Your embarrassing prog secrets.

That's exactly how I have it.  I have Pentangle/Jacqui McShee's Pentangle, Steeleye, Fairport, Stealers, Jethro, Strawbs and so on and on all grouped together and then I just let them play random.  I never know what comes up next but they all fit pretty well together and provide enough variety within the Genre to keep it interesting for a very long time (days and days).

I pretty much do that for all the groupings by the mood I am in.

I like BOTH of your guys' thinking! 

I've been trying to make a case for this viewpoint ever since I learned in 2008 that PROG IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE 21ST CENTURY!!!

i'm not a massive rush fan but I do like a lot of their music.  Couldn't escape it as tow of my brothers thought they were the greatest.  Just can't get into VdGG.  The biggest reason for my distaste are the vocalists.  Lee I can tolerate but not Hamill.  True I haven't listened to a ton of VdGG but I never felt the need to. 

I would contest that last comment (if we're talking Zappa). But I'm only 23, so I can keep listening in and picking apart those ZFT releases for years to come. That's my thing though. I like the hidden riffs, conceptual continuity inside jokes, and repurposed compositions.

It's cool that you're checking him out. It took me a bit to get into him. But while I was only intrigued by a small portion of his work at first, now I enjoy a good majority of it. 

In any case, I don't think it's embarrassing to enjoy or not enjoy Zappa. And I trust that more people here actually went into his stuff with an open mind and an awareness of the context of his music and messages, as opposed to many others I've heard who "gave it a try."

emisan wrote: I really believe that 2000+ prog is better than most of the 70s prog.

I have been thinking about this often when listening to bands/artists like Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Opeth, Steven Wilson, Riverside, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Marillion, Mastodon, Dream Theater, Dillinger Escape Plan, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, The Tangent, IQ, Arena, OSI, Frost*, Snarky Puppy... I should stop here

The diversity in the music, all the different directions that progressive music has gone to are both fascinating and mind-blowing, with a load of masterpieces. However, when putting this output next to the classic 60s and 70s prog, I cannot really convince myself that it is necessarily 'better'.

One thing that is certain for me, is that the 2000s (+2010s) are the second strongest decade for progressive rock after the 70s! Is it actually better? I don't really know, I enjoy both more than anything else, so I will just keep listening.