Has the definition of prog changed at some point?

 no.

The meaning has changed. Back in the late '60s, many kinds of rock music were called progressive which we now would no longer consider prog, such as Jimi Hendrix or the Grateful Dead. In West Germany, progressive Musik was a frequently used term for what we now know as Krautrock. What we now call prog was then mostly called art rock (but of course considered a part of progressive music). The term progressive rock was narrowed down to its present meaning in the late 70s, I think. I don't know when the shorthand prog was invented; I first met it in the rec.music.progressive newsgroup in the early 90s but it may be older.

One must never forget that progressive rock (or prog) is not the same as rock music that is progressive, but we all know that. Prog is progressive, but some other kinds of rock music are also progressive.

Meanwhile, the alternative rock press (at least in Germany) uses prog rock for kinds of alternative rock that show some affinity to prog, often just the addition of synthesizers, while mostly ignoring actual prog. No, I don't blame them anymore (I used to). It is just not part of their subject matter. After all, jazz magazines don't review much prog, either.

Granted I'm younger than many here, but as far as I know (US) West Coast music (Zappa, Beefhart) was called Art Rock or Avant Garde Rock, never progressive rock. I only ever saw Progressive Rock attributed to British synth Prog (including Crimson) and sometimes Rush. Sometime in the 80s I actually saw Toto referred to as progressive (meh!).





Edited by HackettFan - February 23 2017 at 07:59

The more about "prog" as a thing I read and hear, the less meaningful the term becomes. It's used by some in a complimentary way, by others derisively.  It means forward-looking, backward-looking, or reveling in the present with about the same frequency.  Prog is a genre when the word is used de jure in categorization  schemes or in sales parlance, although the performers and the music themselves de facto transcend genre.

I don't mean to be dismissive of the movement, concept, or phenomenon. It's just that names, like all words, live out their useful lifetimes and then should probably be retired. (Otherwise they end up being fodder for arguments and needless animosity Lol).


Edited by CapnBearbossa - February 27 2017 at 11:27