80's vs 90's prog - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Casino - "Beyond That Door" (1992)

Most of my favorite non-70's prog bands are the early 90's tech/extreme prog metal bands, so I guess that puts me in the 90's prog vote by extension.

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021

Boboulo wrote:

1990s were better for progressive music than the 80's, although so many great records from the 90's have been forgotten today.

can you give some examples? Big smile

This conversation is totally valid to me. However, I think dividing it by the year number ending in zero is kind of arbitrary. And this goes for so many things. Like, when some people use an 80s aesthetic maybe as a gag in a tv show, or the premise of a YouTube parody of something, whatever, many of the styles they use (clothing, image design etc.) were really prominent from '88 to somewhere in the mid-90s. The same goes for music, or bands, or genre movements.

If we're talking about the "third wave," first of all that doesn't really encompass all of the sub-genres. I mostly think of the symph/crossover/neo bands for that. Second of all, at least based on my observations, that return to the 70s format wasn't really in full swing until mid-way through the 90s. And I do mean "full swing," as I'm sure there are a few counter-arguments (Hybris, for example). Some bands have clear divisions between the decades in their music as well, while other maybe go mid-decade to mid-decade, and others don't really follow a set pattern at all.

Here's a question for discussion: which bands/sub-genre movements follow decade divisions quite nicely, and which ones don't?

At least for 80s vs 90s, I think Yes would be an example of a band that fits nicely into that scheme.

Glad this wasn't a poll. Cool topic.

Legend - "The Wild Hunt" (1993)

Some of what I think is the best prog ever comes from the 80s, but there was a lot more prog in the 90s and the range of prog sub-genres buzzing about was much broader. So... the 90s win. I'd rather listen to 80s stuff though.

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence" - Robert Fripp
"I am an anti-Christ" - Johnny Rotten

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Definitely the 1980's for me, without a doubt - not just for prog, but for music generally. I love 80's music, but I remember the 1990's as being a dismal decade for music, probably because I wasn't on the Internet back then. It also goes some way towards explaining why I ran a series of 1980's prog polls recently, but couldn't be bothered with a series of 1990's prog polls.

Not just prog but for music in general I prefer the 90's. I'm a big fan of the seattle bands as well as a few others.

What about Britpop? That sorted out grunge for me!

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence" - Robert Fripp
"I am an anti-Christ" - Johnny Rotten

FatherChristmas wrote:

What about Britpop? That sorted out grunge for me!

Some of the Britpop bands I really like are Coldplay, Ocean Colour Scene, and The Stone Roses, although I can't stand Oasis. I much prefer this Austin Powers-like version of Wonderwall by The Mike Flowers Pops.

FatherChristmas wrote:

I never used to mind Oasis until I found out what horrible people the Gallaghers are.

I didn't like the Gallagher Brothers or their godawful Britpop. Give me The Mike Flowers Pops anytime over Oasis.

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - August 25 2020 at 06:48