Most Pretentious Band?

ELP
I couldn't stand their 1st album the 1st time
They were so virtuosos, that I didn't find what the thing was

Inferno wrote: Magma easily win the ^pretentiousness     PS: to the guy that stated having suspicious tough about Gentle Giant...let me clarify something:   For having talking to Gary Green a couple of year ago, they we're suppose to do a reunion in the 90's for their own fun....after only one rehearsal, they abandoned the project. Why? Simply because they couldn't play those songs...too complicated for any musician that haven't played those song for years....   They didn't tried to be like, well, we are that good and our songs are too complicated to be played again you know...not at all, the simple fact of not practicing your instrument is why they can't play like they used to do in the 70's...pure honesty.   No pretentiousness here!

I think they are all pretty pretentious.

Other, RICK WAKEMAN SOLO albums. Except Henry VIII

I answer Magma, but I must say that I like very much their pretentious atitudes,

ELP by a country mile or metric kilometer. And gold medal laureates at that!

Drew wrote: birdwithteeth11 wrote: Take a good look at this picture: This is Christian Vander marking the sign of death on anyone who doesn't pick Magma And by the way folks, last I checked pretentious in prog was a good thing Just looking at that picture makes me not want to have ANYTHING to do with that band.

I'm afraid it has quite the opposite effect on me.  I am obviously beyond redemption.

When I think of prog, I just see musicians putting on a great show, live or in your own house through their albums. 

You want pretentious.... look at what U2 is nowadays.

I quite like 'Rave on, John Donne', and 'You don't Pull no Punches but you don't Push the River'. INTO THE MUSIC and BEAUTIFUL VISION are another two of my favourite Van the Man albums. But he's still on great form! I saw him live last year, when most of the music was C&W (with a few sublime covers chucked in, such as 'Georgia on my mind') - the concert lasted exactly 88 minutes (as usual these days), but Van's voice is as good as ever and I truly enjoyed it.

Well! Salmacis! Some serious analysis, at last!

I do seem to remember Van Morrison got rapped on the knuckles for referring to William Blake, DH Lawrence etc. once too often - but that was about 25 years ago, when he did it a lot, I suppose he was trying to educate himself, there have been few signs of such self-conscious posturing in recent years...

As for ELP: I more or less agree with you. I enjoy most of the early albums (their debut, TARKUS, TRILOGY and BSS) but I can't help thinking poor Greg Lake sounds pretentious AS SOON AS HE OPENS HIS MOUTH, except for a few ballads, it's all in his voice and his delivery I'm afraid... As for PICTURES, I've always thought that was a disaster, and in this case the preposterous lyrics certainly don't help!

Prog-haters will tell you tracks like "Firth of Fifth" or "And You and I" are pretentious, just because they're solemn, ecstatic and out-and-out romantic (things most listeners aren't looking for in rock 'n' roll), but as we all know these performers stir a part of us other bands just cannot reach...

although 01001101 is certainly more restrained, I think that Ayreon are in a league of their own in this department.... closely followed by Star One...