Is Prog Underrated?

ExittheLemming wrote: ... You can have fun, be youthful, energetic, soulful and passionate whilst still thinking. You must be an advertising executive's wet dream...Oblivious, the fragrance for south of the (red)neck. There is nothing more pitiful than a nostalgia for something that never happened in the first place. I don't know anyone whose opinions I respect who takes Prog seriously or think it remotely intellectual. They would however, kick your disingenuous ass in a bar brawl (no contest)

Kinda weird to see this, and realize that the "progressive" and "prog" that we discuss here is not an American thing that you would discuss in a bar, but something that you also would discuss in a Paris Café, or some sort of place in Rome, or Tokyo ... and I'm sorry ... the town that your bar belongs in, does not fit in this discussion because they only know one kind of music. In NY, many bars, and even other night clubs (usually) have a decent respect for other musicians and music. In SF, this is not an issue either. But it will likely be a problem in Podunk, Askansaw or Needles, Tennessee where they think that their country music is GOD and the rest of music is crap, anyway ... and why the heck, in the furthest reaches of my mind and universe, would you be silly enough (or drunk) to even be discussing "prog" or "progressive" over there?

I am thinking that your ideas need some readjusting. It may not be a discussion here, but I'm not sure you see/realize the possibilities elsewhere. Prog/Progressive is no different than many art scenes out there the world over. We might not be as big/famous as most rap ... but then, we have lasted over 50 years, and I think that most rap will be forgotten and not played out loud and clear, like we -- and others no doubt -- DO!

micky wrote: ... Today's listener in large part, today's youth, can give a sh*t about tags and labels. Is is prog.. or not? Doesn't matter to most listeners today .. only what matters is if the music is good. Which again brings us back to the ills that prog occasionally has... forgetting that in the end...  forget the art, the complexity, virtuosity and all that jazz... what matters is if you can write good music that connects with people.  ...

My biggest concern here is that we learn to stop doing the same thing, and help improve the standing of the music. But, the main issue here, including some admins, is that they do not think that this is any better than some kind of blah and blah pop music, and that it does not deserve the accreditation that it is getting 50 years later.

As the Rachel flowers example shows, of Keith's piece of music, there isn't a SINGLE PIECE of these progressive pieces that we love, that CAN NOT get the same treatment, and all of a sudden, sound ... wow ... that is amazing, and even things like Frank Zappa, end up sounding extraordinary, all of a sudden.

I do not understand the lack of respect for so much music, and (at least) I am not so stuck up as to think that all pop music is crap and does not even deserve the thought that most of it is "music" ... but I do accept that somewhere along the way, we have created a standard for what the definitions of "music" are in music history, and the 3 and 4 minute songs, have been considered simple exercises, and not serious music.

That's not to say that most "progressive" and "prog" has to be 12 minutes long, or a longer piece, but it does say that the musical spread over that amount of time, should/could be seriously better and more varied than what a pop song in the top ten has to offer. NONE of the "progressive" or "prog" music really even fits in the "top ten" or pop music, and that is something that, somehow, we just don't get and keep thinking that it must be because the music is not good, and does not deserve the attention that it is getting, specially from us.

We have to stop thinking that what we're talking about is not valuable music ... if it weren't, none of us would even mention it 50 years later, or consider yummy yummy I got crap in my tummy is worth more attention than Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and such ... and other than JT and late Genesis, none of these were a "pop band" at all! 

Clearly you've never drunk in the seedier areas of Glasgow, Liverpool, Warsaw or the like.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think prog is underrated by the general public.  Well, perhaps in the past it was, but now and in the future I think it is simply under-explored or unexplored.  The majority of people are simply not interested in music enough outside of what is playing on the radio.  And yes, I'm generalizing, but I'm pretty sure it's quite true.