Is Prog Rock the New Folk?

Interesting article - apparently prog is about to become hip again.

Can you imagine? A group of young hipsters sitting in a room, and one of them puts on Tales from Topographic Oceans, fresh out of the sleeve. 80 minutes elapse, and thus ends the prog revival era.

Great read though, thanks for posting.

brainstormer wrote: When you look at what has happened to the "music" that is being fed the denizens of the TV, one could say that the people must revolt.  It's like corporations think they can say what people should see as legitimate art and force feed us spiritual values of ????  Folk and labor music have a close relationship.

I doubt it will become mainstream/popular, unless there's some incredible band or bands to come that can re-introduce prog to kids my age without alienating them. Prog's never really disappeared since the mid-70s anyway (Rush in late 70s, Peter Gabriel and Marillion in the 80s, Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree in the 90s, etc.) and definitely isn't fading into oblivion or anything. It doesn't need a huge revival or to be discovered by the public, because it's always there to be found for whoever wants to find it with the help of the Internet, so I won't be disappointed if this never happens. The whole Kate Bush thing might set off a spark if it's lucky, but that's the only real argument I can see in the article (Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings have been around for about a decade now, and the only people I know who watch Game Of Thrones are more into reading and art than music). Would be very interesting to see what would happen if it did, but the chances are slim. Thanks for posting this though Chopper! 

No.

I'm not sure if I want progressive rock back in the mainstream.  With the state of today's music industry, any innovation is going to be absorbed into the homogenous blob of mediocrity so quickly that a re-entrance of progressive rock into the "pop" world can only result in the compromising of the artistic quality of the music.  Rock music is certainly due for the next "watershed" rock band, but the last mainstream band of that kind, Nirvana, accomplished remarkably little with regard to influencing the quality of mainstream popular music because the music industry, as it is wont to do, merely incorporated their style into its b*****dized version of rock music that has all the bells and whistles of real rock 'n roll without the artistic quality.

Even the prog bands that are popular today are predominantly, for lack of a better term, "cult" bands; Dream Theater, (formerly) TMV, Rush, Radiohead and the like all appeal to a very specific, loyal fanbase and, despite their success, aren't widely appreciated or listened to in today's culture, more broadly speaking.

^ Exactly. Well put. Go with what you like ... as long as it has standards.

No problem, debate away, that's the best part of the forums.

And I must fundamentally disagree though you make convincing points.  It is the 'billions making corporate trends so popular' who I mean when I  talk of people listening to what they like.  Maybe a bit troubling to you and I, but the exposure heaped upon the pop market is based on what the majority truly and sincerely enjoy.  It's unfortunate but true.  On the other hand sometimes the people get it right when they buy the Beatles or Santana or U2 or Prince or Peter Gabriel or anyone else of quality who's enjoyed big sales.

As for Jackson, well, he's just great:  a phenomenal vocal range and ear, great sense of drama.  Nothing wrong with that, and it sold.  If the Beatles are allowed an indispensable producer that made their stuff better, so is MJ.  Those early Jackson 5 singles are first-rate pop and he was never in better voice.  At times, Jackson could even be progressive in the context of high pop music.   As for Madonna, harder to defend because she's nowhere near the same musical league as Michael, but if you've ever seen Truth or Dare, you see why she she became so big.  It also happens to be one of the best music docs ever made.






Edited by Atavachron - August 30 2014 at 06:48

Dayvenkirq wrote: ^ Exactly. Well put. Go with what you like ... as long as it has standards. If the popularity of prog is really on its slow rise, then I can see that happening in the UK. I don't think it's going to happen in the US any time soon.

You've obviously never been to the UK.

I'd also question whether Folk was ever particularly popular recently but then I live in Chav City (Birmingham) and have never paid much attention to the hipster parade. 

Helping others less "educated" get into better and better forms of art is a heroic action.  Put on a superheroes movie and dream big.