Six II

1. Blackstar
2. Signify
3. Masquerade Overture

^ Very interesting thoughts, and I had forgotten that past discussion about technology which was an important component of the innovation. And sorry if this is not a well-written response, feeling dizzy and dumb. People were experimenting and trying out new technology which made for exciting and adventurous music. And yes, so often the more modern bands get compared to the earlier ones. Much of it is too imitative to me even if I absolutely can enjoy retro music. Music is built on other music, and inventions are built on inventions, but there does not seem to be the same pioneering spirit later on... I'm sure if I knew enough I could find some really interesting experimental music working with new sounds and technology of more modern times... Especially modern Prog is not as cutting-edge as in some other avenues.

I adore Komischer Laufer, and that is electronic/Kosmische music that actually pretends to be of the past. I'm more likely to listen to it than that which it imitates/ is inspired by. Of course it doesn't get the respect or recognition that the pioneers did.

One tangential is that if one is less likely to be familiar with what the music is imitative of or draws on then one might be more appreciative and think it's more original, of course. I've see people call music ground-breaking where there were similar things coming out before.

Jaketejas wrote: I think you made my point. Early on, every band sounded completely different.

I am being overly pedantic one might say ("the pedants are revolting!" to turn a phrase), but I don't believe that's accurate.

For rock and progressive rock, I think of the 60s into 70s as an an unrivalled period of creativity. And it is amazing how much music was changing during the 60s and into the 70s. And the 80s brought a huge amount of different stylings and approaches to music. For me the 90s has lot of great music that I consider progressive, especially outside of traditional conceptions of prog, but I won't say that there is as much innovation as had happened before. A band like Anglagard was harkening back to classic prog. There was much imitation generally... I mean there were lots of imitators in the 60s and 70s, and certainly the 80s, I could find plenty of bands making music that was obviously very influenced by others in the 70s for instance, but they was very fertile times for innovation and being different/ unique. I don't know how early on you'd have to go to find every band sounding completely different, if that ever was the case. One can I think easily find find 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s etc. bands/acts that share strong stylistic and sonic similarities... Music tends not to be born in a vacuum, of course, unless it's the Hoover concerto, or possibly space rock conceived in the vacuum of space (composed on some asteroid or smaller space rock perhaps).

That said, I can get special-to-me music that I am passionate about from every decade and that does have unique qualities, both for the band and the time. I don't mind if it draws on past styles and can be likened easily to other acts. I can very much enjoy retro-music and retro qualities in music.

I'm listening to a Fishmans (a Japanese band) live album from the 90s now hoping to write a review, and while it draws on various plowed styles (like a lot of funk in this album), and I was at an Asian supermarket yesterday and heard music that I thought might be Fishmans at first but wasn't, it still does not really sound like any other band to me. I';m not claiming completely different, hardly, it would have to be more original, but it has unique qualities (at least that I know of, the more you know, the less unique things will seem as you of course have much more to draw comparisons to, and the more you know, the more you might find ones that do have unique qualities too... Some dismiss too easily out of ignorance).

When I mentioned the similarity to my oriental wife, and we got closer to a speaker, she said this sounds much, much nicer than Fishmans. The singer (female instead of male) doesn't even sound screechy and it is far more melodious. It's a sort of far east modality to music. On a side-note, I have shared associations I make with music having similarities to other music at this forum, and some people have been saying things like "they sound nothing alike." Associations will vary depending on the mind of the listener, of course.

Edited by Logan - May 17 2025 at 17:45

Jaketejas wrote: I’m kidding of course, but my primary audio tastes definitely range from medieval music to December 31, 1989. I do own plenty of CDs and MP3’s post-1989, as well as other post-millennial formats. And, I do enjoy a lot of those songs. But, the last time I was REALLY excited about a new album was 1989. I think those years just had a lot of exciting changes.

Thanks, I thought you were, but not sure (or more, really, to what extent). Glad to know.

I used to be very stuck in the pre-90s (up to maybe the first half of the 80s). But I have come to really appreciate all of the decades from the 50s up. Especially over the past eight or so years, the 90s has been one of my favourite decades for music (especially the second half of the 90s). For me things like Boards of Canada Fishmans, Portishead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Swans, Radiohead. Aphex Twin, Pram, Tortoise and Bjork rule, but those are my rather quirky and alternative tastes.

richardh wrote: ^ Anglagard and Par Lindh Project brought the magic back for me. The real meaty years for 'classic prog' for me were 1970-1977 but I don't want dredge all the arguments up again (Are Rush 'prog' , did punk kill prog etc) but my feelings are that the 'real' movement is totally represented by albums released in those years and then it splinters.

I loved Anglagard's Hybris, that was one of the first albums I heard that started to move my tastes forward (Jordrok was love at first listen). The more avant-oriented U Totem, from 1990, probably was the biggest early find for me when I decided to explore more "later Prog". And Miriodor since I was huge on Gentle Giant back then and it had some of the same qualities that I loved. I started exploring 90s Prog in the 2000s, by the way, so a bit late to the party. But then I was late in discovering or getting into most things (like Twin Peaks). Now that I am more into contemporary music, although I have not heard as many releases from this year as you have, I feel a little more hip and with it.

Edited by Logan - May 17 2025 at 02:25

I’m kidding of course, but my primary audio tastes definitely range from medieval music to December 31, 1989.

I do own plenty of CDs and MP3’s post-1989, as well as other post-millennial formats. And, I do enjoy a lot of those songs. But, the last time I was REALLY excited about a new album was 1989. I think those years just had a lot of exciting changes.

I'll go with PRR's The Dark Third.

The Tangent - "A Place In The Queue" is quite good.

Edited by Cristi - May 16 2025 at 11:09

PRR

Bowie's masterpiece.

progaardvark wrote: First vote for Spock's Beard. I've seen elevators walk.

Another one I'm glad I included as it has some votes. It and Corima were the last two to be added to this poll. This might be SB's most underrated album. Released the same year that Kevin Gilbert passed, they dedicated this record to him.