Interesting thread. I can only speak for myself really, but as someone who used to be a regular poster and contributor and then walked away for a long time (though evidently I am starting to poke my head round the door again every so often), it was a combination of factors.

 

Firstly, back then (somewhere in that 06-08 zone I'd guess) the site was going through a bit of an identity crisis and the endless cyclical arguments about how (or indeed if) to categorise certain bands on the site became tedious in the extreme. There was also an element of boredom as my tastes expanded and I wanted to discuss in depth music that falls outside prog's sacred canon. I was also at a period in my life (early twenties) when I had a lot of real life stuff to figure out which left rather less time for the site, especially the work (and my goodness it really does feel like work!) of being a collaborator. It all added up to a sense that it was time for me to move on, so I did. Evidently I was not alone.

 

Now, there's really two separate entities to consider here - the database and the community. The database remains an invaluable resource, though it increasingly feels like a product of its time. As the community pushed more and more to (rightly, IMO) widen the definition of prog to be as inclusive as possible of small-p "progressive" music in addition to capital P "Prog Rock", issues of semantics and gatekeeping arose and became rather poisonous at times. But that was unavoidable when we are contributing to a database built around a pre-Wiki framework - one where an artist's entire discography must, by nature of the site's very infrastructure, be crammed into a single (sometimes awkwardly fabricated) sub-genre. How much simpler would it be to tag artists, and individual albums, in as many genres and subgenres as are deemed to be relevant? But that can't be done. It's too late. So whilst the site contains an extraordinary amount of useful information and often brings to light wonderful obscure artists that might otherwise remain totally overlooked, the system feels rather flawed and dated, and that feeling will only increase with time. Older forum members may remember with fondness the "Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock" - one of the earliest online prog resources, which now appears to have gone the way of the dodo. It was a fine resource, but had its own quirks and flaws and was, in time, usurped by this very site. I think this site is already being usurped, not by one resource, but many - Wikipedia, Discogs, RYM, Reddit, Facebook, Spotify - all of them slowly chipping away at its relevancy.

 

So what of the community? I'm delighted to see that it still exists, though I must admit it is rare when I come a-lurkin' that I find a topic that I feel like responding to. Does anyone really need to know how much I like Gentle Giant at this point? But discussion forums in general are a dying breed - again, a product of a simpler time, before social media seemingly enveloped the entire web. These days I largely confine myself to Reddit where I can at least sometimes have interesting in-depth discussions about niche topics. But what Reddit lacks, and what I miss most about this forum, is that sense of getting to know individuals, even if all they are is an avatar, a username and a set of opinions. Maybe I should lead by example and try to be more active on here again?

^ Agreed  

Many of my favorite folks are on this thread...Lazland (hello, Steve!), Slartibartfast, Moshkito etc.  Dunno where Presdoug is, if someone mentions "Triumvirate" he'll show up!  

I come to PA as an "old guy" who went to many historic shows, including CTTE (Sept 22, 1972), TAAB (Oct 10, 1972) and so forth.  As a part-time prog musician (bass, guitar, and keyboards, badly) I know how bloody much time and work is involved in writing, creating, arranging, recording and performing this music, and it can be exhausting!!  

Therefore, I find the community of PA as much fun as the talk of music....I "listen" to TFTO frequently, not so much for enjoyment, as to study its composition and deeply analyze what Yes were doing (Squire imitates an orchestra tympani by using a Guild fretless bass & plectrum, and I "borrowed" that technique in my playing!)

In summation, I learn from all of you, and it is a pleasure to participate!!  Who knows how long PA will survive, it really doesn't matter.  We are here today, so let us embrace the experience.  Cheers, Charles

There is so much music out there to be discovered. I have tried out many modern recommendations, but mostly they are not interesting for me. They might have been interesting had they been published in the late 60s or early 70s, but from new releases I expect something more than just "samo, samo". There just are hardly any drastically new developments. The Red Masque, who are extremely underappreciated on this site, are one of the few bands who explore new territories, which is probably why they are underappreciated because most people are not really keen to hear something very different. And yes, this means YOU!

Jean and I have taken to exploring the 60s and 70s for really obscure bands (and not just prog ones). The variety of rock music was just so big back then, especially in the 60s. And of course our interest has shifted to classical music, and there are so many discoveries to be made there.

The information about the website and its registration is public record ... however, sometimes the information is hidden behind a fake company, although to my knowledge, fake addresses are not legal on those things but it is done all the time with addresses in Patagonia in Venus!

Frenetic Zetetic wrote: It seems we all agree that the PA forums are close to the edge, but not right away.

Leaving all the topics far from far behind
We relieve the tension only to find out the webmaster's name