Todays Swedish scene vs. the 70's Italian scene

Originally posted by luc4fun In spite I am italian, I love the curent Swedish prog scene (Flower Kings, ACT,Moon Safari, Simon Says,Seventh Wonder) but I doubt most of them will be remembered in 20 years as PFM,Banco,Orme, do

I doubt that. TFK and Moon Safari will surely be remembered (and may still be active) in 20 years. They are the most popular of the ones you mentioned.

I'd say the modern Swedish scene is a bit more accessible than the traditional RPI scene, which is a lot more arty and experimental. 

Originally posted by luc4fun Originally posted by darkshade Originally posted by luc4fun In spite I am italian, I love the curent Swedish prog scene (Flower Kings, ACT,Moon Safari, Simon Says,Seventh Wonder) but I doubt most of them will be remembered in 20 years as PFM,Banco,Orme, do I doubt that. TFK and Moon Safari will surely be remembered (and may still be active) in 20 years. They are the most popular of the ones you mentioned. Really?

Yea, why not?

I didn't live through the 70s or much of the 80s, but based on what Ive read on these pages for the last 7 years, it's that many bands from the 70s were 'forgotten', and then when the internet boom happened this past decade, their popularity grew back a lot. With the internet not going anywhere, I'm sure those 2 bands will still be remembered. I know The Flower Kings were considered the 2nd most popular modern prog band, just behind Dream Theater, at some point (Porcupine Tree took that spot it seems).

I'm not old

Originally posted by Prog_Traveller Ok, so which scene(the Italian scene of the seventies or the current Swedish scene)do you think was more popular or more vibrant?

I'd say it's pretty equal for me. I love bands like Anglagard, Anekdoten and Flower Kings but I also dearly love PFM, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and Le Orme. Today's Swedish scene is definitely more popular is this day of age. Opeth is the probably the reason for that. 

While not discussing the merits of one particular era over the other, when it comes to the 'popularity' debate, I think we need to be careful.   Today's prog movement thrives in no small part due to the availability and accessibility of the music on the internet.    Back in the 70s (and I'm old enough to roughly remember back then), exposure to eclectic music such as prog was hard enough as it is, let alone extending that exposure to a bunch of music across continents.  

What outlets were there in the 70s that would have allowed me, in the US, to experience some of these pretty obscure (and often quite amazing) bands from Sweden, Italy, Japan, Poland, or Chile... especially when many of those bands have little/no exposure in the markets of that country.

Today, via the internet, I have the opportunity of first hearing about a band that someone from Europe has heard locally, and then quite often, I can hear sound samples, see YouTube videos, or even download complete songs/albums without leaving the comfort of my chair.

This is, as I said, not arguing the merits of either period/area, but rather, that the accessibility of music, in general, has made music scenes like that of Sweden more 'popular', because the potential audience is much broader than it was in the 70s...

Lazlander,