Has PE shaped your tastes any?

[Oreb]

PE has added greatly to the depth of my musical tastes. In terms of the range of my taste that's always been pretty broad so I don't think it's had much impact there.

[NogbadTheBad]

I guess I'd say PE has provided an avenue to discover more music, but I can't easily say it's "changed" us. Just added more options to explore. That's fine. PE's job isn't to change people, it's to gather them in one spot so they can share what they know. Beyond that, your mileage may vary.

I guess I'm the exception, because it HAS changed me... at least, it has influenced me to put music to the very forefront of my life (aside from family, of course.) I was just having fun rediscovering the Prog of my youth when I happened to stumble onto Prog Ears. Now I get excited to discuss Canterbury bands or plan to attend fests or seriously consider moving to the East Coast where Prog is more prevalent, etc. I think the timing was just right ten years ago for something meaningful in my life.

Not a complete exception, it has changed mine, I'd drifted away from music for around 15 years, since the days of college excitement discovering music, this place has helped recharge that excitement and brought music back to the forefront of my interests. I'm likely to play less competitive sports over the upcoming years with my knees showing the effects of 30 years of soccer, music is likely to remain my main interest outside family & friends.

[zombywoof]

Not a complete exception, it has changed mine, I'd drifted away from music for around 15 years, since the days of college excitement discovering music, this place has helped recharge that excitement and brought music back to the forefront of my interests. I'm likely to play less competitive sports over the upcoming years with my knees showing the effects of 30 years of soccer, music is likely to remain my main interest outside family & friends.

That's the thing about music vs sports ... you can play sports for only so long, but you can appreciate and play music forever.

[Superfly]

I started my obsession with music when I received a small transistor radio for my 7th birthday, so by the time I found PE my musical tastes were very clearly defined. What I learned by coming here, was that my taste for progressive rock really wasn't in the forefront any longer, and PE, and the people within, helped pull it back to the fore from the dark recesses where it was hiding. I've also discovered a few really great newer bands by lurking around. Such as District 97 and White Willow.

[gryphs also]

That's the thing about music vs sports ... you can play sports for only so long, but you can appreciate and play music forever.

Really. If I think of all the hours I put in between football, wrestling, rugby, and judo between the ages of 10-30, and insted put those hours into playing the guitar, I wouldn't be waking up every morning creaking out of bed and would enjoy playing guitar more.

[CaffieneMan]

Yes! Thanks to PE, I've discovered quite a few bands I either wouldn't have known about, or wouldn't have considered trying. As far as I'm concerned PE is essential for any prog fan.

[Dodie]

A bit, yes. District 97 and especially Moon Safari are bands that I enjoy now, which I'm not sure I'd have tried if not for PE.
Otherwise, my interests and beliefs about music haven't changed enormously, although I've realised I'm a lot more liberal about bands than some of you (some of my favourite Yes tracks are things most die-hard Troopers wouldn't touch with a barge-pole, and the different kinds of negativity about It Bites, Frost and Neal Morse that rear up from time to time are really sad). And yet I'm also more narrow-minded than some of you (life is too short for me to listen to every obscure German/Italian/Canterbury/RIO band, and Prog is only one part of my musical life).
I'm not sure I've learned that much about music, but PE frequently shows me a lot about people! ;-)

[trurl]

No.

[Sean]

Keep trying! You don't get to leave until some progress is made.

[sonic]

Thanks to PE I've collected all the prog in the known universe. Nice one PE. You've blown my life savings!

Seriously, I spent a lot on prog circa 2001 ~ 2009. Been moving sideways since then. But I guess prog is my musical home. So that keeps me coming back to here proggers opinions on all kinds of music.

[Vic2012]

I forgot to mention two bands that I got into because of PE. Mars Hollow and Little Atlas.

[gregory]

No, using a brief answer.
I'm here not for developing my taste, - I'm too old to take changes,- but for communicating with people.

[bobert]

I would't say that it has shaped my tastes as much as it had broadened my music collection. My tastes had been pretty much set before I ever came to PE back in 2004,I was always a fan of well constructed and well played music regardless of the way it is labeled but through PE I have heard of many bands that I never knew about before and am very grateful for that.

I also really like the fact that so many musicians and band members visit the forum, I value what they have to say. And I also value the many audiophiles that post on the boards, I have learned a lot by reading what they have to say.

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

Since I discovered this music in it's infancy, I would say I'm pretty much strictly a "proto-prog" guy. But largely because of this site(and recommendations from folks like Intestine Brain/Stilleben, Spacefreak, Ashratom, Moecurlythanu, Todd, MoGrooves and a few others)I've gotten into the retro scene very heavily. I used to pretty much ignore current releases, but now that the 60s/70s has been almost totally mined, I'm getting caught up with the current stuff in short order.
Before I came to this site,I never encountered a single person who considered fusion to be progressive rock. Two different animals.
Also amazed that Rush is considered to be progressive rock. When I first heard them in the 70s, they were just third-rate Zep/Budgie wannabes.

[cupwonder]

I'd say it has. I've discovered so many bands and my wallet has suffered for it!

[Zeuhlmate]

I have a pretty wide taste allready, so not really, but I have discovered a lot of new great bands here.
Right now I am listening to John Dowland.

[Mikhael]

Another one for "no, but I've discovered a lot of new music because of it". I will say that some of the people here were helpful in times where my life wasn't as good, and that was appreciated. It's also good to know there's more people into the music I like than the very few I see around me daily.

[Jefferson James]

Has what you listen to expanded since you got here?

Ridiculously so! I've been turned on to so much great, previously-unknown-to-me music because of this place.

The scope of your tastes?

Somewhat; my tastes were pretty well-formed decades ago and I can't honestly say I've discovered some obscure genre I now love because of PE, but it's unlikely I would've given, say, Thinking Plague a chance to "sink in" without interacting with the principals themselves here. It's really something cool when the artist chimes in about the music; that always tantalizes me and makes me curious and I love when it happens here.

I've learned to appreciate some things a bit more but at the end of the day, I know what I like and I like what I know and luckily I've always been able to find new artists to relate to.

Almost more importantly than discovering new music is the networking and friendships I've been able to cultivate, like high-grade marijuana, here on Progressive Ears. I'm talking real, in-the-flesh friendships that have developed as a result.

And of course PE was absolutely crucial in helping me secure my first "prog" band a foothold in this cold and lonely world. For that, I am forever grateful.

It's the mix of these three things -- music and artist interaction, friendships, and relentless self-promotion -- that make PE a great place. Thank you, Sean and crew!

[progeezer]

Man, I hate to kiss your ass, but that was beautifully stated, KC.

[Ursula]

I discovered some gems on PE but it really didn't broaden my taste in music, for that I have two blokes hanging out here who I hold personally responsible for messing up my taste.

But PE did two things, it provided a framework for those two blokes to hang out and talk about music and one of them I would have never got to know without PE.

And then PE changed my perception of music and that couldn't have happened if PE wouldn't cater for all things prog and related music styles. PE fills a gap as prog had been largely vanished from other media. It's a bit like listening to a radio programme. The music you've just listened to gives you a flavour, an idea, of music styles and genres, fashions and trends and the classics even though you don't rush out to buy it.

I guess that's why the Classic Rock magazine listed PE as prog source when they started to tap into that genre.

Uschi