[atlantaprog] Re: Alternate Reality Radio (this weeks theme)

Maybe the *freshness* and the *novelty* of progrock
were its REAL hooks.  After all, isn't that why it was
called *Progressive* rock?
Good point. But I'd say that "progressive" could simply mean "offering a good deal more to chew on musically than usual". By that standard, Yes is still progressive. Mew might be, but I'm not sure.
(Yes, I got the new Mew album. It's about on an indie-rock level of development, but it's only got one interruption, right in the middle, like an LP. I guess you could say they sound like "Chris Squire with a long-hair-indie-rock band".) 


I used to think so until I
learned that *Progressive* really refers to a line of
music similar to some long-ago pioneers in the 70s.
Like they have ownership on the meaning of of the word
*Progressive*!
Well, we still refer to the school of French filmmakers in the late '50s and the early '60s as "New Wave" (to say nothing of the *other* "New Wave"). And "Art Nouveau" still refers to a school of painting from the turn of the last century. (Betcha didn't know that the typeface that graces such things as the front cover of *Fish Out Of Water* dates from back then. I only found out by happenstance myself.) So it's not so odd. 


Rush definitely broke the mold, but
how would we find a new Rush?  By finding similar
bands?  Of course not!   The reason we found Rush is
because they were different.
I found them because a classmate of mine told me about them. And then Album 88 played "Xanadu" one day. Then I heard a bit of *Hemispheres* at school (I think from a friend of mine who was into them), and then I got *A Farewell To Kings* and *Hemispheres* at the same time.
Anyway, you can't find a "new Rush". There's already Rush, after all. Just about any good musician wants to be as distinctive as possible, anyway.
Really, I think part of the search might be born out of the idea that the bands we love have left work undone--that the vision we care about was put out to pasture too early. Rush isn't doing long tunes, Genesis turned into kind of a pop band, so did Yes, ELP broke up, etc.; what might they have done otherwise? So we try to answer those questions for ourselves. Unfortunately, that can have the effect of just embalming things if we take it too far or don't ask enough questions, which is exactly not the result we're aiming for. It's a fine line to walk; Rush actually walks it fairly well, by keeping a certain core to their sound and style throughout all their changes.

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