Popular Prog Bands that you just can't get into

StyLaZyn wrote: Camel, Caravan, and Gong...boring blah!

What the..? I'm gonna shove your head all the way up your OH HELLO KIDS! I didn't see you there!

Between the Buried and Me

I couldn't get into Porcupine Tree. Rush I never was a big fan, although in limited quantities they are starting to grow on me.

The Mars Volta: really don't care for most of their work, but I think Deloused in the Comatorium is a great album. That one clicked with me, their others don't

Dream Theater.
Rush.
And any band that gets a new daily topic about on PA.

King Crimson. i quite like them but I don't love them.

Isis: Supposedly they're making music out of complex philosophical concepts, but all I hear is Radiohead-style 1990s depressive rock with growls and more guitar distortion... and I can get into other artsy sludge metal bands like The Melvins, Neurosis and Pelican.

Mastodon: Extremely talented musicians whom I respect for having a truly unique style that utterly defies existing genres, but their style is just not one I find interesting beyond the novelty factor.

Opeth: I should in theory like these guys, but in practice I find their combination of death metal and prog rock clichés way too literal and clumsy so the whole thing feels rather stiff and lifeless to my ears almost like they're meant to be a stealthy deadpan parody of the entire "progressive metal" concept.


Edited by Toaster Mantis - July 15 2009 at 11:21

Toaster Mantis wrote: Isis: Supposedly they're making music out of complex philosophical concepts, but all I hear is Radiohead-style 1990s depressive rock with growls and more guitar distortion... and I can get into other artsy sludge metal bands like The Melvins, Neurosis and Pelican. Mastodon: Extremely talented musicians whom I respect for having a truly unique style that utterly defies existing genres, but their style is just not one I find interesting beyond the novelty factor. Opeth: I should in theory like these guys, but in practice I find their combination of death metal and prog rock clichés way too literal and clumsy so the whole thing feels rather stiff and lifeless to my ears almost like they're meant to be a stealthy deadpan parody of the entire "progressive metal" concept.

I'm thinking you just don't like progressive metal in general...

I second Isis and Mastodon....I've tried a couple of their albums and they did absolutely nothing for me.

Logan wrote: Former topics of his have indicated that he likes plenty of progressive metal (though I'm sure he has his preferred forms of progressive metal -- he has said that he doesn't like "artsy sludge metal").

No, you misread my post... I'm sorry if it came across as sarcastic, but I said I liked some of the "prog-sludge" stuff and came with some examples of bands in that niche I happen to like. However, with Isis it's like the art rock influences and the sludge metal influences cancel each other out instead of complementing each other like with Neurosis.

EDIT: Actually, the dude who said I didn't like prog metal in general is at least on the right track... I like a lot of bands that were obviously from before the border between metal and the harder end of prog rock was clearly drawn, heavy metal and prog rock being my two favourite genres after all (with post-punk a close third) but as for music that deliberately straddles the line most of that I've heard rubs me the wrong way. As for why, that probably deserves its own thread in the prog blogs forum.


Edited by Toaster Mantis - July 16 2009 at 14:06

Toaster Mantis wrote: Logan wrote: Former topics of his have indicated that he likes plenty of progressive metal (though I'm sure he has his preferred forms of progressive metal -- he has said that he doesn't like "artsy sludge metal"). No, you misread my post... I'm sorry if it came across as sarcastic, but I said I liked some of the "prog-sludge" stuff and came with some examples of bands in that niche I happen to like. However, with Isis it's like the art rock influences and the sludge metal influences cancel each other out instead of complementing each other like with Neurosis. EDIT: Actually, the dude who said I didn't like prog metal in general is at least on the right track... I like a lot of bands that were obviously from before the border between metal and the harder end of prog rock was clearly drawn, heavy metal and prog rock being my two favourite genres after all (with post-punk a close third) but as for music that deliberately straddles the line most of that I've heard rubs me the wrong way. As for why, that probably deserves its own thread in the prog blogs forum.

So I did, and you were very clear.  How very careless of me, particularly as my work requires me to read things through very carefully.  I've just had a really embarrassing moment in  regards to an obvious mistake that I repeatedly made in emails to a client of mine (something I caught after the fact) -- it does not inspire confidence in my abilities, that's for sure.  I really need a decent night's sleep.


Edited by Logan - July 16 2009 at 15:07