mudshark wrote: Ever listened to Spock's Beard? I've tried a few years ago, and it didn't end well. I still feel the effects. It's a cacophony of sounds, too often interrupted by a Very Charismatic singer who failed the opera test. I was in the book shop and discovered they've got their own magazine?!?!? It's like the invasion of the bodysnatchers. Don't let them get you.
This strikes me as rather mean-spirited. Actually, Spock's Beard are a dedicated, highly independent outfit who have championed the independent path for musicians for decades. They just happen to make prog music because they like it, as do their fans, myself included.
Their music is, or at least was, made in their own studios which looks like an abandoned laundry from the mid-70s. When they tour, it is self-financed or might be crowd-funded. A decade ago their founding drummer was forced to leave the band to tour with touring circus Cirque du Soleil in order to provide income for his wife and children. If they have a magazine it will be fan-produced and funded. Their albums are on one of two independent labels: Metal Blade Records or Inside Out Records (although the latter has a distribution deal with Sony).
If they made any other type of music - folk, heavy metal, punk, jazz, classical, they would be hailed as heroes who have managed to stay true to their musical vision through poverty and career setbacks since the early 90s. They aren't trying to 'get you'. If they broke into your home they would ignore you and forage for food for their families.
They play prog because they love it. Get over it.
"Nothing would count as a fulfilment in a world in which literally nothing is important but self-fulfilment."
- Charles Taylor