how hard for a prog band to make it?

The members of most current prog bands work full time jobs. Few have the luxury of a record contract that pays them to do nothing but record and tour. It's sad that so many talented people CAN'T play music full time. Most prog bands only gig every month or two, festivals mainly, so the winter months are spent in basements and garages writing, recording and rehearsing.

Dont know about Queens of the Stone age. They prog??

They sounded like well produced punk the last time I heard them.

I think you would have trouble getting a true prog band off the ground these days. I mean a band who write long, musically complex songs, soaked in Mellotrons, Hammond organs etc like in the 'good ole days' People have a shorter attention soan these days due to food additives and pollution

I regard Radiohead and Muse as prog, even if they claim they dont, and even if most people who listern to them probably dont even know what prog rock is!!

The last band that had commercial success as a prog band (not including the aforementioned contraversial bands) was probably It Bites in the mid 80's. They only achieved that by fooling pop land that they were a pop group. People bought the albums, and saw through the scam and they soon bit the dust.