Overrated artists/albums

[the captain]

What is your definition of Sisyphean?? just out of curiosity..

A pointless task. On this board, this discussion comes back every few months like a big fucking heavy rock. And yet when it's there, you gotta help push it back up the hill. And what happens? Yeah. Start over.

[the captain]

But yes Luther, I agree with you, although what you say is quite obvious of course. Everyone has their opinions and nobody's opinion on what is good is right or wrong, just different. I think with something like music though, who cares in the end what other people think. As long as it (meaning whatever music that person likes) makes a person happy then that's serving it's purporse, right?

But what is either funny or maddening, depending on my mood, is how it obviously isn't obvious. If it were, people wouldn't get irate every time they see some top ten, overrated, underrated, greatest ever, etc., list--which they do. How often do we see some poster freak out about how stupid such-and-such magazine is and how everyone these days is an idiot for not recognizing [whoever] and etc etc.

If it were obvious, people would say, "Oh, [ x ] magazine. Of course their list will be [y]-focused. I prefer [z]." But they post with righteous fury, as if we should all band together, protest, storm the offices with torches in hand and demand satisfaction. So it's anything but obvious.

[Aegir]

Then what point do music critics/reviewers serve?

[the captain]

Then what point do music critics/reviewers serve?

I ask myself (and others) that question very frequently. And I am a music reviewer.

This is what I currently believe: they serve as an information source and, yes, a filter to people who have decided they have similar taste. If you have decided you like David Fricke and find his reviews useful in general, then by all means, read his reviews and take his opinions seriously. But apart from maybe the descriptions of the music (as opposed to any judgment of it), why would you assume a reviewer to be any better equipped to give an album some inherent value than you are yourself?

[Aegir]

Well, I don't know if anyone else does this, but I like reading reviews of things I already own. I love hearing other people's opinions on things I like. I love reading Beach Boys album reviews to see what someone else thinks of Smiley Smile, for instance, because I know it'll be way different than what I think of it. Even if I buy a new food product from the grocery store, I'll look online to see how other people reacted to it. It's a shared experience thing, you know?

But I'd imagine a lot of people use reviews to see whether or not they'd like the album/product/whatever. And I could never do that, especially with music, because my tastes are so different than anyone I've ever encountered, print or in person.

[Mahalo]

Would anyone agree with me that more often than not if an album wins a Grammy it is overrated?

Well, I don't know if anyone else does this, but I like reading reviews of things I already own. I love hearing other people's opinions on things I like. I love reading Beach Boys album reviews to see what someone else thinks of Smiley Smile, for instance, because I know it'll be way different than what I think of it.

Agreed, ... it's all in good fun.

[TimeToGetAlone]

I'm going to have to go with the Beatles.  Now don't get me wrong because I really enjoy their stuff.  They're a top ten band for me, and the only reason this is ever being brought up is the untouchable ranking that they so often seem to hold.  There are bands that take me to a higher level of emotion,  Beach Boys being one of them.  Even if the Beatles were held in similar regard to the BB I woudn't be mentioning this at all.  Just that my perception of overrated of being placed on a higher plateau in general than I believe true.

[donald]

Zander said Bono needs to shut his pie hole.   That would be excellent for starters.  Then a couple of shotgun blasts to deflate that giant overinflated ego  Not just overrated but hold the record for years as overrated.

There was a time when the Stones deserved the accolades...but that time has long passed.  However, their best  work lives on.

Truth is, most acts are inconsistent over the many years and about half of what has come from Dylan, Stones, Neil Young, Springstein, and yes, the BeachBoys, is not so great.

And there is no accounting for taste, temperment, or mood in music preference.

[Mahalo]

Zander said Bono needs to shut his pie hole.   That would be excellent for starters.  Then a couple of shotgun blasts to deflate that giant overinflated ego 

Brilliant!!

[the captain]

Well, I don't know if anyone else does this, but I like reading reviews of things I already own. I love hearing other people's opinions on things I like. I love reading Beach Boys album reviews to see what someone else thinks of Smiley Smile, for instance, because I know it'll be way different than what I think of it. Even if I buy a new food product from the grocery store, I'll look online to see how other people reacted to it. It's a shared experience thing, you know?

I agree with you in that it's fun for me to read reviews of things I'm already familiar with, too. But I'm not sure it's a shared experience thing for me as much as it is a curiosity thing. And I think reviews are perfectly legitimate as entertainment of that sort, too.

Where I think it gets silly is in the situations described recently. We all acknowledge in the abstract that we've got different opinions, that there is no clear objective way to rank music, etc. But then when it gets specific, so-and-so turns into an idiot for disliking or liking such-and-such.

[Loaf]

Steely Dan is a band that a lot of critics seem to love but leave me bored. Everytime i read a review or piece about them, the description of SD's music sounds like something i would enjoy, and i bought used LPs of their Greatest Hits and Aja, but it's dull crap every time, except 'Peg' and 'Showbiz Kids'. There's a lot of talk of how they bring sardonic humour and jazz to pop, but it sounds like dull dull muzak and the lyrics are mostly sh*t too.

David Bowie is probably the most overrated person in music. He seems such a phoney to me. All of his 'chameleonic changes' seem like the calculated career moves of an actor playing the part of a musician, rather than a musician. i own Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Low, but i've heard several others. His lyrics are terrible, and he can't seem to make an album without an actual musical collaborator to provide the music. He's like Madonna in that regard. A 'creation', an 'image', with very little behind it.

Joy Division haven't made a song i've liked. I don't like the voice, the bass, the guitar, the production.

Love's 'Forever Changes' is maybe the most overrated album. Arthur Lee's voice is so self-conscious and pretentious. I love the Doors, so some might wonder why i can't make the leap to Love, but there you go. It doesn't 'grab' me, and in fact puts me off. And Bryan MacLean's songs were even worse.


Regarding Radiohead, i love reading the reasons why people don't like them. They are popular, and they are critically acclaimed, and so maybe if you just don't like them, you feel the world has gone crazy. I think Radiohead are the best band of the moment, (In Rainbows sounds luscious on heavyweight vinyl), but it depends on how much you like dubstep and beats. (i love them myself - the new Burial album 'Untrue' is superb, and check out the Thom Yorke remix EPs). To me, the description of them as 'some fruit moaning over the top of some techno' is what i like about them, and i'd take that as a compliment!

[Mahalo]

Joy Division haven't made a song i've liked. I don't like the voice, the bass, the guitar, the production.


Regarding Radiohead, i love reading the reasons why people don't like them. They are popular, and they are critically acclaimed, and so maybe if you just don't like them, you feel the world has gone crazy. I think Radiohead are the best band of the moment, (In Rainbows sounds luscious on heavyweight vinyl), but it depends on how much you like dubstep and beats. (i love them myself - the new Burial album 'Untrue' is superb, and check out the Thom Yorke remix EPs). To me, the description of them as 'some fruit moaning over the top of some techno' is what i like about them, and i'd take that as a compliment!

Joy Division is not overrated by any means....and I'm glad they aren't. They are a band that one stumbles across not a band that is rammed into your brain by an over-zealous media. They are one of the most honest, un-pretensious, and organic bands one will hear, IMO. While I don't listen to them nearly as much as I used to, I know that in a span of three years they wrote enough material for 4 albums, exploited the studio on a small budget to create a mature innovative sound considering they consisted of only three instrumentalists- albeit Ian occasionally added guitar overdubs, and Joy Division were genuinely pissed in the punk rock sense of the word---without all the dyed hair, peircings, and flamboyancy.

Radiohead wishes they had the balls Joy Division had. While Radiohead has a unique sound which I give them credit for, they are constantly rammed into my brain by T.V., Radio, and magazines, which in a sense makes them overrated. This is because I don't think the music justifies all the press. Just because a band is popular and critically acclaimed, I don't feel the world has gone crazy because I don't like them. I feel that when Thom Yorke sings he is putting on a front.  He has become a millionaire rock-star with superstar status, hot girlfriend, the world at his feet---what's he upset about? I dug O.K. Comp and Kid A for a minute, but then I quickly grew out of it. The music doesn't speak to me.

 "They are popular, and they are critically acclaimed, and so maybe if you just don't like them, you feel the world has gone crazy"--is that true any critically acclaimed album or band, or just Radiohead?

[Aegir]

He has become a millionaire rock-star with superstar status, hot girlfriend, the world at his feet---what's he upset about?

That, especially coming from a Brian Wilson fan, is a silly question. Being a rock star with a girlfriend doesn't make you automatically happy.

[Mahalo]

He has become a millionaire rock-star with superstar status, hot girlfriend, the world at his feet---what's he upset about?

That, especially coming from a Brian Wilson fan, is a silly question. Being a rock star with a girlfriend doesn't make you automatically happy.

Agreed, no argument there. However, Brian Wilson is a genius who was artistically and creatively stunted by a band, record company that wouldn't allow Brian to grow, had a tyrant for a daddy, and was ignored in large part by a world that wanted Fun, Fun, Fun- not Funky Pretty. He had reason to be pissed, although there is no excuse to take drugs. Of course Brian had a beautiful wife, mansion, and superstar status; but while we occasionally got a Till I Die, or Caroline No, for the most part Brian's catalogue is uplifting, entertaining, even funny.

I can't think of any reason why Thom Yorke would be that sad. I guess he found a formula for success and won't foda with it.

[the captain]

I can't think of any reason why Thom Yorke would be that sad.

Who says he is? Writing a song from a certain point of view doesn't say anything about the writer's point of view. It's a terrible, very limited writer who can only write his actual, true feelings.

[Alex]

I think Dylan is overrated. I like a lot of his songs, but it just doesn't do it for me like BW's music. I really don't care for much for the Who besides their jangly-sounding mid-60s pop songs (Substitute, I'm A Boy, Happy Jack). Pink Floyd was a big POS without Syd. I can't stand 70s/80s hard rock/blues rock bands, the whole "guitar god" thing makes me sick. Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Tony Iommi, Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent,  Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Slash, etc. don't impress me at all. Also can't stand bland Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, John Mayer-style music. Radiohead are OK, but not deserving of the hype. Best album was Pablo Honey. Don't even get me started on the endless grunge rehashings (Nickelback, Hinder, Default, Fuel, Puddle of Mudd, etc.).
Alright, rant over.

Does anyone else here get pissed when the same artists continually get their asses kissed by Rolling Stone (eg. when dead or washed up stars always make the cover-Zep, Hendrix, Dylan, Jagger and Richards), while artists that actually deserve the honor go unnoticed by the press. I'm waiting for the Monkees, Barenaked Ladies, Wilco, Love, the 13th Floor Elevators, Neutral Milk Hotel, Leslie Feist, and Rilo Kiley to all grace the cover of Rolling Stone.

[Mahalo]

It's a terrible, very limited writer who can only write his actual, true feelings.

Not necessarily, but depressing music is kind of played out in Radiohead's case. IMO, they are overrated. 

[brianc]

Dave Matthews Band

[Mahalo]

Dave Matthews Band

Amen to that.

[the captain]

I'd wholeheartedly agree except that I don't know--does anyone actually rate them highly these days? I know they were popular with college kids a half-dozen years ago ... has it lived on?

[BiNNS]

It seems every "critic" loves them, but i'd say Arcade Fire is on the top of my overrated artists list.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I love The Beatles, all of their periods. But I have tried and tried and tried to appreciate Rubber Soul the way most fans, critics, and polls do, but its greatness escapes me.

[the captain]

i'd say Arcade Fire is on the top of my overrated artists list.

They're high on mine, too. I thought the debut was a good album, and there it was winning "best of" lists and polls that year. Then the follow-up, to me, was just sort of there ... ok, but not particularly good from my point of view. And again, nothing but acclaim.

While we're on the indie side of things, Sufjan Stevens. He's a one-trick pony, a guy who can take a decent 2-minute song and make a tedious 6-minute epic out of it, showing off admittedly good arrangement skills but beating the long-since dead horse.

[kookadams]

Most people don't wanna admit it but the Beatles really are the most overrated band. Yeah they were great but they weren't the greatest, they really weren't; and I know this is debatable but when they got into all that hippie horseshit (post-Rubber Soul) it was all downhill. It's a good thing they broke up when they did. Some people think maybe the Beach Boys should have broke up at the same time, but then we wouldn't have had great albums like Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland, and Love You.

[the captain]

The Beatles may be overrated, but if I say that it's not a slight to them, but the idiots who too-highly rate anything, making it out to be unrealistic perfection. But I still strongly believe they're the best band there ever was in pop music. They consistently made the best records of any band that has ever been. I am glad they broke up when they did, because it means I can always wish there were more to hear. The Beach Boys, to my ears, had one--ONE--album that was as good from start to finish as the Beatles best albums: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road. And that's Pet Sounds. The other albums all have a lot of fine moments, but often as much filler. I'd take Magical Mystery Tour (which I think of as probably the Beatles worst album) over almost any Beach Boys album.

In fact, I think around here (for obvious reasons, being as it's a Beach Boys board) the Beach Boys are the most overrated band.