The most overrated band and/or singer

I love this thread. I like how the things the some people find terribly annoying about one band is the exact thing that some others like.

Personally, I can't stand Foo Fighters. I don't see the genius, just a bunch of chords and uninteresting songs. Lyrically he's not bad, but the actual music is so bland, usually.

And I have to agree with the Beatles. I do like their music, and I can appreciate what they did for pop music back in the day, but they weren't as good as their massive popularity would suggest. Same with Elvis. Yes, good musicians (Well, in the case of Elvis a decent singer), but just had "That Thing" that made them super popular. I like to pretend that if those guys hadn't come along, SOMEONE would have been huge in their place. I think the people and times were just ready for superstars then.

But most of all I think ANYONE who uses autotune as a standard studio element is overrated. I'd much rather listen to a true performance, even if it's not the greatest, than a 'perfect' autotuned singer. After the couple of "special effect" songs came out, autotune got old fast.

I got plenty more, but in general I can take or leave most musicians/bands. They are what they are.

Not going for overrated here but on the music theme - I saw the Eagles last month live. Those guys are still amazing at age 65+.

U2/Bono. I didn't like them when they were new, but that's OK, some bands you like, some you don't. As time went on, Bono & U2 continued to piss me off, and every time I turned on the radio, there was U2. Now Bono wants to be a political activist. Fine. If he wants to dabble in politics, I think he should go back to Ireland & start there. I don't try to tell Ireland, or any other country how they should run things, and I don't tell Bono how to sing; Bono should have the common courtesy to do the same...
I think Bono should shut his fooking mouth.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

U2/Bono. I didn't like them when they were new, but that's OK, some bands you like, some you don't. As time went on, Bono & U2 continued to piss me off, and every time I turned on the radio, there was U2. Now Bono wants to be a political activist. Fine. If he wants to dabble in politics, I think he should go back to Ireland & start there. I don't try to tell Ireland, or any other country how they should run things, and I don't tell Bono how to sing; Bono should have the common courtesy to do the same...
I think Bono should shut his fooking mouth.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

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Ditto! I think they peaked with Live Under a Blood Red Sky and it has been down hill from there. I thought their early stuff, like I Will Follow was pretty good and they were like a second-rate Church... it perturbs me that they became super stars and The Church only had one big hit here.

gratus fermentatio said:

U2/Bono. I didn't like them when they were new, but that's OK, some bands you like, some you don't. As time went on, Bono & U2 continued to piss me off, and every time I turned on the radio, there was U2. Now Bono wants to be a political activist. Fine. If he wants to dabble in politics, I think he should go back to Ireland & start there. I don't try to tell Ireland, or any other country how they should run things, and I don't tell Bono how to sing; Bono should have the common courtesy to do the same...
I think Bono should shut his fooking mouth.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

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I couldn't agree more. I used to be a big fan. I've seen a bunch of shows, but when he started preaching in the middle of his shows, it was quite annoying. I bet even the band was annoyed. Shut up and sing.

Meanwhile, at a U2 concert in Glasgow...

Bono (slowly clapping his hands): Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.

Scotsman in the front row: Then quit clappin yer hands, ye sadistic basterd!


(This isn't true, but made the internet rounds a few years back.. and is still kinda funny.)

GrogNerd said:

listen to the Foo Fighters and then tell me who the true musical genius was in Nirvana

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Kinda odd because Dave wouldn't submit his material to be played in Nirvana as he felt Kurts material was better or at least better for that particular band.

TBH the concept is a bit too subjective to personal prefferences.

As mentioned earlier in the thread that Kurt was rated a better guitar player than S.R.V. .......from a virtuostic standpoint there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that Kurt played better than S.R.V. but Kurt did have a huge influence over antire genre of music whereas S.R.V. does indeed influence blues players still to this day but more of a narrower part of blues vs the entire genre of blues (admittedly blues has a much broader range than grunge but that could be a different subject on its own)

Overrated......anything that is on "heavy rotation" on any pop music station.
ie-brittany whore/spears,whorely cyrus,kanye west (if you even classify him as a musician)

As far as classic rock bands and overrated imho are these groups.
The Who.
Lynard Skynard.
The rolling Stones.
Metallica black album and newer (thier older stuff written by Burton/Mustain was good as was AJFA...after that maybe 1-2 good songs per album if that.)

That's a good one, The Who. I forgot about them. What about The Grateful Dead. Even when I was stoned or hallucinating ( hallucinating on life I might add), I still didn't like them.

I basically stopped listening to all new music around '90, but didn't really notice for 10 years until I pinpointed the 2 specific incidents that lead to it

August 27, 1990 - SRV died
September 10, 1991 - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" released

Bulls Beers said:

That's a good one, The Who. I forgot about them. What about The Grateful Dead. Even when I was stoned or hallucinating ( hallucinating on life I might add), I still didn't like them.

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I was just going to say, Grateful Dead. Over rated for sure, as well as their retarded little brothers, Phish.
:fro:

fenderbass said:

I was just going to say, Grateful Dead. Over rated for sure, as well as their retarded little brothers, Phish.
:fro:

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I totally can't stand Phish, or the hype surrounding them.

But in the words of Anthrax: "Everyone has the right to suck."

Coldplay

Radiohead

Can't stand either of them!

cwdrake said:

Radiohead

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That would probably be my top vote for this thread.

The Beach Boys and Green Day.

I have really weird musical tastes - I'll be the first to admit it. Part does come from playing guitar (another Les Paul guy here, mine's a 2002 Standard in Light Burst, among way too many other guitars) and selling them for several years - I got to hear the latest and greatest riffs played over and over (wrong) at extremely high volume every day.

IMO the most overrated band is Van Halen. Don't get me wrong, EVH did turn rock guitar on it's ear in the late 70s when they came out, but he's still running on the same licks he did back then. Can't stand David Lee Roth's voice and that multi-pitch scream he does EVERY NOTE!!!!! Not a fan of kicking Michael Anthony out in favor of Eddie's kid...
John Mayer also way overrated. Didn't like him from back when he was a teenybopper heartthrob, then all of a sudden he was a hardcore blues guy. Also stealing every lick he plays.

jrgtr42 said:

IMO the most overrated band is Van Halen. Don't get me wrong, EVH did turn rock guitar on it's ear in the late 70s when they came out, but he's still running on the same licks he did back then. Can't stand David Lee Roth's voice and that multi-pitch scream he does EVERY NOTE!!!!! Not a fan of kicking Michael Anthony out in favor of Eddie's kid...
John Mayer also way overrated. Didn't like him from back when he was a teenybopper heartthrob, then all of a sudden he was a hardcore blues guy. Also stealing every lick he plays.

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Van Hagar was pretty much the sh*t though.. but only because I've always been a huge fan of the Red Rocker.

John Mayer is garbage. I couldn't believe how bad he actually was during one of Clapton's Crossroads benefits.

Pearl jam

Everyone loves them and you can never understand what the singer is saying. Eddie veder even did a solo album that I also think sucks.

Billy Joel sucked after his first couple of albums, ride that Fame, till it throws you..

Bulls Beers said:

I'm sure you guys will name some bands that I love, but Bob Dylan is just horrible. Maybe one good album. For 30 years people think he's a genius. I just don't get it.

Oh and the Dave Matthews Band. Mediocre at best, but I think is totally overrated.

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Well, you and me are enemies now.



One of the best songs ever.



The best song ever.

brewmcq said:

You nailed it.

Overrated.. whatever "boy band" is currently popular.

Speaking of which.. why aren't there "girl bands"? Oh, that's right.. because a bunch of 40-something year-old soccer dads swooning over teenage girls is considered "bad form".

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Google search K pop... There's your girl bands right there. Me and my buddy drink shoji at a local Korea watering hole, and joke that the TV programs they show are like the last decade, 10 years from the future, lol.

Always like the Dead, but never clicked with Phish, the band viewed by many to be Dead's heir apparent after Garcia died. I tried to like them, I really did. Even bought a few albums. Just didn't do it for me.

Same effect with the "southern rock" boom in the '70s after the Skynyrd plane crash. Bands like Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Blackfoot, etc., coming out of the woodwork to try to take their place. None of them could compose and put it together like Van Zant & company. And nobody did that genre better than the Allman Brothers Band. Check out At Fillmore East. Awesome.

Donnie was the Van Zant with real talent.

Bulls Beers said:

Here's another I just thought of, Jimmy Buffet.

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Absofriginlutely

These threads always make me chuckle cause name a band and someone will agree with you. I've seen pretty much everyband called overrated. If someone has fans and sells, they're overrated by someone.

Though some common listed bands/singers I haven't seen here yet (sure they'd get in here eventually)

KISS
Elton John
Queen
David Bowie
Aerosmith
Genesis
Sinatra
MJ
Neil Diamond


I'll stop there before I take the thunder out of this thread. Keep on hating everyone

I gotta go home and put water in Buck Nasty's mama's dish.

Eric Clapton. I cannot sit through a single one of his god-awful, boring songs. And to make matters worse, he seems absolutely full of himself.

GrogNerd said:

dylan's a GREAT songwriter, horrible singer

overrated band + singer = Nirvana & Kurt Cobain

listen to the Foo Fighters and then tell me who the true musical genius was in Nirvana

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As soon as i saw this thread, this was my first thought. I can't stand Nirvana/Kurt Cobain. Glad there are more people out there that dislike him as much as i do!!

Krovitz said:

Eric Clapton. I cannot sit through a single one of his god-awful, boring songs. And to make matters worse, he seems absolutely full of himself.

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He was SO much better in the 60's and 70's when he was on drugs.

brewmcq said:

He was SO much better... when he was on drugs.

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can say this about so many artists

GrogNerd said:

can say this about so many artists

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Sadly, that's so true.

Dead on. When people are young, they are creative. When they are on drugs, they are creative. When they are young and on drugs, they are rock gods.

Homercidal said:

Dead on. When people are young, they are creative. When they are on drugs, they are creative. When they are young and on drugs, they are rock gods.

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And after they OD, they are immortalized.

I'll have to disagree with Skynyrd being overrated

Yeah, I know, Free Bird & Sweet Home Alabama are probably the most overplayed songs on classic rock radio along with Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven, Smoke on the Water, and Steve Miller Band's entire catalog.

but there's a couple songs that I can still listen to; Call Me the Breeze, Whiskey Rock n Roller & Down South Jukin' (to name only 3). mostly because they aren't played on the radio at all (well, they might play Breeze once a year)

Whiskey Rock n Roller is one that I love playing in our band and we would play the other two, if I had the chops

if you can stand it, listen to the deep tracks from Street Survivors or the live album. pick out Steve Gaines' guitar parts and you'll understand what a great guitar player he was.

it's 2 days short of 36 years since he and his sister died. he was only 28

ill4delph said:

As soon as i saw this thread, this was my first thought. I can't stand Nirvana/Kurt Cobain. Glad there are more people out there that dislike him as much as i do!!

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We're enemies now.

Just a heads up, so are many of the rest of you.

ill4delph said:

As soon as i saw this thread, this was my first thought. I can't stand Nirvana/Kurt Cobain. Glad there are more people out there that dislike him as much as i do!!

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I'll do you one better. I'm not normally a hateful type person, but I've often said the greatest thing that happened to music is that Cobain killed himself. I shudder to think where music would be today if he lived.

I get the tortured artist thing...whatever, but don't take the 30 pieces of silver and then spend your life b!tching about it. The grunge era was characterized by a certain ideology all around, not just from Cobain, and other bands made active worthwhile stands at risk to themselves, their popularity, and their finances (a la Pearl Jam v. Ticketmaster).

Cobain lived his life completely contrary to what his ideology supposedly was, but wanted to brood about and try to gain pity all the time.

Whiny b!tch.

I've often said the greatest thing that happened to music is that Cobain killed himself.

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I don't know man, I'd argue that Mark David Chapman was probably the best thing that happened to music.

Ouch. Too mean? Probably a little. Sorry about that.

I think it needs to be said that for each band/person mentioned, the time that they broke and were popular, they were great. Musical taste changes - along with generational intellegence (down, down, down it goes)... lol sorry... just had to do that. It's an "all music from my time is great, all music from your time just sucks" mentality.

Dylan was a good singer/performer for his time. As he got older, something happened to him. He became lethargic and his voice just turned to crap. But still a genious. I believe he had hits in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Not to shabby for an over rated artist.

The Beatles... anyone that disagrees with the fact that they changed the entire way we think about, listen to, score, and perform music, just doesn't get it. Their music may not be contemporary today, but it is several decades old. They had hits in the 60's and 70's. The band members went on to have hits in the 70's, 80's and 90's. McCartney still sells out every arena he plays... even in his 70's. Again... not too shabby for over rated artists.

I don't criticize legitimate musicians. They were all important for a time to someone or to many. Any person that is able to make music for a living - a good living at that - is doing something that the absolute greatest majority of us can't do. If they make a mark in the process, all the better.

joeychopps said:

pearl jam

everyone loves them and you can never understand what the singer is saying. Eddie veder even did a solo album that i also think sucks.

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wrong

Bruce Springsteen annoys the crap out of me. Way Overrated IMHO.

Grateful Dead :rockin:
Pearl Jam :rockin:
RHCP :rockin:

But hey, we all have opinions.

ICWiener said:

I don't know man, I'd argue that Mark David Chapman was probably the best thing that happened to music.

Ouch. Too mean? Probably a little. Sorry about that.

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LOL!!! Blanked for a minute and actually had to look this one up, but really...that is the point I've always tried to make with Cobain.

These "artists" gain super-stardom and then think they are Jesus Freakin' Christ incarnate and it's their duty to change the world.

Post Beatles, Lennon suffered from the same over inflated ego that Cobain had, and someone called him on it. Not saying that Chapman wasn't off his rocker, but still...trying to make a point here.

These guys are part of the ENTERTAINMENT industry, and need to stop taking themselves so seriously.

Crank the organ grinder little monkeys and please me. I don't give a frog's fat a$$ what you political or economic views are.