Sounds That Can’t Be Made Prog We really shouldn’t blame mainstream commentators for their laughably warped view of the history of progressive rock. The persistent myth that the genre died on its sorry backside at the end of the and has only just recovered to claw back some vacuous retrospective cool bears little resemblance to the reality, of course. But for those of us who live and breathe the idea of rock music with no limits, being a prog fan was never about fitting in or seeing our favourite bands receiving recognition from some haughty media elite.
We and our music have been here for more than four decades and we’re not going anywhere – are we? Perhaps the cruellest aspect of the mainstream’s ongoing ignorance is that the one band that can rightfully claim to have bridged the gap between prog’s ignominious near-denouement and its 21st century rebirth are seldom acknowledged as significant to music as a whole. Poor old , you might say: saviours of prog in the 80s and its most reliable and prolific exponents ever since, they will forever be remembered by the uninitiated as the band that stormed the pop charts with , rather than the fearless, forward-thinking innovators and craftsmen that we know and love. But then again, Marillion really don’t need or deserve anyone’s pity.
As they prepare to unveil their 17th studio album, the extraordinary , the most enduring progressive rock band are in the rudest of health, with a huge and adoring global fan base cheer.