[Yesspaz]

In my view, the big prog revival went unnoticed because it went by a slightly different name. Now, when most people speak of a prog revival they usually mean artists that follow in the footsteps on other prog bands. I'm thinking more in an ideaological way.

In the late 60s and early 70s, a new form of rock was born because some musicians took the musical vernacular at the time and then went forward into more complex and experimental areas. This rock had "progressed" beyond normal rock and was dubbed "progressive rock."

The exact same thing happened in the 90s, but the prog world missed it. Punk and grunge were the rock vernacular of the early 90s. Then, as before, a group of musicians took the form and went forward into more complex and experimental areas. This rock was what musicians tended to evolve to "after" they got tired of playing punk, hard-core, emo, and grunge, and was dubbed "post rock."

But since these complex and experimental post-rock bands evolved out of the punk and hard-core scene instead of the prog scene, the prog scene didn't notice. Besides, by that time prog was a dirty word and these new bands didn't want it anyway.

A perfect example of this is the band Mars Volta. There was a raw, aggresive, hard-core/punk band called At the Drive-In. They had an artsy flair to them. After 4 discs, they broke up. Two of the members formed Mars Volta with other players. Mars Volta is getting reviewed at different prog sites on the web because of their evolving sound. For instance, here's a clip from Progarchives.com: "They may have evolved beyond AT THE DRIVE-IN, but they still show hints of that hardcore/punk style that they had previously mastered, and this may bother some people. The vocals are also a bit over the top, and could easily scare some people off. They make some very good music though, and it should appeal to most prog fans."

Examples of post-rock bands are Don Caballero, Mogwai, Billy Mahonie, Slint, Unwed Sailor, Sigur Ros, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Macha, Physics, Pele, The Roots of Orchis, Oma Yang, Tortoise, A Minor Forest, American Football, Tristeza, The Album Leaf, To Rococo Rot, A Small Good Thing, Lumen, Early Day Miners, Ui, The Swords Project, Woe, The Sea and Cake, Dirty Three, A Silver Mt. Zion, Labradford, Aix Em Klemm, Couch, Shark Quest, Do Make Say Think, Tarentel, and hundreds of others.

All that to say, while not identical musically, there was a progressive revival in the 90s that shared identical ideoligies and M.O.s. And it continues to this day.