Not really, a lot of prog bands have terrible, pretentious lyrics, there is really nothing deep about them. Sure, the music is complex and many of them make actual stories, some prog bands are pretty deep, but the genre itself doesn't define that. I say lyrically alternative (the real stuff, not poseurs like Nickleback) tends to be much deeper.

Yeah... asking if it's deeper is almost just another way of asking if it's better. Some people will feel more depth in one catchy riff or one harmonized hook than they will in 20 minutes of noodling.

By the way, I am a big fan of a lot of prog. I just don't buy the arguments I always hear about how much smarter or deeper it is than other music, particularly when so many of these so-called progressive bands sound exactly like bands that were around in the 70's.

I tend to like prog as an adjective more than as a genre. I like bands that are truly innovative and experimental, or bands that maybe sound somewhat like traditional prog but who bring their own flavor and imagination into making an album. I like technical proficiency when it is blended with good songwriting... when the lead guitar work is impressive both mechanically and melodically, when the tempo shifts flow naturally instead of sounding forced, when keyboards aren't just tacked on because, well, we're a prog band so we need some keyboards crammed in there somewhere!

Of course, plenty of deep people will disagree with me, and I'm comfortable with that.

Written by whatsacow on 01.08.2011 at 10:18

I wouldn't say prog is deeper. It may be a little more complex in terms of rythm and occasionally melody, but look at bands like porcupine tree, who are quite simplistic (in comparison)

Despite their "simplicity", I've found Porcupine Tree to be one of the most meaningful progressive bands because unlike many progressive bands which are just a bunch of wanking and lyrical abstraction which doesn't really go anywhere, there is always a point to their lyrics and sounds.

Written by Milena on 01.08.2011 at 11:57

I've found Iron Maiden even deeper in some lyrics than Opeth (when they aren't cheesy) - they tell me a lot more of human life than Opeth's abstract poetry.
Sorry for my bumpy English today.

I think Iron Maiden is lyrically one of the best metal bands. They added an intellectual edge to metal by taking inspiration from classics, but without the pretention of later metal which falled suit, they just write about books because they resonate with the books, and are just as welling to tackle more common themes. They are often poetic, but not in manner which alienates most people.

To me "Progressive" means rhythmically and dynamically so. Not just 17/9 time or whatnot, but maybe Flamenco influenced or Jazz, New Orleans flavor to the metal or something, and different layers, different moods throughout vs steady blast beats, or thrash.

Maiden is pretty progressive for their time with mythologically themed, epic songs influenced by Classical and Opera.

Is that "deeper," well, yes. It's deeper in the way a great novel (Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner) is deeper than a murder mystery. nothing wrong with a good murder mystery, but it's different. There's 100,000 murder mysteries, all basically the same. Some are better than others, but its genre fiction. Maiden weren't doing that. They were trying, at least, to do something more ambitious and, if you want, deeper.

Opeth were doing that, too.