The pulse of prog rock

Just look at bands like Spock's Beard, Dream Theater, and Porcupine Tree.   They all did Well in the 90's and still do today.  I don't know if it is necessarily true that prog was "dead" in the 90's, but i guess you could say it has undergone a "rennaisance" as of late.........just look at this site, many people love this genre, and even many of today's youth enjoy it (most of the member of this forum are under the age of 21).

seabre wrote: and you've got The Mars Volta now...they're definitely progressive AND popular.

Yeah, I have just started to get into them and they are definitely way out there. I hear different labels though, like 'punk metal' but not people calling them prog.

I think quite a bit of Muse's stuff is prog but no one is calling it that. Martin Gretch is definitely prog as well. Somehow there are artists who are prog but avoid the label and negative stigma that goes with it.

 

 

richardh wrote: I would say that prog is close to death.This year has been pretty awfull for prog albums.I can only think of three that I've purchased at all (Kayak,DT and Glass Hammer).The output is down and the bands that struggle on are probably not making enough to live off.In a few years there will be very few 'real' active prog bands I reckon.

Well, that is a very different outlook to the other two indeed. The bottom line is that I am contemplating recording some new stuff but it's alot of work and it's hardly worth doing if no one cares, if there are not enough people who will buy it or a label who will release it.

richardh wrote: I would say that prog is close to death.This year has been pretty awfull for prog albums.I can only think of three that I've purchased at all (Kayak,DT and Glass Hammer).The output is down and the bands that struggle on are probably not making enough to live off.In a few years there will be very few 'real' active prog bands I reckon.

Perhaps it's not quite as bad as that, Richard. The Italians are fighting valiantly, if one likes Italian Prog (which I certainly do). You just need to look at the Mellow Records Web site or the BTF Web site to see that all is not quite lost.

And remember The Guardian article in April this year?

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6323

The Internet is doing a very good job of keeping Prog alive, albeit not in the mainstream.

By the way, I believe the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) still lists the category Progressive Rock in its monthly sales statistics, and the total number of Prog Rock CDs sold (in the UK, at least) is more than people think. What does concern me slightly is how many of these Prog CDs are being sold to younger people/newcomers to the genre and how many are being bought by us 'oldies' simply replacing LPs or re-acquainting ourselves with albums from the 'classic' bands or the occasional neo-Prog band's output. Clearly, if the bulk of sales is to the old fogies, it ain't going to go on forever!

 

If you're just looking at bands rehashing 70s style prog, the state of the art isn't great either commercially or artistically. If you look at bands who've updated the prog sound it's probably the healthiest it's been for years.

This issue is the proverbial "double edged sword"

You certainly want the artists to have enough success and appeal to continue making great progressive music, but you don't want them to become successful to the point of becoming too commercial.

It just seems that wide comemrcial appeal is the breeding ground for inferior music; bands start making music based on marketability as opposed to  creativity. 

And, heaven forbid that a band becomes so commercially successful that its music is placed into regular rotation on some godawful radio station. For me, nothing ruins a good song more than having it jammed down my throat every hour on the hour....

JS

 

joe S wrote: This issue is the proverbial "double edged sword" You certainly want the artists to have enough success and appeal to continue making great progressive music, but you don't want them to become successful to the point of becoming too commercial. It just seems that wide comemrcial appeal is the breeding ground for inferior music; bands start making music based on marketability as opposed to  creativity.  And, heaven forbid that a band becomes so commercially successful that its music is placed into regular rotation on some godawful radio station. For me, nothing ruins a good song more than having it jammed down my throat every hour on the hour.... JS

Well the thing is, without lots of radio airplay and lots of people buying the records we wouldn't have bands like Yes who can still make records and tour 35 years on (Ok, tour anyway :). If something is too 'underground' then the musicians can only do it as a hobby and the only people who get to see them live are those who live in the same town.

Personally I never minded hearing Rush, Yes, Genesis, etc. in 'heavy rotation' when they were popular, it was the 4 or 5 minutes out of the average hour that  made me keep listening to the radio in the first place.