It's time for the Pretentious Olympics: Music division

[Bossy Monkey]

I'd rather focus on the actual music rather than personalities, but hell, vote on whatever criteria you like.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. The Rolling Stones

Their Satanic Majesties Request. 'nuf said.

[Gildor Inglorion]

2. It's "Their Satanic Majesties Request," Feanor...

and I adore that album. I think it's one of their best; not pretentious at all. You have to remember the context of the times (1967 - 1968). It followed right on the heels of "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Now, having said that, "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboys" springs instantly to mind. That's pretentious, even for Sir Reginald Dwight (the former Elton John, may he rest in peace).

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. I'm quite aware of the context of the times.

Yes, it followed on the heels of Sgt. Pepper - of which it was a blatant rip-off of style, and pretentious in that they were pretending they were something they were not. Still, there are some ok tracks.


The thing about alot of the groups listed, that people often accuse of being pretentious, is that they weren't pretending - that was their music. Pompous, overwrought or cliched perhaps in some cases, but I think the pretentious label is off the mark.

[MikeG]

3. You're forgetting Styx.

[Twillig]

5. Shit can't pretend to be other than it is.

n/t

[NightTrain]

6. Though it's hard for me to believe, of all the acts you listed...

...the Doors actually recorded the most songs that I find listenable! That surprises me because I generally find Jim Morrison's "I'm such a rebel" posturing a huge turn-off. Go figure.

[curse10]

7. Pink Floyd

man, I fucking hate their shitty fucking holier-than-thou music! It's swill! It makes my ears bleed!

[Bossy Monkey]

8. On edit (at the last possible minute):

Pink Floyd replaced Genesis (Peter Gabriel period) or Peter Gabriel (Genesis period); Radiohead replaced Sting (astonishingly shut out, as he was nearly voted a pretentious poopypants on this very same board only a couple days ago); and Kate Bush replaced Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music.

Sorry I'm not up on contemporary music enough to put anybody 21st century up there, but hey, it's all in fun.

[EstimatedProphet]

9. THIS stuff you call pretentious?!?

And how many hair metal bands did you include? How about Bon Jovi? Whitesnake? Twisted Sister? Guns N Roses?

[Bossy Monkey]

13. I think the word you're looking for might be "preening" n/t

[Burma Jones]

10. Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Pretention never sounded so pompous

[mouse7]

11. Britney Spears

The ultimate pretentiousness. Pretending kiddie porn with a girl who can't sing was music.

[AntiCoup2K4]

12. It has to be Yes

Their early stuff is great, but "Tales from Topographic Oceans" was the most pretentious thing ever pressed on vinyl.

[mitchum]

14. David "I've renewed my subscription to Artforum" Bowie

Flame away...

[Bossy Monkey]

18. No flames. I was going to put him on, but already had Fripp

and Eno is represented by THeads and U2, so I figured the Fripp/Eno/Bowie axis was covered adequately.

[dawg]

15. In defense of all these bands ...

ESPECIALLY YES!

These bands were making music that had never been made before. The idea was to take rock music, and extend it in different directions. The experimental spirit of these bands was really no different than that of Bob Dylan, when he expanded the subject matter for rock songs to more serious issues, or the Beatles, when they expanded the instrumentation considered acceptable for a rock song.

I don't think any of these bands meant for their music to be considered on a par with great classical works or anything - they were just taking rock music and doing something new with it. (I wish someone were doing that today)

Yes has some long instrumental passages, and if you don't enjoy instrumental music you should definitely avoid much of their work - but does that necessarily make them pretentious? Is Coltrane pretentious?

Granted, Yes lyrics are often goofy as shit - but I hardly see the pretention in that.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

16. That's the thing

if someone has something to say musically that sounds like no one else - that's not pretentious - but copying someone else's sound or style is.

[Parrcrow]

17. Madonna, she pretends to be a singer

she pretends to be a dancer. She tries to pretend to be an actress. Hell, now she's even pretending to be British. For 20 years the media has been pretending that there is some astonishing cultural significance every time she gets a goddam haircut.