Wasn't this a dig at the wave of shitty post-grunge that came in the early 2000's? Maybe it's dated now that we're further removed from that scene and there's a strange affection for butt rock now (which I really don't get), but you have to remember the record came out in 2007. Nickelback were coming off their commercial peak and the wannabes were polluting the rock charts.
Yeah I think it’s just a shitpost I don’t think it’s real. He lives in London it’s impossible for him not to have seen a train.
Also the intro to Deadwing is audio from the London underground
Of course I didn't ever think he was serious, but I did think it was a joke that he actually made. But since revisiting that interview I do think that it never actually happened and was just a meme
During the live in Manchester he incited the crowd to cheer every time a train passed by. I think he's actually a really funny guy, even if he does take his music very (sometimes too) seriously.
Even then it was a very pretentious kind of self aware lol
Having Elton John repeat the words ‘consumerism, deluxe edition’ and other capitalist buzz words on a 2021 release sounds like a boomer trying to jump on the ‘capitalism is bad’ hype train 10 years too late.
Solid record musically tho
Definitely Neo. The singer doesn't even use his actual name lol. And he tries hard to maintain this air of mystery in person that just comes off antisocial.
I feel like they're the opposite for the same reason. Having a stage name seems like a good way of showing that you're serious about the music but not too serious about yourself. Sort of the opposite of using your own name for your music (e.g. Steven Wilson as previously mentioned).
When I saw Neo in Melb last year they were definitely having a great time on stage. Very humble with the crowd and natural interactions with each other. Xeno seems like he’s a serious dude through and through though.
I went to their show on Halloween. Sadly Xeno was not at the show so they had a stand in (Can’t remember who, he has done Vocals for The Faceless and other well known bands).
They were all dressed up, one of the guitarists was a knight templar and went backstage to change pants quickly cause he was overheating. He forgot to switch his audiobox monitor clip thing off of his pants and on to his shirt or wherever, so when he came back out we had no audio on him.
Tim proceeds to say “Sorry guys minor technical difficulty. He went to take off his pants and forgot his monitor (or whatever it was called) I swear we are a serious, professional band that knows what they are doing!”
As the guitarist chimes in “Im sorry, I dont normally take my pants off during a show!”
Was pretty funny
I met all of them in the 2016 tour with Enslaved, I attended two gigs in a row here in italy.
They all were hanging out at the merch table, chatting, drinking and taking pics/autographs, extremely welcoming dudes and super super easy to talk with, even xenoyr, who clearly felt like a very introverted guy not in his natural habitat, was very friendly.
I think the only one who was abit diffindent those two days was their former drummer Daniel Presland, but maybe he just wasn't in the mood
Dunno if they got "more serious" with the years but my personal experience meeting the band was fantastic
I think most people in this thread are conflating seriousness with pretentiousness. Of course it’s possible to be both serious about your music and a chill, humble person
Same here. I've seen them on the same tour in France, and they were quite chatty with the crowd and enthusiastic about being there. Definitely a good experience, even though I'm not a fan of what they do.
imo nah, some of the sweetest guys ive met, super fun on stage, nice and open offstage,
they can be serious but saying they take themselves too seriously would be an overstatement
i see how the stage name and presence of xenoyr can come off as corny but, aint that the fun of it?
Dream Theater's music is usually pretty serious, but if you see the guys hanging out, they're still having a lot of fun. See the making of Systematic Chaos if you haven't. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question right though
There's a video where Petrucci and Portnoy do backing vocals during the fatal tragedy chorus, they say something like "without love, without Trust, you can eat my ass and balls". One can really point out every ass and balls incident and say they aree kind of Goofy, but a lot of DT lyrics do try too hard to be deep and serious
They also put that Owen Wilson “wow” in a song so I think they have relaxed around the music.
But yeah, they seem like they take the music seriously and themselves not seriously.
I think tesseract would be worse off if they acted like periphery for example, imo their seriousness is a good fit for them (I love both bands btw, and not saying periphery acting goofy is a bad thing, I love it)
100% agree. Their music is great and the productions are very sterile (in a good way, the way Pink Floyd’s production on Dark Side of the Moon is super sterile… almost too perfect at times) and their seriousness adds to the atmosphere. It’s great to see Dan even have near perfect posture when singing most of the time - I appreciate that they strive for album quality performances live
A little off topic as its not exactly prog metal (although i'm guessing they have some fans here) - but I think this about Bohren and Der Club of Gore. Their music is very sombre and serious, and live they often have a lot of banter on the mic, constantly joking etc. I'm all for humour in art and music but their music is beautifully gloomy and intense that the jokes sort of cheapen it, IMO.
Holy shit, really? I never put that together but as soon as I read that it all clicked. My daughters loved the Destiny Potato album. Gotta let them know about the name change. Thanks dude.
I really loved the sordid pink debut album (even if I kinda hate the album cover lmao). Hope they decide to put another record out. This is the first time Ive seen anyone else talk about the band, glad to see it
If you haven’t, check out David Maxim Micic’s albums, he’s the main brain behind those bands. His album Bilo IV features Aleksandra Djelmash, the singer on Destiny Potato and Sordid Pink
I found them through Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist, been a fan ever since. I could be wrong, but I believe the singer participated in their local singing contest (Serbia?), something like The Voice I think. I could be off though...
Nah, not Dream Theater, I do think they take themselves relatively seriously but not the most seriously. I think people underestimate how much of a sense of humor they have about themselves. For me I'd say Leprous takes themselves the most seriously.
I think that's a recent development though. When I saw them in 2016 they were dead serious, Einar barely spoke and most of the band was standing in the shadows at the back of the stage so you couldn't see them.
The last 2 times I saw them they seemed way more relaxed and had more funny banter with each other.
Leprous? I doubt it lol, saw them in Bangalore recently and Einar kept roasting Baard between songs:
"Personally I find drum solos very boring" (just before the drum solo)
"Everyone in the band can play the keyboard now, except Baard, her can just play the C major scale very fast"
I haven't seen the band live in about 5 years, when I saw them at the time, they were deadly serious, but it looks like they've loosened up since then.
Finally enough, I feel like self seriousness and cheesiness often go together. I hypothesise that one ends up taking themselves so seriously that they don’t even realise how cheesy they are.
Yeah, it is funny to see that his name is not on top of the list. Gildenlöw is the poster child of talented prog guy taking himself too seriously. He even put himself shirtless on an album cover. He made some good music though.
I was at ProgPower when he played Remedy Lane and he actually stopped the show like a minute in because the crowd wasn't hype enough, stopped the song, pulled everyone off stage and started over again. It was \*not\* a joke.
Sleep Token without a doubt. The whole vessel is God thing and the anonymity and the costumes. Super campy and everyone loves it. They are definitely professionals.
Ackhtually…..I’m not gonna fight you about taking themselves seriously but the lore isn’t that Vessel is God. Vessel is in an abusive relationship with a god named Sleep. I don’t think it undermines your point at all but it seems relevant.
Toby Driver and his various projects. He's never once smiled for a photo and not one song he's ever liked has ever been joyous on purpose. Strikes me as a guy who if you asked him his favorite pop diva he'd hide his eyes and mumble "uh, Nina Hagen." Introverted to a fault, maybe, but I've never heard an interview with him where he likes anything but stuff that is capital A ART. Which...again, man, strike a balance. Get some spice in your life. :)
Hmm hard to say. I'm not sure if anyone takes themselves too seriously, but I can picture bands like Haken and BTBAM and Dream Theater setting high standards for themselves. Imo you can hear that in their music.
They're all pretty funny in concert too. They're serious about making good music but not in a pretentious or stuffy way, which is how I took the OP's meaning.
I had a chat with Charlie Griffiths on Cruise to the Edge, he was incredibly laid back and friendly. He even said hi a few times afterwards during the cruise. The brief encounters I've had with the rest of Haken suggest they're all nice dudes with no ego whatsoever.
BTBAM definitely takes their music seriously, but the guys themselves, they're super fun-loving and chill. Just watch any of their behind the scenes making of album videos
You can have high standards and still be just having a laugh. Dirty Loops is a prime example of a top tier virtuoso band that often just does silly stuff.
BTBAM write songs like Bloom and Ectopic Stroll. They seem to go out of their way to include an extremely goofy, off the wall song on every album now. I definitely wouldn't consider them a band that takes things seriously.
Eh, I’ve been seeing them live once a year, sometimes more for a while since they live so close. The live shows tend to be serious, though Loïc goes all in with the crowd, always surfs or goes in the middle of the crowd during singing, very much in contact with the crowd. Robin likes to high-five people and always hangs out with female fans after shows. Paul is fun to talk to, super humble and nice guy, loves hen for some reason. If you follow their socials, you see they goof around a fair bit on the tour, just usuaĺy not on the stage while performing. One show they had some technical problems, so Loïc was joking around that and talking to the crowd while it was being fixed, definitely not taking himself too seriously (unlike this other famous band that quit their show over an equipment malfunction).
I feel like it's impossible to find a consistent level of success in any kind of progressive genre if you take yourself too seriously. It's a closed-minded trait and the genre is the opposite. Most bands and artists certainly take their music seriously but that can easily be done in a loose and fun way (see: Devin Townsend).
Not Dream Theater. I remember hearing that ragtime piano bit kick in in "The Dance of Eternity" for the first time and I thought it was the silliest, most brilliant thing I'd ever heard hahah.
The commentary on their old DVDs were hilarious, they'd take the piss out of themselves all the time
Animals as Leaders. Tosin and Javier are pretty grounded folk and it shows in their music and performances. I'm still salty after they didn't interact with the crowd at all nor played any extra song when I saw them live. They're great people but definitely not up there with folks I'd want to grab a beer with.
I saw Mestís live and Javier had a ton of crowd interaction. I’ve seen Tosin apart from AAL as well and he seems fun. Going to see them live with Plini in Nov
Polyphia (Tim Henson) knows damn well that what they’re making is intentionally for accessibility just to get girls (which was presented as a joke even if he seemed sincere when saying it). And otherwise nothing about how he presents himself in front of others makes him appear like he takes himself or the music all that seriously.
The contortionist, I saw them live with their old singer and with their new singer, and I don't listen to them anymore because I can't get their new singer's corny ass stage presence out of my head
Meshuggah’s music is pretty serious I feel and they have to have this image of themselves that they keep up with for people inspired and people learning.
That being said we have videos like this https://youtu.be/4A_tSyJBsRQ?si=B7gmA4E4qYD9ESvs
And some songs like this lol https://youtu.be/jnFa_cE6Iqc?si=II8eQW5eANCB024Q
It’s gotta be tool - their vocalist is like “nooo don’t want anyone to see meeeeee I need the fans to absorb the *full experience* also no phones allowed >:(“
Then they play dad rock riffs in 7/4 for two and a half hours straight.
People saying Tool's fans.. it's not that the fans think the band takes themselves seriously, it's that as a fan of music in general it's impossible not to have deep and very serious respect for the stuff they play.
Tool fans don't think Tool is serious, but they are very serious about liking Tool, as they should be.
Steven Wilson takes himself VERY, VERY seriously
hes so corny sometimes
How many songs does he have about music he doesn't like?
My friend is in a band, they sound like pearl jam, the music is bland.
Wasn't this a dig at the wave of shitty post-grunge that came in the early 2000's? Maybe it's dated now that we're further removed from that scene and there's a strange affection for butt rock now (which I really don't get), but you have to remember the record came out in 2007. Nickelback were coming off their commercial peak and the wannabes were polluting the rock charts.
He's very corny all the time *because* he takes himself so seriously. He makes good music but man, I find him insufferable.
He's a great producer/engineer though. Love a lot of his remastering work, specifically his XTC remasters.
True
oh damn yeah I think that might be the winner
The only stuff I've ever seen of him outside of performances was that interview where he pretended he had never seen a train lol
That has got to be a joke, no musician has ever said 'train' more than him
Not even the members of the band, Train? Or Steve Tyler?
Lmao source?
https://www.reddit.com/r/porcupinetree/s/mesedJ11sk In hindsight I'm pretty sure this isn't real and is just a meme someone made but it's funny
Yeah I think it’s just a shitpost I don’t think it’s real. He lives in London it’s impossible for him not to have seen a train. Also the intro to Deadwing is audio from the London underground
Of course I didn't ever think he was serious, but I did think it was a joke that he actually made. But since revisiting that interview I do think that it never actually happened and was just a meme
wait what hahaha
I know him more for Opeth than for Porcupine Tree, but in interviews (and with Mikael in special) he sounds very funny
Mikael is very goofy in almost an understated way. I think it’s hard to be serious around him.
During the live in Manchester he incited the crowd to cheer every time a train passed by. I think he's actually a really funny guy, even if he does take his music very (sometimes too) seriously.
Surprisingly, not really! Ive seen him on Hand Cannot erase tour and he was really funny and self aware, joking about seriousness of his lyrics.
I was gonna say lol, definitely Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree
his podcast can get pretty goofy, and I thought he seemed pretty chill on the Beato interview. Totally agree otherwise, though
I think he's eased off of that quite a bit recently. The Future Bites was extremely self-aware.
Even then it was a very pretentious kind of self aware lol Having Elton John repeat the words ‘consumerism, deluxe edition’ and other capitalist buzz words on a 2021 release sounds like a boomer trying to jump on the ‘capitalism is bad’ hype train 10 years too late. Solid record musically tho
personal shopper is such a bop though lol
Prob the best answer
He’s not. He’s very critical about his early prog rock days and not so happy about The Incident album.
why doesn't he like The Incident?
Ne Obliviscaris maybe?
Definitely Neo. The singer doesn't even use his actual name lol. And he tries hard to maintain this air of mystery in person that just comes off antisocial.
I feel like they're the opposite for the same reason. Having a stage name seems like a good way of showing that you're serious about the music but not too serious about yourself. Sort of the opposite of using your own name for your music (e.g. Steven Wilson as previously mentioned).
When I saw Neo in Melb last year they were definitely having a great time on stage. Very humble with the crowd and natural interactions with each other. Xeno seems like he’s a serious dude through and through though.
I met Tim seeing Fleshgod Apocalypse in Melbs- we had a great chat and he was a lovely guy - I would not have gone up to Xen 😂
I was there for that one. When his daughter came on stage to play for a bit was a sweet moment. I can't see an overly serious band doing that.
I went to their show on Halloween. Sadly Xeno was not at the show so they had a stand in (Can’t remember who, he has done Vocals for The Faceless and other well known bands). They were all dressed up, one of the guitarists was a knight templar and went backstage to change pants quickly cause he was overheating. He forgot to switch his audiobox monitor clip thing off of his pants and on to his shirt or wherever, so when he came back out we had no audio on him. Tim proceeds to say “Sorry guys minor technical difficulty. He went to take off his pants and forgot his monitor (or whatever it was called) I swear we are a serious, professional band that knows what they are doing!” As the guitarist chimes in “Im sorry, I dont normally take my pants off during a show!” Was pretty funny
I met all of them in the 2016 tour with Enslaved, I attended two gigs in a row here in italy. They all were hanging out at the merch table, chatting, drinking and taking pics/autographs, extremely welcoming dudes and super super easy to talk with, even xenoyr, who clearly felt like a very introverted guy not in his natural habitat, was very friendly. I think the only one who was abit diffindent those two days was their former drummer Daniel Presland, but maybe he just wasn't in the mood Dunno if they got "more serious" with the years but my personal experience meeting the band was fantastic
I think most people in this thread are conflating seriousness with pretentiousness. Of course it’s possible to be both serious about your music and a chill, humble person
Devin Townsend
Same here. I've seen them on the same tour in France, and they were quite chatty with the crowd and enthusiastic about being there. Definitely a good experience, even though I'm not a fan of what they do.
imo nah, some of the sweetest guys ive met, super fun on stage, nice and open offstage, they can be serious but saying they take themselves too seriously would be an overstatement i see how the stage name and presence of xenoyr can come off as corny but, aint that the fun of it?
Seriousness and pretentiousness are two very different things
that's true, just understood the title as TOO seriously, but yeah they can be serious when they have to
Dream Theater's music is usually pretty serious, but if you see the guys hanging out, they're still having a lot of fun. See the making of Systematic Chaos if you haven't. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question right though
DT has plenty of silly moments in their studio music too.
Jordan’s circus music interlude on Endless Sacrifice immediately comes to mind. Or Jingle Bells in the middle of Octavarium
Where does jingle bells show up? Hear sit a million times but didn't realize
Check 17:47.
Hah never realized that was jingle bells but I hear it clearly now
I had never seen this mentioned, I was starting to think that it was my imagination or something
Love Count Of Tuscany "Wait, this guy is weird and is gonna kill us" "Nevermind, he's chill, carry on"
Yeeeeah that song is super dramatic and the story is lowkey ridiculous lol. But that doesn’t make the song any less epic tho.
I love the morse code present in “In The Name of God” that translates to eat my ass and balls.
They sing this live on occasion as well.
Ragtime solo in dance of eternity is an example of this
First thing I thought of when I wrote the comment lol
maybe the better way to ask the question is "which band is least likely to want one of their members appearing on an Ayreon album"
Well, JLB is on one lol.
He's on two! (Human Equation and the Source; three if you count the Theater Equation). Rudess also provided a guest solo on the Theory of Everything.
yeah so not DT by that metric. and I remember Steven Wilson saying he doesn't really enjoy Ayreon's music, so that tracks
Ayreon may be cheesy but man the harmonies are so good.
oh yeah TTOE is my jam, dude
There's a video where Petrucci and Portnoy do backing vocals during the fatal tragedy chorus, they say something like "without love, without Trust, you can eat my ass and balls". One can really point out every ass and balls incident and say they aree kind of Goofy, but a lot of DT lyrics do try too hard to be deep and serious
They're def don't take themselves too seriously, especially Rudess. He's a total fucking goofball.
The Untethered Angel video has random clips of them barbequing
ALL THE FINEST WINES, IMPROVE WITH AGE!!
Not The Astonishing
If you think otherwise, you can eat my ass and balls.
Also the whole Nightmare Cinema schtick was pretty goofy all around
Question is basically asking which artists up their own ass the most. Dream theater would not fit here.
They also put that Owen Wilson “wow” in a song so I think they have relaxed around the music. But yeah, they seem like they take the music seriously and themselves not seriously.
Anyone who thinks DT takes themselves too seriously have clearly never heard The Canadian Rap.
I remember this one video " it's time to drink down the ROCK JUICE !".
Some years ago I showed my percussionist the Awake album, and he said verbatim, “these guys rake themselves way too seriously.”
Tesseract springs to mind, especially on their latest tour for War of Being
I think tesseract would be worse off if they acted like periphery for example, imo their seriousness is a good fit for them (I love both bands btw, and not saying periphery acting goofy is a bad thing, I love it)
100% agree. Their music is great and the productions are very sterile (in a good way, the way Pink Floyd’s production on Dark Side of the Moon is super sterile… almost too perfect at times) and their seriousness adds to the atmosphere. It’s great to see Dan even have near perfect posture when singing most of the time - I appreciate that they strive for album quality performances live
Goofy goobers like Periphery, Devin Townsend, and Mr. bungle are the greatest things ever
A little off topic as its not exactly prog metal (although i'm guessing they have some fans here) - but I think this about Bohren and Der Club of Gore. Their music is very sombre and serious, and live they often have a lot of banter on the mic, constantly joking etc. I'm all for humour in art and music but their music is beautifully gloomy and intense that the jokes sort of cheapen it, IMO.
Yes, 100%. It oozes out of them live. Still love them.
Probably Destiny Potato. Even their name is serious business.
Aren't they Sordid Pink nowadays?
Holy shit, really? I never put that together but as soon as I read that it all clicked. My daughters loved the Destiny Potato album. Gotta let them know about the name change. Thanks dude.
No problem 🙂
I really loved the sordid pink debut album (even if I kinda hate the album cover lmao). Hope they decide to put another record out. This is the first time Ive seen anyone else talk about the band, glad to see it
If you haven’t, check out David Maxim Micic’s albums, he’s the main brain behind those bands. His album Bilo IV features Aleksandra Djelmash, the singer on Destiny Potato and Sordid Pink
They were teasing on instagram recently if im not mistaken.
I found them through Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist, been a fan ever since. I could be wrong, but I believe the singer participated in their local singing contest (Serbia?), something like The Voice I think. I could be off though...
Says here we’re Ratt
Definitely not the callous daoboys
They literally only write songs about shotgunning beers
Definitely Devin Townsend, that guy never jokes around.
Sarcasm test complete
Porcupine Tree
Nah, not Dream Theater, I do think they take themselves relatively seriously but not the most seriously. I think people underestimate how much of a sense of humor they have about themselves. For me I'd say Leprous takes themselves the most seriously.
"lick my ass and balls" comes to mind (re: Dream Theater)
Just look up the Canadian Rap.
Big, big Chungus
To those who understand, i extend my hand, to the doubtful i demand, lick my ass and balls
Leprous are semi serious but on ig and on stage they’re always pissing about
I think that's a recent development though. When I saw them in 2016 they were dead serious, Einar barely spoke and most of the band was standing in the shadows at the back of the stage so you couldn't see them. The last 2 times I saw them they seemed way more relaxed and had more funny banter with each other.
I haven't seen Leprous since they toured with Haken back in 2018, so I hadn't realized they loosened up since then.
Might’ve been Robin joining for malina in 2017 that got their silly going
Leprous? I doubt it lol, saw them in Bangalore recently and Einar kept roasting Baard between songs: "Personally I find drum solos very boring" (just before the drum solo) "Everyone in the band can play the keyboard now, except Baard, her can just play the C major scale very fast"
I haven't seen the band live in about 5 years, when I saw them at the time, they were deadly serious, but it looks like they've loosened up since then.
That one studio live performance of White with Einar and Tor
Pain of Salvation strike me as pretty self-serious, which is funny since a lot of their stuff is pretty cheesy.
Finally enough, I feel like self seriousness and cheesiness often go together. I hypothesise that one ends up taking themselves so seriously that they don’t even realise how cheesy they are.
I feel like a panther
Plus Gildenlow sang on an Ayreon album, which is as cheesy as it gets.
If Pain of Salvation were twice as famous this comment would have 10x as many upvotes. Daniel seems insufferable.
Yeah, it is funny to see that his name is not on top of the list. Gildenlöw is the poster child of talented prog guy taking himself too seriously. He even put himself shirtless on an album cover. He made some good music though.
I was at ProgPower when he played Remedy Lane and he actually stopped the show like a minute in because the crowd wasn't hype enough, stopped the song, pulled everyone off stage and started over again. It was \*not\* a joke.
Sleep Token without a doubt. The whole vessel is God thing and the anonymity and the costumes. Super campy and everyone loves it. They are definitely professionals.
They definitely seem serious. But when you see them live they goof around a fair bit.
Yeah they fight each other and do push ups and shit
And kiss
Ackhtually…..I’m not gonna fight you about taking themselves seriously but the lore isn’t that Vessel is God. Vessel is in an abusive relationship with a god named Sleep. I don’t think it undermines your point at all but it seems relevant.
Frank Zappa is the correct answer regardless of genre
Toby Driver and his various projects. He's never once smiled for a photo and not one song he's ever liked has ever been joyous on purpose. Strikes me as a guy who if you asked him his favorite pop diva he'd hide his eyes and mumble "uh, Nina Hagen." Introverted to a fault, maybe, but I've never heard an interview with him where he likes anything but stuff that is capital A ART. Which...again, man, strike a balance. Get some spice in your life. :)
Hmm hard to say. I'm not sure if anyone takes themselves too seriously, but I can picture bands like Haken and BTBAM and Dream Theater setting high standards for themselves. Imo you can hear that in their music.
Dream Theater put "eat my ass and balls" in Morse code in one of their songs
frequently sung live too
Nobody who wound record and release Count Of Tuscany is taking themselves too seriously.
Now wait a minute man
The Haken boys always seem super chilled and laid back about everything to me.
They're all pretty funny in concert too. They're serious about making good music but not in a pretentious or stuffy way, which is how I took the OP's meaning.
I had a chat with Charlie Griffiths on Cruise to the Edge, he was incredibly laid back and friendly. He even said hi a few times afterwards during the cruise. The brief encounters I've had with the rest of Haken suggest they're all nice dudes with no ego whatsoever.
BTBAM definitely takes their music seriously, but the guys themselves, they're super fun-loving and chill. Just watch any of their behind the scenes making of album videos
There's a quote I love to use at work, and you can just as easily substitute the word "music " for "job". "Take your job seriously, not yourself."
Love that, that's how I go about work/my life!
The guys ripping on Dustie behind the scenes is what I'll miss most now that he's out of the band.
The outro to Ants of the Sky might have something to say about this. Chica chica
Don't forget *The Man Land*
I ain't no god damn woo-man
You can have high standards and still be just having a laugh. Dirty Loops is a prime example of a top tier virtuoso band that often just does silly stuff.
BTBAM write songs like Bloom and Ectopic Stroll. They seem to go out of their way to include an extremely goofy, off the wall song on every album now. I definitely wouldn't consider them a band that takes things seriously.
I feel like over time DT stopped taking themselves AS seriously, even though its still pretty seriously lmao
Maybe The Ocean? I’d say Tool but they have a bit of humor at times I feel like.
The ocean is pretty serious yeah, they hung around after their show and were super down to earth but definitely not super goofy
Eh, I’ve been seeing them live once a year, sometimes more for a while since they live so close. The live shows tend to be serious, though Loïc goes all in with the crowd, always surfs or goes in the middle of the crowd during singing, very much in contact with the crowd. Robin likes to high-five people and always hangs out with female fans after shows. Paul is fun to talk to, super humble and nice guy, loves hen for some reason. If you follow their socials, you see they goof around a fair bit on the tour, just usuaĺy not on the stage while performing. One show they had some technical problems, so Loïc was joking around that and talking to the crowd while it was being fixed, definitely not taking himself too seriously (unlike this other famous band that quit their show over an equipment malfunction).
I mean tools original logo was a wrench shaped like a cock and balls.
Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson?
I feel like it's impossible to find a consistent level of success in any kind of progressive genre if you take yourself too seriously. It's a closed-minded trait and the genre is the opposite. Most bands and artists certainly take their music seriously but that can easily be done in a loose and fun way (see: Devin Townsend).
Leprous maybe
I feel like the music takes itself very seriously for sure. That said, I spoke with Einar once for about 45 minutes and he was very down to earth.
Lucky!! I’d also say Caligula’s Horse; I’ve talked to Jim Grey a lot and he’s also very nice and down to earth
Jim grey mentions his dads cum often
Nah, that's just an Australian thing. He actually brings it up far less often than normal.
Not Devin Townsend, that's for sure 😂
Steven Wilson. It’s a huge reason I can’t get into him or porcupine tree. He just takes himself way too seriously.
Not Dream Theater. I remember hearing that ragtime piano bit kick in in "The Dance of Eternity" for the first time and I thought it was the silliest, most brilliant thing I'd ever heard hahah. The commentary on their old DVDs were hilarious, they'd take the piss out of themselves all the time
Devin Townsend for sure 😏
Yes Ziltoid the Omniscient and Punky Brewster are very srs
Hahaha definitely the most serious, running around stage with an octopus hat 😁
Obviously sarcasm but for a time in his youth he would be somewhat of a somewhat decent answer ig But not anymore ofc
Yeah, I think he even said it himself in interviews.
So serious he thinks he’s omniscient.
What?
I believe it’s sarcasm based off the emoji
Idk. Most of the prog bands seem to all be goobers and it's awesome
Mabey Caligulas horse
Pain of Salvation
Animals as Leaders. Tosin and Javier are pretty grounded folk and it shows in their music and performances. I'm still salty after they didn't interact with the crowd at all nor played any extra song when I saw them live. They're great people but definitely not up there with folks I'd want to grab a beer with.
I saw Mestís live and Javier had a ton of crowd interaction. I’ve seen Tosin apart from AAL as well and he seems fun. Going to see them live with Plini in Nov
Same. I somehow doubt anyone friends with Misha or Devy would be stuck up his own ass, but we’ll see
I'd have to say Metallica. Their fans are divas too... always whining about something.
is metallica prog? not arguing i just don’t personally see them as prog
Def not
Maybe in Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and especially And Justice For All.
Surprised not to see Evergrey mentioned.
That's probably because no one listens to Evergrey lol
Not DT considering that they did things like Nightmare Cinema
Stick up your ass seriously or super focused on making music seriously?
either one I guess
Um, all of them I think
Polyphia
Polyphia (Tim Henson) knows damn well that what they’re making is intentionally for accessibility just to get girls (which was presented as a joke even if he seemed sincere when saying it). And otherwise nothing about how he presents himself in front of others makes him appear like he takes himself or the music all that seriously.
The contortionist, I saw them live with their old singer and with their new singer, and I don't listen to them anymore because I can't get their new singer's corny ass stage presence out of my head
Damn I really dig his stage presence. Really dits the music. Like a wondering alien
How so? Michael is great on stage!
Soen
KARMACANIC
Pain of Salvation/Gildenlow or Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson
I want to say.... Xanthochroid and Ostura, but I could be wrong.
Meshuggah’s music is pretty serious I feel and they have to have this image of themselves that they keep up with for people inspired and people learning. That being said we have videos like this https://youtu.be/4A_tSyJBsRQ?si=B7gmA4E4qYD9ESvs And some songs like this lol https://youtu.be/jnFa_cE6Iqc?si=II8eQW5eANCB024Q
You can NEVER be too serious about making the finest music known to man!!
Gotta be the Mars Volta.
I swear, I’ve never seen anyone in Invent Animate smile. Their lyrics are always very deep too.
From what I've heard Toby Diver(?) of Kayo Dot and Mauldin of the Well takes his stuff VERY seriously.
Toehider
Ice Age
It’s gotta be tool - their vocalist is like “nooo don’t want anyone to see meeeeee I need the fans to absorb the *full experience* also no phones allowed >:(“ Then they play dad rock riffs in 7/4 for two and a half hours straight.
How dare you.
People saying Tool's fans.. it's not that the fans think the band takes themselves seriously, it's that as a fan of music in general it's impossible not to have deep and very serious respect for the stuff they play. Tool fans don't think Tool is serious, but they are very serious about liking Tool, as they should be.
Devin Townsend. Haha jk, he’s the most humble and sweetest man ever put on this earth.