Hi,
I don't think that Mike Oldfield is progressive, and does not need the honors from PA or Melody Maker or New Music Express to get his accolades and deserved credit for the great composer he is.
Very simply, Mike, Vangelis, Riuychi Sakamoto are probably the 3 greatest composers in the past 50 years, and there are not very many classical composers that can even rival the output and quality of the work they have. Maybe a Stravinsky or Benjamin Britten ... but not a whole lot of others with such an excellent output of music in the last 100 years. I also believe Klaus Schulze and Edger Froese/Tangerine Dream deserve to be in this club!
I would also seriously reconsider why someone is thinking that something has to be "progressive" by our terms in order to be heard, or known!
It's not about being "progressive" at that point. It's about having the guts and balls to do what you see and feel and not fall victim to the masochistic and fanatical socialistic definitions of popular music that it all has become, strictly as a sale tool and an advertising emblem!
Edited by moshkito - November 01 2011 at 19:48