The most pretentious band/singer ever

[thekunk07]

i love the smiths/morissey, but i concur.

rage against the machine

consolidated

madonna but it's almost self-parody so i'm not sure it counts

 

[ryoneo]

Kanye West, with his new cd coming out i suppose you can call him a "singer". But I like him as an artist. As for Coldplay, they are one of my favorite bands, but they do put themselves up there.

 

[Sesame Seed]

Originally Posted by ryoneo

...As for Coldplay, they are one of my favorite bands, but they do put themselves up there.

An interviewer once asked them if they thought they were the greatest band in the world. Chris Martin said that they were the third greatest band in the world behind U2 and REM. Pretentious f**** (U2 and REM are also pretentious f****).

 

[gamelan]

Coldplay and that annoying ass iTunes commerical came to mind first.

-Jeff

 

[designprofessor]

Eddie Vedder

Madonna?

 

[FLMountainMan]

Sufjan Stevens - his song titles alone win him this:

"The Avalanche" - 3:14
"Dear Mr. Supercomputer" - 4:20
"Adlai Stevenson" - 2:34
"The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies" - 1:49
"Saul Bellow" - 2:53
"Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair" - 4:17
"The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind that Knows Itself)" - 3:24
"Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne" - 1:25
"The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake" - 1:38
"The Perpetual Self, or What Would Saul Alinsky Do?" - 2:24
"The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)" - 4:59
"All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" - 4:14
"Year of the Asthmatic Cat" - 0:24
"All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" - 4:33
"For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" - 3:57
"Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)" - 8:20
"Alanson, Crooked River" - 1:18
"Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie" - 2:52
"They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)" - 6:21
"Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)" - 9:23
"Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)" - 2:02

As far as more popular bands/singers go, I think Radiohead or Rush

 

[Gherkins]

The Pretenders, of course.

 

[Bradford]

Iron Maiden - they must have been a large part of the inspiration for Spinal Tap - you have to be pretentious with songs based on Edgar Allen Poe writings, The Prisoner television series and a 13-minute opus based on Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by gorgekko

Anyway, my vote goes to Midnight Oil, a band that I don't believe ever once sang a song about banging chicks or drinking beer. They managed to take the art of music and turn it into a Bataan death march of Seriousness.
I will have to invoke my Australianness here and dispute this. While I can see how the Oils could be perceived that way to you evil foreigners, certainly domestically I wouldn't say they are viewed that way at all. While they have never been a good time, fun type rock n roll band (hey, we gave the world ACDC for that), I would say they they are completely sincere in their beliefs, and they are one of the few bands whose work off stage (notably with Aboriginal communities) mirrors that of their on stage personas. Indeed lead singer Peter Garrett is an elected official in the current national government, serving as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. The biggest controversy surrounding him relates to whether or not he has 'sold out' in that role, and betrayed all that the Oils stood for in a token role in the name of partisan politics...but even then, I don't think he is ever accused of pretentiousness from his days behind a microphone.

 

[Piobaire]

 

[gorgekko]

Originally Posted by m@T

I will have to invoke my Australianness here and dispute this. While I can see how the Oils could be perceived that way to you evil foreigners, certainly domestically I wouldn't say they are viewed that way at all. While they have never been a good time, fun type rock n roll band (hey, we gave the world ACDC for that), I would say they they are completely sincere in their beliefs, and they are one of the few bands whose work off stage (notably with Aboriginal communities) mirrors that of their on stage personas.

Indeed lead singer Peter Garrett is an elected official in the current national government, serving as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. The biggest controversy surrounding him relates to whether or not he has 'sold out' in that role, and betrayed all that the Oils stood for in a token role in the name of partisan politics...but even then, I don't think he is ever accused of pretentiousness from his days behind a microphone.

All of which may be true but I maintain they were still pretentious. It isn't binary -- one is either AC/DC or one is Midnight Oil -- you can have fun even while singing about serious stuff. Christ, Diesel and Dust was an album length crucifixion scene, hammering the listener like a carpenter who doesn't know when to stop hitting the nail. I can imagine Garrett crying on stage while singing "Beds are Burning".

Besides, the pretentious are always sincere in their beliefs...overly sincere.

 

[lawyerdad]

Billy Bragg.
Lots of metal bands who lack the capacity for irony.

 

[The Deacon]

Adam Ant!
Little Richard
TAFKAS=Prince
David Lee Roth
Steven Perry
LL Cool J
DMX
White Snake

 

[rdawson808]

Having grown up in the 80s, I was going to say something similar to this. A barrister working on environmental and aboriginal issues, backing up all their musical work. And now he's minister? Wow.

Consolidated are totally pretentious. Not just anti-sexism and anti-homophobia, but also anti-meat. Yes, they're vegan too. Although they did have a great song about "growing up with Texas football" that I liked.

My vote is for Bjork. She went from this artist who many people, myself included, loved and wanted to see at any chance, to actually scheduling concerts in spaces especially chosen for their small size and acustics. Acustics is great, but pick ******* opera halls with massive seating. ****.


b

Originally Posted by m@T

I will have to invoke my Australianness here and dispute this. While I can see how the Oils could be perceived that way to you evil foreigners, certainly domestically I wouldn't say they are viewed that way at all. While they have never been a good time, fun type rock n roll band (hey, we gave the world ACDC for that), I would say they they are completely sincere in their beliefs, and they are one of the few bands whose work off stage (notably with Aboriginal communities) mirrors that of their on stage personas.

Indeed lead singer Peter Garrett is an elected official in the current national government, serving as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. The biggest controversy surrounding him relates to whether or not he has 'sold out' in that role, and betrayed all that the Oils stood for in a token role in the name of partisan politics...but even then, I don't think he is ever accused of pretentiousness from his days behind a microphone.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by redgrail

Easy: Coldplay.

That quote is too funny. Coldplay sucks and they're completely derivative. Mozart..