How Important are lyrics to you in Prog music

Careful.

 

Frank knew damn well that folks would say things like you just did, and apply more information and what not to his words than were there in the first place! AND he would make fun of that not only for you, but others.

 

I doubt that everyone is that serious, and even Waters has his fun side, although it was in the earlier days and he now has an image to convey that prevents him from being a little lighter.

 

All of the others have their lighter side, and Jon is not the spiritual father than he has a tendency to portray, but is a very good writer of lyrics.

 

PG is long gone and dead, and I don't think that one tenth of his lyrics in ANY of the solo albums even comes close to the best he had with Genesis! Too much pop music for my tastes. Good stuff, mind you, and very nice rock music, but nothing to write home to mom about!

I haven't seen singers blow out their voice right in the middle of a concert but did see two (messrs Meine and Dickinson, no less) sing well within themselves and let the enthusiastic crowd take care of the rest.    I do agree that the voice is not a machine and there are limits to how much it can be pushed.  I am just saying I don't see a correlation between the amount of lyrics and the abilities of the singer.  Compare Genesis and Symphony X  - the former is a lot more lyrics-oriented.  And yet, as between Gabriel and Russell Allen, it's the latter who has the more robust technique.  For a non prog example, consider that Fiona Apple often gives a rather ragged delivery in concerts but her material is nevertheless very much focused on her vocals.  So a lot depends on whether the singer himself/herself writes the lyrics and, further, feels like he/she has a lot to say.