Has the flame finally gone out?

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 Gerinski wrote:

As someone pointed, the environmental and cultural circumstances were completely different. Rock music was the main entertainment and vehicle for cultural expression for the youth of the early 70's. People awaited eagerly for the new albums, went to the shop to buy them, they shared them, listened to them together, discussed them, got stoned together listening to them, studied and discussed the artwork, copied the clothing styles of their musical heroes, hanged posters in their bedrooms, bought the music magazines because they talked about those bands... The bands knew this so they were engaged in a certain form of competition for becoming the most appealing and talked-about, musically and as a cultural and entertainment act.
Those of us who learnt Prog in the 70's can't avoid having our perception of the classic masterpieces linked to those environmental factors, which very probably gives them a deeper dimension in our hearts, and we may feel that although great music is surely made today (possibly even better from a purely technical point of view), some of the magic is gone.

But I am not sure if the young generations who are discovering the 70's classics now, free from their original environmental circumstances, agree that they were so much better than many modern great Prog albums.

I have discovered many truly fantastic modern albums, but the discovery experience is now much colder, I learn about them through the internet, order them online, I'm usually alone when I receive them and listen to them for the first times, and if I like them the only chance to share them and discuss them is with a few close friends who as myself do not have much time anymore for music, or through the net in places like PA with people I don't even know.

It's not "the flame" which is gone, it's the times.

I agree and feel deeply that this damaged made to "the times" is more directly to blame on the industry itself. In the U.S. during the late 70's, Americans loved Prog. The industry took it away and people's attitudes changed about music because they were being sold something else that changed that attitude to respect musicianship. This entire business decision to shorten the length of songs influenced the minds and mentalities of younger generations that began in the 80's and extended through the 90's. People in general began to develop a short attention span for music ...as a result..over time of 3 decades. In the 70's the young audiences to see Prog bands play live varied in music tastes. NOTHING was compartmentalized into any business concept or any worry of a cult following instead of a massive one.. or that the music would fade and finally die. 

Originally "Progressive Rock" appealed to masses and it had the finest respect from audiences for it's musicianship. I can't believe that it was actually represented over a period of 5 to 6 years ..as something to be taken seriously. No doubt, you had to be there..in the 70's.. to appreciate the surroundings of it's social gatherings and the seriousness of the music. Often it is said..."yeah..but..that was then, this is now" and to be honest what difference does it make when people my age are under the impression that there's something missing from the music. So...in point...maybe what you don't hear is something that was erased by the industry by their business motives to change music and the impression that would have on people. An impossible theory to back up with precise evidence...however...the simple idea to change music by replacing what was there in 78' with a new fad in 1980 could have influenced a mass of people to think and breath music differently than you or I. Which is the answer as to why the average person has a short attention span to a piece of music that contains more than 4 chords and 10 notes. On the average I would say that this occurred 40 percent of the time in the 70's. Even people who were afraid of ELP's music desired to investigate it. Everything was extreme and sometimes it felt like music as an ambition in life, was about being progressive.  