R&P: Prog rock band recommendations?

Interesting thought. I have heard of Gateway bands, of course.. but never really thought of a whole Genre being a gateway, though I suppose for some Heavy Metal leads to Thrash which leads to Death Metal, which leads to Tech Death, etc..... so I suppose to some degree one might be able to postulate such a thing. Since I never really thought about it seriously along these lines before now, I will be interested to see what those more invested in this style of music have to say.

I think the first answer contains the kernel of truth though. A truly progressive musician or listener, would not be burdened by such concepts as "true" or "faux" versions of the music.. or in the end, even by genre, but would listen to music for the sake of the musical creativity itself, regardless of style or background. That said.. I would agree.

That those who insist that things be carbon copies of Yes or Rush or (shudders) Dream Theater, HAVE missed the whole point of what being "Progressive" is about. I may think that a lot of Prog ( and Experimental or Avante Garde music) is pretentious noise played by apes who simply can't string together a proper song structure, and so use "Prog" as an excuse to try to make crap sound like art.........but there are for a certainty some artists who are in it for the simple joy of pushing their chosen art form to the limits of imagination. Sometimes they make magic.. some times they fail utterly.

More often it's more about the journey for the musician anyhow. That said, to me the best, most memorable Prog tends to be the stuff that doesn't abandon all pretense of hooks and structure just to sound "Proggier", but use the concepts of hooks, and then build a mosaic around it with new ideas, time signatures and the like.. painting a landscape with their music that is recognizable.. but at the same time, making changes to challenge the mind, from subtle things to all kinds of hidden and out of context stuff.. songs that on first blush don't seem out of the norm.. but while you are listening.. suddenly you have to do a "WTF?" because you just notice something totally unexpected. BQ- Yes.. Even village idiots should belong to a cult.

BQ2- I am not a Prog diehard, but I enjoy elements of Prog mixed into most music styles. That said.. I also enjoy most music styles, form Classical, to Jazz, to Metal and Rock and early Rap to Electronica to Folk. Since GESM mentioned my Q, hope it ain't a problem to link it..... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;... Have never considered Tech Death any more pretentious or less pretentious than anything else.

Some is great, some is utter noise ((and a lot of it is totally repetitious and utterly devoid of imagination) Not comparing genres in my example, but following the logic trail GESM set out in the question, to its conclusion, using a form of music I am more familiar with. BTW, out of a sense of fairness ( or sadism) I finished the logic line on my previous questions with 2 more.. Metal/Prog and Meta/Indie for those who want to join in and stir up a lively debate! EDIT*** Was just wondering... by "gateway" were you implying it is a gateway for Rockers to learn about and enjoy Classical and/or Jazz music or the like?

Just curious, as for me it was the exact opposite... I have loved Jazz and Classical since I was a child, but only in the last 10 years or so have I really given a flip about Progressive music on the whole. And while interesting, I think most Prog Rockers got a long way to go to catch up with Gustav Holst, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Miles Davis or John Coltrane (IMO). In many ways I think Holst was making "Progressive Metal" before anyone thought of Metal or Progressive.

The Planets Suite is mind boggling in it's perfection.

Progression: n. Patterned advance (a series with a definite pattern of advance) If listening to only Yes and Genesis is considered being a "prog-head", then I'd say that's pretty damn contradictory. If you are to truly be a "prog-head", then it's basically about breaking out of what you're comfortable with.

I'm guilty of not doing this many times. I may linger too much on Dream Theater one month, Rush another, Meshuggah for two months, back to Dream Theater, maybe discover a few bands but never really listen to them much. But the point is to be completely open-minded and act on any little musical whim that comes into your most likely doped brain.

BA: Yes and Genesis were huge bands in the lands of prog, but developing an entire cult somewhat defeats the purpose of progressive music, for previously explained reasons. BA2: I listen to all sorts. I listen to all forms of metal, indie rock, jazz, blues, various forms of techno, rap, traditional music from other countries such as India, Russia, Africa (you just can't get that kind of vibe they have going with American music), and the odd genre such as fish-fry.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.