Poll: Bands you don't hate but still think are overrated....

[vi5]

I have more than a few of these. Like the bands...respect the bands....just don't think they are as great as people make them out to be and think that a lot of their perceived "brilliance" comes simply from their fame more than anything else.:

Radiohead: I have every album. I enjoy most of their stuff (some more than others). But an above average britpop band who suddenly decide to place production and full instrumentation with a few computer blips and electronic noises does not a visionary, avante garde artist make. I respect the fact that they've been able to maintain their popularity despite completely abandoning their original sound. But they were a great british rock band, they are simply a below average Thrill Jockey-esque post-rock band.

The White Stripes: O.K. a band with just a guitarist and a drummer (the latter barely being able to play her instrument) who become super popular playing deconstructed blues punk is in and of itself pretty cool. I just don't see where they are this brilliant rock band simply because they had some cool marketing gimmicks that brought them some press and notoriety. They should be paying Jon Spencer royalties that's for sure. Same as above. Good, but not as great as people make them out to be.

Tool: Pretty much same as above. Don't hate them, but don't get what the fuss is over. I've heard all the albums and just acting weird doesn't make one a brilliant musician. Pretty much monotonous riffs repeated ad nauseum over steady rythms with obtuse lyrics thrown on top. Not bad, but not original or groundbreaking.

[populistmom]

1. Aerosmith

Ok, but I can't believe they've been around this long still successful.

[vi5]

2. Yeah...whoda thunk that one....

I think what sets them apart is that their new stuff is actually more succesful than their old stuff.

[jonnyblitz]

19. I agree .

Highly overrated.

[Loonman]

3. Rancid

Never could explain their popularity.

They don't suck, but they aren't terribly original, either.

[jonnyblitz]

20. yup. them too.

Cool haircuts but who cares.....

[stinkeefresh]

4. Pearl Jam

I know its cool that they're as anti-corporate as a band on a major label could be, but all their songs seem to be written from the POV of the bully or the asshole. And that bugs me.

As my friend said in the 90's: "every decade needs its 'Journey'"

[ProfessorGAC]

5. I'll Get Flamed For This, But, Oh Well

Springsteen - Overproduced musically, or stripped so bare as to lose any intensity

The Stones - Excepting Mick Taylor, i don't get a band that doesn't care if they're in tune and if the singer is hitting the notes.

Neil Young - I just don't get it. I actively dislike his guitar playing and think his lyrics are overrated.

Black Crows - So derivitive that i don't hear the attraction.

Kiss - All flash no substance. Don't really hate them, but someone tape Simmons' and Stanley's mouth shut, please.

There's more, but why belabor this?
The Professor

[vi5]

6. I can see all of those....

And agree with maybe 50% of it.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. The White Stripes I find mystifyingly successful.

In my esteemed critical assesment, they're shite.

[5thGenDemocrat]

8. The Doors

I just did not get Jim Morrison as the "poet/musician." Don't get me wrong -- 'LA Woman' is a great tune, and 'Texas Radio' is one of my very favorites. But overall? Ehhh.
My biggest "disappointment" in a concert was the Rolling Stones. Fortunately, the Stones opened with Iggy Pop and Santana (believe it or not) and, Carlos, especially, was unforgettable.
John
Actually, my BIGGEST concert disappointment was the Cowboy Junkies -- but they're on a smaller scale than the Stones.

[ThomWV]

9. Beatles

Most over rated group of all time.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Them's Fightin' Words

And you are just so wrong, i don't know where to start. So, i won't bother. Your mind is too closed.
The Professor

[vi5]

11. THANK YOU!!!!!

Again, I don't hate them. I just don't get the hubub.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Then You Need To Listen More Carefully

The Professor

[Goldmund]

17. I'm with you,

Professor.

18. It's an age thing Professor

That's my guess anyway.
Anyone younger than a certain age is less likely to "get" the Beatles because they weren't present for the sonic circumstances that were the environment when the Beatles appeared. Since the Beatles changed the sonic map, these days a lot of the sonic experience comes from innovations of the Beatles, but that may not be obvious to someone who came into being once this change had already happened.
Know what I mean?

[ProfessorGAC]

23. I Agree Completely

That's why i think the solution is to listen more carefully. The nuance and non-traditional instrumentation is only heard if one is paying attention. In 1966 a sitar would have jumped out of the speakers. So would a piccolo trumpet.

Today, one has to pay attention to notice these things and then make the effort to understand the impact of that stuff almost 40 years ago.

I don't make excuses for the age thing. If they're going to take a position that the Beatles are overrated, they had better taken the time to listen to it carefully within the context of the time. If they haven't, then they need to drop the attitude.

The Professor

27. yep

& I thought I would mention, that I personally think the Beatles are one of the greatest bands ever. I've been listening to them since around the time they hit the U.S. 40 years ago.....40 years ago? jeez, time flies.

I was thinking of this the other day, maybe those that don't "get" the Beatles may gain some insight from it. I remember in junior high when they put a juke box in the cafeteria. 1969. That, in and of itself, was pretty radical. The time of dress codes when the principal would stop you in the hall and tell you to get a haircut if your hair was past your ears, etc. So on this juke box was "Hey Jude". The thing was the B-side was "Revolution" , the electric version. So hear it is at lunch and someone puts the B-side on and the whole cafeteria fills up with that heavy feedback electric guitar of the start of the song. The shock value of it and the subversion of putting that particular song on the B-side of Hey Jude is something that one understands better if one was alive at the time and realizes how staid the country was in many ways then. These days, if someone hears that song they may not get it, unless they delve deeper into it and really try to comprehend what it must have sounded like at the time....

[cade]

24. it doesn't strike a vibe with the younger generation

beatles have been so often imatated and duplicated it doesn't seem visionary to someone who heard another band that had similar sound, song stylings, guitar playing ,lyrics, etc.
Especially when you heard the other band first, then the beatles many years later.
Some people fawn over the Beatles and some think Eminem is the shit. There are merits to both, both can make you think. Both are hyped to thier niche audience. Neither are all that engrossing to me personally.
For the record I like Motorhead, The Sundays, Danzig, Garbage, Iron Maiden, Patsy Cline ( a little ) and a large chunk of anything I feel is well done or at least heartfelt.
Older music is good music but it's kind of like looking at a model T and saying wow...... Or being run over by a nitro funny car and going WOW!!!!! Which is the effect strived for by Nuclear Assualt, Overkill, Mega-deth and the speed metal genere.

I can't stand bands that are more fasion show ( brittney spears and that kind of stuff ) . Sex may sell , but I get enough without having to buy more.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Read My Reply to 56Kid

I won't repeat it here, but i don't accept that excuse for someone expressing such a ridiculous opinion. Ignorance is not an excuse. It's only a reason.
The Professor

[cade]

28. well, I have listened

and I do know people consider it visionary. But I still don't really care for the Beatles.
I'm not that old, I don't do ( and don't condone ) drugs. As with most bands some of thier songs are shallow and some have alot more meaning. Some people would say the same about Michel Jackson. Both are overrated.
Being the first to do something doesn't equate to being the best at it.
Niether do my tastes reflect those of other people, I accept that. However, I won't spend alot of time debating something that was out dated before I was born, they aren't worth it and I don't desire to make an enemy over a trival issue.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. I Didn't Say Listen

I said listen carefully.

But, there is no point is beating this up. You have your opinion and i have mine. Mine is that you're wrong and that if you listened carefully enough, you'd realize that.

But, enough. Have a nice holiday.
The Professor

[MrBenchley]

13. Rolling Stones

Most of their stuff leaves me cold.

[kmla]

14. The Rolling Stones...

I got off of their cloud long ago. They should retire. It is embarrassing to watch them strut (or try to, anyway).

Stayin' a bit too long at the party, methinks....

[5thGenDemocrat]

15. I saw them at the Silverdome in 1981

And Mick Jagger strutting about in a Detroit Lions jersey looked like -- well, a five-year-old running around in dad's pajama top.
John
I'd still give the Stones a solid "B" for their efforts, but -- you know == they're supposed to be the "World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band," and they weren't that night.
That's all -- I had a REAL good evening (that's another story, sometime) but I expected more from them. And I still have the tour shirt.

[frylock]

16. u2

[ErasureAcer]

21. no way

U2 rock.

Pick up their War album...one of my top 10 of all time.

Pure brilliance.

[LastKnight]

22. where to start... where to start?

pretty much all pop acts... save a few that... well no all of em.

ALL country, except the man in black

3 doors down
creed
staind
all punk of the last 8-10 years

-LK

[terryg11]

26. definitely the white stripes

I think they are all right but wht's the fuss about? their music is'nt original by any stretch and the lyrics are run of the mill. hmmm.

Tool? Yeah, I could agree with that but I still find them totally bad. those monotonous riffs combined with those pounding (and I mean pounding!!) drums are just too cool. Not to mention they actually have some memorable lyrics. Learn to swim, learn to swim...

[Leftist78]

29. ok...don't hate?

hmm...overrated

Tool: Never got what was so revolutionary about them. They're ok but not that great.

The Rolling Stones: They've got a few good songs, but they're not the rock gods that so many people make them out to be.

The Offspring: Their first two albums were pretty good, but everything else they've done is crap. I don't know why they're still around

Simon and Garfunkel: too white-bread for me. Always struck me as a more mellow generic version of Dylan

The Cure: never got it. too pretentious for me I guess

[jonnyblitz]

31. the thing with Tool is

the live performance. I didnt see what the big woop was bout their CD's until I saw them live and was completely floored. Now I would want to go see them everytime they played in my area. twice even.
I hung out in goth clubs all through the 80's and early 90's and NEVER liked the Cure if that is what type of music they are supposed to be.

[Bundbuster]

32. Grateful Dead

When Jerry Garcia died, a friend said "Grateful (he's) Dead" - don't flame me, I didn't say it. Every song sounded the same, self-absorbed rambling, no one could sing a note.

Similar feelings on the Rolling Stones, with Mick's strutting to boot.