Why did prog rock never have mass popularity?

[Relayer71]

Progressive rock was very popular in the early 70s (Pink Floyd [prog or not prog???], Yes, ELP, etc. were all doing very well) and you could hear the prog influence in non-prog groups also with extended instrumental intros (I think of Boston's "Foreplay" as a tip of the hat to prog, or the entire structure of "Stairway to Heaven" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" for instance). So it enjoyed popularity and was an even greater influence on general pop music.

Prog did not remain popular in the 70s due to the rise of disco (I remember, I was there with elephant bells and platforms), yacht rock, punk and changes within prog itself. Girls could not dance to it, FM radio began shortening their format to run more commericals, leaving 12 minute long prog pieces for the "after midnight in my parent's basement" demographic. Remember, the guys in prog bands generally weren't lookers (which meant there was a lot of frustrated practicing going on during those difficult teenage years to make them approach prog to begin with), the songs weren't about girls, but about the solstice and, in its most shameless moments, wizards, swords and spells. Not exactly "Cause we're living in a world of fools / breaking us down/ when we all..." yeah you get the point. And as Waylon Jennings pointed out, rock n roll was really about one thing, and prog was sometimes too busy looking for that 12 sided die to be bothered with that - and besides girls liked Zep.

I think prog sensed its own bloat in the later 70s, and either folded or did a quick change. ELP never came back from Works Vol 1 (financially they couldn't), Yes convulsed and reworked itself into the enormously successful, colorful, Yes 2.0 with Trevor Rabin and bandanas for everyone.
Genesis was subsumed by the growing influence of Phil Collins who almost singlehandedly RULED the 80s AOR, a little-ahead-of-the-curve King Crimson became the "Discipline" era and not the Wetton era, and speaking of Wetton, Asia the "supergroup" spawned at this time, born when UK got ran over by an accounting firm, and soon all the really, really bad prog bands went back to the shire and found day jobs, or, sadly, did a pet-shop hairdo, an inch of foundation and took up pseudo-European synth rock. (Rush, well, let's just say I have theories about what happened to Rush after MP, but that's another pile of drivel about a hypothetical bus accident on Dec 31 1980 that could explain everything.)

By 1980, prog became pop-ish, tighter, and more processed - or it faded out, looking rather silly, and self-absorbed (not like us!). "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "Tom Sawyer," "Abacab," "Heat of the Moment," "Neal and Jack and Me" (not a hit), became the sound of prog. Some of it danceable, some of it sorta about girls, some of it under 4 minutes, and catchy. So prog was still there, but it wasn't your father's prog, it wasn't extended organ solos, a section of Hymalayan bells and rare prayer cymbals with accompanying Tibetan chants, or the usual multi-layered guitar solo anthems, jarring time changes or the fun of adding an extra eighth note the 3rd time through for the hell of it - but it was prog, sorta.

There were always bands putting out classical prog material but it wasn't until the rise of metal bands that prog joined with metal to make prog metal and bands like Dream Theater were born, and soon prog metal was (IMHO) the most visible form of prog for years.

Today there are a lot pf prog bands and some are successful (well, not your father's royalty payments, either, but successful). You have a lot of prog type artists and some fantastic new artists, some great artists from back in the day - and of course, some harmless, lovely cringe.

Prog? It's always been there, baby, it hasn't always looked good, but it's still here.

Back to "Siberian Khatru."

Zep did prog as well. No way "The Song Remains The Same", "No Quarter" and even "Stairway to Heaven" aren't prog.

 

[Relayer71]

What is it?

It's it.

 

[Relayer71]

Exactly! Lots of massively popular bands from the 70s and onwards have strong elements of prog in their music: Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Muse... I don't think most Radiohead fan will call themselves prog fans but a lot of Radiohead's music is definitely prog. It's just more fashionable to call it "art rock" these days.

Sure, these bands may not be 100% "classic" prog like Gentle Giant, early Genesis, King Crimson or Yes but even Yes had a huge number one hit single. Prog doesn't have to be 17 minute organ/flute/Moog solos played by bearded guys in capes and pointy hats. It's far more than that.

Radiohead is definitely prog, even though I read somewhere they don't care for prog. They remind me most of Pink Floyd.

 

[J-Mags]

Your thoughts?
Why was prog rock less successful than other styles/subgenres of rock music?

It's way too musicky. Too much music in the music. It's kind of painful, actually.

 

[Bass4Gsus]

Your thoughts?
Why was prog rock less successful than other styles/subgenres of rock music?

I am a big fan of Prog in all it's forms. Most of what I listen to is not popular in today's mass market. If I like it, it's the kiss of death. Basically what I play "out" I don't listen to at home. (Of course I have to listen to learn it, but it's not my go to)

With the good stuff you hear something different every time, and that seems to make it not popular. Not being danceable is something too.

Who can dance to Liquid Tension Experiment?

Learning some great new stuff in the thread to listen to, keep it coming.

 

[callofcthulhu]

People like 4/4 in a very biological, visceral way.

This is Anglocentric pseudoscience, there are many cultures where music is written in odd meters by default.

 

[Topkat13]

Not enough people liked it.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...Genesis filled arenas and stadiums.

For me, it was only the Wind & Wuthering tour where I saw them in a large shed (Richfield Coliseum), other than that it was a small college gym (Adelbert Gymnasium at Case Western Reserve University), or small to medium theaters (Allen Theater and Music Hall - Cleveland). Time frame was April 14, 1973 through to Summer '77.

 

[StatesideRambler]

Your thoughts?
Why was prog rock less successful than other styles/subgenres of rock music?

Is this yet another case of, “I wasn’t there so it can’t have been important?” If you’re going to assert that it was “less successful” I’ll ask you for some definitions and evidence to support your assertion.

By extension, do you also believe that country music was also less popular or successful that rock? FWIW in the 60s & 70s country and western music, as it was known then, far outsold all other genres of music, yes, including all of rock, in performance and in recordings.

 

[lunarpollen]

It really depends on how you define "mass popularity" and "successful" more than how you define "prog"...

 

[BoogieZK]

Because you have to actually listen to music.
It's not fast food music like nowadays.

It has been liked though around the 70' and 80'.

I have this discussion with people around me and most of the time i get: "rhooo it is just music and if you have to pay attention, then i don't like it.

It is the perfect reflect of the zombifing rotting brain mushiness society going on in this modern times.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Because it's no good for air guitar.

Nonsense.

 

[Levent]

Rock forums: Is prog rock still popular?
Jazz forums: Why is jazz music not popular anymore?
Classical forums: Is classical music on decline?
Bass forums: Can a bass synthesiser replace a bass guitar?

This is just a form of journalism to get clicks tbh.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Even now, if you go to a supermarket or other big store with canned music you may hear Jethro Tull's Solstice Bells in between the other Christmas songs. But not Christmas Song. So even now, in this season, prog is popular.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Why did prog rock never have mass popularity?

Because it doesn't have a nice melody that you can hum in your head?

Lots of it has hummable melodies : parts of Thick as a Brick, Cinderella Man, Roundabout, Giant Hogweed, etc. Even some King Crimson like Book of Saturday.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Rock forums: Is prog rock still popular?
Jazz forums: Why is jazz music not popular anymore?
Classical forums: Is classical music on decline?
Bass forums: Can a bass synthesiser replace a bass guitar?

This is just a form of journalism to get clicks tbh.

Like 'Will England win the world Cup in 2022' or 'Will 2023 be the year prog makes a comeback?'. I'm hoping 2023 is the year.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Is this yet another case of, “I wasn’t there so it can’t have been important?” If you’re going to assert that it was “less successful” I’ll ask you for some definitions and evidence to support your assertion.

By extension, do you also believe that country music was also less popular or successful that rock? FWIW in the 60s & 70s country and western music, as it was known then, far outsold all other genres of music, yes, including all of rock, in performance and in recordings.

In the USA. Thankfully here in the UK C&W sold much less well.

 

[Levent]

Like 'Will England win the world Cup in 2022' or 'Will 2023 be the year prog makes a comeback?'. I'm hoping 2023 is the year.

Yeah lol I actually took my headlines from google to not make up.

 

[JimmyM]

Because you have to actually listen to music.
It's not fast food music like nowadays.

It has been liked though around the 70' and 80'.

I have this discussion with people around me and most of the time i get: "rhooo it is just music and if you have to pay attention, then i don't like it.

It is the perfect reflect of the zombifing rotting brain mushiness society going on in this modern times.

Yeah, it could never be that much of it is boring.

 

[MidnightRunner]

It’s nobody gets laid music

You think nobody can get laid while listening to "21st Century Schizoid Man"?