Drafting a syllabus for a progressive rock course

HackettFan wrote: Mosh ruins another thread.

He has a point though.

What's a syllabus? ;)

Lewian wrote: HackettFan wrote: Mosh ruins another thread. He has a point though.

Yeah, which point? The point he had in which the college music course should study why some musicians were in jail. That was nothing more than another pointless rant with numerous incongruous meanderings. Standard Mosh over and over again. He tries to convince everyone that every thread he’s interested in or not interested in is misguided. He’ll have to pardon all of us who are interested in the matter at hand.

I am with the Hackett fan.....Moshkito attempts to belittle so many posters. He should learn that opinions are like arseholes - everybody has one - Mosh thinks that his sh*t don't stink!

ExittheLemming wrote: I think the point that Pedro was trying to make (albeit in that blunt polemical style of his) is that any academic study of the development of Progressive Rock would have to be cognisant of the political regimes in those differing locations where the phenomenon was manifest i.e. 'Cold War' Progressive musicians/artists would face considerably more oppression, censorship and plain vanilla  'state brutality' than the like of Yes, Floyd, Genesis, Nice, Tull, Crimson in the European west circa 1968. It seems clear that any such syllabus should reflect that the fruit is only as good as the soil etc

You nailed it. And not just political, also social, cultural connections to the world around.

Lewian wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: I think the point that Pedro was trying to make (albeit in that blunt polemical style of his) is that any academic study of the development of Progressive Rock would have to be cognisant of the political regimes in those differing locations where the phenomenon was manifest i.e. 'Cold War' Progressive musicians/artists would face considerably more oppression, censorship and plain vanilla  'state brutality' than the like of Yes, Floyd, Genesis, Nice, Tull, Crimson in the European west circa 1968. It seems clear that any such syllabus should reflect that the fruit is only as good as the soil etc You nailed it. And not just political, also social, cultural connections to the world around.

Okay, I was presuming that this was intended as a MUSIC course. The course description and OP sounds as if the focus was indeed music. On the other side, the title of the course does contain the word ‘literature’. Only the OP/course designer can resolve what direction he intends. Nevertheless, the point about “the soil only being as good as the ground” provides a strange proposal; that the course should focus on why Progressive did not develop in certain places through no fault of its own. A good musing question for a thread (and I’ve mused it). I doubt it would do anything good for a course, given the arbitrariness of culture.

As for Mosh’s tone, that left me very miffed. He was insulting someone relatively new to this forum, and would make a fine contribution to it.

Let's be honest. Physics envy is what mosh has. Like all of the subjective arts courses it's all opinion and no standard model of maths to support any argument! The only science is that of sound, harmonics and the evolution of brains that are stimulated by it. Plus the electronic and engineering of artefacts to make agreeable sounds. Culture is also driven by evolution. Like what you like. Move to the groove. PEACE.

moshkito wrote: HackettFan wrote: ... As for Mosh’s tone, that left me very miffed. He was insulting someone relatively new to this forum, and would make a fine contribution to it. I have had a chance to discuss this with a few professors in my time, myself being a hardcore fan of the RSC acting schools, and the more experimental works being done since the 60's in theater, film, and also in music. It was never the intent to downplay his efforts, but it was a difficult moment in trying to explain that not all music history is just a piece of music, from various different views, that supposedly follow a style that is not defined properly and is not a bona fide example within the history of music at all.  Without its history, most music is just a pop song, as so many folks that write here believe and continually compare it to. And, yes, popular music, and its "oral tradition" (as Bill Bruford states), will always survive, but the funny thing is not many of you here can name that many songs from the 1900's, and that ... for my tastes, hurts. I value a lot of this music to no end, and would love to see it picked up and be considered the master works that so many of them are ... but if all you can do is say that Dream Theater did these 5 things and then Batukadakaka did these 5 things, the music and its lyrics, suffers ... it's very important value in its completeness is missing, and this hurts the work we do, and care about. The gentleman knows, I bet, that his work is going to get a thorough review by some professors, many of which are even going to say ... how is that important compare to the 5th or the 9th? Where is its strength that makes it as important as those grand pieces for that time and place? And his work will suffer for lacking that. While not wanting to tear it down, it is better as is than not have it, the sad thing is how to make it all more valuable, and constructive criticism is NOT the what the guy needs at this moment in his work and definition ... he is looking for depth and detail to help his idea come alive, and if all you can do is consider Mosh someone that doesn't believe that Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Russia, Japan, China, Brazil Argentina, and many other places ... you are in the wrong. I know the music is there, and it is heard all over the Internet. Only the folks that refuse to listen to it with an open ear, will deny those artists a chance to live their love in music! And, if I am an artist, I don't think that an academic something or other is what I am about ... I only concern myself with the work at hand.

Why are you so presumptuous as to being privy to the OP's requirements for a college syllabus on the history of Progressive Rock music?  The OP is simply looking for listening suggestions. If those listening suggestions contain bands/artists that originate from countries where the extant political regime was inimical to progressive artistic expression, then more grist to the mill e.g. despite stifling societal/economic/political constraints, similar musical developments and innovation are manifest in recordings by band/artist XYZ etc 

Do a first world band free from state censorship and any conceivable material want have any excuses left to sound like Dream Theater (sic)?

Edited by ExittheLemming - April 29 2018 at 00:15

I think Zeuhl should be included in the course. Or at least just Magma. Magma seems to be a very progressive band, and to be signify some of the core traits of a really good prog band.