Post #467929 by squid on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 3:58 PM

On 2009-07-04 17:40, Shipwreckjoey wrote:
Not all of these bands are considered "Prog Rock" by definition, but where is the line drawn between prog rock, industrial, electronica, ambient, experimental and white noise?

Good point. The "line" is rather blurry. OK, I freakin' hate musical labels period. But it seems a necessary evil for marketing.

Once I discovered some of my favorite bands had the label "progressive" pinned on them, (I had previously referred to them as "underground") it lead me to other styles. We didn't have the google or the youtube or the interwebs and such back then. If the record was in the "import" or "progressive" bin, it was worth throwing 6 to 12 bucks at it to see what it was. Especially if one player was recognized from a band you knew.(or if it had a cool cover!)

Caravan lead me to Hatfield which led to National Health, which lead to Henry Cow which lead to Art Bears, etc, etc. All of those bands being completely their own thing.

I wouldn't necessarily say that Henry Cow is "progressive rock" but that's how I found them. They do incorporate elements of rock into an Ornette Coleman/Stockhausen/Avant Garde stew. So what label should be imposed on this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A5mUxLvDc4&feature=related

Hey, let's throw in some Kurt Weill flavor and add Dagmar Krause on vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg5i0OcEOyE

What the hell is it now?

It's music!

Labels may be a good reference point but...
Labels for music can also be prisons for the artists and mental roadblocks for the potential listeners.