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Most overrated band of all time?

Unspeaked said:
Don Mattingly was in the right place at the right time in the mid 80s. So what? It doesn't mean what they accomplished wasn't extraordinary.
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The Yankees were nothing special in the mid 80's.
Don Mattingly wasn't in the right place at the right time. Remember, he never won a World Series. He left in 1995 and what happens? The Yankees win the next year and three more times after that. Jeter was in the right place at the right time.
 
Don Mattingly may have been the most overrated baseball player of all time. Time for a new thread.

I love that old joke about The Edge's guitar playing. See also the bassline from "Desire", which is basically Adam Clayton playing three open strings!
 
You know, I can't believe we're on page 13 of this and no one has mentioned:

Joy Division

or

My Bloody Valentine

I'm a big fan of both, but even I would concede that they're extremely overrated.

For all you Nirvana haters who claim their output was meaningless and they were only propelled to their current status by Kurt Cobain's death, please refer to Joy Division and kindly withdraw your nomination.
 
This is a classic enemy-creating, I-used-to-respect-your-opinion kind of thread! My distinction is going to be that "overhyped" means they just get too much media attention and "overrated" means that they're more highly regarded by fans and critics than I think they deserve. And of course others will say the same things about bands I like. Onward.

U2 - It's not that I think they're talentless or lame. I just don't see the appeal. Lots of songs that sound kind of profound but never move me in any way. Many of their fans seem to think U2's music "changed my life" in some way. Baffling.

REM - You don't hear much about them now, but their fans are still out there. Back in the day, they were praised as a great band, but I never could see it. It was like some kind of bizarro world where bland vocals are called great, dull melodies are considered influential, and vapid lyrics inspire others. I saw them at their rock HOF induction concert (shudder) and was reminded again that I don't understand why anyone likes them.

Oasis - In addition to their dull music, they claimed to be great and not enough people reacted with laughter.

Radiohead - I've never understood what people see in this band. For me, the telling thing is that I can't remember their songs, even after hearing an entire album. They're the band that smug music lovers seem to claim to have found all by themselves. Every Radiohead fan I've ever met insists that I haven't really listened to them, and when I say I have, they throw up their hands and say I don't like music at all. Give me a break. Maybe it's their fans that annoy me more than the band. It's not like their music intrudes on my life very often.

Rage Against the Machine - Granted, they have some pretty cool guitar licks, but why do so many people insist that they're such a deep, socially-conscious band? Maybe I just heard too many garage bands in high school that had already said the same thing. It's not that I think their political activism is misguided. I just don't see how their message is that interesting. That, and I've never found De La Rocha's vocals compelling. Like if my auto mechanic suddenly thought he was a rapper.

The Beach Boys - This band is the epitome of undeserved praise from the 1960s. Their early stuff is a continuous rip-off of Chuck Berry. Their later stuff just fed off what every other band that was doing at the time. Apparently they were influential and many other artists are big fans, but I've never understood why.
 
aloofman said:
The Beach Boys - This band is the epitome of undeserved praise from the 1960s. Their early stuff is a continuous rip-off of Chuck Berry. Their later stuff just fed off what every other band that was doing at the time. Apparently they were influential and many other artists are big fans, but I've never understood why.
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Just wanted to point out how well this worked for another band:

The Beatles - This band is the epitome of undeserved praise from the 1960s. Their early stuff is a continuous rip-off of Elvis and various Motown artists. Their later stuff just fed off what every other band that was doing at the time. Apparently they were influential and many other artists are big fans, but I've never understood why.

And that's my last potshot at The Beatles (for this thread...):p
 
faintember said:
Just wanted to point out how well this worked for another band:

The Beatles - This band is the epitome of undeserved praise from the 1960s. Their early stuff is a continuous rip-off of Elvis and various Motown artists. Their later stuff just fed off what every other band that was doing at the time. Apparently they were influential and many other artists are big fans, but I've never understood why.

And that's my last potshot at The Beatles (for this thread...):p
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I see your point, but it doesn't actually support the Beach Boys.
 
aloofman said:
I see your point, but it doesn't actually support the Beach Boys.
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It wasn't my intent to support them with that statement, but to show that other major bands of the time could/should also be held to such criticism. I was not trying to single you out, as I hoped the comment would not be interpreted as a direct criticism of your opinions, but rather a comment on earlier comments by others.
 
time to hit on the non-pop genres (or else kill this lame thread already)

How about the overrated conductor / orchestra combos?

Chicago Symphony when Fritz Reiner was at the helm? imo they were fine with Bartók, Hovhaness, Prokofiev. But, Szell and the Cleveland were a better bet for the Beethoven symphonies.

These composers and the conductors are dead but their music may outlast everything else on this thread, even or maybe especially The Beach Boys.

Now if this thread doesn't die, it must be a real vampire.
 
kixsand said:
Clearly there were many of you that weren't listening.

Again. The correct (and only) answer is:

Nickelback.


P.S. Whoever brought up U2 is an idiot.

:)

kixsand
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I have to disagree about Nickelback. Yes, they're terrible. But for a band/artist to be overrated, they have to be liked by the majority to begin with. I've met very few people who don't think they suck. Then again, maybe I just surround myself with people with good taste.
 
LizKat said:
How about the overrated conductor / orchestra combos?
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Conductors were already touched on a while back, but I would like to nominate Gustavo Dudamel.

He's surely the Bono of the classical music world, and his move to Los Angeles is just a further example of his need to be in the spotlight.
 
He's only moving to LA because he will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And trust me, LA isn't the Mecca of Classical music, Europe is.
 
ArmyKnight12 said:
He's only moving to LA because he will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And trust me, LA isn't the Mecca of Classical music, Europe is.
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Exactly.

There's no professional reason for him to move to LA, he simply wants to be in Hollywood with his big hair so he'll have more access to media outlets.
 
Ok, I see your point now. I guess he is moving just for the Hollywood spotlight. His hair is his trademark. Kinda like Bono's sunglasses.
 
ArmyKnight12 said:
Ok, I see your point now. I guess he is moving just for the Hollywood spotlight. His hair is his trademark. Kinda like Bono's sunglasses.
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It may be his trademark now, but he was famous before the big, curly hair.

(As was Bono before the sunglasses, for that matter...)
 
Unspeaked said:
You know, I can't believe we're on page 13 of this and no one has mentioned:

Joy Division

or

My Bloody Valentine

I'm a big fan of both, but even I would concede that they're extremely overrated.

For all you Nirvana haters who claim their output was meaningless and they were only propelled to their current status by Kurt Cobain's death, please refer to Joy Division and kindly withdraw your nomination.
Click to expand...


I won't concede that Joy Division is overrated, but I'll second the the MBV nomination. For early 90's shoegazer, they can't hold a candle to Ride.
 
This thread has just jumped the shark, now we are talking about Don Mattingly being over rated which is total BS, and conductors?
 
MacNut said:
This thread has just jumped the shark, now we are talking about Don Mattingly being over rated which is total BS, and conductors?
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This thread probably jumped the shark a long time ago...

I was arguing that Mattingly wasn't overrated, by the way, and the conductor thing just sort of grew organically out of the existing conversation on music.

If we can debate folk artists and jazz musicians, we can debate symphony orchestras and conductors :D
 
yeroen said:
I won't concede that Joy Division is overrated, but I'll second the the MBV nomination. For early 90's shoegazer, they can't hold a candle to Ride.
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I think shoegaze in general is a pretty overrated genre, but I like to listen to it personally.

How would you defend or justify the accolades Joy Division get? Do you think they'd be viewed the same if Ian Curtis were alive?
 
faintember said:
It wasn't my intent to support them with that statement, but to show that other major bands of the time could/should also be held to such criticism. I was not trying to single you out, as I hoped the comment would not be interpreted as a direct criticism of your opinions, but rather a comment on earlier comments by others.
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I know you weren't. At some point it just becomes "I'm right, and you're wrong", just like the thread began!
 
I don't know if you can say a conductor is overrated, unless they write scores most of them just conduct what is written.
 
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