Masterpieces distribution don't follow Gauss curve

Cue Walter.

It seems that the 5 year period coincides with what many people call the "Classic Period" of progressive music. 

Even more puzzling is the fact that the Beatles released 100% of their albums between 1963 and 1970! Surely we should expect the distribution to to trail out into the late fifties and mid seventies. How can we account for this anomaly?

thellama73 wrote: Even more puzzling is the fact that the Beatles released 100% of their albums between 1963 and 1970! Surely we should expect the distribution to to trail out into the late fifties and mid seventies. How can we account for this anomaly?

Distribution by subgenres:

octopus-4 wrote: Another cue, about reviewers, now: the top 10 albums have been rated/reviewed 7642 times from 11 to 20 just half: 3938 so the top 20 have 11580 ratings from 21 to 50 we have 9435 ratings so the total for the top 50 is 21015 So top 10 has an average (easy to compute) of 764 rates per album 11-20 is 393 rates  top 20 is 579 21 to 50 is 314 top 50 is 420 If I'll have time and willing, I'll compute the numer of reviews per year. The comments about Beatles and the "Classic period" are fun, but I have a question: Agreed that it's a popularity contest, as the ratings are subjectives, is it only because of mental closure that there are only 3 albums of the 21st century in the top 50? Why are they all prog-metal and not belonging to other contemporary subgenres? Is there any relationship between the popularity of the top 50s and their sales ? I'm not writing a book and I'm not a sociologist. What I say is that we have a quite huge amount of unstructured information and it's possible that with a bit of analisys we can discover something interesting.   We have all the answers, now let's work to find the questions.

My last response was sarcastic, but I am a little puzzled by your question. YOu seem to be asking "why do all the most celebrated prog records come from the time when prog was the most popular?" which seems to answer itself to me. The lack of prog masterpieces in later years is due to:
a) fewer bands trying to write prog
b) a lack of exposure due to declining interest in the genre
c) lack of sufficient time to pass for widespread recognition
d) the nostalgia factor

So there may have been some really great prog records in the last decade (indeed there have been. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.) But they are never going to be recognized in the ay Yes and Genesis' best albums are. There's also something to be said for getting there first. Any symphonic prog these days is going to be compared the classics and is destined to feel at least partially derivative.

Finally, prog as a genre is intrinsically tied to a specific time period. It's like asking why are all the best Film Noir movies from the 30's and 40's? Because the term "Film Noir" implies that period by definition, and even though there have been very fine attempts to mimic the genre since then, but these films will never be considered "the classics."

In answer to your question about prog metal, I think that the reason those albums are highly rated is that right now, in the 21st Century, prog metal is really the only vibrant form of progressive rock doing new things (and this from a guy who doesn't really like prog-metal much.) What other genre today is expanding the frontiers of prog? Maybe post rock, but that is such a niche genre that it is unlikely to have widespread acclaim.


Edited by thellama73 - September 20 2010 at 11:43

I don't agree that the powers that be consciously changed the direction of music in the seventies. First of all why would they? If they were making money with prog, why not keep selling prog? Second, there has been a repeating pattern in music history of increasingly complexity suddenly giving way to much simpler styles. When Renaissance counterpoint became too complex, it was replaced by the simply Baroque. When Bach took Baroque counterpoint as far as it could possibly go, the Classical Period arrived with its very simple melody/accompaniment pattern. Artists like to advance within a style, but there comes a point where the music is too complex for the general public to easily appreciate. I believe that this is whathappened with prog, and the Ramones were a breath of fresh air for people who just couldn't take another double album set about Eastern philosophy.

The sum of many factors, likely. This is what I'd like to discuss about. I'm probably too left-winged, but I saw in this change of direction the successful attempt to reestablish a control over the artists that they have lost in the previous decade, and I don't mean the majors only. But that was my impression actually. It's more likely that the society was changing on its own and the change in music was only a natural consequence.

octopus-4 wrote: The title is a joke, but the idea comes from a poll still open....   More than 60% of the albums in only 5 years. Can we try to explain this distribution ? Nothing scientific, just to discuss.

Edited by moshkito - September 20 2010 at 20:12

Henry Plainview wrote: The top rated albums are a popularity contest, not a quality contest.

Quoted for truth. 70's symphonic prog is simply the most popular progressive music out there. There's a lot of terrific 70's prog albums out there, but there's just as much great stuff since 1980 as well. It's a shame that modern prog doesn't get nearly as much hype as the stuff from the 70's...