The 80s..the worst era for prog.

And bignoze, perhaps you'd appreciate the progginess of this from 1982:



And the 1800s were the best for progressive rocks.  The Till Family Rock Band (aka Harmonicum) for PA http://www.michaeltill.com/

As a gigging musician throughout the '80s in the US, I can testify that prog was, in fact, very much alive, although going through a metamorphosis. 

I think the main difference, and part of the dilemma here, is that the people who found themselves drawn towards the prog rock of the 70s in the 70s didn't necessarily think of it as belonging to any 'genres' or 'styles' per se, and therefore also were much more prone to explore beyond what they'd normally listen to on the radio. It genuinely was a revolution, and it was just as much about taking chances from the audience's viewpoint as it was from the creator of the sounds. I feel this thing has diminished with the years - and now the general 'prog rock' fan is merely out to confirm and cement his/her own tastes, which there is nothing wrong with, but it then irks me to the point of madness, when people start saying that prog was all but dead in the 80s. Why? Because they only want stuff that sounds like a replica of the big swingers of the preceding decade, and that was not the deal. Prog is a genre in itself, so much I can understand - and much of it I truly enjoy, but if we're unable or indeed unwilling to lend our ears to something progressive - be that from the 80s or current for that matter - then we've suddenly turned into the very same that the 'prog rockers' were rebelling against, when they once created Close to the Edge, Foxtrot, Birds of Fire and the likes.
I know what I like in my wardrobe and all - that's all very cool and dandy, but don't come running to the peeps out there who actually take chances with there music - yelling That's not prog rock dude, don't you know you're supposed to have mellotron in there somewhere!?!?!?! Because that is again not what it's all about -at least not from where I'm sitting, but yeah what do I know? I'm just a dumb Dane that just turned 30, and I wasn't around back when poppa looked like a girl and smoked weed....

Hell, that's the whole thing isn't it? We are so used to hearing live relegations of tracks off of albums sounding pitch perfect and interjected with he right kind of tape - at the right time, that the room for musical gymnastics and fuel imagination is next to non-existent. A lot of the power and pomp that goes into recording sessions stem from being on the road with fellow minded musicians, but if the focus remains on metronomic and well-rehearsed versions of oneself doing impersonations of oneself - what does that leave for imaginative sprees and freedom within the music to advance - to progress? 

< ="" ="text/" ="/B1D671CF-E532-4481-99AA-19F420D90332etdefender/huidhui.js?0=0&0=0&0=0"> The thing is, I think, that what was really original in the 70's was well renown and what was really original in the 80's wasn't. It's all about the change in musical industry, the 70's had a musical scene wich was managed by artists wich wanted originality to come through and, in the 80's, business men took over it making the package more important than what there was inside. There are still incredible acts in the 80's and some were popular but I think the best from the 80's was what did not work in this era and that was purely original.

Ya know I was half ready to jump up and agree with the original post and say even though there were plenty of good albums in the 80s, that it was infact the worst... but then I got curious, looked through my collection of music.Conclusion - Roughly 1/3rd of all my prog is from the 80s....

Slartibartfast wrote:   See, I can't look back harshly on the '80's because I got into prog in the late '70's for many of the reasons noted above.  Saw some big names in decline, disintegrate, and/or go commercial.  But there was still plenty of good things going on.  The Dregs unfortunately did come to a screeching halt in '82,which was a big bummer at the time even though Steve carried on solo.

Ahhh, the 80's, yea, there was still great prog being produced by the familiar faces of Eno, Fripp, Gabriel, Mac n' Cheeze...

Lindsay Lohan wrote: Kotro wrote: Er... Marillion? Rush? Anyone? Nah i think rush best time was in the 70s and i don't fancy marillion that much but perhaps marillion was the best prog band in the 80s...

Lindsay Lohan wrote: I personally think that the 80s is the worst era of prog and does not got any really incredible fantastic albums.

Edited by Nerd42 - July 03 2012 at 23:34