2010s - the decade prog giants got nostalgic

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Do you think 2010s prog will mainly be known for established artists getting softer and tailoring their sound as a throwback to 70s/80s music?

It seems like the big 1990s/2000s prog bands reached out to the genre mainly in structure, but this decade has seen a large attempt to emulate 70s/80s prog in sound too (although not as blatant as the neo bands have been doing forever).

Examples:

Opeth: Heritage (started the trend in 2011, basically a Swedish kc-clone), Pale Communion
Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (eerily came out the same time as Heritage, King Crimson influence also big), The Raven (and blatantly so), Hand Cannot Erase (80s instead of 70s)
Riverside: new album (major 80s influence)
Haken: The Mountain (the Gentle Giant influence was always there, but this album is basically what would have happened had the Shulman brothers been around during Djent's existence)
Devin Townsend: lots of 80s influence on his recent softer albums
BtBaM: new album is much softer than previous albums, and very 80s

About the only major player that hasn't got in on this trend is Dream Theater (sad, because I think it'd do them wonders to shake up their sound).

Funny this happened, because I would have never guessed this is the direction prog would have gone in. Back when The Mars Volta released their last album in 2009, I figured that's what we'd be seeing for the 2010s: a more electronic-based approach.

Edited by ProgSword - October 01 2015 at 01:05

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ProgSword Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: June 23 2014 Status: Offline Points: 48	Topic: 2010s - the decade prog giants got nostalgic Posted: October 01 2015 at 01:02
	Do you think 2010s prog will mainly be known for established artists getting softer and tailoring their sound as a throwback to 70s/80s music? It seems like the big 1990s/2000s prog bands reached out to the genre mainly in structure, but this decade has seen a large attempt to emulate 70s/80s prog in sound too (although not as blatant as the neo bands have been doing forever). Examples: Opeth: Heritage (started the trend in 2011, basically a Swedish kc-clone), Pale Communion Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (eerily came out the same time as Heritage, King Crimson influence also big), The Raven (and blatantly so), Hand Cannot Erase (80s instead of 70s) Riverside: new album (major 80s influence) Haken: The Mountain (the Gentle Giant influence was always there, but this album is basically what would have happened had the Shulman brothers been around during Djent's existence) Devin Townsend: lots of 80s influence on his recent softer albums BtBaM: new album is much softer than previous albums, and very 80s About the only major player that hasn't got in on this trend is Dream Theater (sad, because I think it'd do them wonders to shake up their sound). Funny this happened, because I would have never guessed this is the direction prog would have gone in. Back when The Mars Volta released their last album in 2009, I figured that's what we'd be seeing for the 2010s: a more electronic-based approach. Edited by ProgSword - October 01 2015 at 01:05

prog4evr Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: September 22 2005 Location: Wuhan, China Status: Offline Points: 1455	Posted: October 01 2015 at 20:23
	Maybe you are intimating that PA create a new prog sub-genre: Regressive-progressive (that's quite the oxymoron...)

Nogbad_The_Bad Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum & Site Admin Group RIO/Avant/Zeuhl & Eclectic Team Joined: March 16 2007 Location: Boston Status: Offline Points: 20177	Posted: October 01 2015 at 20:29
	The 2010s for me mean an explosion of creativity in Avant, Metal, Post and Electronic. No backward looking for me.
	Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

Colli Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: March 11 2015 Location: Argentina Status: Offline Points: 8	Posted: October 01 2015 at 21:50
	Also Pain of Salvation with the Road Salt records, not sure if prog but at least it seems like an emulation of 70s rock, so much different than their previous progressive metal

HackettFan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: June 20 2012 Location: Oklahoma Status: Offline Points: 7946	Posted: October 02 2015 at 22:22
	70s maybe so. Throwback to the 80s? That doesn't compute for me. There was some good stuff in the 80s, but it was good for how unique it was (e.g. Henry Kaiser, Adrian Belew, King Crimson, Fred Frith). None of it as far as I can determine coalesces around any particular style or sound. I don't see what you mean by "softer" either. Were the 80s softer? How so? Are you pointing to the lush atmospheric washes from digital synths or something?

LearsFool Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: November 09 2014 Location: New York Status: Offline Points: 8617	Posted: October 03 2015 at 20:16
	There's definitely a trend I see this decade where prog majors are playing it safe, hoping for the easy money and cheap hype. Retro stylings are, naturally, a part of this. I think that thus far Opeth's symph revivalism proves how this can be used to good effect - and a death metal band pulling that curveball is at first the exact opposite of playing it safe - while SWilson is doing both throwback and general safety to a degree and in a way that it comes across as him (Heaven help me) selling out, though of course to a specific niche rather than the mainstream. Also, bringing up the idea of electronic rock being an expected trend in this decade's prog I find interesting. For instance, Wilson promised it for Hand. Cannot. Erase., and we got it for two minutes at the beginning and then never again through the whole album.