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Why do some progressive bands sound so dated?

#21
Nashrakh said:
You must be joking. If there's ANYTHING from the 70s that has endured, it's Funk and Prog. I bet no one has ever heard of Pink Floyd.

It sounds dated because you associate it with a certain time period. And that's okay. If I hear baroque music, I think of the 1700s.
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The synths!

Most Prog bands heavy in keyboards and synths tend to have a distinctive sounds that have a ten year lifespan.

Remember the Oberheim, the DX7, etc.......
 
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#22
If anything, it's 80's pop music that sounds dated due to production techniques employed at the time. The excessive Japanese polysynth sounds didn't help either. In my opinion 70's prog productions sounded more organic than most 80's pop. Also 70's keyboard sounds have been rediscovered and are considered "hip retro" -- i.e. Hammonds, Mellotrons, analog Moogs, etc.
 
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#28
At age 61, I was a huge fan of prog back in that day. Many of the great records have been re-recoreded in 5.1 surround sound by my current hero, Steven Wilson. Listening back to these classics some do sound dated and didn't age as well. I was a huge Yes fan and while The Yes Album and Fragile have stood the test of time, many later releases (until 90125) have not. I think the synth technology started to become more organic and timeless with Peter Gabriel's solo efforts. If you count Supertramp as prog, their catalog has really stood up to time. The Lamb by Genesis has also held up very well.
 
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#30
I think a part of the reason Prog bands (or any bands from the past) sound dated fairly quickly is trying to be on the cutting edge in terms of gear and sound. The newest thing that sounds great in this time frame can sound dated quickly.

It's like special effects in movies. The CGI that looks great now due to the latest and greatest technology will look dated in a couple of years.

Now think of the Fairlight Keyboard, The Synthaxe, some of the first generation multieffect units etc. They sounded great when they came out but eventually better technology came along and the novelty wore off now it all sounds dated.

C/S,
Rev J
 
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#33
Progressive is a music genre that started more than 50 years ago. It includes classical, jazz, folk,rock, experimental, electronic, etc etc. The best musicians around were or are still playing Prog music, some Prog music made 50 years ago is still among the finest moments in music EVER full stop. It is not commercial music, it is not made to sell, it is an art form. A musician can appreciate it more than anybody else. Not many people like it, too difficult to follow or understand maybe but to my opinion most of the people likes trash music so I am glad that Prog was and still is music for few.
 
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#37
ElectroVibe said:
But prog rock was different. They had ventured into unknown territory alone. Alone. They were creating a new kind of music which would influence everyone after they brought it out to the world.
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I think accessability is the real issue. Art that requires effort or thought by the audience will never be mainstream. Cubism is not exactly hanging from everyone’s lounge room walls. We are musician’s and are more likely to seek out interesting material - the general listening public, not so much.
There is no tenet that demands we must all appreciate every type of music or art. Some of it will reach you and some of it won’t and that’s how it is. There are many revered bass players mentioned here frequently that I don’t hold in high esteem. Their music never captivated me largely because of style but also perhaps, their musical philosophy was never interesting to me.
 
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#38
Frank77 said:
Why it sounds dated (in my opinion):

  • Synths;
  • Recording / Production means;
  • Extra long songs with extended, sometimes psychedelic instrumental sections / solos
  • Theatrics / Overall weirdness
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Yeah but you just described most modern prog bands as well as older ones, so are the newer prog bands dated while still being new? Maybe you just don't like the genre...
 
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#39
ElectroVibe said:
I started thinking about the answer to the question myself after I posted this. All those other old styles had a bigger following in their heydays (doo wop, folk, etc), and you still hear them on the radio. But prog rock was different. They had ventured into unknown territory alone. Alone. They were creating a new kind of music which would influence everyone after they brought it out to the world. Once everyone began to hear this new music, many of them would incorporate it into their own styles. But the originators would be forgotten.
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Some of it became corporate. In the early days of prog, it was a bit of a chaotic mess. Radio was a chaotic mess. There were non-commercial, free-form "underground" stations that would play just about anything, and much of this music gained an early foothold through this. Then commercial radio realized that something was happening and the 'AOR' format was born. At that point you started to get bands like Boston and Styx and the like who were making commercial music that had its roots in prog. To me, this was never prog. Prog was Yes, Genesis, ELP, Crimson, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and lots of other bands from that era that you've never heard. But elements of prog got borrowed and distilled into what eventually became New Wave and synth-pop, and Prog was all but dead.

Back in the '90's I was involved with a prog-fusion group and learned that there was a prog renaissance with a bunch of newer bands like Dream Theater and Spock's Beard, but I just never got into that whole new era of prog. To my ear, it was bombastically and cartoonishly derivative of something that I'd left behind me decades earlier; something that had its moment and would never be realized again.

There's a niche market for it, for sure. Even that prog-fusion band i was in back then still sells a CD now and then. But as a genre I don't think it will ever come back. Elements of prog are everywhere in today's music, but the form itself is a thing of the past.
 
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#40
ficelles said:
Yeah but you just described most modern prog bands as well as older ones, so are the newer prog bands dated while still being new? Maybe you just don't like the genre...
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Probably not so much anymore, but I used to: Some 20 years ago I listened to a lot of Gabriel-era Genesis (went to see The Musical Box tribute band a few times), Yes, some other things like Gentle Giant, King Crimson or Brand-X (not sure if that's still considered prog or if it's more into jazz territory).

My comment was referring to the bands of that era , my musical interests have since shifted in a different direction and I haven't kept up with the genre - in fact I probably couldn't name one modern prog band. There's no denying that some of the songwriting and musicianship was fantastic, but I think a lot of it hasn't aged so well (to my ears, anyway). Innovations in synths and recording technology have a lot to do with it, and modern productions tend to be more focused (re: the sometimes super long instrumental jam bits). Again, just my opinion.
 

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