=-> Quoting Clark Ray to Martin Ridgley:
 MR> ...Brand X's 1992 release called, _X Communication_.  This album
 MR> could either be referred to as `Prog Rock' or `Jazz/Rock fusion'.
 CR> Or even avant garde and psych.  _Xcommunication_ is a very complex
 CR> album (more so than any other Brand X album), but it's extremely
 CR> exciting.
   More complex than any of their others?  I don't know.  I'm certainly
 not at that level of musicianship, so it's hard for me to tell.  ;-)
 It *is* very complex music though, and yes, it's definitely exciting!
 MR> Bela Fleck & the Flecktones are ... as much a fusion band as Brand X
 MR> and Mr. Holdsworth. I'd have to say that the Flecktones could also be
 MR> considered very progressive, although there's little if any `rock'
 MR> influence there.
 CR> ...I agree.  I like the Flecktones very much, and I absolutely hated
 CR> banjo and harmonica in music before I heard them.  They forever
 CR> changed my attitude.
   Probably as they have done with many people.  I know a number of other
 people who never would have listened to anything with a banjo in it until
 they heard The Flecktones - and now they're rabid fans of Bela Fleck!
 MR> one of my favourite mid-70s Prog bands, Ambrosia.  But Jellyfish are
 MR> definitely more pop-oriented.  `Prog-Pop', I guess you'd call it!?
 CR> Bands like Supertramp, Kayak, Alan Parsons Project, Depeche Mode, mid
 CR> 70s ELO, and others like that are Prog Pop, or at least that's how I
 CR> describe them, and their music is in no way inferior to Prog Rock;
 CR> it's just another genre of Prog.
 CR> Then there's bands like Tool, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains, who
 CR> all show aspects of Prog, but fit more in the alterna-metal category.
 CR> There's no denying the Prog influences, though.
   Yup.  That's essentially what I was saying to Michael.  Prog, like so
 many other musical genres has simply branched out in numerous different
 directions.  Jazz artists, bluegrass players, and pop/rock bands, may
 all get influenced by Prog and take it in new directions based on their
 various tastes and other outside influences.
   So while `Prog', as played by the pioneering bands in the genre may not
 seem to be as prevalent as it once was, it certainly isn't dead.  It's
 just taken on a wider scope with all these diverse influences and it may
 be a little harder to search out.
   Cheers,
            Martin
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