Does Prog lack emotion?

[Nololob]

Personally when I've heard one of their tracks on Planet Rock station without knowing it was them (can't tell which one was it) at first I thought it was another dull metalcore band with shreds like many 1000s other metalcore/post-hardcore bands around.

 

[Magic]

Personally, I agree (to an extent) with the person that wrote the piece in the first post. To me, the vast majority of prog is emotionless showboating by the various musicians. That's not to say that it can't be enjoyable, but I find that a great many songs that are 8 to 20 minutes long to be quite boring and emotionless. Obviously around here I'm in the minority and that's fine. I find the concert footage for many bands as well as their studio work to be well done, musically.



JM2CW, we all get something different out of various genres of music.

What you call emotionless showboating is what I call grandiose musical composition. Each instrument and musician gets the chance to display their virtuosity with a solo passage.........which can translate into long songs.

No other genre of rock is composed like prog. Is it emotionless? Absolutely not, quite the opposite. Each musical piece is put together in progressions that are composed to create a narrative through the music. Nothing has more emotion than a musical piece that tells a story or has a concept. You may not like what Band A creates but you definitely can't say that Band A has no emotion.

 

[Lynch]

You may not like what Band A creates but you definitely can't say that Band A has no emotion.

I can and did say it, but having that opinion doesn't mean that we have to agree on my personal view of it.

 

[Magic]

I can and did say it, but having that opinion doesn't mean that we have to agree on my personal view of it.

True.

Showboating is more prevalent in glam than any genre though.......guitar solos are a dime a dozen.


Can we agree on that

 

[Lynch]

yep, we can agree on that. Many times the solos in that genre are flash and no substance, but at least many are also quick and done then back to verse/bridge/chorus. In prog, it's the opposite, flash and no substance that can linger for 5 minutes.

 

[Magic]

Sometimes those 5 minute long solos are cool especially if it is a Hammond solo.


Listen to Kansas - Pinnacle. That song is 9+ minutes long. Has some awesome solos. Nothing emotionless, robotic, or boring.

 

[Khor1255]

Personally when I've heard one of their tracks on Planet Rock station without knowing it was them (can't tell which one was it) at first I thought it was another dull metalcore band with shreds like many 1000s other metalcore/post-hardcore bands around.

If you are referring to Dream Theater I can totally relate. Not really a fan and they come off (musically and personally) as rather pretentious. However, to say there is no feel there is crazy especially in today's drab musical landscape.

 

[Lynch]

Sometimes those 5 minute long solos are cool especially if it is a Hammond solo.


Listen to Kansas - Pinnacle. That song is 9+ minutes long. Has some awesome solos. Nothing emotionless, robotic, or boring.

I like a fair amount of Kansas (although not everything) as well as other more 'mainstream prog' bands, or what the prog snobs in the audience would likely refer to as "fringe prog". It's the "real prog" that the same prog snobs love that I find hard to listen to.

I have seen Kansas in concert probably 5 or 6 times and have never been disappointed.

 

[Magic]

Then you agree that a blanket statement of prog lacking emotion is false?


I will agree with you that some prog bands just don't do it for me. The music can be lackluster.


I like some of Dream Theaters works but I am more of a Portnoy / Petrucci fan and their work with Liquid Tension Experiment.

 

[Lynch]

I never said that ALL of it was emotionless, I said "the vast majority of prog is emotionless showboating by the various musicians", and I stick by that ... "vast majority".

***:

I don't have an issue with making blanket statements. I think that the vast majority of 'grunge' blows goats too, but there are a few exceptions to the rule.



I happen to like Dream Theater but mostly because of Portnoy's drumming and Petrucci's guitar work both with the band as well as in other bands/projects that they've been involved with. They also did a great job in their live homage of Dark Side of the Moon.