people would still disagree about how prog the lyrics of some bands are (like me).. I read the lyrics of Radiohead OK COMPUTER, it IS better than greenday and such, but I still dont like it... theres something unique about 60s and 70s prog lyrics (but yea i guess they can be considered modern prog lyrics) guess if we want the classic prog bands lyrics again, we should get a new timothy leary and give out acid to every one

ClemofNazareth wrote: ELO, on the other hand, had several albums like On the Third Day, ELO II, Out of the Blue, and El Dorado were maybe not progressive, but certainly of much better musicianship and higher production quality than bands like Cheap Trick, Styx, and even Queen.

That's unsupportable, not to say not true.

Cheap Trick were completely different - but they were very skilled songwriters and good musicians at what they played - the music is hardly comparable,

I'm not so sure about Styx, as I'm not familiar with all their back catalogue, but to say that ELO had better musicianship than Queen is obviously not true!

stebo wrote: I find all of this really ridiculous, the fact that we add Muse, Radiohead, and all of those contemporary POP-ROCK bands in here... (And you guys say they're prog related, because of their music, but if theyre prog RELATED, then all their other compatriots of the POP ROCK scene are somwhere RELATED... so why not add System Of A down, and Coldplay while at it, man, lets just add everything that's related, EVERYTHING IS RELATED... I mean at the end of the day, music is just an endless puzzle where everything meets. PROG RELATED section was a MISTAKE!!!) And when it's time to add things like ELO, or other bands that cleary had a PROGRESSIVE SOUND!!!... we have a sh*t load of difficulty doing so... while groups like Radiohead slip by as if someone gave a 20$ to the website owner.

You find it ridiculous because you don't understand what makes Prog Rock - or you wouldn't be suggesting System of a Down and Coldplay as additions, or questioning bands like Radiohead (obviously Prog Rock) or Muse (obviously Prog Related).

Everything is not necessarily Prog Related - there are just some bands who cross the border from mainstream into prog but don't necessarily stay in the prog camp full time. I don't mean bands who insert the odd polka and have politically oriented lyrics or just have a spacey sound that's a bit similar to Radiohead, (like about 50% of bands since Radiohead released "OK Computer"), I mean bands that have the Prog attitude and take a really diverse approach to their music.

To the best of my knowledge, Jeff Lynne, despite his obvious talents and great songwriting skills, had his eyes mostly on making money from hit singles from the word go - "Eldorado" is kind of borderline, but practically everything else they/he wrote is very accessible and decidedly not prog.

It's not enough to have a progressive sound - the music needs to be progressive too. The Sex Pistols had a progressive sound, if you want to look at it that way...

ELO are not prog, Styx are not prog......but no one llistens.

I am sorry, maybe I am not taking enough time to think but I gotta say something...

I find all of this really ridiculous, the fact that we add Muse, Radiohead, and all of those contemporary POP-ROCK bands in here... (And you guys say they're prog related, because of their music, but if theyre prog RELATED, then all their other compatriots of the POP ROCK scene are somwhere RELATED... so why not add System Of A down, and Coldplay while at it, man, lets just add everything that's related, EVERYTHING IS RELATED... I mean at the end of the day, music is just an endless puzzle where everything meets. PROG RELATED section was a MISTAKE!!!)

And when it's time to add things like ELO, or other bands that cleary had a PROGRESSIVE SOUND!!!... we have a sh*t load of difficulty doing so... while groups like Radiohead slip by as if someone gave a 20$ to the website owner. 

dream_orchestra wrote: Aren't Styx the American ELO, but worse songs? So..............................

Not even close.  Styx was an arena band in the 70s, much closer to Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, Gary Wright, Heart, Peter Frampton, or even Foreigner, but a far cry from ELO, who was more likely back then to attract fans of Queen, Kansas, Moody Blues, 10CC, and Atlanta Rythmn Section.

I remember when Styx tried to do a couple of artsy concept albums (Paradise Theater, Mr. Roboto), they pretty quickly found themselves touring county fairs instead of arenas and their sales never really recovered.  That just wasn't what where their fan base was.  Some of their earlier stuff like The Grand Illusion, Crystal Ball, and Equinox was definitely not pop or hair band, but didn't rise to the level of being progressive either.

ELO, on the other hand, had several albums like On the Third Day, ELO II, Out of the Blue, and El Dorado were maybe not progressive, but certainly of much better musicianship and higher production quality than bands like Cheap Trick, Styx, and even Queen.  And Roy Wood did some very underpublicized but interesting work with Wizzard around that time as well.

Unfortunately, by the time ELO pushed out their Time LP, they were pretty much on the road to pop icon status (and shortly followed by albatross obscurity).

IMHO, the volume of eclectic and interesting work they did prior to 1977 should merit them at least consideration under the Prog Related banner, but probably not much more than that.

BTW, Styx probably doesn't belong here at all, but at least they do generate some interesting threads from time to time, so I guess it's not a total travesty.

I agree with Ivan and Cert on this point. As far as I know ELO were never considered Prog! Also I know of no one who considers them prog. I also agree with Cert that the term prog is retorospective, I certainly don't remember any "prog" fans at the time. Anyone who was into Yes etc, were usually into led zeppelin, sabbath etc. The distinction being that they were more into "albums" bands, rather than "singles" bands. 

So ELO....not prog. Prog related? Hell..who knows...who isn't?