What characteristic of Prog do you most value?

PrognosticMind wrote: Smurph wrote: Creativity over record sales.   Creativity over looking cool.   Creativity over getting laid.   Creativity over everything.   This!   Also, I love when I feel like I'm listening to a surrealism painting, or something super abstract.    I'm one of those proggies who abides by the axiom "the more crazy-creative, the better!".    Trout Mask Replica and Bitches Brew immediately come to mind. I like feeling like I'm listening to a Chirico or Pollock painting. Prog is the only genre that really exemplifies this quality for me.

Edited by moshkito - June 26 2015 at 11:32

The idea of "expect the unexpected". 

Edited by Moogtron III - June 26 2015 at 13:20

Instrumentals, especially guitars (mostly), but also love drums, beautiful cymbals sound, Hammond and fantastic bass :) I love the piano tunes and brass instruments too  hug

•Innovation in structure/composition/juxtaposition of material in general
•Freedom from composition/free-form/improvisation

Out of the characteristics that I noted, these two are directly at odds with each other. A lot of people avidly seek strong and complex compositions in what they listen to. I like that too quite a bit, but I also appreciate a lot of free-form music, so I'm willing to exchange one for the other without great sorrow. I've always been intrigued by the metrical complexity of Zappa's phrasing, especially on guitar. He doesn't just have odd time signatures that change frequently, but his notes are accented in unpredictable ways. A lot of things that I listen to do not go down that road to such an extreme, and that's okay to an extent. The question of this thread is not whether you appreciate all the properties of Prog identified, but which characteristic do you find most essential? I'm sure everyone likes good musicianship, but if a musician is a little under skilled yet makes up for it with imaginative ideas, is that alright with you? I really am interested in people's reflections.

Kati wrote: Instrumentals, especially guitars (mostly), but also love drums, beautiful cymbals sound, Hammond and fantastic bass :) I love the piano tunes and brass instruments too  hug

I thank Dayvenkirq for seeking to have you pull it apart more, but after mulling it over, I'm catching on to the key word in your post, which is 'instrumental'. I'm thinking that's a property of Prog missing from my list - that there be generous time offered to instrumental sections. Failure to devote that time to the instrumental side turned me off of Marillion, for instance (circa Fish era). I know a lot of PA members delight more in the instrumental side than the vocal side.

The classical music influences, the not straight forward drum playing and the quite parts.

HackettFan wrote: lostrom wrote: The classical music influences, the not straight forward drum playing and the quite parts. Duly noted and welcome aboard!

Kati wrote: HackettFan wrote: lostrom wrote: The classical music influences, the not straight forward drum playing and the quite parts. Duly noted and welcome aboard! aka the pauses and tempos added by crescendos

•Innovation in structure/composition/juxtaposition of material in general
•Exceptional musicianship, well-demonstrated capability with instruments

•Innovation in time, rhythm, meter, polyrhythms...

•Incorporation of varied styles and genres

 

For me, these 4 sum it up, probably in that descending order. 

 

Overall, I like to be taken on a musical journey - not all round the world, but to move from section to section, not knowing what may be round the next bend.

 

I like unusual time signatures, and unexpected key/chord changes - BUT only if it benefits the music.  I've listened to a number of solo albums by virtuoso musicians, and they can be like "This one is written in the Phrygian mode".  However, it sounds rubbish.  There's no point setting out to write something in a certain mode, or time signature, if  the result doesn't work.

 

I see exceptional musicianship as the glue that makes these 2 things work (innovation in song construction and time).  But again, the musicianship should serve the music, not the musician.  There is a line where music becomes too self-indulgent, and I like prog in that it tends to let all the instruments take their turn, and not let one dominate.

Imagination and skill is characteristic for prog and art in general. I value these two but art is also a beautiful form of communication. Otherwise it's just an interesting experiment or show off. I have to feel some vibe, something I can connect to. And prog can have a very special vibe (I hope I'm using the right word).