Why Do you prefer Prog over other music genres?

Dean wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: Right, lots to take in there. You appear to be saying that Progressive Rock (in any of it's incestuous relations with other genres) will never be deemed worthy of academic art music status. I don't really have any problem with this but who is claiming otherwise? (apart from say Moshkito?) While Pedro (probably) makes such claims (who can really tell?) - he is not the first nor the only one. This debate has been around for as long as I can remember and is related to elitism.

Yes but what you call elitism can be deemed the reason why PA is here subsequent to Prog's 'golden age' i.e stratification/demarcation of aesthetic values which posits one type of artistic expression is superior to another (not dissimilar to any hit parade of any genre you care to name) When Tarkus was number 1 in the UK album charts elitism was not even considered a corollary to the trump card of popularity. Would PA have even been considered necessary in 1971?

I have absolutely no idea.

I don't know really. I guess I find it more fulfilling to me than other kinds of music, even if I do enjoy music that isn't prog.

TheRollingOrange wrote: I don't know really. I guess I find it more fulfilling to me than other kinds of music, even if I do enjoy music that isn't prog.

ExittheLemming wrote:   Yes but what you call elitism can be deemed the reason why PA is here subsequent to Prog's 'golden age' i.e stratification/demarcation of aesthetic values which posits one type of artistic expression is superior to another (not dissimilar to any hit parade of any genre you care to name) When Tarkus was number 1 in the UK album charts elitism was not even considered a corollary to the trump card of popularity. Would PA have even been considered necessary in 1971?

Edited by Dean - July 11 2014 at 15:46

I do and I blame it on this site.  I was poking around on the internet looking to find out some more information on Radiohead thanks to Steven Wilson putting in a good word for them on the Porcupine Tree web site and then all hope was lost.  I am grateful for jazzmusicarchives for pulling me away from this site somewhat.   I am afraid I am trapped hopelessly in the prog rock orbit and will never break free.

Back to your question...



I grew up on pop singles being born in '65.  I had my first taste of prog inearly '70's.  Became hopelessly hooked in the late '70's.  I like the diversity and adventurousness of it.  Commercial music really lost a lot of diversity and adventurousness as did prog when it tired to be more commercial.



Edited by Slartibartfast - July 11 2014 at 22:07

^^^^ Yes, by its nature, it basically throws up more of the so-called left-brained approach to music.  I think most of us who like some or the other prog rock bands have at some level or the other a fascination for a left-brained way of looking at music, the seemingly 'mathematical' patterns in melodic or harmonic progressions, surprises, time signature changes, etc.  We may or may not recognise such a quality within ourselves and prefer to believe it is a purely emotional response to the music but it is probably safe to say that if one likes dozens of prog rock bands from different genres rather than one or two specific artists, then this left-brained approach informs our emotions itself (like people who get excited watching or answering quizzes or solving crosswords or sudokus).  I wouldn't be surprised if some of us also answer in the affirmative to enjoying such or similar pastimes (quiz, sudoko, etc).  Prog is not the only genre by any means which follows said left-brained approach and there are many artists in supposedly commercial music who have done conceptually intriguing things (which is why it is best to avoid getting completely sucked into an anti-commercial snobbery).  But it is the only non academic (that is to say, non jazz/classical) genre that consistently attaches a lot of importance to conceptual intrigue, sometimes but not necessarily always at the expense of emotional resonance.  A lot of people simply do not care, even when they are listening to classical music, whether there are any surprises in the patterns, whether the interlude resolves into the melody seamlessly or not and such things.  I wonder how many prog rock fans would honestly be that indifferent to such things because there are a lot of prog rock bands that are not particularly unique from a purely tonal perspective. 

Lots of posts here remarking on the merits of the perceived 'cerebral' nature of Prog. I've never really subscribed to this view as not everything has to be articulate to be capable of moving us or connecting with us on a deeper profound level. This is why the lyrics to DSOTM are so brilliant i.e. some very unpalatable and complex ideas are presented in a way that practically anyone can understand irrespective of their intellect. It's also quite telling that the music on this benchmark Prog album is predominately simple both rhythmically and harmonically. Who amongst us draws a Venn diagram to describe their first kiss or prepares a spreadsheet to illustrate the first time their heart was broken? Simple and direct is a hallmark of much great art and were you to pan all the concealing artifice, eloquence, virtuosity, complexity, inaccessibility and hubris from much of the music celebrated on this site you would be left with just a little muddy rock

Edited by Dayvenkirq - July 12 2014 at 01:29

rogerthat wrote: Just to clarify, I personally have not talked about the MERITS of the cerebral nature of prog.  I am rather identifying it purely as a listener's preference, a certain kind of listener who subconsciously looks for patterns in music and prog tends to produce a lot of music that is obsessed with such patterns.  I don't think that it has to be the only way to make music or the best way even.  It is just one approach for which prog has a peculiar fondness compared to other rock genres and hence appeals likewise to a small but significant minority who also focus more on the patterns rather than the sheer kickass quotient of the music (as a rock fan would).

Edited by Dayvenkirq - July 12 2014 at 01:27