Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Most overrated band of all time?
- Thread starter Unspeaked
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
yes they do!, but a lot of people dont get them ... but "ok computer" and "hail the the thief" are brilliant albums...
Is Nirvana only a fad or would they have lasted longer had Curt lived. Or was the fact that he was suicidal what made the band great? I would say they are a band in limbo, we will never know how good or bad they would have been had they lasted 5 years.
Important distinction
For the sake of the discussion, I think it is important to distinguish between "overrated" and "overhyped". Generally, I think of a rating as a value imposed by a certain authority. Hype, on the other hand, can be understood more as a value imposed upon something by a more invested party. Ratings are usually more objective. Many bands may be overhyped, but are "rated" accordingly - be they high or low.
Examples:
Overhyped - Hannah Montana, Coldplay, U2, Radiohead, The Beatles, Kanye West, Britney Spears
Overrated - Late Aerosmith works (repetitive), Late Bob Dylan (riding the wave of his prior greatness) , Coldplay (how many rhyming couplets should we put in this song?)
Of course, these are examples, there are many more. But in a discussion such as this one, it should be noted that there is a difference.
For the sake of the discussion, I think it is important to distinguish between "overrated" and "overhyped". Generally, I think of a rating as a value imposed by a certain authority. Hype, on the other hand, can be understood more as a value imposed upon something by a more invested party. Ratings are usually more objective. Many bands may be overhyped, but are "rated" accordingly - be they high or low.
Examples:
Overhyped - Hannah Montana, Coldplay, U2, Radiohead, The Beatles, Kanye West, Britney Spears
Overrated - Late Aerosmith works (repetitive), Late Bob Dylan (riding the wave of his prior greatness) , Coldplay (how many rhyming couplets should we put in this song?)
Of course, these are examples, there are many more. But in a discussion such as this one, it should be noted that there is a difference.
You also have to remember one hit wonders that still get played today. Hootie and the Blowfish fit in a few categories.
But I don't think the Dead were ever about the music specifically. It was the experience.
Kind of like Jimmy Buffet.
The fact that he died did seem to boost the band's (and his) popularity at the time. Actually, I remember getting sick of seeing Kurt Cobain t-shirts in the mid-90s. I think it definitely helped to secure the band's place in history. If he hadn't died, they probably would have come out with another album that wouldn't have sold as well as Nevermind or In Utero, and they would have faded into obscurity.
don't forget "in rainbows" - yeah it's overhyped, but when was the last time you heard a song written in 5/4 played so often on the radio? (maybe it's just my local lsr station)
The only reason the band was good to begin with was because Kurt was thinking about killing himself. That was what his lyrics were about.
If Nirvana lasted there would be no Foo Fighters.
Thats the only one that makes him money.Does Jimmy Buffet actually have any other songs? I've only ever heard of that one
I like "Creep", it's the only good song they've ever written but they're not as innovative or original as their fans seem to think.
Street Spirit is my favourite
Don't know about most overrated band, and too many to mention that are merely overrated.
There goes Unspeaked starting trouble again. Anyone who even thinks U2 is "over-rated" is completely nuts.
The fact that people constantly place them in the "can't be rated highly enough" category is precisely why I rank them as the most overrated band ever...
I'll add a vote for Oasis as well. And while we're talking 1990s, I might as well propose Nirvana. Like the Beatles, it's another one of those "untouchable" bands that everyone who knows anything about music is supposed to fawn over. yawn.
I really like the first 10 years of U2, after that there are bits I love and bits I hate.
Creep has to be in the top 10 most overplayed rock songs ever...my favorite Radio head song is probably Karma Police. I get sick of their whining pretty quick though.
Each to their own! Creep is one of my least favourite Radiohead songs of all time.
I disagree about the innovation. Radiohead were the first band to take many techniques of both songwriting and recording/production and make them actually musically viable (as opposed to just 'experimenting' for the sheer heck of it).
You sound like an authority - can you please elaborate?
How is what Radiohead does musically not innovative? While you may not like most of their music, and admittedly there are some songs I don't like, I think Radiohead is a band that consistently innovates and is very original.