Is Progressive Rock Dead?

I believe we can all agree that the seventies were the Golden Age of Progressive Rock. Then punk came and did it's work, crushing the hippies and the freaks and the space rockers. Many bands suffered mightily, from the most accomplished (Yes, Genesis, ELP) to the somewhat controversial (Pink Floyd, Styx, Supertramp) to even the not really progressive at all but still pretty damn good (Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan). But we survived. We lived on in the art schools and the music halls. We stayed in the cracks and watched the punks slip and fall into the commercialism they so despised. But lo, something even more wicked appeared on the horizon. You know of what I speak, brethren. Hip-Hop. Boy bands. Britney Spears' ass.

In short, the beginnings... of JIGGINESS!!

But we lived. We even made peace with the punks, albeit a most fragile kind of peace. But I fear we have been struck the worst kind of blow by our own selves. We have crippled our founding ideologies. We are no longer progressive. We have become shadows of ourselves. We no longer seek to progress. We instead sit in our basements, listening to Genesis and Jethro Tull and Rush, RUSH, saying to ourselves,"Man, I wish I could do that!" and going out and doing just that... mimicing the ideas of the past generation.  We have invested ridiculous rules, like "Thou shalt be ungodly skilled (yet not necessarily talented) at thy instrument, Thou shalt not write short songs, Thou shalt avoid at all costs the sinful beat of 4/4"

And by creating those traditions, we have corrupted our most sacred tenet... TRADITIONS ARE BAD, UNIQUENESS IS GOOD. We flinch at the wild meanderings of such bands as Radiohead and the Mothers of Invention simply because they do not follow our own established preconceptions. PRECONCEPTIONS!! Do you hear me? We are not progressive!! We have become pop. Pop with tedious structures, overpracticed noodling, and bad poetry, but still pop.

Where are your spines, ladies and gentleman? Don't you realize that Robert Fripp, the guitarist who inspired, not to mention played on, just about half of the prog albums in the seventies, has publicly announced many, many times that he is not a member of the progressive rock crowd? He is ashamed, as I am. The Captain has retired to the desert, the Father of Invention is dead, and the King himself has denied our existence.

In summary: Do something new before even our children's children's children are forced to sit through Calling All Stations.

Actually, I'm a pretty big Marillion fan. The Phish stuff, anyway. Excellent lyricist. I'm a little iffy on IQ, but my girlfriend loves their work, so I can't say anything bad about them.

It's just that I so rarely hear something makes me say to myself, 'Whoah, what the hell is this?' I miss when progressive bands were unique and challenging musically. I don't know, maybe I've listened to Trout Mask Replica too much, and have had my ears overexposed to complex music. I ;ve spent the past ten years buying every obscure prog album I can find and trying to find some new sound or arrangement that sounds new. I don't think we've exhausted ourselves, I think maybe our nostalgia is just getting in the way of progress. I should probably admit my definition of 'progressive' runs a different course than the one most fans use. I despise the word genre.

I want something bizarre and I want it now.

My god... Keith Emerson in tights. And he's not chubby. *drools* Uhm, anyway...

I've heard several of those bands, but I'll comment on the Mars Volta, since they seem to be the biggest thing since Phil Collins was prog. *considers Collins to be one of the most bizarre anomalies in modern music* I rather respect the Mars Volta for having the balls to fuse punk with progressive methodology and at the same time, keep the respect they've earned in both fields. I tried the exact same thing with my band a long time ago and failed miserably... or at least never quite got off the ground. (I was the bassplayer/lyricist by the way) The fact that they succeeded is quite an achievement...

...though to be honest, I sometimes wish they would write intelligible lyrics. I had to pay 15 dollars to buy the f*cking book that explained the storyline on Deloused in the Comatorium. How dare they exploit their fans like that?! Why not just print the explanation in the godd*mn CD booklet in the first place?! Instead, I have to deal with surrealist quotes. I positively DESPISE Surrealism! Don't give me that 'landscapes of the mind' sh*t, you're forcing ME to listen to it! If I wanted landscapes of the f*cking mind, I'd join a f*cking cult and take acid all day long, you d*ckweed!!

On another note... ELP still have yet to be surpassed as the hottest looking trio in progressive music.

Let say it in an other way then.. a sound-wall? (I would said it in dutch that way)..

The mars volta is the only one I'm not really 100% sure of.. since I haven't had the ehm.. I'm just too lazy to listen to them

Sorry, but WHY should you have to understand lyrics? ESPECIALLY in Prog! Prog's about the music, not the words - as any Yes fan ought to testify! I'd say about a third of my music collection's in foreign f***ing languages but that doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you either. It's not as if they forced you to buy that book. It was simply released, and you decided to shell out your cash for it. And what's wrong with a bit of surrealism? I'd say most prog is pretty surreal, as like the visual aspects of surrealism, prog is music without boundaries (except those are self-imposed). In short, don't be such a baby.

And listen to After Crying (who I'm now convinced are the greatest modern prog act ever).

That is all.

Oh, well... Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta lead singer dude) was probably influenced by Jon Anderson and I have quite a soft spot for Jon Anderson. In fact, the Mars Volta are the new Yes!! Except for uhm, you know, Yes actually still being around and touring frequently... and probably still being able to play better than most bands at the height of their virtuosity. Limey bastards. Always gotta have the best guitarists, the best keboardists, the best drummers!! So smug about having Clapton, Beck, Page, Howe,  Bruford, Gabriel, Fripp, Entwhistle, Squire, Wakeman, Anderson, and what do Americans have? Hendrix! And then he moves to England!! I tell you, the British are crippling the American music industry by hogging all the good musicians. It's a scam, I tell you, a f*cking conspiracy!

Either that, or Americans are really as lazy as everyone says they are.

richardh wrote: FuzzyDude wrote: My god... Keith Emerson in tights. And he's not chubby. *drools* Uhm, anyway... I've heard several of those bands, but I'll comment on the Mars Volta, since they seem to be the biggest thing since Phil Collins was prog. *considers Collins to be one of the most bizarre anomalies in modern music* I rather respect the Mars Volta for having the balls to fuse punk with progressive methodology and at the same time, keep the respect they've earned in both fields. I tried the exact same thing with my band a long time ago and failed miserably... or at least never quite got off the ground. (I was the bassplayer/lyricist by the way) The fact that they succeeded is quite an achievement... ...though to be honest, I sometimes wish they would write intelligible lyrics. I had to pay 15 dollars to buy the f*cking book that explained the storyline on Deloused in the Comatorium. How dare they exploit their fans like that?! Why not just print the explanation in the godd*mn CD booklet in the first place?! Instead, I have to deal with surrealist quotes. I positively DESPISE Surrealism! Don't give me that 'landscapes of the mind' sh*t, you're forcing ME to listen to it! If I wanted landscapes of the f*cking mind, I'd join a f*cking cult and take acid all day long, you d*ckweed!! On another note... ELP still have yet to be surpassed as the hottest looking trio in progressive music. ..........(for the bit I highlighted in red NOT the bit about ELP being the hottest looking trio in prog)

  ...(for the parts about ELP being the hottest looking trio in prog)  I agree!!