Do you like most prog rock?

I am really more of a jazz guy and play guitar in a quartet, but I have always mixed in a healthy dose of prog rock and classical. I have been listening to prog since the early 1980s.  I recently got some excellent new suggestions here that I have been enjoying.  That being said, I find prog (broadly defined) to be a very frustrating genre for me. I absolutely love bands like Yes, Gentle Giant, Yezda Urfa, The Flower Kings, echolyn, and some Magma.   Right now, I am really enjoying some cuts from Seven Steps to the Green Door's Fetish, 3rdegree, Cheeto's Magazine, Moon Safari, Ampledeed, and Mad Fellaz. However, it's a pain in the neck to find this stuff!  Most prog sounds absolutely awful to me (e.g., terrible vocals, complexity for the sake of complexity). I have been sorting through the reviews here by year and trying to listen to albums with ratings of 3.5 or greater in a few subcategories (eclectic, crossover, symphonic, neo-prog). The vast majority of albums that are rated greater than 3.5 stars I find unlistenable.  I generally have to sift through 50 or so albums before I find something that I like (that's how I found Ampledeed, Mad Fellaz, and Cheeto's magazine - by probably listening to parts of 150 other albums that I didn't like at all).  So here's my question: Do you find yourself liking most prog, or do you have to listen to a ton of stuff to find a few gems?        

Ignore the ratings and read the reviews. Pay attention to the reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours.

zravkapt wrote: Ignore the ratings and read the reviews. Pay attention to the reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours. Ratings suck and at least half of the music listed in the PA database sucks.

Edited by Saperlipopette! - December 10 2016 at 08:28

I can find something in most prog that makes it at least OK for me, meaning that I'm happy if it's played in a pub or on the radio compared with the stuff that's usually played there. The stuff that is so good that I want to buy it or even think it's really great is pretty rare, but still in prog it's more widespread than elsewhere.

Thanks for the great replies, everybody!

HosiannaMantra wrote: However, 60 % of newer prog bands contain something that irritates me, mostly some aesthetics borrowed from metal (not necessary overtly distorted guitars and growling vocals, more often some overall cheesiness) or indie rock that I don't particularly like.

I have a similar problem.  I have trouble finding newer bands because I don't like the metal influences which seem to be extremely common.  For me, however, I could never listen to anything with any type of growling vocals. It's also not heavy distortion that is a problem for me but more so some of the guitar rhythms that are characteristic of modern metal (in addition to the vocals).  For example, I love King Crimson and Anekdoten, both of which can be quite heavy, but they don't sound like metal at all.  Seven Steps to the Green Door is a perfect example for me.  I love about half of what I have been listening to over the last week and can't listen to the other half due to the metal influences.  They would easily be one of my favorite newer bands without those influences, but instead I am left listening to half the tracks and skipping the rest.   

I like most of the Krautrock sub-genre and have since come to enjoy quite a lot of the classic prog including some I definitely didn't like a few decades back, such as Yes, ELP and Henry Cow. The ratings and reviews have definitely helped me with this .

zravkapt wrote: Ignore the ratings and read the reviews. Pay attention to the reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours. Ratings suck and at least half of the music listed in the PA database sucks.

zravkapt wrote: Ignore the ratings and read the reviews. Pay attention to the reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours. Ratings suck and at least half of the music listed in the PA database sucks.

omphaloskepsis wrote: zravkapt wrote: Ignore the ratings and read the reviews. Pay attention to the reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours. Ratings suck and at least half of the music listed in the PA database sucks. This.    I feel your pain Rick.  You and I,  our tastes run parallel.  So, when I see a band you like that I haven't heard, I go check then out.  BINGO!  85 percent of the time I really like it.    Oh, I almost forgot...  try Seven Impale.

Cool.  I will.  I owe you a huge thanks.  Your recommendations on the other thread (especially 3rdegree and Seven Steps to the Green Door) are what got me excited about trying to search for newer bands again (something I had not done in years).  A few others that I like:
Bubblemath:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2RC0yVec2Q

Eyal Amir/Project RNL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fle2Iuc_isI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKckKBYmN_4

Madrigal:
In Spotify under "Madrigal 1988-1996 A compilation Waiting and On My Hands

HackettFan wrote: Concerning Jazz, I like Ragtime quite a bit. I skip over the whole swing era, trying to pretend it never existed. I find Bebop occasionally tolerable. And I have a warm fuzzy toward more modern Jazz like Thelonius Monk and others.

I don't listen to much ragtime (other than the occasional scott joplin tune), and I don't like the swing era either.  I love bop.  I could listen to charlie parker 24/7.  I also love monk, coltrane, mingus, pat martino, bill evans, miles, hal galper, wes montgomery - the list could go on and on.  Also, modern players like Gerald Clayton, Taylor Eigsti, and Ibrahim Maalouf.  In contrast to prog, it's very easy for me to find jazz stuff that I really love.