Most overrated band?

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.

Don't think its to do with any translation issues, they just adapted reptitive lyrics to fit the music.
One of my favourites is Pocket Calculator "by pressing down the special key it plays a little melody"
The Scorpions are German, but they have always sung in English albeit with an accent.
Tokyo Tapes, now that's a great live album, saw them at Reading in 79, brilliant set
 
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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.

There is no such thing as an English version of Autobahn. It has only ever been sung in German. What was quoted was a translation.
 
Don't think its to do with any translation issues, they just adapted reptitive lyrics to fit the music.
One of my favourites is Pocket Calculator "by pressing down the special key it plays a little melody"
The Scorpions are German, but they have always sung in English albeit with an accent.
Tokyo Tapes, now that's a great live album, saw them at Reading in 79, brilliant set

Pocket Calculator is a great track! They also did it in Japanese, Dentaku.
 
.... 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?

I certainly don't think he was overrated. Experience I liked, Band of gipsies not so much. What he did with and for the electric guitar is not up for debate though in my opinion. From the extremes of star spangled banner to the sublime Little Wing the guy could play anything. No guitarist of a certain age will ever forget the first time they heard Purple Haze. The guy was a genius.
 
The thing with Hendrix is that he died after a very short time, so never had a chance to become old, fat, turgid tedious asnd drug-addled. But yes, he transformed the music scene of the time for a particular set of tastes, and I remember the music press (for musicians - not the publicity driven tat like NME) in the late 70s and early 80s describing guitarists in rock bands as being Hendrix or Blackmore style players.

There was an earlier comment about Clapton not being tasteful, but like Dave Gilmour, the opposite is true. He'll carefully choose a few notes to express himself, rather than a great armful with so much redundancy. I've been playing with a covers band recently, and nailing a reasonably authentic Clapton sound and feel is pretty darn hard work for all but the early wig-out stuff.
 
The thing with Hendrix is that he died after a very short time, so never had a chance to become old, fat, turgid tedious asnd drug-addled. But yes, he transformed the music scene of the time for a particular set of tastes, and I remember the music press (for musicians - not the publicity driven tat like NME) in the late 70s and early 80s describing guitarists in rock bands as being Hendrix or Blackmore style players.

There was an earlier comment about Clapton not being tasteful, but like Dave Gilmour, the opposite is true. He'll carefully choose a few notes to express himself, rather than a great armful with so much redundancy. I've been playing with a covers band recently, and nailing a reasonably authentic Clapton sound and feel is pretty darn hard work for all but the early wig-out stuff.

Our Eric never got the full attention he deserves. His work on the Beano album, Disraeli gears and Unplugged are stand outs for me. His tone is very elusive
 
ABBA were excellent.

I don't believe the Bay City Rollers were really rated at all so I'm not counting them.

I do agree Oasis were pretty overrated though.
 
I guess there's the contribution of the guitarist's technique on the one hand, and on the other there's the total end product.

Clapton is a mystery to me which was kind of my point. Yes he can play well enough and certainly did in his heyday and I also agree about his Mayall and Cream years, and the Unplugged album ( I would also include the Layla album), but the end result for most of his musical career is pretty pedestrian.

I don't find the comparison with Dave Gilmour true either: I hold Dave in much higher regard - and he never even had the advantage of playing with the Bluesbreakers ;)

Talking of Bluesbreakers - what about Peter Green? Wow! I love him much more than Clapton.

And then the Yardbirds - don't let's forget Jeff Beck the best guitarist who played with them.


Obviously all just my opinion and no more valid than anyone else's who holds the opposite view

I also love Hendrix. Enough said.

The two guitarists I've admired most are probably Richie Blackmore and Albert Lee though neither churned out memorable songs other than most of Machine Head/In Rock for Richie. Rainbow was a bit "meh" and what's all the stuff with his missus about?
 
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I guess there's the contribution of the guitarist's technique on the one hand, and on the other there's the total end product.

Clapton is a mystery to me which was kind of my point. Yes he can play well enough and certainly did in his heyday and I also agree about his Mayall and Cream years, and the Unplugged album ( I would also include the Layla album), but the end result for most of his musical career is pretty pedestrian.

I don't find the comparison with Dave Gilmour true either: I hold Dave in much higher regard - and he never even had the advantage of playing with the Bluesbreakers ;)

Talking of Bluesbreakers - what about Peter Green? Wow! I love him much more than Clapton.

Obviously all just my opinion and no more valid than anyone else's who holds the opposite view

I also love Hendrix. Enough said.

The two guitarists I've admired most are probably Richie Blackmore and Albert Lee though neither churned out memorable songs other than most of Machine Head/In Rock for Richie. Rainbow was a bit "meh" and what's all the stuff with his missus about?

Peter green was special. Criminal what they did to him at that party.

I read Albert as Alvin. Not quite the same! :thinking:
 
Peter green was special. Criminal what they did to him at that party.

I read Albert as Alvin. Not quite the same! :thinking:

Funnily, the first time I heard of Albert was when he was playing with Heads Hands and Feet ( with the guy from Chas 'n Dave ) backing Deep Purple in Glasgow in 1970. I was pretty young then and he blew me away. The singer kept referring to "the great Albert Lee" after each song and my mate misheard him and I spent most of the concert wondering if it was Alvin and saying how different he looked in real life. It was only later I found out who he was and a lifelong admiration followed.
 
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Man, I'm off on one now! I'll be up all night with my mind going round ;)

What about Mark Knopfler. I greatly admired his playing but never really got into Dire Straits much.
 
Man, I'm off on one now! I'll be up all night with my mind going round ;)

What about Mark Knopfler. I greatly admired his playing but never really got into Dire Straits much.

I like Dire Straits. Marks outro on tunnel of love is great. I can play it but far from nailing it.
Just to keep you awake. How good could Paul Kossoff have been?
 
Guitarists are another very subjective topic, my favourite is Michael Schenker, also like Ted Nugent and the late Randy Rhoads
 
Clapton is a mystery to me which was kind of my point. Yes he can play well enough and certainly did in his heyday and I also agree about his Mayall and Cream years, and the Unplugged album ( I would also include the Layla album), but the end result for most of his musical career is pretty pedestrian.

.... Hmm, I find it difficult to see how anyone can call Eric Clapton "pedestrian" even if you prefer other lead guitarists. Have a listen to him here - You might change your mind :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4TIFS3yzo

Btw, Stevie Winwood is a very underrated guitar player.
 
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Guitarists are another very subjective topic, my favourite is Michael Schenker, also like Ted Nugent and the late Randy Rhoads

Strange. They leave me cold. A bit like Joe Bonamassa does. Its all there, apart from the bit thats missing. (For me).
 
Guitarists are another very subjective topic, my favourite is Michael Schenker, also like Ted Nugent and the late Randy Rhoads
I wasn't aware how good Prince was as a guitarist until I saw this..
 
Strange. They leave me cold. A bit like Joe Bonamassa does. Its all there, apart from the bit thats missing. (For me).

Once again, personal taste is preventing assessment as to whether a band/musician is over-rated or not. There are plenty of musicians/bands I'd prefer not to have to endure, but they've all been quite influential in their own ways. Prince as Rick mentioned is an excellent example - amazingly able guitarist who I've seen mentioned as a successor to Hendrix, but not at all my cup of tea who (to me) wasted his talent on disposable songs and glittery clothes - yet had a considerable influence in the music world.

If Bonamassa had been playing 20 years earlier he'd have been massively influential, but now he's just a niche guitarist playing to a smallish group of fans.
 
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Heres one to toss in there- Brian Jones.

Never did enough while alive to be over or under-rated, now effectively disappeared.

One I will add to the list - despite actually liking his music a lot - is Carlos Santana. Been going a long time, had just a couple of key early hits and albums, never a truly great player even though he's earned classic status through longevity.
 
Strange. They leave me cold. A bit like Joe Bonamassa does. Its all there, apart from the bit thats missing. (For me).

I know what you mean about Bonamassa. Good assessment IMHO


I loved Gary Moore. He sent chills :cool:
 
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Slightly different genre but Ry Cooder for sure. Love that guy's playing
 
.... Hmm, I find it difficult to see how anyone can call Eric Clapton "pedestrian" even if you prefer other lead guitarists. Have a listen to him here - You might change your mind :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4TIFS3yzo

Btw, Stevie Winwood is a very underrated guitar player.

Its not his playing, its the bliddy awful songs.

I like Stevie Winwood. IIRC he's a church organist now
 
Considering total finished product rather than constituent parts; how about bands who made songwriters sound great. The Bad Seeds spring to mind. Nick might have some great ideas but they'd be nothing without them.
 
I know what you mean about Bonamassa. Good assessment IMHO


I loved Gary Moore. He sent chills :cool:

How long does he hold that note in Parisian Walkways.? Great but overplayed a bit for me.
 
Never did enough while alive to be over or under-rated, now effectively disappeared.

One I will add to the list - despite actually liking his music a lot - is Carlos Santana. Been going a long time, had just a couple of key early hits and albums, never a truly great player even though he's earned classic status through longevity.

Samba pa ti, one of my staples. Love a unison bend!
 
Guitarists for me and not in any particular order would be Dave Gilmour, Gary Moore, Alex Lifeson, Michel Schenker, Paul Tonka Chapman, Rhodes, Steve Via. Probably a few more not coming to mind at the moment.
Adding Slash, Vinnie Moore, Zakk Wylde.
 
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How long does he hold that note in Parisian Walkways.? Great but overplayed a bit for me.

Yeah that's just a tongue-in-cheek stage trick thing though. When he's doing the rest of his stuff he's great. (Not sure I like his singing that much)
Oh, and he's another one who produces less than riveting songs. I'm sensing a theme here :)
 
Guitarists for me and not in any particular order would be Dave Gilmour, Gary Moore, Alex Lifeson, Michel Schenker, Paul Tonka Chapman, Rhodes, Steve Via. Probably a few more not coming to mind at the moment.
Adding Slash, Vinnie Moore, Zakk Wylde.


Stevie Vai is an interesting one. He's enormously impressive in many ways but I often get the feeling that he's so keen to show his technique that he loses the point. I find a lot of post internet guitarists do that. I'm not sure if that's a fair crit of Stevie or not.
 
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2 guitar players stand out for me.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Santana. And one track from each in particular, "The Sky is Crying" form SRV and "She's not there" from Santana.

As I mentioned before, I've never really been into rock, and Hendrix just seems to make an awful noise with a guitar most of the time. But then I love jazz & soul, so I follow a completely different line of music.
 
Just considering this thread.

I tend to agree that there's a huge amount of rubbish in rock music - probably 90% of it is throwaway guff and seems to serve for a bit of lifestyle strutting or guitar shredding pyrotechnics. Maybe this is one reason there's a number of good players who produce rubbish. I know Richie used to be very scathing abut the ability of either himself or other members of Deep Purple to write good songs.

Conversely how many great songs showcase a guitarist's talents? It's usually pretty incidental if it's there at all.

The importance of the guitar has been declining rapidly for some time so I guess that's one reason we tend to look backwards when we talk about great players.
 
I don't believe the Bay City Rollers were really rated at all so I'm not counting them.
I wonder what the pre+ pubescent girls of the mid 70's, who are now well into their 50's + would say to that? :D

From the web
The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and "the first of many acts heralded as the 'biggest group since the Beatles'".
 
Stevie Vai is an interesting one. He's enormously impressive in many ways but I often get the feeling that he's so keen to show his technique that he loses the point. I find a lot of post internet guitarists do that. I'm not sure if that's a fair crit of Stevie or not.


A friend of mine calls this style of playing "fret w@nking". Very proficient but sometimes lacks the feel/emotion of other styles. Not sure Vai is really part of the internet generation, he was very active before the internet was anywhere near as big as it has got! Anyone who has been hired by Zappa has to be at least excellent at what they do.
 
I wonder what the pre+ pubescent girls of the mid 70's, who are now well into their 50's + would say to that? :D


"I'm not in my fifties, I'm 21 for the 33rd time..." (It's Mrs Nod's birthday tomorrow! [and she was a BCR fan "back in the day".])
 
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I wasn't aware how good Prince was as a guitarist until I saw this..

.... Prince is multi talented and I rate him musically as genius. Having seen him perform live on his LoveSexy Tour I can say that he can play a very broad range of genres - Rock, blues, soul, funk, ballad, jazz, and his voice is utterly beautiful. He songwrites very well too. Like The Rolling Stones, I don't like every single track he has ever done but a great many of them and all throughout his long career and not just stuck in a short era.

Unfortunately, fecking YouTube have taken down many of his live performance videos, much to everybody's disappointment and anger.

The same week I saw Prince I also saw Michael Jackson on his Bad Tour - He was excellent but not as broad or gritty as Prince. MJ was almost a bit too polished and rehearsed by direct comparison with Prince - What a dancer MJ was though, the Fred Astaire of his day.

In my opinion, neither Prince nor Michael Jackson were overrated but are standout musicians and artists of their day who will be played, enjoyed, and remembered for many years to come.
 
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