Here’s one for the Trancers 
Alright Jackson, I got a question for you: What defines Prog Rock?
I know what it is when I hear it, or at least I know the difference between Hemispheres & Grace Under Pressure, for instance. But what about ‘The Fountain of Lamneth’ or ‘2112’? And, if you’re familiar with it, what about Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ - there are heaps of key-changes & time-changes on that album, and the title track itself goes for about 9 minutes, with abut 4 distinct parts, from quiet to heavy. Does that qualify, or does it have to meander along like ‘Hemispheres’ does? And if it doesn’t qualify, then does ‘Xanadu’ qualify, and, if so, why? Is it simply that Rush are classified in some quarters as Prog Rock, so everything they do gets labelled such, whereas Metallica are classified Hard Rock, and so nothing they do qualifies as Prog Rock, or what? I dunno? This is not a gee-up - I wanna be educated!
In short, what is the definition of Prog Rock, where do we draw the line, and why?
Armin van Buuren is a genius…have all his albums - SOT '06 is the best, but anything he does is as good as it gets for Trance. And he’s not averse to using guitars, which is a bonus for a Blackmore wannabe like me.
DJ Shah meets Jan Johnston - Beautiful was my favorite from that CD. Even grabbed it on vinyl. [:D]
As far as I know, there is no set criteria. If you go to the website Progarchives, you’ll find all sorts of music, from the Residents, to Behold…The Arctopus. There are a few commonalities, use of synths is one, strange meters is another. It’s just music that attempts to push the envelope (or sound like the stuff that pushed the envelope at one point) of rock music, or utilizing the palette of traditional rock music (guitar, bass guitar, drums, keys, vocals). Beyond that, the sky is the limit.
PvD, Ferry Corsten, and ATB.
Dash Berlin has some good recent songs. Lasgo (original w/ Evi Goffin), Ian van Dahl (Annemie Coenen), and Lara McAllen = hotness.
I’ll be seeing Ferry Corsten this weekend!
Yeah, the borders are really vague. For example, math rock uses odd time signatures, shifting tempos and dissonance.
Some goddamn epic drumming in those videos.
Other good math rock bands are Cheval de Frise, Don Caballero, Tera Melos and Zach Hill’s solo album. Hella is the classic shit, though.
Heavy metal and punk (including virtually all the subgenres in both).
Don’t forget Slint, Big Black, Shellac, and Polvo for math rock!