Most overrated band?

wooster said:
Just for a lighthearted discussion.

I don't know if this has been discussed already but it came from a post I made in another thread where I stated the Rolling Stones have probably made more money from the same 4 chords than even Status Quo. I opined that Mick Jagger spun the band's image cleverly and is more of a businessman than a musician hence their success. IHMO they've done nothing of interest since 1972 and should've quit after Exile on Main Street.

Anyone agree? Or if you know of another band less deserving of their stature I'd like to hear who they are.
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.... I don't agree about the Rolling Stones having done nothing of interest since 1972 but do agree that 'Exile On Main Street' is a classic album - There are stand-out tracks on each of all their albums even if some of their albums aren't so classic as a whole. Keef's wicked but simple riffs are fundamental to their music and their sound has rich layers. They have never forgotten their roots, even now. Their music has always come first and the money just follows - Chase the vision and the dollar will follow.

Taste in music is very individual and it's too easy to over analyse and intellectualise it rather than just enjoy it. Listening on headphones with your eyes closed or dancing to it all night are equally valid.

I have been fortunate enough, having spent 30 years living in Chelsea, to have seen many many bands perform live (including the Rolling Stones several times and even photographed them at Knebworth in 1970-something when I had a back stage pass). I could make a long list of bands I think are great and will always enjoy and that includes some present day ones - Too many of us 'oldies' get stuck and don't progress from the music of their own teenage years.

But this thread is asking for the overrated and so, for me, I would list The Smiths, Amy Whinehouse, Adele, Radiohead - There are many but there are also many more who deserve all the fame and success and that is a very much longer list. There are many underrated bands in my opinion.

For whatever it's worth, my top 3 most played bands are The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the purple genius Prince! But I also play a lot of chilled trance stuff.

Let's face it, just like photography, we ALL create something very worthy occasionally amongst a lot of stuff which is mundane. It's the same with all the arts.
 
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I agree this thread is a meaningless entertainment but it is interesting to hear views. The old saying in the rock business that "anyone is a genius who says they are" is as true today as ever. I guess why so many big names from the past come up is that few modern bands have had time to achieve "legendary" status in the light of mature critical acclaim yet. I reckon in most cases just sheer dogged keeping going is enough to confer status.

As I said I'm most definitely not a fan of most of the Stones stuff. IMHO the only competent musician in that band is Charlie Watts, but who am I to judge? I have a lot of friends who are dyed-in-the-wool fans. Despite my criticism, I'd still say Brown Sugar was probably the perfect rock single. And after Ry Cooder taught Keith how to play a little bit, he did improve to some extent and, oh yeah, Ry also did a good job writing Honky-Tonk Women. (Now, come on! I'm just having a laugh with you Stones fans ;))

OTOH, I absolutely love Radiohead and I would suggest it's impossible to rate them too highly. However, they seem to have come up in the overrated camp as mentioned by a few in this thread. It's interesting that Pink Floyd also features, another band I loved, and I always thought that if they had been born a generation later they would have been Radioheadl ( if that makes any sense at all )

Legends from the past who seem to me to be overrated include Velvet Underground (and Lou Reed's subsequent career). Now, I like VU and LR but the adulation they get is quite astonishing. Nick Drake is another who falls into this category. And is Dylan really worthy of his status?

Maybe as suggested, an underrated band thread would be a good idea to counteract negativity and I was going to start one but then decided not to. The reason is that I believe so many good musicians don't achieve the commercial success less talented colleagues do that it seems daft to pick out individuals. Many of them have cult status or critical acclaim, which is arguably more important than commercial success.
 
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wooster said:
And is Dylan really worthy of his status?
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As a singer possibly not, but as a song writer possibly.

A lot of the "preferences and hates" are I feel down to age as well, depending on the era *you* lived through ...
Bay city rollers anyone?
:D
 
Cobra said:
As a singer possibly not, but as a song writer possibly.

A lot of the "preferences and hates" are I feel down to age as well, depending on the era *you* lived through ...
Bay city rollers anyone?
:D
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Best to leave Mr Glitter out of it though :oops: :$
 
I couldn't class Radiohead as either over or underrated as although I have heard of them, i can't say I have heard any of their music.
 
Marc said:
Indeed. The only song of theirs I knew was Creep but then I had a rummage around on YouTube.
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I know Creep, wouldn't have known it was Radiohead though.
 
nilagin said:
I know Creep, wouldn't have known it was Radiohead though.
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One of those songs that's played on the radio adnauseum, don't think I realised it was Radiohead until fairly recently. Another on is No Surprises.
 
nilagin said:
I know Creep, wouldn't have known it was Radiohead though.
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.... The only song I know, and like, called 'Creep' is by the crazysexycool girl band TLC who were a favourite of Prince and he wrote their hit 'Waterfalls' for them I think.
 
If you are after personal opinions ;) I saw the Rolling Stones once, at Knebworth in the 1970's.

My goodness they were boring. :p
 
Pound Coin said:
If you are after personal opinions ;) I saw the Rolling Stones once, at Knebworth in the 1970's.

My goodness they were boring. :p
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I saw Eric Clapton at Brands Hatch about 10 years ago and he was bloody awful.
Same with Bowie at the NEC in the late 90's.
 
Pound Coin said:
If you are after personal opinions ;) I saw the Rolling Stones once, at Knebworth in the 1970's.

My goodness they were boring. :p
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.... That's the same gig I was at back stage. I wasn't bored and got a lift home to Chelsea with one of the roadies at dawn. Musically it wasn't the best performance I have seen them play live but sometimes it's about more than just the music.
 
RedRobin said:
.... That's the same gig I was at back stage. I wasn't bored and got a lift home to Chelsea with one of the roadies at dawn. Musically it wasn't the best performance I have seen them play live but sometimes it's about more than just the music.
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I hope you had a good time with him.

My memory was that they were late on stage and they weren’t really (at that time?) a stadium band, So they played to the front 100m of customers.
 
viv1969 said:
I saw Eric Clapton at Brands Hatch about 10 years ago and he was bloody awful.
.
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I've seen him a few times too after the first time mainly due to circumstance rather than any desire. I admire his early guitar work but he has absolutely different taste in music to me.

Interestingly I saw him at Brands hatch in 2001. I didn't meant to. I went because Jules Holland Orchestra were backing him and I wanted to see them.
 
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Pound Coin said:
My memory was that they were late on stage and they weren’t really (at that time?) a stadium band, So they played to the front 100m of customers.
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.... Your memory serves you very well - They were very late, about an hour I think, the main reason being lighting problems IIRC but I don't remember exactly what the problem was except that it was technical. I would not have described the audience as "customers" and don't think that they thought of themselves as such either. It was a sea of blue denim hipsters. I guess you were a blue denim hipster.

You are also right about them not yet getting the hang of playing stadiums. Also, the recreational substances in that era didn't help! They were great at Wembley Arena when Billy Preston played keyboards with them but I can't remember whether that was earlier or later than Knebworth but think it was later. Wembley Stadium was definitely later.

I wish I still had my band photos but they are all lost unless I have one album still packed somewhere. I shot black&white film on Nikon in those days and had free use of a friend's darkroom to do my own printing.
 
wooster said:
I went because Jules Holland Orchestra were backing him
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He irritates the hell out of me!
But of course that's a personal opinion, he wasn't too terrible in Squeeze though.
 
Cobra said:
He irritates the hell out of me!
But of course that's a personal opinion, he wasn't too terrible in Squeeze though.
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.... Jules Holland greatly irritates me too. I think it's just that his manner grates on my senses. And I think that his solo piano playing is a bit overrated too - He's simply not in the same class as quite a few other piano players in my opinion.
 
...and Motorhead, they'd been dining out on Ace Of Spades their entire career.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Good list, not sure about Kraftwerk though, really influential and pioneers of electronic music.
Very low key band, no hint of them in Dusseldorf their home city, I asked when I was there, nothing of note.
Played theTrans Europe Express album only last week, that actual train was pretty cool too.
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Totally agree about Kraftwerk, they're highly rated and deservedly so because of they were totally innovative, literally inventing instruments to get the sounds they wanted , they influenced a whole host of bands, particularly the 80s synth pop bands like Ultravox but also early hip-hop and electro. You can still hear their influence today.
 
praxis said:
Radiohead.
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I think Radiohead deserve all the plaudits and critical acclaim they get, They're a unique band who have never been happy to just rest on their laurels and let the cash flow in. After the worldwide success of Creep they could have easily churned out more of the same, but instead they went off in totally different directions for each subsequent album, bringing in a wide range of influences. And they're awesome live too.
 
chris954 said:
The Smiths, monotonous dreary clap trap.
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This is an accusation often leveled at The Smiths, along with "music to slit your wrists to", etc. but if you listen to their songs they're actually full of humour. I'll concede Morrisey has a bit of a marmite voice though, it took me a while to get over that to see the genius in their music
 
Mumbles said:
Totally agree about Kraftwerk
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Yeah Autobahn those lyrics must have taken them years to write . ( for anyone that doesn't know)

We drive, drive, drive on the motorway

Before us is a wide valley
The sun shines with gilttering rays

The road is a gray band
White stripes, green edge

Now we are switching the radio on
From the speaker sounds:

We drive on the motorway..

How they ever remembered them all I'll never know..

"The Model" on the other hand was a reasonable presentation.


RedRobin said:
He's simply not in the same class as quite a few other piano players in my opinion.
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Liberace anyone ? :D
 
RedRobin said:
.... Jules Holland greatly irritates me too. I think it's just that his manner grates on my senses. And I think that his solo piano playing is a bit overrated too - He's simply not in the same class as quite a few other piano players in my opinion.
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I agree about his manner. I do like his piano playing, though he isn't exactly a technical virtuoso. But then there's an awful lot of barely competent musicians in the pop and rock game, (though lets not do that one again ;) )

What he does have though, is taste, which is never to be underestimated. It's what I was suggesting Eric Clapton hasn't got an abundance of, and what makes him so often, a tedious performer.
 
Mumbles said:
I think Radiohead deserve all the plaudits and critical acclaim they get, They're a unique band who have never been happy to just rest on their laurels and let the cash flow in. After the worldwide success of Creep they could have easily churned out more of the same, but instead they went off in totally different directions for each subsequent album, bringing in a wide range of influences. And they're awesome live too.
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Best concert I ever went to was Radiohead. I love them to bits.
 
Cobra said:
Yeah Autobahn those lyrics must have taken them years to write . ( for anyone that doesn't know)

We drive, drive, drive on the motorway

Before us is a wide valley
The sun shines with gilttering rays

The road is a gray band
White stripes, green edge

Now we are switching the radio on
From the speaker sounds:

We drive on the motorway..

How they ever remembered them all I'll never know..

"The Model" on the other hand was a reasonable presentation.
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I'm not sure, but I thought the monotonous alienation theme was the Kraftwerk thing illustrated by the lyrics. Mind you I could be talking mince
 
Cobra said:
Yeah Autobahn those lyrics must have taken them years to write . ( for anyone that doesn't know)

We drive, drive, drive on the motorway

Before us is a wide valley
The sun shines with gilttering rays

The road is a gray band
White stripes, green edge

Now we are switching the radio on
From the speaker sounds:

We drive on the motorway..

How they ever remembered them all I'll never know..

"The Model" on the other hand was a reasonable presentation.
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There's more to a song than just the lyrics, and lyrics aren't really Kraftwerk's thing, they're more about the melody and atmosphere of a song. Also, bare in mind English is not their first language, so that they had English lyrics at all is something. I doubt many English bands could produce lyrics in German of much greater complexity.
 
wooster said:
but I thought the monotonous alienation theme was the Kraftwerk thing
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iirc most of their lyrics are very repetitive and monotonous, that was pretty much my ( sarcastic) point.
 
Mumbles said:
I doubt many English bands could produce lyrics in German of much greater complexity.
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The example I quoted is a translation from the original ( in ) German track.

Love them or hate them ABBA did a damn fine job of singing in their second language.
With sometimes complex lyrics.
 
It's all a matter of taste though.

I've never been into rock/metal or whatever, but love listening to a great guitar riff. When I was at school (the 70's) I didn't like a lot of the music around then, but now I love listening to stuff like Bread, Supertramp, Climax Blues band etc.

But as for overrated, for me it has to be Oasis. People on here have mentioned that Amy Winehouse couldn't sing, well I tell you, the Gallagher brothers could hardly talk, let alone sing....

And Abba, Jesus what was all that about (and don't get me on to the Bay City Rollers!!!).....
 
Cobra said:
The example I quoted is a translation from the original ( in ) German track.

Love them or hate them ABBA did a damn fine job of singing in their second language.
With sometimes complex lyrics.
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Yeah, but they were s***, another one for the list of overrated bands imho. :)
 
Cobra said:
Love them or hate them ABBA did a damn fine job of singing in their second language.
With sometimes complex lyrics.
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.... I wonder if they would have been so successful without the very sexy Agnetha though - I certainly never bothered to listen to their lyrics! Great pop music and in my opinion not overrated at all. Pop is simply pop and we don't all want to listen to bands being intellectual and trying too hard - For me, good music is about emotion and rhythm and not intellect.

I wonder how many of you think that Jimi Hendrix was overrated?
 
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