What is the status of Prog Rock today?

Progressive · #1 12-24-2005, 11:06 PM

I.e.: Yes (Close to the edge), Pink Floyd (Shine On you crazy Diamond), Deep Purple (Lazy). Long compositions of odd time signatures with impenetrable lyrics rock. :P How is prog rock these days?

Also, let's have some suggestions for Progressive band names! I wanna hear all your suggestions, be them bizarre or cool. I am at a loss, at the moment- writer's block as it were.

lemur821 · #2 12-24-2005, 11:56 PM

I'm not really up on the current state of prog rock. All I know is that I love Coheed and Cambria very much. Other than that, I'm not in the loop. I don't know about band names, but I've got dibs on "<band name here> wishes to alarm you" for an album title.

Tbirdbassist · #3 12-25-2005, 12:08 AM

CAC is definitely NOT prog.

Prog is, I think barely there, as far as popularity goes. The people who like it now, are the same people who liked it 20 years ago, with the exception of the few (like me) young people that venture away from the mainstream and listen to the older bands.

Bands such as TOOL (Influenced heavily by King Crimson) and The Mars Volta are in the prog vicinity. Otherwise I dont know of any new bands that can be considered prog (TOOL's been around since 1992 and TMV around 2001).

I wish there were more prog bands though.

Trevorus · #4 12-25-2005, 12:21 AM

I have said it once, and I'll say it again. Dredg.

AxtoOx · #5 12-25-2005, 12:27 AM

IMO it's a lost art as I know it, if they are around they would find if hard to get a contract. They don't fall into the "formula" of what's selling today. For example I wouldn't call it progressive but Incubus has totally changed their style to fit the "formula". There was a thread not long ago about Fungus Amungus, their first album, it's great, but it doesn't even sound like the same band.

BTW, this may sound stupid, but what does ":P" mean? Pause?

Progressive · #6 12-25-2005, 12:49 AM

":P" is a sideways-facing happy face icon, denoting sillyness, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm not looking to become "mainstream" or fit into any "formula". I want to go my own way and express my vision of progressive rock. I'd just need an Indie label, and, of course, a name. :P

Trevorus · #7 12-25-2005, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AxtoOx

...BTW, this may sound stupid, but what does ":P" mean? Pause?

:P is a different version of

That second one is a lower case "p" and happens to be the proper coding to get the graphical smiley you see there.

AxtoOx · #8 12-25-2005, 01:00 AM

OK, I learned something today. I will point out the people that have remained legends did so by doing thing their own way, for example Eddie Van Halen didn't get famous by palying like Jimi, or Page, or Clapton...... He did it his own way. Same for the other three I mentioned and forgive me for not using bass examples, Eddie just came to mind, but there's Jaco, your friend John, Chris Squire, Stanley Clarke......
Do your own thing!

lemur821 · #9 12-25-2005, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbirdbassist

CAC is definitely NOT prog.

I don't agree -- they're not classic prog, but I think they fall in the genre. They've got some definite elements there. High voiced singer? Check. Crazy instrumentals? Check. Long songs? Check. Florid style? Double check. They're kind of like prog made interesting. And, recently, slick. They fall more on the Rush end of the spectrum than the King Crimson end, and they've definitely got a more poppy sound than most prog bands, but shouldn't prog -- you know -- progress? I'm putting them in the prog bin because I sure don't know of a better place for them.

EDIT: Oops. A vocab failure has been detected in the preceding post!

I meant to work the phrase "epic style" in there somewhere. Both in terms of sound and the way they've stretched one sci-fi story over three albums (with more to come).

Bard2dbone · #10 12-25-2005, 02:20 AM

I notice that until this last post I had heard no mention of Rush. I love Rush and definitely think of them as a prog band that never broke up.

They cover all the basic requirements: Complex time signatures and changes?-check. Epic, extended themes?-check. High-pitched vocalist?-check, but he's getting better. All they're missing is Rick Wakeman in a cape.

And I love King Crimson dearly. BUt I thought of them as the accessible 'pop' end of the prog spectrum. That may be becasue my favorite era of KC was the Fripp-Belew-Levin-Bruford lineup.

keb · #11 12-25-2005, 07:29 AM

I'm pretty much stuck on the old classic prog bands (Rush, Yes, Genesis, KC, Marillion, etc), but Porcupine Tree is one of the "newer" prog bands I really like.

**Adam Barkley** · #12 12-25-2005, 08:20 AM

You might enjoy John Turner's band Lord Only. Link

Piezoman · #13 12-25-2005, 08:26 AM

Frank Zappa should fall into this category I think. In his own sub-category, but he had some progressive stuff?

Alex · #14 12-25-2005, 08:47 AM

wait, aren't you guys confusing prog and psychadelic rock? Those long, meandering, lazy songs like Pink Floyd are psychadelic in my book.

My vision of prog rock is like Dream Theater.

Am I just misinformed?

**Adam Barkley** · #15 12-25-2005, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassManolukas

wait, aren't you guys confusing prog and psychadelic rock? Those long, meandering, lazy songs like Pink Floyd are psychadelic in my book.

My vision of prog rock is like Dream Theater.

Am I just misinformed?

Genres are often misleading and few are universally agreed upon. I consider early Pink Floyd to be psych, while later Pink Floyd is prog.

Piezoman · #16 12-25-2005, 08:59 AM

Dream Theater is no doubtedly progressive.

What about Gentle Giant, ELP, and other bands like that? I believe those fall into the prog genre.

Tbirdbassist · #17 12-25-2005, 03:52 PM

I'd say Dream Theatre is on the Metal side of Prog. Along with Opeth.

I also forgot to mention DredG, Pelican and Isis. All three bands are great. JT's band kicks ass as well. Also, Tony Levins band, Liquid Tension Experiment, is prog.

dls59 · #18 12-25-2005, 04:23 PM

Just out of curiosity, why doesn't Kansas get much love when talking about prog bands? They were just about as good as anyone and better than most. They had all the elements, really. Great lead singer, the wall of keys, the classical instrument, insane time signatures . . .

Earthday · #19 12-25-2005, 04:56 PM

The prog scene is alive and well if you just learn to look in the right places. In fact, I'd say that the current prog scene is the best its been since the 70s. Dredg, Coheed, and Isis aren't really prog. All great bands, especially the first and last, but not really prog. I'd also argue Pelican isn't, but I can see how they you could argue that they are. Again, an amazing band.

A short list of some great prog bands still around today

Dream Theater
Symphony X
Porcupine Tree
Opeth
Riverside
Dali's Dilemma
Ice Age
Ark
Green Carnation
Dead Soul Tribe
Tool
The Mars Volta
Andromeda
Maudlin of the Well/Kayo Dot
Gordian Knot (A prog insturmental band fronted by Sean Malone, a bassist you all really need to check out if you dont know him)
Shadow Gallery
Ayreon
Disillusion
Vintersorg
IQ
Glass Hammer

And plenty others I'm forgetting.

Petary791 · #20 12-25-2005, 04:59 PM

Prog is moving along slowly but surely. Bands that are pushing them along to me are Dream Theater, Coheed & Cambria, and The Mars Volta.

Prog is my favorite genre of music for sure. Check out (what i'm trying to make) the biggest prog forum on the net. I'm a mod there and i'm 1 of 3 people from the states.

http://www.progforum.nl/