Hello Josh.
10 Nov 96 21:06, Josh Ryman wrote to CHAD SCHROEDER:
JR> I know right where you're coming from.  Here in KC, there's a station
JR> (102.1 gasp!!) that for a while was basically playing classic rock
JR> from the 70's and stuff from the 80's, but in recent days has become
JR> more 'alternative' oriented.
In Antwerp, we only have Radio Nostalgie, a station that plays music from 
between the 30's and 79. I listen to it, occasionally, when I'm changing 
disks. I haven't heard any Progrock so far.
JR> They say that "it doesn't have to be from the 70's to be a
JR> classic"
That's true, look at Alan Parsons. Mostly 80's, and still some classics. It 
even doesn't have to be classic to be progrock, I think.
JR> and then they play that Dishwalla song (pure musical tripe) for
JR> the third time in an hour and talk about how they're on the
JR> cutting edge (OK guys, Joan Osborne was in about 6 months ago, so
JR> quit playing 'One of Us', PLEASE)...
Tell me about it.
JR> Now as a young person, I'm supposed to be up to date on what's
JR> new and cool. And yes, I do like some of the 'alternative' and
JR> 'industrial' stuff, but not heavily... And it's true, IT JUST AIN'T
JR> ROCK 'N' ROLL. ...Despite the fact that I do listen to Live and
JR> Marilyn Manson, I am also a diehard Yes addict.
I'm young too. Age doesn't matter, my father likes more modern music than I 
do! It is what you feel when you listen that matters. When I listen to Dark 
Side Of The Moon, I feel so much more than when I listen to Osborne. Still, 
Osborne can be good, too. But it's a different style of music. You can't 
always say if something is Progrock. Or even Rock'n'roll. But that doesn't 
mean it's bad. It's a different style. And perhaps it is true that modern 
groups don't make music like 'old' groups used to, but take a look at the 
survivors: Pink Floyd, for example. The music they make nowadays is hugely 
different from what they made in the early 70's. Still, I think it's good. 
And perhaps even Progrock. It's not that modern groups aren't the same, it's 
that the TIMES are no longer what the seventies were. (What am I talking 
about, I wasn't even THERE in the early seventies. I guess the music helped 
me get the atmosphere).
90's Rock isn't downfall, it's different. The only problem is that some 
groups abuse the Progrock label for something that might sound like it if you 
listen to it while a crowded subway-train passes by. But then again, the 
label isn't legally defined, I think. You could take a guitar and play a few 
notes (at random), record it, and sell it as a progrock album. The only thing 
that's going to stop you, are the real fans, the ones that are in this echo, 
for example. By boycotting any mislabelled non-Progrock album.
JR> I won't go into a panegyric of Jon Anderson here, though. Most of
JR> the young people I associate with are like "Yes?  What's Yes?"...
Well, I just bought _Close To The Edge_, a review will follow within a few 
days, when I've found the time to listen to it thoroughly.
JR> they'd rather go listen to Gin Blossoms or some New Age trance
JR> muzak or something, instead of giving in to musical illumination.
New Age music is also an abused label: Vangelis and Jarre are often described 
as New Age, while they certainly are NOT.
JR> The 70's were a wonderful, fertile time for rock 'n' roll, it
JR> survived through the 80's, but now it's become something of a
JR> thin, tasteless gruel.
It did more than survive through the 80's: it created Marillion, and it 
helped Alan Parsons to the top.  And you must agree that progrock in the 60's 
isn't the same as progrock in the 70's. It's an evolution. Perhaps a downward 
evolution, perhaps the 90's are just a small depression?
There are many progrock groups that are still active in the 90's, and most of 
the time their music is hugely different from their 70's music. But it is 
still Progrock. And some of it is very good.
JR> Today's bands may put out good, catchy songs, but they ain't
JR> GREAT.  I'll forget any Alanis Morissette song long before I'll
JR> forget 'Roundabout'! I guess you get the idea.
Yes, but you see: some people DID forget Roundabout. And some people will 
remember Alanis Morissette for twenty, thirty years. It's all a matter of 
personal opinion. Progrock isn't better or worse than any other music style. 
It's special to US, but not to other people. Everything is relative.
Met vriendelijke groeten
With friendly greetings,
Steven
PS. Sorry for the length of this text!
NP: 'On Air' - Alan Parsons
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