Prog Rock Vindicated!

Anyway, the original article and supporting material is located here: https://osf.io/nfqb9/

In the Study 1 folder, and then in the Materials subfolder is a zip file containing all the excerpts used in the study. Not everything in the "Rock/Sophisticated" section is prog rock. I recognized Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and a Police song. I didn't recognize the other pieces. There are different levels of complexity to each one.

I think the blogger who posted about this article is making an intellectual leap I don't think the results necessarily support. Statistically, open personalities are interested in sophisticated music is the only conclusion I can come up with; the key words being "statistically" and "sophisticated." The original article itself makes no mention of progressive rock.

If I were to reveal my politics or faith--neither of which have I  discussed here--you might not be convinced that "openness" could be a part of me. But "openness" is a sort of consideration of a potential logical complement.

And logical complements are fraught with self-reference paradoxes. (How open are we to the value of "openness"?)

So I want to reflect on what role those behaviors taken as "openness" plays in listening to prog. My wife does not enjoy listening to my music. She says it "gives her a headache". She listens to pop. Although I can't tell you just how she processes it, I can reflect on my long history of her personality. She is not as patient as me. 

Prog doesn't "get to the point". It doesn't "get in your ear", and "make you tap your toe" like it was some neural hacking scheme. I listen to prog. Over the years, I've learned how to detect altered restatements of themes, by listening to what the artist is saying. 

I reflect on my first reaction to Return of the Giant Hogweed, the night I bought Nursery Crymes. Buyer's remorse. It seemed a mess. However I learned from Hogweed, eventually, that some of what initially turns you off as discord can become that interesting part of the music. Crymes has become my second favorite Genesis album, behind Selling England, where I had to learn to choke down Banks' odd harmonies on Battle of Epping Forest--not to mention an off-the-wall quirky delivery by Gabriel. 

And when you reach the end of one group's catalog, you have to start looking for that interest in other bands--which will refuse to be just like your "gateway band". So you learn to accept bursts of rockabilly guitar in your prog (Howe) or straight up, raw blues riffing (Green in GG), or some sort of man on a mission to push the boundaries of rock music relevance like Fripp, and love Larks Tongues in Aspic. 

Marillion refused to be "more Genesis" for me. They did more than He Knows, You Know. You have to move on and listen to more bands. And the best ones are going to want to tell you different things in their music.

put in that context... I'd say no they are not.  Music fans, not prog fans, are openminded... and they like not just good prog.. but good pop and yes.. do have day dreams about getting high with Willie on his tour bus and jamming with him afterward.

however 'prog fan'  how can one say they are openminded when they dismissive of pop and country (to say nothing of .. ummm.. more urban based music) as fans of those would be of prog.

to me this is nothing more than a more polite way of prog fans setting themselves up high..  openminded?.. no... just another code word for thinking themselves more intellgent, cultured and refined haha than fans of more 'simple' or mundane topical genres of music.

fair enough... but do take note.. that my responses were directed not as this study.. but at your bringing prog fan into this at the end of the post.. much I suppose as this article author did.  

Was prog fan more openminded is what I think you asked.. is it vindicated is what he asked.  

Prog fan is IMO no more openminded than others are... and add in the procivity as I've seen time and time again through the years on this site for them to be snobby, elitist and dismissive of other forms of 'lesser' music.. I'd tend to say they are even less openminded for most country fans, pop, rap fans could care less about prog.. if you like it..  good for you.. ie.. you don't see those fans sh*tting on prog for being ... whatever it is hahah.  The only people that really care about prog.. are its fans... and they seem to care more about what other people listen to than others care what they are listening to.

call prog the evangelical branch of music if you will.. for it its own strange way.. the shoe fits...

Not only that but also the way they react to eighties Yes and Genesis and anything that's the slightest bit commercial. It's not just prog fans though because there's a certain elitist and snobbism that is prevalent in many music forums and online sites. You see a lot of that on rate your music as well. For me personally I'm not a huge fan of most pop music but I'm more tolerant of it when it's done by prog musicians or if it has some kind of relationship to rock. Therefore I don't hate Perry era Journey for example or much of arena rock. Even I draw the line somewhere and don't care much for hair metal(or at least not most of what I've heard). A lot of people just don't want to expand their tastes and that's understandable to a point.