I haven't seen such a discussion on here so I was up to starting one. This thread is dedicated to the various Youtube channels that are either entirely or just largely dedicated to progressive rock - the discussions therein would include new album reviews, bands and artists' appreciation, classic prog memorabilia, and so on and so forth, you get the drill. So my question here would be: Are you familiar with any of these and what are your thoughts on them? Would you be interested in exploring any of these channels if you haven't already?

Here is a list I compiled with the Prog-dedicated or prog-related Youtube channels I am familiar with, including a short description of what the channel is mainly about and my take on it:

1. Sea of Tranquility: Perhaps the most obvious one, this channel is pretty much the largest classic rock, metal, prog and fusion-dedicated channel on the platform [Youtube], hosted by the great Pete Pardo, sometimes called in a humorous fashion "The Godfather" of prog youtube. The channel also features a cast of collaborators and serves as supportive to the SoT website, where you will find a lot of music and gig reviews, news and the like. I do like a lot of the content that is being uploaded here, Pete certainly has great ideas and seems like a genuinely cool guy with a sense of humour and a great taste in music, too! Prog is covered very often on the channel and you will find numerous ranking videos, albums discussions, album reviews, band discussions. However, it is very difficult to catch up with everything they are doing on SoT, since there are daily uploads and the material on there is so voluminous.

Prog rating: 5/5. A very fine coverage of new and old albums, Pete and the crew are avid supporters of the progressive rock genre and can often introduce you to amazing releases by bands you probably didn't know exist.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@seaoftranquilityprog" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@seaoftranquilityprog

2. Classic Album Review: Hosted by Barry Robinson, this is an English channel with frequent shows dedicated to classic rock most often, followed by progressive rock, folk rock, arena rock, heavy metal and occasionally more experimental music. Barry's discussions and music reviews might as well be the most articulated and well-written ones on the entire prog Youtube platform. I find myself enjoying a large number of them and even when I disagree with his opinions and liking (although our preferences converge very often), I must acknowledge that he is actually putting out some very fine quality content and is always honest in his reviews. Some of his most favorite artists (to my knowledge) include Jethro Tull, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Flower Kings, Yes, Genesis, Queen, AC/DC, and as the list goes on, you probably get an idea of what you're getting here.

Prog rating: 5/5. Barry does justice to all albums and artists he discusses as he obviously prepares his videos quite carefully and picks his words rather intelligently. And while he is definitely unable to catch up with the gargantuan coverage of Sea of Tranquility, it is quality over quantity that definitely prevails on the channel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@classicalbum" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@classicalbum

3. The Prog Corner: Hosted by Scott Lade (who I believe is based in Miami), this is one of the "younger" channels in existence, gaining more and more attention in the last year or so. Scott mainly does shorter-length videos on very specific topics, he often does rankings and lists, which can sometimes be entertaining depending on the viewer's preference. He appears as a very energetic and passionate presenter and in contrast to the previous two channels mentioned, this one is entirely dedicated to progressive rock. His enthusiasm is definitely inspiring to see, although I find his opinions often commonplace, sharing what is often the general view about particular bands or artists. Nothing bad about this aspect of the shows, just giving you an idea on what to expect here. He does a good coverage of new releases and discusses many of the more popular and respected bands and artists, not really a channel for too much underground stuff though.

Prog rating: 4/5. A self-declared full-time prog advocate, the passion Scott Lade has for the prog umbrella is infectious. You will find many discussions on classic and newer bands towards which the host is always supportive and understanding.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProgCorner" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@TheProgCorner

4. Notes Reviews: Here's a Youtube channel from Canada! Notes Reviews started out in 2014 and is mostly dedicated to uploading album reviews with a great emphasis on new progressive rock releases, and occasionally some shows dedicated to classic albums. You will also see the guy doing ranking videos, end-of-the-year lists and similar content, covering a fine array of bands (and even sometimes mentioning PA, to which he had dedicated a full video some years ago). I must admit this is one of my less favorite channels, I haven't actually tuned in for a long time, mainly because I used to find the host's views a bit superficial, repetitive, and not really that carefully prepared. His content has definitely been getting better over the years and he has a passion for prog that is apparent, but I prefer the first two channels mentioned by far.

Prog rating: 3/5. I am more critical of this channel because some of his album reviews often go nowhere and the reasons for his criticisms can seem obscured. However, many great, new albums are covered by the channel and the host is actually most often really positive in his evaluations.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesReviews" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NotesReviews

5. Become the Knight: This American channel might generally be less familiar for the majority of the forum users because of the coverage of its contents, which goes far beyond prog (most often metal), which is just one corner of BtK. The channel is hosted by Michael Kupris, a musician based in Nashville, whose band Crusade has a page on PA (after a suggestion on my behalf from a couple of years ago ). He has a different approach, quite genuine, unfiltered and "raw", which is an aspect of his videos that I appreciate. With a passion for bands such as Dream Theater (mentioned to be the host's favorite band), Opeth, Periphery, Iron Maiden, or Leprous, Mike Kupris is definitely more interested in the heavier end of the prog spectrum. He does fantastic in-depth analyses of albums and songs, and much like the Classic Album Review channel, it is quality over quantity here. You may find some of his views a bit contrarian and he is not necessarily fond of what we recognize as classic prog and subsequently as a "classic prog sound", which should probably give you a good idea of what to expect from Become the Knight.

Prog rating: 4/5. Michael does really fine analysis videos, he is actually very well-informed and as a musician himself is able to give a different and often unique perspective on many progressive metal bands, which I find quite valuable. I tend to tune in every now and then, whenever I find a video on a topic of greater interest.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@BecomeTheKnight" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@BecomeTheKnight

6. The Album Years: I honestly expect this channel to be the most familiar for the forum users, but in case you might be wondering what this is, it is a music podcast hosted by Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness, in which the No-Man duo does year-by-year reviews of albums in various categories, including, of course, progressive rock (among many others). Needless to say that this podcast has introduced me to a large number of great records (both prog and non-prog), and is one of the most enjoyable and delightful corners of the internet as of today, in my humble opinion. Highly recommended if you haven't already seen this channel with its series, as it also gives you a good overview of the two musicians' personalities and musical interests.

Prog rating: 4/5. Despite the massive coverage of bands and genres on here, you may actually be disappointed to see that the two hosts purposefully omit certain bands as they tend not to place a great emphasis on progressive rock and its related sub-genres.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@thealbumyearspodcast" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@thealbumyearspodcast

7. Andy Edwards: The ex-Frost* and IQ drummer has his own Youtube channel and he discusses whatever he likes on it! This channels occupies a very interesting place in the prog Youtube sphere as Andy's humour and sincerity might sometimes be mistaken for rudeness and spite! Yes, that's right. He does a bit of everything and some of his discussions may sometimes have a more philosophical or theoretical edge but when he discusses prog, Mr Edwards is always very passionate and very honest about it and I often find my opinion aligning with his on various topics, bands, and albums. The channel is really entertaining and offers a different perspective to some classic prog questions.

Prog rating: 4/5. Andy offers the musician's perspective over the progressive rock genre, and while he speaks ferociously of his love for the genre's classic era, you will often see him quite critical of contemporary acts.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@AndyEdwardsDrummer" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@AndyEdwardsDrummer

8. Rael's Prog Rock Documentaries: This channel is exactly what its title says. I must admit I have not explored it too much in depth and am only familiar with just a few of the uploads on here but from what I have seen (and heard), I can tell that this is a very fine place for lovers of the classic prog era and the classic albums.

Prog rating: 4/5. The documentaries are well-constructed and offer an interesting view across the progressive rock world. Perhaps this would be quite a good entry point for someone not too familiar with the genre.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdocs" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdocs

9. The Prog Report: This channels serves as an extension to the Prog Report website and Facebook page, most often hosted by Roie Avin. As an online magazine, you may not be surprised to see the guys working here reviewing a large number of new prog releases and celebrating the anniversaries of various classic albums of the genre. A lot of the videos are entertaining, they do some fun shows and interviews, and have had guests like Mike Portnoy, Steven Wilson, Alan Morse, and so on.

Prog rating: 5/5. Perhaps this is one of the more important prog-dedicated corners of the internet, and naturally, the Youtube channel is quite enjoyable.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@progreport" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@progreport

10. Theneedledrop: As you might understand, this entry is a bit controversial and ironic. Anthony Fantano is the most popular music reviewer on Youtube, who despite his popularity, tends to avoid at all costs the progressive genre, and whenever he happens to cover it, is overly critical of it.

Prog rating: 1/5. Openly critical of progressive rock, Fantano is much more inclined towards popular, indie and hip-hop music. I bet he has a misunderstanding of prog, which you might catch a glimpse of in his confusing and definitely more negative reviews of Steven Wilson albums, for example. You may, however, find him speaking fondly of some classic albums, like ITCOTCK.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theneedledrop" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@theneedledrop

This list of ten is definitely covering the channels I am more familiar with and the ones which are more popular. If you have any further suggestions to add to this list, please feel free to, and above all, don't forget the thread question: Do you recognize and what do you think of these channels? Do you find them valuable in providing a greater exposure for the progressive genre? What would you do differently if you were any of these guys? Curious to see the reactions to this post, hopefully there will be at least a few. Enjoy and prog on!

Nice breakdown Nikola, and a good thread idea.

I'm afraid I can't offer much in terms of the topic itself. I don't watch or listen to people discuss music in this fashion because it takes away from precious free time to listen to the music itself. I'd much rather spend that hour listening to an album than someone talking about it. Exceptions would be the occasional reaction video because it's kind of fun to see people when they are genuinely hearing something cool for the first time. Another exception would be interviews with musicians I care about. Last, I much prefer reading about music than any kind of "show" format. A well written review or a book about an artist is much more for me than watching something. But far and away, I will choose music listening over anything else that takes free time.

https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdock

It upsets me that my Notifications won't work (only) for this channel... There's nothing more I love than a live chat during a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/@ProgLine" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/@ProgLine

Rick Beato, while covering music in general, does touch on prog from time to time. He had some very recent interviews with Rick Wakeman and David Gilmour...

I struggle with Barry's tone, too monotone for me I loose interest quickly. Some of the others I just don't have time. 

A few not mentioned that I subscribe to and enjoy:

This is run by Phil Aston who is originally from Birmingham as was in a metal band at one point but is now based in West Cornwall. He is a lovely man in his sixtiies who has a love of classic rock, metal and progressive rock and a fair amount beyond that. He refused recently to go with the negative type ranking videos and his channel has just taken off how you wouldn't believe. Clearly struck a chord with many! Highly recommended 5/5

http://www.youtube.com/@NowSpinningMagazine" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NowSpinningMagazine

Nathan is a very nice young guy and a friend of Notes Reviews. His channel is not well visited but he has a love of modern prog and is a massive Neal Morse fan. I enjoy his enthusiam a lot and he often does a weekly news round up of new prog releases. He is almost exlusively prog based but admits that he does not venture much into experimental music. He did however review the recent Geordie Greep in a very warm and honest way. For me 5/5 but he won't satisfy those prog fans who don't go for the so called 'cookie cutter' stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/@NathanOnShuffle" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NathanOnShuffle

This is a strange one as this was set up by Irish father and daughter pair Dermot and Tara and they were both based on Ireland. It took off really well but then the unexpected happened and Tara fell in love with fellow you tuber and prog fan Cody who lives in Canada. She did the truly amazing thing of moving there a few months ago and has succesfully applied for a Canadian work visa. It now appears that they are both running the channel and make a formidable team. I watched their recent Opeth video and loved it. 5/5 

BTW Dad Dermot is off the scene entirely!

http://www.youtube.com/@SpinninProg" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@SpinninProg

This is run by prog and metal fan Ian whi is British. He has a keen sense of humour and I love the way he talks about the music. We don't really align as much on music taste as the others above but it's still fun to hear his talk about some death metal band I've never heard of! Always fun 4/5

http://www.youtube.com/@RhymeSignatures" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@RhymeSignatures

I have the idea that most of us are too well versed in too much of the progressive and progrock listing of bands, to the point that any informative, and innovative stuff done on the toob is not the greatest thing since macaroni and cheese!

For my tastes, I find a lot of these way too repetitive for me, and I am a well known "no numbers" or "no topsthisorthat" person, and thus a lot of these end up falling down the list of interest. 

When one factors in the music from 20 other countries, instead of the usual 85% (just guessing a number) of known bands, then the whole thing looks like just another commercial endeavor and a sad one in some cases ... how many more times do you need to listen to CTTE and find out it is this or that? AND, you have the CD at home!!!! Which for me is very sad, as the rest of the magic in music is no longer appreciated, or even bothered to be discussed. Reminds me of one of these (possibly another) that said that Francesco was a high school singer in Banco! And he went back to another garage band from the 85% ... which for me is like saying, he is not into the progressive thing at all ... it's all about the hits and the fame!

And this is the irony. In the early days, in the 1970's we were playing all the new "imports" and they were all different, and we got an audience because it was there ... now it is like ... there is no audience for the rest ... and those lists? Continuously listing the same stuff ... for something that started as a reaction to the lack of creativity in the AM radio, or ability for new folks to be heard! 

I don't have the answer, but I don't want to be inside the meat market! It was disgusting for me during The Wall (actually Animals for me!) and it continues with a lot of these shows ... the whole thing is NOT about the music anymore ... and until we return to the music and not the numbers, I don't think that things can progress a whole lot. 

Here's hoping ... about the future, so we don't get bored!

Sorry, but you are exaggerating again (to put it gently).

All these creators of videos on youtube do it for the(ir) love of music and if their watchers or followers (or whatever they're called) discover and listen to music because of that, it's a good thing. 

Hi,

Not disagreeing with what you said, except that you might think you know about it all, and I don't. 

I've been "there" from the beginning, and if there was a chance/choice, I would consider myself one of the originals. And I was a lot of help for a show that is still on, that violates the idea of "progressive and progsomethingorother" because it is about THE MUSIC and not simply what folks think is what the public wants in these things, which is an idea, not a reality. The show I helped was always specified as stupid by the rest of the radio station, and yet, it's still on ... and it will be 51 full years, on Jan 27th! 

I, honestly, did not mean to sound like I didn't like what they did ... I think they are all OK in my book, though I find the choices, too much in the macaroni and cheese category .... and I probably would prefer a chateaubriant! 

You make it sound like I never discovered or listened to anything ... and I have 50 years of it, which means I have forgotten more than I probably can remember now ... but the love for the music, is still there ... and it's not about a favorite for someone/anyone ... that is indeed subjective, but FOR ME, it's about the art ... the MUSIC ... not the band, and while I would not say any of those shows are not very good, I would say I prefer a better mix, that is not so centered on the "top bands" as an imaginary idea that the "fans" have to have a dose of that dope three times each hour ... the same crap that radio was giving you 50 years ago ... all the music we love would not have gotten here, if that were the case ... and there was no Internet then ... or like the cartoon just a couple of days ago ... what's a phone book? 

I think the oversight of the history of the music is what is missing, not that the work they do is bad. But I prefer that "progressive/progrock" titles not be used if the choices are always a small list of things, and 5 classic bands ... at that point, it is not progressive in terms of the spirt of what got us here ... which you think I'm not appreciating ... how can I not, when I was a part of it from the start? And still am ... when it's like most folks are still smoking their first joint!

For me, it's about the MUSIC ... not anything else! 

You never know who's going to show up!!!

So if a YT'er makes a bunch of comments I don't agree with or like, I don't find myself grabbing my phone and typing a rebuttal. Normally comments just get lost in the wave of so many, especially if it is a live stream of 200-300 people watching the comments box just scrolls too fast to even read them, ATBH I don't give a krapp! 

My wife is usually watching with me as she is on her phone and sometime she'll even say stuff to the TV....."Of course Neil Peart is the best ever, your stoopid!!" she'll say! 

YT for me is 100% entertainment, I've left channels because they incite arguments and I want to relax. And I mainly leave channels because they are simply boring and a waste of time.

Scot keeps his channel entertaining and to the point, those are the type of channels I like. Spending 1.5 hours talking about one thing is nuts.

Bro, I'm already subscribed....So I'm awesome already. God Save the World!!!!!!!

I like the Gurgis Jones website, even though it isn't exclusively prog.

https://www.youtube.com/@gurgisjones1120/videos

It was five years ago today that we lost The Professor. A sad day.

But THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING TO THE PROG CORNER!!!

Yes, and not a day goes by that I don't listen to Rush and am reminded of his immense presence, intelligence and lyrical prowess.

I don't think that it being fusion or metal is an issue ... what bothers me is the high-schoolish drumming, as if those musicians can't count without a snare drum ... and it's still going around today, and I stopped listening to most prog/progressive because of it, and too many of the lists just show that ... with a small minority of better stuff, or more entertaining stuff.

These days, the jazz side is more entertaining ... might get too many standup bass players from Japan, but getting to hear an 18 saxophone band, and others, including some really fine women bands, makes the prog/progressive selections be really poor, in my book!

The music has to improve, not go backwards. Reminds me of the album from STRING DRIVEN THING ... "band without a drummer" ... and it sounded fine!

Spookee wrote: YouTube reviews about prog began to outstrip written reviews in terms of popularity, didn't they?

Popularity, you may be completely right on. Personally, though, I'll take the written word over watching anyone blather about the same. Even beyond reviewing, I don't enjoy watching people talk on video. I'd much rather read the transcript of an interview or whatever it is. It lets me extract what I need quicker and move on. Certainly there is a place for video as you move towards the entertainment side of a topic, but for something like reviews and learning about music, I'll never feel video is more useful than reading.

Interesting. Dismissive how so? Dismissive to the artist?

I don't think this one's been mentioned yet: 

I've enjoyed most of the channels mentioned here, and I'll be checking out the ones I haven't tried yet, but "Make Weird Music" is my favorite so far. Anthony Garone is a no-nonsense, down-to-earth host who loves weird music, prog and beyond. He has some great playlists o Spotify, and presents them in his videos. If you don't mind watching him bob his head around while listening to them he always has something interesting to say between tracks.

It's not the same. USA like the UK is a split country in terms of politics about equally divided between left and right wing politics. Right wing does go hand in hand with fascism at times and I can't stand Trump personally but anyway whatever its not my call. I watch a lot of youtube for entertainment and have started watching chess videos like Powerplay chess hosted by Grandmaster Danny King for instance. He has more subscribers than the most popular prog rock channel (Sea Of Tranquility) . Watching YT doesn't mean you are stupid although in my case I will admit to being lazy and that is probably a trait of many TV watchers. I don't read any books and would prefer to watch a daytime quiz to keep my brain busy if I need to. Even just listening to prog is likely good for the brain as it's akin to classical music I believe.

^Those comments were definitely unnecessary on this thread. If you feel like this is the sole way in which you are able to contribute to a post dealing with different Youtube channels that discuss progressive rock, please refrain from using it as a platform for expressing any kind of political views, no matter what they might be.

It is not the right place!

Anyway, Weimar Republic waas equally split, and this is what gave Hitler the possibility to become chancellor. (history, not politics)

Just for info:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/germany/elect.htm" rel="nofollow - https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/germany/elect.htm

Hi,

I like DD and I dislike DD ... the main thing for me is ... too much vanilla stuff in the milkshake! And the sweetness is making me want to turn it off.

I like some of them, considering that he is not man enough to label some of the music what it is ... as an example, TARKUS as a piano concert specially if you listen to Rachel Flowers' version, but in those days, just taking that score for a "piano concert" to a professor? You would be laughed off and sent home to write something else, and probably be given a lower score if possible ... same for RW and many others ... they all pretty much told the academic folks to go play with their fuzzy keys somewhere else.

The worst part of it all, is him not being classy enough to actually say that some of that stuff is the "classical music" of today, and instead, he tells you a chord or two, or change that supposedly makes it better music, for these rockers, and in the end, it is just denying them their ability ... it's all just a song ... has no value within classical music and its history ... and to me that's a problem ... and he does not recognize that the difference between today and 100 years ago, is that no one knew any music, and only a handful of rich folks ever did! 

But, the only thing that bothers me some ... DD has little courage, to take a look at some real music ... instead of some pop-rock favorites that show up in all kinds of lists by folks that ... both you and I would probably think ... is this about music, or that person's favorites? When you listen and study so much music, you do not always have "favorites" ... because you look at music for the experience that it is and gives us, not as a song!!! But I don't think we can see that at all!

The shows, all in all, are fine, with one exception ... of those I have heard ... I got more than halfway through the listing with at least an hour each ... were all a copy of the radio stuff that we disliked 50 years ago, that helped FM radio come alive and bring new music to the front ... and we still do not accept that reality and think that it was all just another hit song! It was on the FM radio dial, but it was considered trash on the AM radio dial ... if you never heard a couple of those ash-wholes in Madison WI at the time ... that was abuse, and not about the music.

I find it really strange that the folks that are doing this, have not themselves, defined the music of 50 years ago, and how it came alive, so their show would be a lot more than just a play of three hits, or four, and many times, even five of these ... by which time, I would have already turned it off anyway.

I wish there was an appreciation for music way out in left field, and a show that presented things very differently, but in my book there is only one, and I'm sure Guy Guden gets tired of me talking about it, as do fans here, that intentionally do not read and ignore what I write as anti something and negative, when all I'm asking for is a new presentation, not a copy of the same thing that we disliked and tried to get away from.

One last detail ... too many of those folks think that their voice is the gift to radio and the music, and they make their comments ... and sometimes, it is just better to let the music speak for itself, and many of those shows think the music can't exist without their voice and announcement!

You really want something new? Or do you care? New is good for me, but getting fake radio trying to make you believe that all the stuff 50 years ago were the hits of the airwaves, is way too much for me ... at that point, I don't think that person cares about the music as much as they make it look like!

Hi,

No problem there. I would be honest, and just like here, I'm not a publicity hound or a person thinking that I need to be appreciated more for what I write and say ... it is what it is, but just like Rick Beato's thing with that Bob guy, so many folks in the Internet think they are the best critics anywhere, and in the end they are fans, not critics.

And he goes on to say that the majority of the folks spewing stuff on the toob are not folks that have "knowledge" ... they are folks with opinions and nothing much else. Which is one of the reasons why so many folks don't like him for saying that ... and while I'm not about to start such a tirade, my years being near/next to Guy Guden and his show has shown me just as much bad stuff as he is talking about and ... way more than that ... folks that had no music taste whatsoever, opining on the air about a great album so they could feel like they were a part of the group ... and (supposedly) making the station look better and more important to your life, and thus ... justifying the raise of their advertising fees ... to the point that local business folks in these days, can not afford it anymore ... and the whole of the "local" side of radio is completely lost because of it.

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ... Just recently I heard a Prog reviewer state that Kiss were a better band than Montrose. That's very comical ...but also disgraceful to a Progressive player like Ronnie Montrose. That's shameful! These people are shameful! ...

To me, I think of these folks as trolls ... they were the ones that went after the pieces of the pig and ruined the feeling for a whole generation by showing that ... the music was not important anymore, and everyone has been like that ever since ... not that there weren't any of these before, but they were not as visible as the toob and the net makes them!

I have opinions about music, but I don't go around saying Kiss or Montrose are bad ... they are what popular music has been about because of the media ... nothing else. Be they good or bad, or otherwise, I would never get in their way of doing what they felt they needed to do ... and I even go as far as the punks, even though I would not support them with a purchase anywhere or anytime.

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ... Four Prog revisionists making a video to put GONG YOU on a chopping block? Huh? Then one particular Prog revisionist says that all Prog bands should have sold out like Genesis because then we would have had more great songwriting. Where is this ideology coming from? ...

This is one of the things that bothers me about DD ... he did YOU ... and he said it was weird ... but he did come down and admitted that these guys knew what they were doing and played really well ... but the music was out of DD's realm as the musicality of all Canterbury folks is much more advanced than what a lot of the pop rock things he reviews. But he makes it look like a chord change and one detail in the middle of it makes the music come off better ... and I find that strange ... because one detail is not the music ... it is a part of it, just like pee and poop is a part of our lives.

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: ... because record executives pressured Progressive Rock bands to sell out in the 80s? As if that was a good thing? Gentle Giant Civilian and Giant For A Day are highly recommended as Prog albums? What are we talking about here?

I think the record industry thought they had killed progressive music when they went out and bought all the FM stations and turned them all into the schmaltzy stuff they are today (still!!!) as classic this or that ... only to find that 10 more years down the line, the Internet screwed up the record industry even more and now they are trying hard to make sure that the Sphere in Las Vegas becomes the next Disneyland so they can showcase "their" talent ... and some of the choices are no longer ... special at all ... they are just mainstream pop music, but it shows that the Sphere is there to make some money, after it pays all the bills in the next 5 years ... and after that it will be all free and easy money.

I've always called those purchases as the Great American Rape of Radio ... but if you go back to the history of radio, music, film, TV and even theater to a point, it was all owned and operated by the film studios ... and they were the only ones that had recording equipment after WW2 for several years, per Tom Dowd ... and we continue to fail to see the controls and manipulation of the public with all the big name movies and budgets ... stuff that is really poor and you would not wish to educate your children with ... but, because it is all over the TV set stuff in commercials, and the over abundance of the same thing in Google and the Toob, and you know that you are owned by mega corporations ... that are dictating what your tastes should be.

Goodness ... look up the history of the copyrights ... it was a couple of studios that decided they did not want competition in any form ... and it is still that ... but the Internet is making a mockery of that with folks doing their own music on the kitchen and in bed ... which is fine with me ... but that does not mean they are excellent and great simply because you can see them on the toob or Bandcamp ... and those streaming sites? Guess who owns all of them! But well, history has its weird side too ... Lord Byron was known to write a lot of poetry in the bath!

I think we're too subservient to be able to fight for a change that makes sense in the arts, specially in the area of public controls ... and pretty soon someone is going to want to take down 10 channels in Sirius (mostly crap anyway!), and several FM stations because they don't all play the dictated choices!

I don't have an answer and sometimes I am glad I won't be around to see things happen ... as it is right now, heck some folks think that writing is a problem and they don't read before reacting to a lot of things I say ... not that I have more to say than they do, but the idea that they can have their opinion and I can't is scary for me, and I'm not sure that Admins want to get into that area, other than asking me to shush and not be so negative. In my book the "negative" are the folks that are judging it as such ... and I'm the one that likes to laugh at some of the music, but I don't have the heart to say that anything is bad ... just not my taste ... just like I think of curry and I want to throw up since one keyboard player ruined it for me!

Hi,

Sad ... but we know that the truth is always something else, and sometimes it isn't pretty and with flowers in one's hair! And that's when you and I would probably think that the media is corrupting too many things and folks, and not helping the music ... but just like here, folks defending their "favorites" and polls, don't want to hear that they are doing the very thing that many of us wanted to get away from when "art rock" came about ... the commerciality of it all ... but as time went by, it felt like some forgot what they liked the music for ... I didn't feel that it had any more substance or meaning, and it was very clear in the radio station in Santa Barbara that Guy was on.

Later the great example was LA ... the story that gets hidden and not appreciated ... a bunch of groups filed a lawsuit against several radio stations because they would not play their material or any local bands ... and a few months later those bands WON the lawsuit in huge fashion, the same way that the small version of FM that also won their lawsuit. Some stations in LA added an hour or two since the lawsuit had no way to determine how much should be played and it worked ok for a month ... probably at 2AM so no one would hear it ... besides the DJ not mentioning who some of the bands were! The following week (so to speak) there was a massive earthquake that we ignored completely ... KMET fired everyone and the next morning they were new age. And the media ignored ... so you even know which side the LA Times was on! The fact was that the FCC had setup a few rules that were in favor of the owners ... one was the change of format ... and since they didn't want to play the local bands, they were not about to give in to a bunch of street kids with no talent or money ... they closed shop ... and became something else ... and to this day the FCC has allowed that to happen, but most folks these days can not fight the stations much anymore, since they are all a part of huge corporations that do whatever they want and they run the FCC.

(And folks think Radio Kaos was a joke and just another complaint by RW)

You literally can see the movie line now ... "no one from the streets and a fudging bum is going to tell me what to do with my money", complete with puffing a cigar, desk and 30th floor office overlooking the whole city! And you knew, more than ever, who controlled what ... but no one gave a darn, and within months the other stations closed down their extra showing of local bands, since their name was now cemented as dogs and crap and disgusting folks with no talent ... at least in England it took more than a couple of weeks with the punk thing, but LA took a beating, and the fans? They disappeared! Those stations still make millions each month courtesy of the national accounts, like Coke, Pepsi, the Army and the Navy, I imagine! Your very tax dollars are used to keep you in line, and not have a choice anymore.

Guy Guden, for a long time had an amazing list of stuff on his Blog ... and it had a lot of his adventures with the radio station, and specially some very undesirable folks ... Guy was not always the easiest person to deal with, but we know one thing ... he was very honest about the music and what he played, and it was not a case of not giving a damn about the band he played and the blatant commerciality in many of the voices on the air, who tried to be cool instead of correct and honest. And some stories were scary and so bad that you wondered what kind of monsters were in there trying to tell you what to listen to!

I'm not exactly against all the polls and numbers, but I find it sad that these endup being shown as the important things for the year ... while so much else is out there, and at least Mike has posted two other alternative lists, but I much prefer the way JMA does things ... any new albums are simply added to the area they are listed on ... and the number of additions in this listing is huge and clean ... you see the stuff right there, and it's not about numbers ... ITS ABOUT THE MUSIC ... and I find that better ... and the care and detail with which it is done, is incredible ... and really shows the music, and you won't check that one area because it isn't your thing, but any other areas are updated regularly, and numbers are not necessary ... 

The sad thing, that the very thing that we started out against, is now dominating things ... and I can't help thinking that we can't remember what got us into the music in the first place! I know it wasn't "favorite" in my story ... but I'm not sure about others!

It is "easy" to fool people ... but then, if you did not want to get fooled again, you would do something about it? Even that song, and many others, were not empty or trying to fool you ... and it meant nothing to most folks. The album was a hit, and it was all that mattered, and to this day, this is the story of the "internet" and the fans ... who think they are the authority and the artists are merde because the fans did not get the song they wanted. And, eventually, these same fans will take down any band they once liked!

But in many ways, the artist is also at fault ... you have to be strong inside and believe in yourself to be able to say ... this is me! You got a problem with that? Go buy The Pimples! 

We don't get it, when folks still look at KC, or VdGG for their great "songs" and "hits" ... not realizing that they do their work not for the life of a song ... they do their work because it is meaningful to them and important to their life and work, even if we might feel that Peter Hammill, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and others are getting too old for many of us to feel they are still with it.

The hard/harsh part is that those that believe and stand up for themselves, have to do things on their own ... and many have ... PT, Marillion, Dream Theater and others who figured out very early they better get a move on and make use of the Internet ... and today the majority of the bands get lazy ... it's all Bandcamp or Spotify or something else, which they can do on their website, and interact with the fans ... but they DON'T. It's easier to hide behind a little blurb on the streaming platform, even if the words about them are very obviously overly baked bread, almost burnt ... and you're not gonna take a bite of it at all.

To me, the ability to stand up and be counted is gone ... and we like to say that the media is the problem, or the toob or this or that ... but in the end, the band's presence is ... where? Just Spotify and Bandcamp or another streaming site already owned by the music corporations. And worse, the bands, for the most part are not a part of an artistic community and instead make it look like they are the idea for the next artistic something in their music alone. 

Learning music is another story, and how to take those folks to the next level of music is one issue that I have problems with and not much information ... except one. When I was at UCSB, my girlfriend's sister had a boyfriend that was on his 1st year of music in the graduate studies somewhere ... and his idea of creating music was to take a score and change the notes to something very modern and weird, just to create an idealistic side to the music ... I don't think he could "HEAR" it in his head ... because he felt this change here to this one note was going to make the sequence of notes better ... never mind how it would sound or be heard.

It became something that my head still can not see, how it can work, and I feel that a lot of those self reliant folks that created their own thing and put it on the streaming things to try and make a dollar or two, are not exactly hearing, or at least understanding how their work stacks out and stands on its feet ... many of them think they are already professionals because they have a DAW and have created one piece of music, maybe 2.

And we have another issue, which is more visible in words ... no one reads with an attention, or they would have something to say ... a few do, though, and they are always a pleasure, but in general, all of a sudden they drop a line, to say something that just shows they did not bother reading anything anyway ... and everyone gets on that ship of fools, immediately. It also says that WORDS have no meaning anymore, and that is scary, which means any politician can bs you left and right, and you're still gonna vote for him ... we didn't question what it all meant! I have called this for 50 years ... Childhood's End ... yep ... that novel!

Again, it's a mess anyway we look at it, and I'm not sure we will be getting any more honest folks in the arts, until the FCC dissolves the ownership thing for corporations ... right after the LA thing, the FCC allowed one corporation to have more than one station in any area ... and that took out the difference and made all politics one sided ... in LA alone there was Metromedia and one other and that was it. In NY there were not 6 corporations fighting for air time ... it was more like 2 and they made a deal so they could make it look like the whole thing was perfect ... of course it was ... for them! Not the fan!

If you're not seeing anything on YouTube that floats your boat then the logical thing to do is to start your own channel. I challenge everyone reading this to do so!!! It's fun and we need all the Prog voices we can get on the platform!!! And anyone interested can contact me if they need any help, encouragement or advice.

I WANT MORE PROG COMMENTATORS ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!

Yeah, me too, especially when it comes from this one guy over on PE. 

I've been thinking about starting one for some time now Scot. I don't want it monetized though and so one of my concerns is that I'll make money that I'll have to report. I just want to do it as a hobby at least for a while. I have a lot to share though. Also, I don't know how I would record it. I would have to just use my iphone's video setting which seems weird to me. Anyway, maybe I'll send you a pm and we can discuss it further. 

Hi,

If you study the history of the arts, and in this case music, not many periods that were listed in the history books, lasted 50 years ... in general, by that time it was over and there was a silence, and a decade or two later, something else was there ... more or less.

The internet, is NOT going to bring back "progressive" or "prog" ... more than likely the Internet will be the first to kill them as fast as possible, when something new shows up and everyone of those folks disappears and then show up with a new name and show about the new thing ... and all of a sudden, you knew right away ... that these folks did not care about the music ... they cared about their favorites and tomorrow it's a different something or other.

In all honesty, I don't want any more "prog commentators" on the toob or elsewhere ... I want folks that are honest about the music they play and hopefully they have good taste and show us a lot of things that we have not given a fair listen to ... something that shows up on PA once in a while, with a band that lasted for 10 minutes in 1972 ... and here is the album and all of a sudden everyone comments on it as if it were better than mac and cheese!

In my book, we have to get off the commercial ideas ... PERIOD ... if we want to hear new music ... but I'm not sure that we want new music, since we are so cozy with all the commercial elements that so many bands wanted to get away from in the late 1960's and early 1970's ... but because we refuse to take a look at history and some folks still think that Neil Young is some hate, and screwed up musician because of one song ... about someone that was killed cold blood in a public university ... and it rippled across the country and shook a lot of folks ... heck, in Madison, I was working at the Rathskeller and the ROTC and the National Guard, were frisking everyone going in for their lunch or whatever ... and if had seen what they were doing in frisking the women, you would have been embarrassed and angry, specially if you knew the person ... but one lady server in The Commons (faculty dining area), was so upset with being felt up that she couldn't work, and the local newspaper ignored it all despite them having hundreds of pictures ... and two days later, cameras were confiscated to prevent more pictures. All in the name of ...??? Yeah ... right!

It's very visible here, that folks are not exactly interested in something new, unless it shows up listed in a couple of places ... and in my book, we still don't get it, and I don't think we ever will ... we will continue to follow the crowd into the same ship of fools ... and this even worried a famous judge that coined the phrase!

^^^ This.

Greg Lake speaking in the 90's about the future of music. It's just a short (don't have the whole video)

Definitely!!! PM me and we can talk it over. If an idiot like me can start a channel (and be somewhat successful at it) anyone can!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Thank you for your thoughts on the subject. I cannot disagree more strenuously - but it's all good!!! I think people as they get older can get lazy with their musical explorations so my channel is dedicated to shaking off the cobwebs and turning people on to music they may not have otherwise listened to. I'm not sure why that's a bad thing...

HI,

Strange idea for me ... at 74. And I have been at this thing about shaking the cobwebs out of people that are stuck in the top this and that, and ... sometimes, really ... show sad tastes in terms of new music and new experiments, though I have come to think that some lists have a few different things so they won't look so out of touch with the new stuff.

Listening to new materials is only a "bad thing", when the folks that ignore it, are the ones that are living the commercial life of the music, not the folks that are adding new materials ... but the Internet, for all its good, has an issue that is sad ... people joining the bus for something or other, and it appearing to be something major, when it isn't. The appearance of an illusion, makes it look like that the new things, and the different things are a freak and ... don't fit the top 5, so to speak.

It's hard not saying something about it ... I've been a part of new materials for 50+ years ... and I have never wavered, and the majority of folks here, for example, don't like it, and then they get upset when one of their cheap heroes is not kissed promptly! And the "appearance" that some of these folks put on is the worst ... rich folks, actually showing off their grand illusion that they are better than anyone else ... and some folks fall for it, and buy it!

Definitely recommend doing it! Especially if you're starting it out of your own self-passion and as a hobby. You'll find yourself having fun with it, experimenting with new things and trying stuff out you may not have thought of before. And who knows, eventually you may have an audience and your community begins :)

Hi,

As do I. 

However, when I did my show some 20+ years ago, it was not a show about the ... anything ... except that I dedicated a show to specific bands for a couple of hours at least ... and it got a very good response, specially from the folks in the band themselves, which surprised me. 

I concentrated on the "history", so to speak, of their work, and playing many for 2 hours plus was a really good thing, specially as I had a listenership that had really long stays, in a setup (Real Audio license) that allowed 25 feeds, and since it could be played back anytime, it still averaged a listenership of over 20 minutes for many folks.

I never had to worry about responses, because what I did was not a "show" ... as you folks would consider it ... it was more of an afternoon/evening with ... such and such.

I lost, for some reason, the listings, and website information for that show ... which was sad, but as I did not have a live situation, or a mixer, I put things together into a cassette and then transferred them to the RA setup and then we uploaded it to the OpenBSD server that we had for the show, a computer of mine setup specially for it.

The only sad thing is that the new owner of the place, was not very nice and then asked us to take it down, as we were stealing "precious bandwidth", as he stated. When considering that he was a major ____ and went on to steal many items from our ISP before their company fell apart (AT&T offshoot buying ISP's to be able to pick up all the cable users for internet service ... they went bankrupt, or sold out).

I've often considered doing it again, as things are very different these days, and I have the materials to get it done, but not sure I feel ok doing it again ... if I have something else, different, I might do it ... but the thing about the artist getting his/her moment for an hour or two, is something I love dearly, but not sure I would do it again ... however, no one ever complained about what I did!

It was called "The Space".