Was Rush the last stadium-level successful prog rock trio?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Wombat Reynolds, Jun 18, 2018.

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  1. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    opinions?

    I cant think of a prog rock trio in the last several years that was as successful as Rush.

    Prog in general seems to be music from a dim and distant age... there will always be younger people who discover this music and embrace it, but from what I'm seeing, this is not a happening enough to bring prog back to a stadium level. This is just my opinion.

    However, this depends on your definition of what prog actually is. A friend of mine recently called Blue Oyster Cult "prog". Perhaps they were.

    Maybe in twenty years there will be a huge prog revival. I dont know.
     
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  2. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    Progressive rock lives on as a cult genre.
    But yes it's heyday ended in the late 70's.
    Rush was at their most prog in 1976 - 1981.
    Prog has enjoyed a renaissance in the late 90's and 2000's with bands like Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard and Dream Theater leading the charge.
    And it still resonates with some young new listeners.
    It will always be popular with some musician and intellectual types.
    A "huge prog revival" would be great but I wouldn't hold your breath.
     
    Dave likes this.
  3. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    Well, there’s ELP. Long gone before Rush ended of course. What other massively successful Prog Rock trios were there?
     
  4. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Some would say that Tool qualifies. Not sure myself.
     
  5. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    Primus

    also, by American Idiots, Green Day were quite prog
     
  6. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
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    Blue Oyster Cult are not a Progressive rock band, just a trippy rock band.
     
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  7. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    It's semantics, but no for 2 reasons:

    #1) Progressive, as we know it, was an English movement from c. 1969 - 1975. Rush were certainly influenced by thise groups, but weren't a direct part. (During my high school years in early 80's , they drew more audience from metal fans!)

    #2) They weren't stadium level. They were hockey arena level, even across Canada.
     
  8. 131east23

    131east23 Person of Interest

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    Yes... sometimes when I listen to the first three albums I swear I can hear a tinge of surf music.
     
  9. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA

    they did play at least SOME stadiums. Maybe not usually, maybe usually they were hockey arena level, but they did play some stadiums.
     
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  10. 131east23

    131east23 Person of Interest

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    Yes, in 1979 they headlined "A Farewell to a Texas Summer: the last weekend of the last summer of the 70's" at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. I was there.

    (Looks like they played three or four stadiums that summer.)
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2018
  11. Joseph LeVie

    Joseph LeVie Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    What about the last Phil Collins incarnation of Genesis? Do they not count as a trio because they toured with Darryl Steurmer and Chester?

    They certainly played stadiums.

    Does the last part of The Police’s careers count? Synchronicity was almost profit.
     
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  12. Escalon

    Escalon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    If you consider Rush prog - and for me it's not at all clear cut, except on the more general definitions - than it's a clear yes. Since, as Jon9091 said, apart from ELP, I can't think of another band that comes close to this description.
     
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  13. neilpatto

    neilpatto Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    There's always Muse...
     
  14. Nickslikk2112

    Nickslikk2112 Heavy Metal Psyclist

    No. They were an Arena METAL three piece.
     
    rodentdog likes this.
  15. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

    Location:
    Carefree, AZ
    I think they qualify as prog, as much as Rush did. And they certainly can play stadiums.

     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2018
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  16. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    :laughup:
     
  17. StarThrower62

    StarThrower62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    Cream was the first one.
     
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  18. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    Muse are about 1 million times more prog than Rush.

    Rush were always more retro than prog, because they generally just regurgitated stuff that had been done better, by better bands, several years earlier.
     
  19. BeauZooka

    BeauZooka Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    :-popcorn:
     
  20. Station17

    Station17 Time to play B-sides...

    Not sure I agree that there is a better and more original band that Rush copied...if there is another band out there that made better versions of Farewell to Kings, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, I would love to hear that music! To me, Rush uniquely combined hard rock, prog, and other elements during their peak years to create something modern sounding and crankable...IMHO, nobody sounded like Rush.
     
  21. 131east23

    131east23 Person of Interest

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    Retro? The band formed in 1968. What do you mean by retro?
     
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  22. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    To be fair, the entire prog genre is retro, in the sense that it was based on the idea that rock should be infused with the classics and jazz if it was to progress in artistry and seriousness.
     
  23. 131east23

    131east23 Person of Interest

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    I can deal with various interpretations of "retro" knowing that we all have our own context. I was just curious, in this instance, what was meant because it seems that the poster is accusing them of reaching into the near past (3 - 4 years) at any point in their career and copying other bands that were their peers in the music industry. My point is that they were there in the beginning of hard, blues based rock and when Neil joined the band they took a turn towards a more progressive sound. The subject matter changed and the songs were more story like. They don't sound like Yes or Genesis to me, so I was just wanting more clarity from someone that dissed the band but offered no examples of what they meant. That also is fair.
     
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  24. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Rush obviously sounded quite a lot like (some) (early) Zeppelin on the first couple of albums, but so did a lot of their contemporaries. I think by 2112 they didn’t sound much like anyone else, given the marginal distinctions which exist in every genre and have to be appreciated if the music is to be enjoyed.
     
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  25. Stephen J

    Stephen J Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Rush was never 'stadium' level, very few acts ever have been. But they were arena, at their early 1980s peak they could sell out a 14,000 seat blimp hangar with the best of them.

    And yes, they were the last. Circa 1983, no other progressive or 'art rock' band was still selling out arenas, not at least as a band that still merited the moniker. E.g., Genesis was an AOR pop by then, as was 90125 era Yes.

    Rush had themselves moved in an AOR direction by then as well, but IMO they were still "Rush", so to speak, not a different animal.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2018
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