David Bowie (Genre Poll)

cuncuna wrote: More prog than Iron Maiden. Better artist also.

    I would wholeheartedly agree with that point.

Not sure about the homophobic comment- Bowie is married, in fact has been twice??

Dragon Phoenix wrote: Prog related. But apparently the powers that be already made up their mind that he will not be included.

Art rock, to me he embodies the spirit of the genre.

I think the reason for having a prog-related section on the website is so that we can have a chance to review and discuss albums outside the scope of straight prog rock. The site is just as much about finding new music that fans of progressive rock will like as it is anything else.

In the end, what is the value of classification? It certainly does not restrict the music that the artist produces and in progressive rock, we expect our artists not to be limited by the classifications given them. Classification serves the purpose of grouping together artists that listeners of a certain sub-genre of progressive rock would conceivably enjoy....and in an open category like 'prog-related', placement of bands depends as much on the consensus of listeners as it does on qualifications on the music.

So, I guess I just don't see why we wouldn't include Bowie in the 'prog-related' category. There are a number of fans of his on this site, and I'm sure many more that would like to hear him. Prog-related is not an admission of him as a progressive rock artist. But he most certainly did some very creative (progressive) things with his music.

Did he do some prog things with his music? YES
Do a number of people want to see him included so that they can have a chance to review and discuss his music? YES

So? what does it hurt?

Art Rock for sure!

he fits in under 'damn fine rock n roll'

Looking at the results of this poll, it looks like the majority of people feel Bowie is Prog Related.

Drew wrote: not on PA

John Gargo wrote: Is absence is pretty jarring, in my opinion...   1.  His frequent collaboration with prog artists, such as Rick Wakeman, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, particularly Eno where his involvement in those albums really merits an equal billing, in my opinion.   2.  Prog elements/songs in early albums, such as Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory.   3.  Full-blown concept albums in the form of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs, Outside... you COULD argue that non-prog artists have sometimes indulged in concept albums, but at least FOUR?  I highly doubt it...   4.  Pretty much every single website out there refers to him as Art-Rock and Prog-Related except for this one...   5.  Scary Monsters, the album, is definately Art Rock, with experiments, genre-shifting, and a summary of all of his styles in the 70s.  You could argue that everything he did afterwards is not really progressive (although certain albums have elements of prog, such as Outside), but then again how many artists here have cut-off points.  You could make a case for every single one of his 70s albums being art-rock with the possible exception of Pinups (a cover album, doesn't really count) and Young Americans (R&B one-off which, when thought about in the right context, supports the idea of Bowie as progressing artist).   Simply put, the cliche of David Bowie as a musical cameleon is adequate, and the very fact that he was recording albums (prolifically) during the 70s, a decade where progressive music was at the forefront of pop culture, it is only fitting that his music soaks up a lot of this type of music. But say you want to make the argument of Bowie as a soulless replicant of music, and therefore he's not TRULY prog because he's only copying what's popular... Fair enough, except that punk music hit the scene in the late 70s... that was when Bowie as recording his most PROGRESSIVE albums!  That, to me, is a testament to his contribution to progressive rock... that when everyone else was attempting to go "back to the basics," Bowie was into his Berlin-trilogy and, even after he finished with Eno, went on to record another prog album in Scary Monsters.   His absence to the archives is a big mistake, prog traditionalists and snobs be damned.