Prog comeback

odinalcatraz wrote: Who are the biggest names, even now, in modern music? The same ones we always had.. Beatles, Hendrix, Floyd, Zep, Queen etc etc. All the other stuff comes and goes but those names and their music remain the biggest sellers. Even though they are 70 years old now.

This is not strictly true, those bands are both popular and got a lot of critical acclaim, relatively speaking.  They were all very influential too. But Michael Jackson's Thriller is by a huge margin the best selling album of all time.  I think some Jamiroquai album was the biggest selling funk album, yeah?  Back in Black has outsold any Beatles album, unless I am very much mistaken and that is from 1981.  70 years ago?  Hardly.

 

odinalcatraz wrote: Prog isn't a fashion. It's music that needs listening to then it gets buried deep inside people. Pop can be good but usually, 1 or 2 songs per artist. With progressive music (orchestral OR rock), each artist produces hours of entertainment and escape. It's all the stuff you miss on the first listen that's important I guess.

I am sorry that I have to lodge my protest every time this is said, but it's fairly often in prog circles, from what I have seen.  1 or 2 songs?  How about bagfuls of albums for artists like Stevie Wonder or Tori Amos?  Their music is more intricate and compositionally more interesting than many boring by-the-numbers prog metal or neo prog bands.   Sure, they are not usual pop, but then usually, modern prog is also not as intricate, subtle and, quite simply, brilliant as OK Computer and is generally by the numbers and generic.    Whose (Radiohead) progginess, ironically, is frequently questioned by progheads.


Edited by rogerthat - July 18 2010 at 12:29

I'm surprised Walter has only commented once, this seems like the kind of thing he would eat up... Apparently he's saving it for other threads which don't have the same topic as this one but still get the same replies from him

That's the point!
Nobody in the real world has heard of Porcupine tree but they can sell out the Albert hall! They actually have cracked it into the bigtime. Bloody amazing band!
Without the internet, we'd only know what is in the media(TV & radio), or what our mates know about. I travelled to Sweden 6 years ago, to see pain of salvation(because I saw it on the net) and people regularly fly here(I live here now) to see them, from all over Europe and even the states. Prog rock never died and most people don't even realise it. Who are the biggest names, even now, in modern music? The same ones we always had.. Beatles, Hendrix, Floyd, Zep, Queen etc etc. All the other stuff comes and goes but those names and their music remain the biggest sellers. Even though they are 70 years old now.
You bump into people at concerts.. father and son. Dad takes son to see Camel, then son takes dad to see Spocks Beard. Brilliant!
Prog isn't a fashion. It's music that needs listening to then it gets buried deep inside people. Pop can be good but usually, 1 or 2 songs per artist. With progressive music (orchestral OR rock), each artist produces hours of entertainment and escape. It's all the stuff you miss on the first listen that's important I guess.
Bands are more adventurous now because they don't need to go round record companies trying to sell their band any more. That was SUCH a hopeless and depressing task in the 80s. They can test their music in cyberspace.
In the 60s the Beatles made it possible to be on the radio with weird songs like "I am a walrus", which was considered rubbish at first. Ha ha!!! An all time classic now. People listened because it was the Beatles. Then the record companies let musitians do wahtever they wanted for a few years, because they knew about music.
By the mid 70s, the suits took back full control and prog was killed stone dead. At least Floyd didn't give up and gave us "the wall" before they were done for too.
Musicians have always had adventure in them. It's just getting out there again. No idea if you've listened to what is on my link but it was recorded in the bad old 80s and it got the thumbs up from a 17 year old girl who said was a little like Muse but with it's own style. Ha ha ha.. It's all in the timing Mr Blacksword.
Have a good one
Colin
http://www.reverbnation.com/bunchakeze

We really do have 3 big things to thank for the spread of progressive music.
1 Dream Theater and the way the always promote everybody else. They kind of kicked it all off.
2 The internet
3 There is no silly battle between artists like in the old days (I can play faster than Jimmy Page for example). It really is a community. How else did Porcupine tree sell out the Albert hall months in advance? Amazing! Who needs the radio? Ha ha!
Take a look at this. Unknown and rose to 91 in this chart in 6 days from 7500.
Dinner!
Cheers
http://www.reverbnation.com/bunchakeze

I think prog is more accessible now than it was for a while, largely because of changes in the ways in which music is distributed. That makes it easier for musicians in not-so-commercial genres to get their music out there, but is does not guarantee a large audience. I rather suspect that as the distribution model continues to change, we will see more room for less commercial genres, and probably less and less monolithic corporate rock. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but there it is.

... dude most of the kids in my age group 14 to 25 don't know what prog is ...

"I want you to know
He's not coming back
Look into my eyes
I'm not coming back"

I think its a regional question and answer.....The last 2 years I have been to my homeland of Honduras, went to Costa Rica for a quick visit and just 2 months ago was in Uruguay and Argentina. They listen to local artists and then after that it is heavy to prog artists..alot of metal and heavy prog.

elder08 wrote: johnfripp wrote: Prog_Traveller wrote: Well among younger people aged 14-25 or so the most popular prog bands are Muse, Radiohead, Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria, Dream Theater, Decemberists and Porcupine Treee. These bands all come from either an indie or metal background or both. You could also add Pink Floyd and Rush to the mix. I'd say most people in that age range know all those bands yet have no f**king clue who ELP or Yes are.  Even the so called prog fans among them. They would probably associate Genesis with the pop stuff that they did later on. There could be exceptions if these kids have parents who have a copy of selling england by the pound, Close to the Edge or Brain salad surgery in their collections. Oh and if there are any kiddies on here who don't know those albums I won't say you are on the wrong site but you need to get them as soon as possible since they are well establshed classic prog albums that every prog fan has to have or at least hear (no ifs ands or buts ;) ). As for prog coming back, let me ask this. When did it die? And if it did die what year did it die and what year did it "come back?" Some people say it died in 1978 but even if that is the case it would only apply to maybe the US or England as many places such as Japan, South America and Spain were just getting started around then.  Well heres the only problem with what you said im 15 and i absolutely love ELP and Yes im not one of the new prog heads who started with radiohead and coheed and cambria i started with yes and thats what got me to look up bands lie king crimson or genisis. the first thing that comes to mind when i think of Genisis is peter gabrials awesome stage prefomance and return of the giant hogweed and yes my parents are one of the good ones who got me into all this haha thanks dad so id consider myself an exeption dude most of the kids in my age group 14 to 25 don't know what prog is

 

Glad to see some teenagers on here who got into prog via Yes, PG Genesis, ELP, Floyd etc. That makes me happy.