Black Sabbath inclusion

 

Prog-related is a compromise category where a band can be placed when there is enough interest in the prog community to include them but they aren't progressive enough to be included as a full-fledged progressive rock band.  As has been stated in other threads "Prog-related" does not equal "Prog". 

 

In regards to Black Sabbath, I personally have always considered them to be a heavy metal band (one of if not the founding heavy metal band(s)).  Do I think that they should be referenced on a progressive rock website as "Prog-related"?  Yes.  Why? Because progressive metal is a category on the Prog Archives website and Black Sabbath as a founding band of heavy metal have much in common with many of the bands in the Prog Metal genre.  Unfortunately, why is this a problem?  Because where do you draw the line with including bands who have either influenced prog bands or who have created some prog songs but for the most part are non-prog.  Should it just be the older bands that founded heavy metal and had some progressive elements or should late arrivers to the heavy metal scene also be included because they are cited as a source of influence to a truly progressive band?  The great thing about the Prog Archives site is that bands are not added willy-nilly.  People with many years of experience in listening to music debate the merits of various bands and only include bands after much discussion and debate.  As has been stated in this case, the owner of the site has approved the inclusion of Black Sabbath so that is that.  Obviously it is going to cause controversy because "if  Black Sabbath were truly prog-related why did he wait until now to add them".   I for one think that it is good that a lot of thought was put into this decision before it was finally made. 

 

I believe that most PA users who enjoy the Prog Metal and Heavy Prog categories are probably happy to have Black Sabbath on PA so that they can review their albums and express their opinions on this great band.  Those that don't like these categories of prog are probably not too happy to have Black Sabbath included.  This is unfortunately a problem with the huge range of music that is covered under the umbrella of prog. 

 

In conclusion, all that I can say is that I hope that everyone respects the sites guidelines for preparing reviews.  If you have actually listened to Black Sabbath albums and you truly do not like them then feel free to give them a bad review.  If you have never listened to their albums but you just don't like the idea of them being on PA, then don't review them because it is not fair to people who use PA as a reference source.  On the other side of the debate the same should hold true for positive reviewers, if you haven't heard the albums then don't give them a positive review just because you want to counteract nonsense negative reviews.  Also, remember as great as some of their albums might be, the 5-star category as a PROG-ROCK Masterpiece should probably never apply to a Black Sabbath album unless you truly believe that the album is a work of Progressive Rock. 

No, not really - http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=15577