Bottom Line on Neo-Prog?

pure neo prog bands are sympho-free & metal-free.

I agree Stonebeard, it's more a sound and to me the typical neo-prog sounds in general: more rocky guitar work and tighter rhythm-section, more polished/predictable, more melodic and short head-and-tail soli. And neo-prog is a confusing category because there's so much difference between on one hand early Marillion and IQ and on the other hand bands like Arena, Winter, Clepsydra and Landmarq.

Edited by erik neuteboom - April 21 2007 at 05:16

dojonane wrote: The Watch have a less cozy production style than Genesis? I'd have to say that the Watch's production is about as clear and unfettered (as in not suffering from early 70s analog low budget a la Genesis nor restrained by 80s pointless dalliances) the sound is about as clear and pure as they come...

Yeah, hence "cozy." I think that describes it well. Whereas Lamb captures the close, personal, and cozy (I like that word, like the feeling you get with the crackle and pop of a classic vinyl recod), Vacuum (my only Watch album) is crisp, clear, and musically a bit more dissonant than Genesis (more reminiscent of "The Knife" than say "Cinema Show."

dojonane wrote: Also, the Watch really don't deserve to be included in this discussion. Sure they are new but no more neo than a band like anglagard.

I think they are quite a bit more Neo than Anglagard. I use "Neo" to describe the sonic associations such as instrumentation and overall feeling rather than time period or relevance or anything similar. Neo has always a term describing more of a sound than an era.

To me neo prog is 90's rock + prog

I don't really like it too much it always seems too slick and reminds me of dream theatre too much.

What I'm missing in this whole discussion is the position of Arena, Clepsydra, Satellite, Saens, and a number of other bands. I think by focussing neo prog too much on only Marillion and IQ you throw away the child with the bathwater (I'm not shure this is a valid expression in English, it is in Dutch...). Neo prog has so much diversity that it can't be captured by only referring to Marillion or IQ... What distinguishes neo prog from other contemporary genres is IMO the ultimate drive for making melodically sound music as opposed to experimentalism or jazz/rhythmical music. The way that is reached, is different for different bands.

I have been thinking about this very issue lately, so your post is very timely. I grew up in the 70's listening to Yes, ELP, Tull, Zeppelin, etc. I was there in the 80;s when Marillion issued their first. The term "Neo-Prog" to me is a very loose definition that includes almost all prog bands that got their start in the 80's or later. It seems almost randomly assigned to me. For example: in this site Pendragon is listed as Neo, but Glass Hammer is Sympho. To me these bands sound so close to being the same style that I fail to see the distinction. I find myself listening to so-called Neo bands MUCH more than the classics nowadays. After all I've heard the classics so many time that I can hear them note for note in my head without even powering up the stereo. Anyway, the bottom line for me is that there are plenty of bands still making great prog no matter what label you apply to it,

I still remember very vividly that I had seen a concert by the Geoff Mann Band in Holland, after the show we had a great chat with the late Geoff Mann. We were talking about his inspiration ... it turned out to be the Margaret Thatcher politics  : and if you check out the excellent Twelfth Night album Fact And Fiction, I have never heard such an emotional neo-prog album about anger, love, hate, hope, etc., often triggered by the arrogant, very capitalistic dictatorship by Thatcher & Co. ... but for Geoff Mann it was a huge source of inspiration and I am still carried away by Fact And Fiction

I tend to prefer the work the neo prog bands did outside of the 80s, save Marillion, who imho generally avoid the trappings of the era in a way that, say, Pallas' 'The Sentinel' does not which is filled to the brim with dated syn drums, period synth sounds and a weak production (which it seems was very much an eleventh hour mix, too), though even that has some great moments.

"Grendel" is the only track that sounds like early Prog - and that's mainly due to the penultimate section, which famously bears a strong resemblance to "Apocalypse in 9/8".

Edited by Certif1ed - April 20 2007 at 17:51

Want some great neo prog ?

Try Arena's following albums : The Visitor, Immortal?, Contagion and Pepper's Ghost.

I also very highly recommend Frost's Milliontown.

And this is from someone who always disliked Marillion, even the classics.