Quote:
Originally posted by Cozy
Many of the new bands are retro, devoted to capturing the style of the 70s bands. Other new bands are playing in a style that captures modern sound and technique, but still very much tied (and somewhat dependent) on those same 70s bands. When new bands defy the concept of emulating classic 70s bands, they will alienate some of the community. Shit happens.
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Exactly! I've said this many times in many threads. What frustrates me is that when a new band actually does something
NEW in the prog field, such as Godspeed You Black Emperor! or Tortoise or The Mars Volta, they get a very polarized reaction. Some people LOVE what they do and some simply HATE it. But these bands rarely get good reviews by prog circles because, while being influenced by 70s art rock bands, they don't practically worship them. More often, they don't get ANY reviews because they're not on the dozen or so "prog labels." See, even prog is commercial. There's great prog going on out there, but it's not being called prog for two reasons. #1, prog is a bad word in music criticism so when a label gets a good prog band they promote them as anything but. #2, Prog has become as hackneyed and commercial as anything else. You have to sound "prog" to be on a prog label. When's the last original sounding prog album come out of the dozen or so established prog labels? They are few and far between. It's easier to put out mix-n-match bands of the same musicians reshuffled over and over than to take a chance on something new. What we end up with is not bands that are influenced by 70s prog making new fresh prog. What we get is clones - Citizen Cain wants to be Gabriel-era Genesis so band they can't stand it.
Quote:
Originally posted by Cozy
Most of these festivals, albums, etc are all being marketed to the same several thousand fans over and over and over again. Only a handful of albums each year are recognized much outside that small fanbase.
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Yep, and when prog bands do get noticed out there, who are they? Invariably they are the ones not on traditional prog labels - i.e. bands that aren't trying to fit into a "prog mold." For instance, Sigur Ros has a song in the climax of the movie
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Ever seen Isildurs Bane or Transatlantic on a movie soundtrack? The Mars Volta sold out the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Most prog festivals draw no more than 500. Once Rush, Yes, and King Crimson call it quits, the biggest prog bands in the world will be Dream Theater and The Mars Volta, and prog fans generally don't accept them because they didn't follow the approved prog-road-map to success (I daresay DR and TMV are bigger than KC and Yes already).
...rant over..., man I am gonna hear it for this...