Overrated musicians
 

Rolling Stone, the issue in spanish, did a survey on social networks about the most overrated bands and singers. The list didn't surprise me, partially. I was looking for an english issue survey but couldn't find (I mean I find others but not from RS)

U2, Kurt Cobain, Bon Jovi, Alejandro Sanz and Justin Bieber

http://rollingstone.es/noticias/view...de-la-historia

How about The Beatles and Pink Floyd? Too bad they didn't make the list. *prepares to be crucified*

Lady Gaga is pretty damn high on my list of "what the hell are the rest of the planet thinking?".

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ombal/kjkj.jpg

I'm a member of a forum where The Beatles have their own thread and the title of it would get me banned for life from here :laugh: I think they're overrated too.

i have to agree w/ you on this~ she made her 'you & i' video just down the road from me~ her ex is from a town over~

bruce springsteen.

Me too - although I am a fan of John Lennon solo!

Eric Clapton.

Being called overrated is overrated. :nod: Having said that......these are artists that I feel Are overrated, but MOST i still Love.

The Stones
The Beatles
U2
Radiohead
John Lennon
Springsteen
Nirvana
Flo and the Machine. (keep in mind.....love her, but she id nowhere near the rep she gets.)
Green Day.
And I have to say, though probably unfair cause I've been here 2 years..........Stevie Nicks Solo:sorry:

Oh and the Dave Matthews Band.

Mick

Stevie Nicks comes to mind, very definitely. The fanbase-wide idolatry of her as a lyricist has always both puzzled and slightly amused me. I don't think her lyrics would have had anything like the same impact on fans if Stevie herself wasn't so physically alluring and charismatic. I think one fed the other. I see nothing in her lyrics except a very occasional bit of not-yet-mature honesty. The rest of the time, the stuff she's penned seems like blither-blather to me, no different a posture than the personas that Alice Cooper and various heavy metal bands have.

I think Pink Floyd and Kate Bush are overrated, too. This elaborate structure of achievement and significance has been built up around them, and I don't think their actual work can support such a structure—certainly not consistently.

Various schools of now-fashionable singing styles (like the "soul" pyrotechnic style and the postnasal-drip-from-angst style) strike me as impossibly overrated. People react to that Mariah Carey style on singing-contest TV shows as if great truths or primal emotions were being tapped into. I consider it hogwash, as phony as the night is long.

Jack White/White Stripes. I feel like scraping paint off the walls when I have to listen to his garbage. I simply do not understand the appeal at all! I tried watching the movie It Might Get Loud, which featured true rock legends like The Edge and Jimmy Page... and Jack White (barf). Really? Jack White doesn't deserve to be in the same room as The Edge and Jimmy Page, let alone shine their shoes. After a few minutes, I just couldn't...

Iron and Wine (Sam Beam). I actually like some of his stuff. But the way the critics swoon over him, you would think he is the most amazing, original musician ever. It's largely background/coffehouse music for me... nothing that grabs your undivided attention.

Adele. Yes, she has a great voice and she deserves to be a popular recording artist. But does her 21 album deserve to rank up there with Thriller and Rumours in terms of being of the best selling albums in recording history? Hey-all- to-the-no!

Tori Amos. She has always come across as a bit of a poseur to me. She is self-consciously arty for the sake of being arty, and she still refuses to admit that she started her career as a blatant Kate Bush wannabe. I haven't seen recent footage of her, but I still throw up in my mouth when I recall how she used to play the piano sitting with her legs wide open to the audience, as if she was airing out a nasty yeast infection.

Bruce Springsteen. He had an amazing run of albums between 1975 - 1984. Nothing spectacular, not particularly deep (he's not the most intelligent/articulate troubador to ever come along), but very solid, melodic, emotional efforts. But everything before 1975 and after 1984 has been :shrug: . Besides being the crowned spokesperson for the blue collar working person, he hasn't expressed much emotional/topical/musical range- his legend is built entirely upon melodramatic, angst-filled urban tales- a theme he revisits over and over again. And I would also add that he is easily the worst/sloppiest guitar player of any musician at his level of success; it comes as no surprise that he takes along so many guitar players on tour.

Elvis Costello. I just don't get all of the critical praise for everything he does. And I always wondered what he would sound like if he took nasal decongestants.

I don't know; it depends on how you define "overrated" I guess. I happen to like U2. I've seen them once live from the nose bleed section & even in the nose bleed section, I liked them. One of the best concerts that I've ever seen.

I've never seen Bruce live, don't really like him, but I've heard that his live concerts are a good two to three hours long. And he always sells out his shows when he comes to Philly. Overrated? :shrug:

Lady Gaga, well, from what I've seen on TV, she's sounds OK, & again I don't really like her, her outfits are over-the-top. I know she does it to get attention, but it's not really necessary. Again overrated? :shrug:

Can an artist be "overrated"? I have to think about that one.

Lee :shrug:

Agree completely about The Beatles, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Springsteen, U2, Adele (even though I like her well enough), and Tori Amos.

I'd add:

Neil Young: I like a few of his songs, especially "Harvest Moon," but it's mostly noisy, unintelligible garbage

Bob Dylan: Again, most of his songs make absolutely no sense, and I'd wager that he doesn't even know what 90% of his lyrics mean. So, when I bitch about Stevie's lyrics, I can say in all confidence "Yes, Stevie, I would absolutely say that to Bob Dylan." I cringe every time I hear "Shelter from the Storm" (a song I otherwise love) and his reference to blowing a "fugelhorn." Every bit as irritating as "drownded" or "Nag Champra."

Without comment: Led Zeppelin, The Who, and....oh, who am I kidding? 70% of all rock music from the '60s to the present is insufferable to me. :sorry:

lol. This is easily going to degenerate into an artists I don't like thread. you watch:laugh:

Mick

Isn't that basically what threads like this are anyway? It doesn't bother me. People like what they like.

Am I the only one who thinks Madonna is vastly overrated? Lol.

Oh, Madonna is very definitely overrated. I haven't followed her at all since the Ray of Light album (which is probably the best thing she's ever done). I like some of her songs, but she was never anything special, either as a vocalist or a songwriter (which I don't think she ever did much of to begin with).

I just didn't even think about her because I've mentally burned her existence from my knowledge.

I think Stevie's solo music is definitely overrated by her fans (myself being one of them... then again, if thats even possible.. I think that's what defines being a fan of someone), but I don't think it's overrated by the general public or media.

I second Florence & The Machine.

The Beatles, to an extent, at least.

COLDPLAY.

I don't think about her much either, but she's the first person to come to mind (besides the Beatles, who have already been noted) when I saw this thread.

Another person that comes to mind is Michael Jackson. I honestly am just not all that blown away by the Thriller album. I think I would have appreciated it more had I been alive when it came out.

As a musical artist she is vastly overrated..as an actress no...everyone knows she is one of the worst ever.

I was alive when Thriller came out and I'm still not impressed with it.

Hmmm...
 

Metallica (Anything after 1991 has been utter garbage and VERY overrated - especially "Death Magnetic")

I'll get skewered, but I find the following artists overrated:

Sting - I think I was the only one who was glad that SN chickened out of making that call to put him on TISL.

Springsteen - Over 25 years ago, I was a fan. By the end of the eighties, less so.

Michael Jackson - Great singer before puberty hit. After that, his voice was weak, IMO. And I never cared for the idiosyncrasies he threw in.

Joni Mitchell - I know she's a favorite on The Ledge. I don't doubt her significance as a lyricist, but the mere sound of her voice leaves me cold.

I almost put Mary J. Blige on this list, but she does put a lot of feeling into her performances (so I can see why she has so many fans), even if her singing does not strike me as anything exceptional.

I also declined to put Debbie Harry or Gwen Stefani on my list. I don't dislike either of them, but I've never understood why they have so many hardcore fans. Please don't take my tone to be insulting, I'm just curious & hope that some of you can explain to me what their draw is.


- Jake

oh love this
 

It's great when people snap out of the hero worship & "legend" stuff that goes along with entertainment.Much of it is engineered to be that way for the sake of being a hot seller (Adele) as well as fake celebrity hookups to boost status (Coldplay).
So YES on Jack White--widely considered to be the greatest musician of the last 20years. W.T.F...
Florence & the Machine,agree,her new record sucks balls.Hype ruined her.
CALVIN HARRIS has to be the winner though. Overrated asshole of very little talent,labels set up a clever 'duet' with Rihanna (overrated also-limited vocal prowess) then suddenly everyone wants to know.Blah. So tired of the ploys being used nowadays.

I don't think any of these artists are overrated.

Overexposed by radio and obsessive fans? Yes, at times.

Music is art, and cannot be bad, good, under or overrated.

I'll refrain from writing you an essay about why Debbie has so many hardcore fans.

I completely forgot about Sting/The Police......just....snore.

But when you're Talking overrated you're really talking about fanbase and the public and critics....I agree it doesn't really matter.

Mick

Will I don't want to hurt anybodies feelings about making any bad comment about their favorite artists.I will appoligize now.Ok there is 100's of overated artists out there.I agree on some mentioned already.I will list some later..

Yes, yes, this exactly.

Describing someone as overrated is essentially saying that everyone with a positive opinion of that person and their work is wrong, which I find laughable.

U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think it's saying that people who like these artists/bands singers or gimmicks are wrong, I'd say it's more an over enthusiasm from a mass audience that makes a sort of "Emperor's New Clothes" situation out of a music act...and few are willing to state the obvious most of the time.
But as long as people enjoy the music then who cares how credible or deserving the artists may or may not be!

Agree. I think all artists are usually overrated but their fans. So the overrrating issue should be measured, if possible, by general public. Or the media is what should be measured. I mean, we should say That DJ, that radio, or that critic is overrating this band..

Deservedly so, for that alone.