[David]

the only album I ever had was Pieces of Eight. “Blue Collar Man,” “Renegade” (both Shaw songs). Dennis had a marvelous voice but he struck me as so damn pompous and rather inclined to schmaltz. The whole “Roboto” thing was off-putting, about as deep or interesting as a teenage boy’s idea of futurism. It was emblematic of everything that the rock press rejected about prog. I myself had to overcome a long-term bias against prog in recent times, as I’ve come to appreciate some of it, from early Genesis to Jethro Tull. But I still really don’t like ELP and Rush and some others. Of course, the real prog fans reject the arena rock posturing of Styx, Boston, and Kansas because they’re essentially pop bands with mostly four-minute radio songs — a King Crimson or Gentle Giant prog fan wouldn’t be caught dead listening to them. So even in prog there are hierarchies, with true believers and phonies. Layers of Oberheim on your radio-friendly song does not a prog act make.

I hadn’t thought about the parallels between Mac and Styx before.