Is Progressive Rock truly pretentious?

I think all self expression could be deemed pretentious in as much as it presumes a caring recipient.
Ergo, how to avoid pretension? Easy, assume that no-one is remotely interested in what you have to express.
Reductio ad absurdum: there is no longer any art. (happy now?)

This is a pretentious post.(Admin edit)

Prog that tries too hard can be pretentious but that's BS stuff like super lame prog metal that just sounds like recycled copies of everything. Or some of this djent stuff is just silly breakdowns for the sake of writing silly breakdowns.

^ So, anything that's pretentious is the real deal? Is that what you are saying? Or just that specific album was the real deal?

Maybe we've been asking the wrong question all along. ? How does one know (not think, know) what is pretentious?

KingCrInuYasha wrote: And yet, if a band the critics liked had those same traits, they would get away with, assuming they didn't do something like, say, make an equivalent of Bob Dylan's Self Portrait.

Is that the album where Dylan covered songs by people who were influenced by him? In my opinion, that's the exact opposite of being pretentious. :-) Critics hated that album because their great Dylan, whom they were hoping would lead and execute the revolution on their behalf, dared to put himself at the same level of people like Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, et al. "Look, man, I'm just a singer in a rock & roll band," he seemed to be saying.

^ We know it's not literal. Nobody said we meant it literally, nor did we imply that.

Edited by Dayvenkirq - May 29 2012 at 00:26

Dean wrote: While some Prog bands like Yes and ELP were bombastic and showy and therefore were an easy target for ridicule, that wasn't why the word "pretentious" was used - most of the Prog bands at that time were not bombast or showy, yet they were still called "pretentious". If the reason why Prog was called "pretentious" was because of the second meaning of the word (ie ostentatious) then it would imply that everything was just for show... a facade, and that clearly isn't the case (even with Yes and ELP). They used the word in its primary meaning - arrogance - pretending to be important - delusions of grandeur -elitism.

And yet, if a band the critics liked had those same traits, they would get away with, assuming they didn't do something like, say, make an equivalent of Bob Dylan's Self Portrait.

I really don't understand why critics just say that progressive rock isn't their cup of tea, rather than basing their reasons on some ridiculous philosophy of theirs. I mean, if Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band really is the worst thing to happen to the lives of guys like, say, Punk77, then I congratulate them for having a better life than me.

Dayvenkirq wrote: Why would anybody do Dylan when they can be themselves? Why does anybody have to be Dylan?

Because if they don't they're labeled as pretentious. If they do, then they're labeled as poseurs, not unlike punk rock. Embracing progressive rock as bad beacuse it's for phonies, yet following punk means you're most likely a poseur. It's a lose-lose situation: "Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, but don't swallow."


Edited by KingCrInuYasha - May 28 2012 at 22:46

jude111 wrote: colorofmoney91 wrote: As with just about everything, some people are very pretentious and some are totally not pretentious. ELP = pretentious  Kansas = not pretentious Really? I always thought Kansas were very pretentious. "Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done, lay your weary head to rest, and don't you cry no more." I mean, it ain't Dylan. :-)

Dayvenkirq wrote: [OK. Didn't know that. Big deal. And since we are just focusing on the 70's criticism of prog, then let it be as you said it, 'cause I was born in '91.

Rock journalism, particuarly American rock journalism, was really bad in the 70s in my opinion. Particularly those at the American magazine Rolling Stone. They ridiculed prog but promoted "geniuses" like Bob Seger, Jackson Browne, and Tom Petty.

Edited by jude111 - May 26 2012 at 21:31