Why did prog rock never have mass popularity?

[two fingers]

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.

So, if you don't have a music listening chair where you can totally concentrate on listening you're a zombie? Long before, and after, prog came and went, there was simple, beautiful music. Baroque music can be quite amazing in its simplicity. So can blues. So can pop.

I don't need to sit still and listen to enjoy music. I'm actually quite terrible at sitting still. I literally had to take up meditation to do it.

Some "simple" music brings me great joy. But it's not because I have a simple mind, or have been "zombiefied". I just like what I like.

There's a lot of generalization going on in this thread.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

So, if you don't have a music listening chair where you can totally concentrate on listening you're a zombie?

I want the one Pete Murphy had for the "Maxell: break the sound barrier" adverts.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

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

When i come to power it's off to the re-education camps for you for a three-year spell of hard labour, Amon Dull and lentil stew.

 

[BassyBill]

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

It wasn’t.

 

[Bill Murray]

Prog is H U G E. It’s honestly one of the best genres to be successful in because you can simultaneously sellout arenas and walk around in public while no one has any idea who you are.

 

[Durham52]

Funny, our son has gotten into a lot of Euro metal, bands like Nightwish, which to me, has prog overtones in many of their song. In fact through them, our boy (well man) has gotten into Pink Floyd, Yes, Rush and other prog type stuff...

In The UK and Europe they may well be more of an interest and market for prog? Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM), are still active and BIi Big Train are touring and releasing new music. (RIP, their lead singer for the past decade and more, David Longdon, who passed away suddenly following a fall at home.)

In the end, good music is good music, whether it lasts for 3 minutes and you can dance to it, it's catchy and makes you sing along, or it runs for a whole album side and just makes you go wow, at the inventiveness and musicianship. If it moves you in some way, isn't that what music is about?

 

[Ekulati]

Because zillions of meaningless notes, a meter change every beat and a half, a key change every 3 beats, and an attitude of "pseudo-classical music played on rock instruments" appeals to only a small fraction of nerd musicians, not to regular people.

Now that said, I like some prog. But I think as a percentage of the total output, a lot of it is just not good music, and exhibits the above qualities. It's a niche.

 

[Durham52]

Because zillions of meaningless notes, a meter change every beat and a half, a key change every 3 beats, and an attitude of "pseudo-classical music played on rock instruments" appeals to only a small fraction of nerd musicians, not to regular people.

Now that said, I like some prog. But I think as a percentage of the total output, a lot of it is just not good music, and exhibits the above qualities. It's a niche.

So just like every other type/style of music then?

Very little f the output in any style is truly outstanding, or worthy of remembering. That's the way it has always been and always will be.

 

[Nev375]

Because the common man prefers common music.

 

[Snaxster]

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

Because they couldn't decide which 20 minutes of "Supper's Ready" to delete for the radio version.

 

[BoogieZK]

So, if you don't have a music listening chair where you can totally concentrate on listening you're a zombie? Long before, and after, prog came and went, there was simple, beautiful music. Baroque music can be quite amazing in its simplicity. So can blues. So can pop.

I don't need to sit still and listen to enjoy music. I'm actually quite terrible at sitting still. I literally had to take up meditation to do it.

Some "simple" music brings me great joy. But it's not because I have a simple mind, or have been "zombiefied". I just like what I like.

There's a lot of generalization going on in this thread.

Where did i mentioned you have to be concentrate or to sit in chair or anything you say?

Maybe because I'm french and i don't explain very well what i think, but it is not what i said.

I'm a nomad listener, my music is mostly on my phone with streaming or ripped bought cds and i have 2 or 3 different headphones that i trust which i listen to music on it.
And i have my home studio and speakers i made in my house.

I don't say you have to be only listening and not doing anything else.
But Yes! I say you have to actually listen to music to understand what is said, what is the artist intention, what the hell is the song or the album about.

Because if you understand what is the intention of a song/album, i think you can like anything.

And if you understand what is the intention behind all the dumb mindless music for the masses, you will not like it so much because there is no story, no musicality, no arrangement, no thinking behind the music. It's just poopy notes played one after the other.

I know.... I know, it is my point of view and not everyone is capable of listening to an entire song and appreciate the whole package that comes with music.
It's not that hard, just a commitment.

It is a constent debate with my wife, she only likes the lyrics of songs even if the arrengement is awful, or the bass is just plain notes because they needed low end, or the drums is the fufkin same on every songs.....

Prog Rock always gives satisfaction because of that.

Just my opinion, and i stand for it.

 

[Snaxster]

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

 

[JustRicks]

Actually, it was very successful in the 1970s. Bands like Yes, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen, Styx, Rush, ELP, ELO, even King Crimson filled arenas. Rick Wakeman was such a huge star at one point that, against all sanity, did a "King Arthur On Ice" with a full orchestra and a full choir in a space for around 10,000 people. All 3 nights sold out. Most prog rock bands had big-selling albums that were still getting radio play on classic rock stations into the late 80s.

And that's just the first generation. Big bands like Tool, Sigur Ros, Mars Volta, even Radiohead can be considered prog rock.

^ This ^

Also don’t forget that Yes played to 130,000 people at JFK Stadium in 1976!

 

[DanAdams]

Rush gets played multiple times on day on rock stations in my area. Sure it's the same few songs every time, but LOTS OF PLAY none the less. ELO, ELP seem get play too.
Rock radio is always on at job sites.

 

[Ric5]

Actually, it was very successful in the 1970s. Bands like Yes, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen, Styx, Rush, ELP, ELO, even King Crimson filled arenas. Rick Wakeman was such a huge star at one point that, against all sanity, did a "King Arthur On Ice" with a full orchestra and a full choir in a space for around 10,000 people. All 3 nights sold out. Most prog rock bands had big-selling albums that were still getting radio play on classic rock stations into the late 80s.

And that's just the first generation. Big bands like Tool, Sigur Ros, Mars Volta, even Radiohead can be considered prog rock.

YES!

 

[socialleper]

Was? You make it sound like there isn't prog rock being made today.

The more complex a piece of music is, the fewer people will like it. The masses like short songs with simple structures, have catchy choruses, and focus more on vocals than music. Prog doesn't do any of that. The people that love it, really love it. But it annoys a large swath of the music buying audience.

 

[Ekulati]

So just like every other type/style of music then?

Hmm, no, what I should have said is that a larger proportion of it is not good, compared to most other styles. Every genre has bad music, prog has more. IMO.

 

[Michael Milner]

Prog was not popular with music critics. But the general population liked it well enough. David Hungate has some interesting insights on why the critics hated musicians who could actually play.

 

[jw23mind]

bell curve

 

[bucephylus]

It doesn't fit the radio format.

+1

The perception of popular music and what constitutes “mass appeal” is largely driven by the the most widely used communications medium. Until the early 2000’s, that meant Top 40 radio play on the car radio. This created a center for popularity. Everyone spent time in the car; and whether we liked the Top 40 stuff or not, that playfare got a LOT of play time.

In more recent years, the internet has put the Top 40 car radio on history’s trash heap. That change alone has created a massive disconnect in the perception of “popular music.” Probably the biggest claim to the new center is the iHeart Radio marketing; but, I would hardly call that material any where near the same ballpark, in terms of listener exposure. Not even close.

Overall, we have lost our Top 40 center, whether you liked it or not; and audiences have splintered into much more polarized generational specific musical content. Cover bands are somewhat limited to increasingly “oldies” set lists, or more narrow / specific audiences.

As a musician, it seems the days of playing currently relevant widespread popular material are over. You have to pick what kind of audience you want to play for, and create your playlists for those somewhat more narrow kinds of gigs. I like playing all kinds of music and across the spectrum of age groups. I don’t find the current situation to be particularly great.

On the topic of Prog Rock, I spent a good part of my early years listening to the whole King Crimson / Yes / Genesis etc school of theater rock, long before it was popular and before I turned my attention to Jazz and Blues - learning to appreciate the roots. But any of that material, as great as it is, benefits from having a popular center. The internet has taken that from us, for the moment. IMO.