Classic Rock's "Prog Rock" Magazine

lazland wrote: Raff, it is rare that we disagree on the forum, but I still really enjoy reading the magazine, although I do, of course, bow to your superior knowledge, certainly as regards prog outside the UK, Have you considered writing to the magazine and let them know your feelings? The majority of them have been active rock journalists in the UK for many years. There are still some from Sounds heyday in the late 1970's! They pride themselves on understanding the genuine rock fan's point of view, and I am sure that they would listen to the type of constructive criticism you would have to offer.

I chopped off my own quotation because I hate quote pyramids. Anyway, Steve, thanks for the 'superior knowledge', which I don't really believe I have... The thing is, you enjoy the kind of prog they are pushing much more than I do, and you also have the opportunity to see those bands live if you want. However, my beef is not that they feature Marillion, Transatlantic, DT and PT every single issue - if that sells, I can understand why they do it, since they're not running a charity - but rather that they seem to dismiss other bands much too easily. And then, the content-wise, it has been going downhill for some time. I'd like to see many more reviews and less rather uninvolving features like the ones they had this time. I read practically the whole of the mag today, while going to work and then back home, and that had never happened before.

As to writing them, I've thought about it, but I believe I will pass this one up. You see, it's not the first time I see slurs against Italian prog (I subscribed to Classic Rock for a number of years, and bought every issue in the years before I decided to take out a subscription), and protesting would not change anything. They are steeped in prejudice, and losing one reader would not make any difference - especially one from a country they seem to despise so much. I just wonder why they don't avoid reviewing Italian prog, if they have such a poor opinion of it. They may be experienced reviewers (and I know that, since many of them used to review for Kerrang! in the Eighties), but they sure are experienced in alienating readers as well.

Raff wrote: OK, yesterday I found the mag's latest issue (#6, if I'm not mistaken) at Borders in downtown DC. Since I had run out of reading material to keep me company during my commute back home, I bought it (and a cookbook I found for $4!), and started browsing through it when I sat down to have some tea before my lesson started. Unfortunately, I have to say this time I was positively underwhelmed - even if the central feature on 'prog art' is not a bad idea at all. The usual suspects covered (i.e. Mostly Autumn, Marillion, DT, PT, yadda yadda), the usual bloopers (omitting Thursaflokkurinn from a feature on Icelandic prog was unforgivable, and the guy who reviewed Jakko M. Jakszyk's The Bruised Romantic Glee Club had clearly not read the liner notes), a slew of reviews of albums chosen with heaven knows what criteria - and plenty of condescension towards non-British bands. In particular, some of the remarks included in the reviews of Jacula and Il Bacio della Medusa were unpleasantly patronizing. I am really not sure I'm going to part with more of my hard-earned cash in the future to get something so biased.

Raff, it is rare that we disagree on the forum, but I still really enjoy reading the magazine, although I do, of course, bow to your superior knowledge, certainly as regards prog outside the UK,

Have you considered writing to the magazine and let them know your feelings? The majority of them have been active rock journalists in the UK for many years. There are still some from Sounds heyday in the late 1970's! They pride themselves on understanding the genuine rock fan's point of view, and I am sure that they would listen to the type of constructive criticism you would have to offer.

And even then, I find the proposition that young newcomers will shell out $15 for dead-tree media when $0 internet versions such as our collective selves exist a dubious one at best.

Like it or not, without mags such as that one and artists like DT and PT, there would hardly be any recruitment at all to the genre as far as new fans goes :-)

JLocke wrote: I may be the odd man out, here, but I personally don't care much for it. I mean, any specific information I want to find out, I can find out here, and the regular members know more about all this stuff than the suits running that magazine.

I agree with you, Micah, but you should also consider that the mag is targeted to people who may be relative newcomers to the genre, and do not necessarily know about the multitude of websites dedicated to prog.

I may be the odd man out, here, but I personally don't care much for it. I mean, any specific information I want to find out, I can find out here, and the regular members know more about all this stuff than the suits running that magazine. 

jammun wrote: There was a time, many years ago, when I actually used to buy Q and Mojo here in the U.S.  Then one day, it hit me:  I could be buying a CD for the price I paid for the mag!  So that's when I quit buying them on any sort of regular basis.

^Yes. The journos have been writing for rock mags for years. They know their stuff.

Raff wrote: Sean Trane wrote: micky wrote: Tony R wrote: Apparently Classic Rock Presents...Prog regularly achieves sales of over 50,000 copies. That's quite an achievement for a Prog-based mag that costs a ridiculous £8 and isnt sold in supermarkets. indeed... all in all it isn't that bad either.  Sure they could use a few SC's from here on staff who actually know the minutia of those groups... but for a bunch of corporate desk jockies.   Pretty good magazine     Tony, On the continent, it costs 15.15€, which is almost the double.   I believe that the mag does a lot of international salers too.     But I don't appreciate issue #6. much (only leafed through it so far)...... It seems that the mag is getting ever and ever more liberal about what they call prog Unfortunately, on the Continent the price of British magazines gets almost doubled by the dealers - even when the exchange rate is much more favourable to the Euro than it used to be. I know this because I used to buy other magazines (not dealing with music), and the story was always the same. Here it's 15 dollars, which - with the current Euro/dollar exchange rate - is less than the price in Euros.

micky wrote: Tony R wrote: Apparently Classic Rock Presents...Prog regularly achieves sales of over 50,000 copies. That's quite an achievement for a Prog-based mag that costs a ridiculous £8 and isnt sold in supermarkets. indeed... all in all it isn't that bad either.  Sure they could use a few SC's from here on staff who actually know the minutia of those groups... but for a bunch of corporate desk jockies.   Pretty good magazine