You know, I gotta admit I find genres like Prog-Rock and Post-Rock tres confusing. But Explosions in the Sky does make some really interesting music in the Post-Rock genre. Check out "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" on iTunes for like $5.99. Music to study music by.

Cool beans.

Why are we debating an arguing in the "genre of the week" thread"? I don't know if it's a rule or not, but I find it very rude to the spirit of the thread. It's like calling somebody you hate a "****ing retard" on his or her birthday. Completely uncalled for. There are other threads to bitch about things in.

Now, As for the concept of technical skill. Prog is NOT about technical skill, but requires you to use your technical skill to the fullest. Many people are kind of ignorant on how little technical skill you are required to have in mainstream rock in comparison to genres like classical, or jazz. Prog however throws that concept out the window, and forces an instrumentalist to showcase the really sort of suppressed skill that most rock doesn't allow to develop.

The reason for this however is NOT to show off. Prog is about challenging oneself. It's about making the most difficult music possible so that next time you make music, you have something to push yourself to top. Inherited strongly from Jazz, prog forces an instrumentalist to develop a relationship with his, or her, instrument. Also, though, prog enforces the unit to work together, each of which contributing the fullest of a member's skill to the greater good of the sound as whole.

As for length, **** it, I love lengthy songs. Too many people are pacified with the 3-4 minute radio formula of instant gratification, and mindless hooks on loop. Prog forces the listener to think. Is it more difficult to get through a prog epic? Yes, it is. But saying that's a dent on quality is like saying that The Bearenstein Bears books are superior to Moby **** because they are easier to get through. It's missing out on the real point of what prog is about.

Prog is a genre that typifies man's will to discover himself, and his fullest potential. It's not dead, it can never really be dead. Whether it be in the mainstream or not, it's the spirit of prog that counts, really, and for that reason, this is a week well deserved.

What a great week. This thread might go for pages and pages.

This DVD just came out pretty recently. Loved the album version but this is pretty awesome.

Transatlantic f. Steve Hackett - Return of the Giant Hogweed (Genesis cover)



Portnoy - drums
Morse - keys/vocals
Trewavas - bass
Stolt - guitar

I won't lie; me and prog rock are just never gonna hit it off. Pretty much all of what I've heard of it I haven't really liked.

There are a couple of exceptions though. I love what I've got of Mike Oldfield in my music collection (Tubular Bells I-III and Ommadawn) for example.



^ I think I can level with Oldfield's work more as it takes in a very new age kinda sound, which is something I really dig.

And then there's Camel's Mirage which is just all kinds of awesome;



And I haven't listened to Jethro Tull properly before (if ever), but from this cover...



...and everything I've been told about Thick As a Brick, I guess I might like them.

I'm having a harder time finding a real love for recent prog as 70s music just has a special place in my heart. Although I listen to quite a bit of prog, almost all of it is from that decade.

Anyways, here's a swedish favourite : Samla Mammas Manna and their opening track from 1973 record "Måltid". Pure avant-prog genius :D

A couple of obscure favourites of mine:

Cameltoe!

You're welcome. I enjoy picking apart lengthy discursions, especially about Progressive Rock, and particularly when they paint an inaccurate picture of a genre, which gives the impression that the musicians and fans are completely up their own arses. I do not believe this to be the case, hence my comments.

I won't pick apart your reply, which so completely misses the point that it's just not worth the time - it's the same, generic misunderstandings over and again. It's misinformation that perpetuates this view of Proggers as sad anoraks, and this is what I hope to change.

Let's simplify by saying that your original post paints this generic picture of Prog Rock which isn't very accurate, and I merely corrected the common misconceptions.


What, specifically, is ridiculous about my post?

I think it's perfectly fair comment.

Yours, however, is patently ridiculous - and rather than some lame insult to a guy whose comments you don't understand - this is merely a statement of truth, as my post did not kill prog = fact.

I have not insulted anyone, so I do not believe that I should be a target for insults.

If this is the case, then I'll have to shrug this place off as having become yet another sad music board full of kiddies who think they have their finger on the pulse, but in reality, know nothing except how to troll.

I find this sentence extremely ironic.

Anyway, point is, it's ok to debate people but the way you are debating hurts the thread which is supposed to keep a celebratory tone.