Throughout rock there's been entertainers and there's been artists: generally a band is either there to show you a good time or to show you what a good band they are. Can you be talented and show people a good time? Sure. But generally you can tell that a band has set out to impress you with their musicianship or they haven't. Cream and The Rolling Stones are two bands who made rock and roll out of R&B parts, but one came to impress you with their guitar work and one didn't.
The Pentangle came to impress you. They are the best band there is, making the only kind of music there is. They are the ones cutting through all the crap. They're keeping it real. They're artists. It's obnoxious.
Lengthy, indulgent solo pieces, complex arrangements, and just an air, an aura, a smell of pretension, over everything. Attitude aside, the playing is executed perfectly well, but the singing has that folky, keening dissonance brought by people used to trying to sing over top of instruments like tuneful blues shouters, and it's kind of a deal breaker.
Unpleasant singing plus an unpleasant attitude's a lot to overcome. Not my scene 2.5/5
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