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aapatsos 
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 Topic: Can Pop be Prog?
Posted: September 07 2006 at 12:21 |
I was wondering about this and particularly after a discussion I had with a friend
Thinking about bands like Muse (for example): the description from a friend - fanatic about Muse - is pop-rock
So I was wondering how much pop there is in prog and if pop bands can be also classified as prog
IMO, the combination is very hard (and I don't see bands like Alan Parsons Project as pop, at least, the first albums)
is there a pop-prog genre  ?
Edited by aapatsos - September 07 2006 at 12:22
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crimson magus
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 12:42 |
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A prog song, album, can become a pop work, if there is a key-factor which will draw the masses. You mentioned Muse, they have a progressive sound, but the voice of the singer and the easy - listening formula of the songs make it pop (the key-factors).
Pop is not exactly a genre but music which is listened by the majority of people in a country, or the world, or a specific place. So yes, progressive music can be pop.
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coffeeintheface
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 12:47 |
Definately. A perfect example is Bohemian Rhapsody, which i consider to be a prog song even though some people would say they're not a 100% prog band.
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aapatsos
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 12:54 |
^  I can't here any pop in Bohemian Rhapsody
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aapatsos
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 12:55 |
 crimson magus wrote:
A prog song, album, can become a pop work, if there is a key-factor which will draw the masses. You mentioned Muse, they have a progressive sound, but the voice of the singer and the easy - listening formula of the songs make it pop (the key-factors).
Pop is not exactly a genre but music which is listened by the majority of people in a country, or the world, or a specific place. So yes, progressive music can be pop.
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interesting reply CM
but I would consider pop as a genre... 
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R_DeNIRO
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 13:13 |
Bohemian Rhapsody is a very famous song, but not pop music.
Muse have prog elements, but it's not prog at all.
Pop music could never be prog, but could get a poppy sound (example: Marillion's Misplaced Childhood). Anyway, the sound don't define the genre. Prog music, for example, doesn't have an own unique sound (think in the different sound of bands like KC, Camel, Opeth, ELP, Mars Volta, Dream Theater, Zappa, Mr. Bungle, Triana, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd...) but have common factors (in terms of composition, structure, etc..).
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TheProgtologist
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 13:14 |
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Listen to A.C.T.
They are "prog-pop" if you ask me.
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clairvoyant
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 13:31 |
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If you ask me, a lot of Peter Gabriel's solo work is pop/prog
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Paulieg
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 13:37 |
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I think bands like Spocks Beard are pop prog. Not my cup of tea, though.
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Syzygy
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 14:12 |
aapatsos wrote:
^ I can't here any pop in Bohemian Rhapsody |
It was number 1 in the UK singles chart for several weeks, sold millions and a large percentage of the population can sing along word for word (if not note for note). If that isn't pop, I don't know what is.
I could also mention the Beach Boys here - Good Vibrations is the obvious example, but have you ever really listened to California Girls? There's a hell of a lot going on in that song - and then there's Heroes and Villains, complex as anything by most prog bands.
Let's face it, if Silver Machine by Hawkwind can be considered prog rock I don't see why the infinitely more sophisticated work of Brian Wilson shouldn't be thought of as prog pop.
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heyitsthatguy
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 14:15 |
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Well, as far as prog being poppy, take a look at Porcupine Tree. Great band, and they manage to incorporate elements of prog while simultaneously having pop based melodies/harmonies
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chopper
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 14:15 |
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What about It Bites? "Calling all the heroes" was a pop hit in the 80s, yet there are recognised as a prog band.
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Trickster F.
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 14:29 |
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Well, since Prog's origin comes from Pop music, I wouldn't say that Pop is some opposite of Prog.
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Sit Ubu Sit
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 15:04 |
cm's answer is right on the money. I believe that "pop" is short for popular. If a prog band releases a song that is picked up by the masses, and played to death on one of those godawful "pop" stations, then it becomes a pop tune.
Who woulda thunk??
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sm sm
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 15:29 |
A lot of 60's bands were sick and tired of playing boring 4/4, 3 minute songs, hence the Beatles transformed from "I wanna hold your hand" to "Elinor Rigby.
On the other hand, a lot of bands either run out of creativity or no longer want to starve, and start to write pop songs, hence Genesis transformed from "afterglow" to "invisable touch"
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Gravity Eyelids
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 16:35 |
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Blackfield Is "prog-pop"
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moreitsythanyou
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 17:09 |
Bands can make more than one type of song. Muse is a perfect example. Songs like Citizen Erased and the ever-loved Knights of Cydonia are prog while they have other songs (Cave, Time is Running Out, etc.) that are much less prog and more pop-ish. That's how come they're only "prog-related" on the site. Bands can expand beyond one genre, despite the differences (remember "rapping labrie/geddy") 
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eugene
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 18:06 |
I'd like to see "pop" and "prog" as two opposites. But sometimes opposites unite.
As to bands like Spocks Beard, Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Arena and many others of the kind, I'd prefer to call them "mainstream prog" rather than "pop-prog".
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carefulwiththataxe
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lightbulb_son
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 19:02 |
Gravity Eyelids wrote:
Blackfield Is "prog-pop" |
Exactly. And I absolutely love them for it. Great debut album I can't wait for the follow up.
In my opinion a lot of SW's side-projects are prog-pop. Porcupine Tree certainly started down that path, but now they're adding a little more edge to the music (which I'm not a fan of). No-Man is my favorite SW side-project and I consider that "dream-pop".
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Garion81
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Posted: September 07 2006 at 19:56 |
I think you would need to define "pop" as a sound now or then? To call something like Spock's beard as poppy is a little strange because I can find no other pop music like it on the radio or MTV type of pop stations today. Do they sound like Begonce or Jessica Simpelton? I think not. 
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Can Pop be Prog?
