Which bands are really progressive?

^ I like your enthousiasm, and in the end that's all that counts.

Edited by Kingsnake - December 01 2016 at 05:05

Maybe finally a thread where we can discuss something else than the usual suspects.

For me, definitely it is Germany's Triumvirat. Though sometimes derided as an ELP clone, I disagree on that. They were kind of unique and different from other groups, in the overall "vibe" or atmosphere in their music, and the epitome of "progressive" on their first three albums, for sure.

Great suggestions, all of those! 

^ We like it complicated here, very.

^I think you're right. Progressive music, as a whole, exists everywhere and in pretty much every genre out there, but lately it seems to have snuck outside the prog umbrella to the electronic and metal scenes in particular. Great call on OPN and Tim Fecker btw. Love Garden Of Delete and feel it very well could turn into a future classic. The sound and feel of it is quite original and pushing those infamous buttons where they most likely haven't ventured before.

Current progressive acts found on PA?
Claudio Milano/Nichelodeon
Ut Gret
Chrome Hoof
Omoide Hatoba
Ukandanz
Oteme
Dillinger Escape Plan
Bent Knee

Off topic is sometimes the most interesting route to go - just like getting lost in a strange city sometimes is the most interesting way of discovering it. Great story monsieur flight.

Certainly, prog rock and progressive music are different things now - but they always have been. The English prog founders of the late 60s surely were progressive, and that's why the genre got its name. But there were many others around at that times that were progressive but are either no longer considered prog (such as Jimi Hendrix - I once saw some old TV footage in which ha was announced as a "progressive rock artist") or never have been (such as The Velvet Underground). Some of these were even more progressive than the classic prog bands. Opinions are divided whether krautrock is prog or not, but their aesthetics was much more radical than that of their English counterparts, and they certainly were very progressive - more so than even King Crimson or Gentle Giant.

It is quite hard to be musically progressive today; it seems that everything has been already tried at least once. Especially if one looks past the confines of popular music, and considers the "serious" avant-garde. Atonality was 1907; 12-tone series were 1920 or so; total serialism was in the 1940s; electronics were early '50s, etc. A piece of music where not a single note sounds? Already done, you certainly know. A piece that lasts more than 500 years? Currently being performed in a derelict church in Germany. How can a rock band do something more radical?