Is Rush prog

^I spent like half an hour on my own reply, so your post saying basically the same in fewer words and more to the point snuck in between:)

David_D wrote: Animals and maybe Meddle are the only Floyd albums that really seem Prog to me. The rest of it is too psychedelic, melodic and similar to mainstream Rock, and the mass popularity of Floyd just confirms all this to me.

So Prog can't be Prog if it's too melodic (or too Psychedelic for that matter)? If too melodic disqualifies, where does that leave Prog Rock staples such as Epitaph, In the Court's title track - or Camel, or Renaissance? If Atom Heart Mother (a-f) or Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-5 + 6-9) doesn't qualify as works of Progressive Rock, very little does. I find carefully and intelligently constructed works such as the latter one in particular, a lot more impressive than bands throwing a bunch of "weird timesignatures" within a tune that lacks both a head and a tail. There are many bands that do weird and unmelodic magnificently. I mean to me Prog doesn't really get much better than early Univers Zero or Art Zoyd. But there are others that I find to be inaccessible simply because they aren't that great at what they do.

Edited by Saperlipopette! - January 03 2025 at 23:28

^ No, probably not. But I'm not really familiar with it. I didn't even mention songlength, and it was hardly The Dark Elf's main point either. It's about the composition. If my two mentioned Pink Floyd tracks are both too similar to mainstream rock for you to "qualify" as Prog, there's not enough common ground for us to stand on to discuss this any further. Just like song length in itself, mass popularity isn't an argument about the actual music, and it will not confirm anything for you. You must listen to confirm things in regards to music.

^Ok, but it didn't seem like anybody else understood you either. And you actually wrote about not being proud as a progger.

David_D wrote: Anyway, personally, I'm sorry to say that I don't think of Rush as anything to be very proud of as a progger.

I'm not proud of John Coltrane or Miles Davis although they've made some of the most amazing music I know of - and Jazz is what I listen to the most. I guess I'm somewhat proud of my collection Jazz LP's, but I try to pretend that I'm not.

The Dark Elf wrote: David_D wrote: Animals and maybe Meddle are the only Floyd albums that really seem Prog to me. The rest of it is too psychedelic, melodic and similar to mainstream Rock, and the mass popularity of Floyd just confirms all this to me.  Wish You Were Here doesn't seem like Prog to you?  "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (all 25:33 of it)? "Welcome to the Machine"? Also, It always amuses me the idea that "mass popularity" somehow precludes a band like Floyd from someone's idea of "Prog". As if creating compositions that actually appeal to people is antithetical to prog-rock (we can't bloody well sell albums, we're prog for Christ's sake! We have to appeal to basement-dwellers, effete nerds and upper middle-class British schoolboys!). They were never a singles band, but folks still bought their albums and listened to them in their entirety.

Yeah, Wish You Were Here seems to be Prog to me. You mention the mass popularity being antithetical to Prog Rock. Interestingly, one could argue that Rush and Pink Floyd's majority of albums are not Prog, but their most popular and best selling albums were when they went Prog.

Floyd with DSTM, Wish You Were Here, Animals and the Wall and Rush with their run of albums from 2112 to Moving Pictures. My feeling is a good majority consider those run of albums to be Prog Rock albums. That's where those two bands gained their legion of fans and why they are considered Prog Rock bands.