Originally Posted by
Sputnik
I think it started way before Metal. I think it started in the late 70s/early 80s with the advent of the "Neo Prog" bands, and was further reinforced by big name Prog bands or artists (AISA, Yes, Tull, ELP) making a move toward more simplistic music. All of this was likely informed by the success of bands like Boston, who were touted in the late 70s as being a "cross of Led Zeppelin and Yes." They were really neither, but most punters didn't know the difference or didn't care, and popularity wins the day. Don't get me wrong, I like Boston, but they are neither Led Zepplein, nor Yes, nor a cross of the two.
Ultimately, I think you had a breed of rock musicians who grew up listening to bands like Yes, KC, ELP, Tull, etc. but who didn't have the depth of experience beyond rock music to work in the manner the progenitors of the style. Yeah, they used longer formats and arrangements, but they lacked the "vertical complexity" of the big name 70s bands. Add to this a changing emphasis in popular music in the late 70s/early 80s toward more simplistic forms, and you had a generation of Prog music that just lacked certain definitive characteristics of the style as represented by the best known 70s bands. And in the 1990s, a fair number of bands took their cue more from this simplified approach than the more complex path that bands like Anglagard and early Anekdoten (among others) were exploring, or trying to "get back to."
The Prog audience has been arguing this point for the past 25+ years, and for the most part where you got on the bandwagon determines how you feel about it. If Marillion and 90125-era Yes were your introduction to "Prog," you likely don't miss the complexity. If your touchstone is earlier than that, then you wind up asking what Tom does, "where did all the notes go?" (i.e., "is this Prog?").
Metal has been a factor, but in a totally different way, imo. In some ways the Metal guys have more of an interest in and focus on chops that a lot of the neo-Prog/"Symph" stuff. But the use of their notes differs from the way the 70s Prog bands used their chops; to my ears less oriented toward composition and more toward flashy solos and moments within songs. But you can hardly fault Prog Metal for lack of notes. And I think the issue Tom is raising predates the influence Metal has had on Prog Rock.
Bill
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