Are proghead nerds?

I have to admit though, it really frustrates me when I read reviews on ProgArchives that criticize albums simply because they aren't fully progressive. Albums like ELO's Time or Secret Messages are incredible synth-pop works, yet they get one or two stars just because they don't fit neatly into the prog mold. That kind of narrow-mindedness misses the point — you should evaluate an album for what it is, not what it isn't. Judging Time as a progressive rock album is like dismissing a Charli XCX album for not sounding like John Coltrane. It's unfair and ultimately unhelpful.

Faul_McCartney wrote: I would agree with that except for the website that we're on. The star system is explicitly about how you would rate music as prog.

That has always been an annoying prognerd feature on PA that should be removed. I don't rate here because of that approach, and that my rating or review isn't valuded anyway.

-Gnik Nosmirk: Coincidentally ELO's Time has been favorite of mine basically all of my life. Ever since I pulled the LP out of my parents record collection as a child - and found the cover art intriguing. I've actually rated it with five stars at RYM. I find it perfect at what it is. An insanely catchy "pop opera" in space (I do find it somewhat progressive too). And of course it would get the exact same rating here if I had bothered. The bands and their music are not to blame for all of PA's badly thought through decicions made back in the day. Time would have gotten five stars at JazzMusicArchives for that matter.

Atavachron wrote: ^ Because more people like that music.   Like any business, the music business is based on the market which is governed by what people enjoy and purchase.   You may not like that, but people aren't sheep.   Michael Jackson sold records because a lot of consumers enjoyed his music...same for Hip hop and any other style. It's easy to say people are controlled, not so easy to accept what is popular.

But isn’t what’s popular largely what the music industry pushes to the forefront? Tubular Bells sold so much because it was featured in The Exorcist. If The Flower Kings had received the same exposure as Sabrina Carpenter, wouldn’t they be just as big? In that sense, the music industry clearly influences people’s tastes.

Edited by Gnik Nosmirc - July 18 2025 at 13:37

Gnik Nosmirc wrote: But isn’t what’s popular largely what the music industry pushes to the forefront? Tubular Bells sold so much because it was featured in The Exorcist. If The Flower Kings had received the same exposure as Sabrina Carpenter, wouldn’t they be just as big? In that sense, the music industry clearly influences people’s tastes.

I'd say it's difficult to predict what will catch on. A bump from a popular piece of media plays a role, but when it doesn't line up with its target audience, it doesn't make a change. JoJo fans sure loved Roundabout, and the song being featured as an ending theme of that anime undeniably recharged Yes's pop cultural exposure. But only a small percentage of those viewers would later become regular listeners of Close to the Edge, Relayer and so on.