How difficult for the oldies to get into new prog?

I've had no trouble.  I'm far more accepting of diverse music now than I was as a teen. 

No problem at all as long as it suits my tastes and I think my tastes cover a lot of styles. Although right now i'm listening to Terje Rypdal's debut from 1968.  It's strange though that i'm not into most Proto-Prog because it's before my time and feels so dated. There are exceptions to that rule but anyways i'm still into adventerous music of many types.

In my early fifties my main difficulty is identifying what is 'modern'.There is a lot of modern retro music which I slip into very easily. A good example is Wolf People who make modern festival rock straight from 1969. I guess however that is not what we are talking about. Really it comes down to whether its any good not whether its modern. I like some Mars Volta especially Amputecture which to me is their best album and gives me a lot more enjoyment over say Frances The Mute. But then Wish You Were Here gives me a lot more enjoyment than Dark Side Of The Moon so really can we just seperate music taste from the whole discussion? I think not so that makes the question hard to answer properly.

richardh wrote: In my early fifties my main difficulty is identifying what is 'modern'.There is a lot of modern retro music which I slip into very easily. A good example is Wolf People who make modern festival rock straight from 1969. I guess however that is not what we are talking about. Really it comes down to whether its any good not whether its modern. I like some Mars Volta especially Amputecture which to me is their best album and gives me a lot more enjoyment over say Frances The Mute. But then Wish You Were Here gives me a lot more enjoyment than Dark Side Of The Moon so really can we just seperate music taste from the whole discussion? I think not so that makes the question hard to answer properly.

I like a lot of the modern prog, but not as much as the stuff I grew with, since I have a lot of memories attached to it. I'm not so much into the metal stuff, but don't dislike it either, except for the extreme, growling, out of control stuff that's around these days. I prefer more melodic and well orchestrated music in general, with fine melodies and interesting musical/instrumental arrangements. 

I'm 54 and love new and old prog alike. I just wish I had time to keep up with the great mass of new stuff that is out there. 

Edited by RockHound - December 24 2014 at 11:46

Too hard to generalize, but I l just look at it as music.
As far as metal, if I am in a metal mood, I just listed to straight up metal.  I don't need prog mixed in with that.

I feel I need the music to hold together conceptually.  If there are lyrics, then the lyrics and the music need to work together.  If I sense the band is trying to impress me with chops void outside of context of the song, I lose interest quickly because the band comes across as immature.  I'm not a fan of showboating, and probably steer away from a lot of jazz from that reason unless the soloists are REALLY something special. 

With the classic bands, there was more cohesion for me.  Gentle Giant was complex, but they never did 20 minute opuses. Yes always had a lyrical and musical marriage that kept my interest.  I think if Wakeman's Six Wives" which creates a visual mood that instrumentally described the Wives and their personalities.  It works well for me.

Genesis stayed in a a surreal folklore mode and Tull had that satirical edge and the music supported it accurately as did Steely Dan for that matter.  Floyd kept me thinking deeply about self and humanity with it's flaws and difficulties. 

Dream Theater epitomizes everything I don't like about music.  Nothing stays together for me.  The vocalist lacks proper lyrical interpretation.  It's trying to be heady and impressive musically but just dies on my ears.
It sounds like they are trying to outdo Rush with an 80's hairband glam metal singer who is just singing words he doesn't feel or understand.  The music is filled with fast chops that have nothing to do with anything other than hoping people think what they are doing is amazing. 

When I listen to Close to the Edge I feel like the band is really taking me somewhere musically and conceptually.  Same thing with Tales.  It's very powerful and compelling music.  It actually got me to read Yogananda's Autobiography because I was so moved that I had to have some idea what could have inspired such an innovative creative work (whether or not Jon actually read it entirely or not)

Rush brought me to Ayn Rand literature.  The Doors brought us into a world of avant guard poetry and visuals not found in other music.  Led Zeppelin had you believing they knew something we didn't.  I still think that.  King Crimson and Mahavishnu made huge statements about possible directions of instrumental jazz.
Frank Zappa was just an amazing composer and demanded so much from his cast of characters putting it forward in a silly fun way to get you to listen to what he was doing artistically. 

The older bands had a conceptual framework that allowed them to keep things together and gave license for fresh innovation.  Look at what Santana did for Latin music.  It was just so ground breaking.  Still is to me. 

I do find some of the newer stuff good.  But looking at the whole genre it just sounds overly derivative, often too much showboating, and lacks conceptual cohesiveness.  But I also think a lot of that has to do with the times in general and how things are being gone about with young musicians spending too much time on their computers and not working together as a band.

I qualify for being an oldie at 55 I guess. Sure, I do listen to a lot of the modern Prog. My beloved Italia has been going through a Prog resurgence, and quite a lot of it is fantastic. The only genre I feel bad for is Progressive Metal. Why? A lot of reviews suggest a lot of these bands sound like Dream Theater, and yeah, I do hear the influence often.  Seems like D.T.set the bar up a bit too high, but somewhere a band will climb over that bar. Nevertheless, as much as I prefer the classics,  there is a lot of good stuff coming out. 

I'm 59.5, so I qualify as an "oldie!" 

JesusisLord wrote: Mid 50's. Answer, EASY…. Good Music is timeless……. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Phillipians 2:11

Christian Prog?

Merry Christmas everyone by the way!


Edited by Skullhead - December 26 2014 at 01:20