More than just about any genre (with the possible exception of Country), Prog typically falls into one extreme or the other: the good stuff is fantastic and the bad stuff is absolute shit. My calculations are:

Fantastic Prog = 11%
Absolute Shit Prog = 89%

FT, not even 11% of music is good, much less fantastic. How can you justify attributing a higher quality standard to a mostly dubious genre?

BAD:

bombastic

adj : ostentatiously lofty in style; "a man given to large talk"; "tumid political prose" [syn: declamatory, large, orotund, tumid, turgid]


GOOD:

avant-garde

adj : radically new or original; "an avant-garde theater piece" [syn: daring] n : any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts) [syn: vanguard, van, new wave]

If I spent enough time with each one of you to know your individual likes and dislikes, I'd bet I could find 5 prog albums you each like very much.

Exhibit A as to why I am constantly in disagreement with most of the board.

I would say Bombastic is usually good, while avant garde creeps into pretension and boredom 93% of the time.

All we need is now is logical fallacy, and Shaggy becomes prog. Awesome.

On a more serious note, I will admit to having a weakness for stuff with irregular meter or phrasing... especially if it can still be melodic. Always willing to give prog a benefit-of-the-doubt as a result.

So new is usually bad, and heavy-handed overstatement is good. More of the same, just make sure you over-do it without adding any real substance.

Actually, I'd say you're in agreement with a lot of the board.

New for the sake of new is always a bad idea, which is what I don't like.

I think he just said you have no substance, Loogs.

Good one, Drinky. Don't take any shit from nobody.

The opinion that something is "new for the sake of new" is always subjective and generally betrays an inability to deal with the unfamiliar.

I mean, as long as we're making sweeping generalizations based on fuck-all...

Took him THIS LONG to figure that out?

Also, serious question: Could Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son" be considered prog?

And you're gonna TAKE IT? WHAT'S THIS WORLD COMING TO?

Ezra Pound:

"Make it new"

Yes, he was an insane fascist, y que?

Um...fuzzy math?

i changed my mind. prog sucks.

Like any musical genre, you just can't make a sweeping statement about it and come to any kind of satisfactory conclusion.


My take on prog-rock is that although nearly all the 70's-era stuff sounds horribly dated, there are a few artists I still like (Rush, Kansas, Fates Warning, or Pink Floyd for example). I'll always have a soft spot for it when it's tastefully done and when the guitar wankery isn't at epic levels. I agree with prince of darkness though when he says that it's a gateway to jam bandism which is a terrible, terrible affliction.

New artists such as The Mars Volta or Cave In are good examples of bands being able to incorporate these older styles and techniques but still able to keep the music fresh and interesting.

I like Tool and Deftones and Radiohead but that's about as prog as I'll ever get.

Is Mew prog?

I forgot about Cave In. I actually do like them.

Beautiful.

I wish all prog sounded like 'Illegal Alien'.

cave in still exist?

whoa

Dillinger Escape Plan?