Prog Starters: Why Don't They Always Take?

Like me, I'm sure you've all had friends that, though very appreciative of albums like Close to the Edge or Thick as a Brick, for some reason don't continue to explore prog as a style.   I was one of those friends for a long time, liking and impressed by those LPs just fine but hardly enamored enough to look into the whole "prog" spectrum, much too busy with the larger world of rock to afford the time or loot for the Tull or Yes or Crimson catalog; Hendrix, Zeppelin, Cream, Jeff Beck, CSN&Y, the Allmans, Sabbath, AC/DC, the Police.   Far too much on the menu to get caught-up in some convoluted and turgid art rock   Genesis was barely a blip on my radar, and Gentle Giant or Gryphon, well, good luck with that.   And it wasn't lack of exposure to higher forms as classical or jazz--  my parents always had plenty of that stuff around.

So what is it that tips the balance toward prog rock for someone with a normal rock-oriented background?   Time?   Listening experience?   Matured taste?   What?

Just kidding David  :)

Probably different for everyone.  It was never an either/or proposition for me.  I loved all of the above. 

It's that one song that gets you hooked.
For me it was "Roundabout" back in 1972.
After that, all the rest falls into place.

For me, I first got into a love for music with Simon and Garfunkel, America, Cat Stevens, and other mellow rock a little more than a year ago. I also liked classic rock but not as much.  I then heard Alan Parsons Project in the car with my dad.  Ialso checked out his other cassettes.  He has Fragile, DSOTM, WYWH, but he doesn't enjoy this stuff anymore. I listened to those and it blew me away. Later, I heard From The Beginning by accident on YouTube and looked into it.  I have had a great musical year since.  I think it begins with a person having an appreciation for music and then simply trying new stuff. So now, if I read about an album on ProgArchives and it sounds interesting, I'll definitely be looking into it. It feels so great to have an open mind.

Now I have a different problem.  My buddy likes jazz, jazz-fusion, classic rock, dubstep and what not. I think he listens to pretty interesting music but doesn't get involved with it as much as I expect someone would. I gave him some recommendations and one was The Grand Wazoo. I'm guessing he liked it, but it doesn't seem he gets any value from it. He basically just listens to music as background to whatever he's doing. That's fine! I'm just expecting a more appreciative attitude for the music.  Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?  Anyone else with a friend like this?


Edited by garfunkel - July 26 2015 at 21:21

^ Perhaps, or long-winded music; which to blame?

Mine essentially grew out of boredom from mainstream music.

I looked at what music my brother had on his computer, found a lot of jam bands like Phish and Umphrey's McGee (which I still listen to today), but I also surprisingly found The Mars Volta on his computer. I looked up the "De-Loused" album on iTunes, found Dream Theater as a recommended album, and well, here I am now.

NickArvas wrote: Well, I was just like you.  I guess once you're into a mainstream band like Pink Floyd(I started like many others, with their 'Another Brick In The Wall:Part 2'), and slowly got into their more accessible stuff. Once I got into them completely, I started appreciating how well their music was, how it just sort of, for the lack of a better word, flowed. Then, I found more mainstream Prog bands like Yes, Genesis, Rush and a host of others that just completely took over my taste for songs that are just about love, or sex, or love and sex, or love and sex and money or whatever. :P  After that, came all the unknown underground bands, but, well, long story short, I had become a hardcore Proghead.  So, point is, I think a combination of time, listening experience AND a mature taste is what really gets you into Prog.

I am right there with you, NickArvas.  And, welcome to Prog Archives!

For me personally it has something to do with being in the 'right moment'. Some albums have laid dormant on the shelf for several years before I revisited them, simply because they failed to engage me at the time I first purchased them. Maybe I was expecting something different from the music or perhaps dismissive of certain styles.

Edited by Guldbamsen - July 27 2015 at 09:17

dr wu23 wrote: Drugs....definitely drugs.   Just kidding,... though in the old days that did play an important part for many people.

Drugs did play a large part in the early prog listening experience, especially pot use. But a more overlooked reason is that prog was not it's own genre in the early seventies and, believe it or not, a Yes album could be played right after a Led Zeppelin album or something from Deep Purple.This phenomenon of being specifically a prog listener is something that sprang up post punk when music fans starting to draw lines in the sand.  Something that I've tried to avoid for most of my life. I like what I like and FTW.