FILLING IN FOR ME ON THIS ONE WAS BEANY. THANKS! His Original post is below.



17. Cold Play

Most Overrated Album: X and Y
Most Overrated song: Clocks

Why are Coldplay over rated? I think they're over rated because they just don't take enough risks. I don't know if they're trying to be this great melodic band or if they're trying to do stadium filling anthems. There's nothing to say that they can't do both but they just seem to sit on the fence between both too much.
They're rockier stuff lacks balls and just has no edge to it at all. While they're slower stuff(apart from the Scientist which I love) puts Chris Martins voice to the front and ruins any chance of the songs being half decent. (see Fix You).

They're elevator music at best for me. They're harmless. If they came on the radio I wouldn't necessarily turn them off, but when they're being celebrated as one of the best bands in the world then I take offense to it. lol Then there's the Chris Martin factor. I'm sure he's a nice guy and I've nothing against him personally. It's just his live performance. Seeing him jump up and down at the piano and do the same stage act(hoping across the stage like a kangaroo) tires really quickly. (see bo selecta skit on his dance moves.

The fact he seems to be doing his best to copy Bono in every way annoys me too.

Well obviously this is your chance to have a rant so there's not alot of point in arguing the toss, but I'm with you on many artists in that list... although don't you think all those artists attained such notoriety having released at least SOME decent material?
I mean I can understand Kiss but Prince? PRINCE?! The man was a funky genius! I think I'm having a seizure...

oh and Coldplay are just castrated. It's music absent of testicles made for office and factory floor radio's the world over. You leak a bit of brain every time you hear them. But we all love a good anthem don't we? they aren't going anywhere

100% True. I'll do you one better, everyone on this list has an album that could be in almost any top 500 ever at worst. Every act I considered has adoring fans and critical acclaim, regardless of rather you I or god is a fan of it or not. I'll admit this list is a bit subjective, sounds like I am gonna have my hands full with the Prince rant, but my goal was to make a list that reflects the combined tastes of people here, in my life and the mainstream general consensus. Thanks for the feedback!

Why are Coldplay over rated? I think they're over rated because they just don't take enough risks. I don't know if they're trying to be this great melodic band or if they're trying to do stadium filling anthems. There's nothing to say that they can't do both but they just seem to sit on the fence between both too much.
They're rockier stuff lacks balls and just has no edge to it at all. While they're slower stuff(apart from the Scientist which I love) puts Chris Martins voice to the front and ruins any chance of the songs being half decent. (see Fix You).

They're elevator music at best for me. They're harmless. If they came on the radio I wouldn't necessarily turn them off, but when they're being celebrated as one of the best bands in the world then I take offense to it. lol Then there's the Chris Martin factor. I'm sure he's a nice guy and I've nothing against him personally. It's just his live performance. Seeing him jump up and down at the piano and do the same stage act(hoping across the stage like a kangaroo) tires really quickly. (see bo selecta skit on his dance moves.
YouTube - Bo Selecta - Good Fun With Chris Martin)
The fact he seems to be doing his best to copy Bono in every way annoys me too.

Most Over-rated album - X and Y (Every magazine seemed to give the album 5 out of 5 when it came out. A lot of them have changed their minds when talking about it in relation to their new album now though.)

Most Over-rated song - Clocks. I really don't get why this song is liked so much. Let alone why it was a single.

Thanks Beany

that'll do quite well.

I think you answered yourself quite well. =)

That is why.

I actually remember listening to Rush of Blood To the Head when it came out and thinking that the non-single tracks were pretty good, really atmospheric. But that was a long time ago. There's no excuse for this kind of mediocre drivel being forced on the public the way it is.

After the apocalypse when we're all tearing around in cyber-punk biker gangs, picking up minimal-techno pirate stations on coat-hanger antennas, I'll be happy. Until then just say NO.

Prince rules :D

You nailed it. :)

16. The Doors

Most Overrated Album: Strange Days
Most Overrated song: Break on Through

So it's not like the Doors suck or anything. In fact their self-titled debut album is okay, LA Woman is a fascinating album, and there are some good singles mixed in their discography. Here's the thing. Jim Morrison was a decent lyricist and a pretty average song writer. A lot of their psychedelic and artsy stuff is just crap. "The End" is pure rubbish, Crystal ship makes me want to walk the plank, and every time I see that "American Poet" poster I just wonder what Whitman, Cummings, Thoreau and especially T.S. Elliot would think.

Here's an example of Morrison's "Poetry"

Whoa, yeah!
C'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon
Oh, yeah, ma
Yeah, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girl understand
Hey, all you people that tryin' to sleep
I'm out to make it with my midnight dream, yeah
'Cause I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand
All right, yeah
You men eat your dinner
Eat your pork and beans
I eat more chicken
Than any man ever seen, yeah, yeah
I'm a back door man, wha
The men don't know
But the little girls understand
Well, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
Whoa, baby, I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand

That's really my mine gripe with them, they should be remembered as one of the better popular acts of musics greatest age but not as the quintessential psychedelic rock band of the era. The fact that Morrison was often too high to perform should hinder their reputation not enhance it, but alas this is why they are the 16th most overrated band ever. This Doors fan's is the end and their is no incestuous rape in sight.

The End is rubbish? I thought that song was untouchable myself. It's a beautifully composed song, creates amazing images in my mind.

WOW what?
 

Reading some of the titles on the "Overrated list" I gotta say your out of your mind. Half the list were the people who changed or defined there era or genre. Im surprised you dont have Elvis on there because he sold records because of controversy.

I agree with....
Radiohead
The Grateful Dead
Snoop - hes still better than todays rap btw

but dude
-Nirvana?!?! The band who defined grunge music and if Kurt Cobain was a musical genious whats wrong with you? they would of been legendary.
-The Doors, The Eagles, Kiss, and the Rolling Stones how can you be overrated if we still listen to there music today?
-Coldplay isn't overrated they just sell alot of albums, people actully love there music.
-Eminem - sparked more controversy than anyone since elvis, also a rapper who didn't appeal to what the public wanted to hear he just told his story. He was also lyrically one of the best alive.
-Tupac - you kidding? have you listened to rap today compared to Tupac? hes an all time great of his genre.

I think you'll find there are compelling counterpoints to all your contentions. Also it's been mentioned in multiple posts throughout the thread that all of the bands on the list are good if not very good. Overrated suggests nothing about the quality of a band, except relative to critical acclaim\review.

I'll get more in depth as I address each artist on the list, however to breifly touch on it since I've never seen you on here before.

Nirvana was the face of the movement to be sure, but the crux of my argument will be that it's not unfair to suggest musically there are several bands of the era that have as good or better material and a much longer discography.

The Doors, were just addressed, The Eagles are on deck (but you won't win that argument here) Kiss is sort of viewed as a novelty now-a-days and the Stones, for all their greatness have plenty to critique and frankly haven't produced an interesting song in nearly 20 years.

Eminem - I won't be able to change your mind, but in reality he has 1 good album (That i grew tired of in months) and a bunch of questionable material. His singles are corny and do not hold up over time, he lacks the discipline to put together a consistent liuve show let alone tour. Even his biggest fans could do 10 paragraphs on his shortcomings and faults if they were honest.

2-PAC - A lot like Nirvana, timing made the legacy more then the discography and while his words are pretty good and there are some interesting song concepts especially on "All eyes on me" over all it's not nearly the most impressive collection in hip-hop as it is sometimes granted.

Hope you'll follow the thread and offer your opinions especially those that differ from mine.

You do know that Morrison didn't write Back Door Man, right?

Anyway, I have to admit that I used to love the Doors (for about six months), but nowadays I never really feel like playing their records. I do like The End, Crystal Ship, and a few others. When The Music's Over, on the other hand, is pretty awful.

Obviously I did not know that or I would have used another song. I looked it up it's Willie Dixon, the liner notes don't mention that however. Thanks for the correction, I'll edit the post.

Gotta say I agree with the inclusion of John Lennon's solo stuff. And can I put in a early request for Imagine as the most over-rated song of his. I know it's his biggest hit and for that reason it's the biggest target to be touted as 'over-rated' but I've just never gotten the hype surrounding it. The amount of times that song has come out on top as the best song of all time is criminal. It's a dull monontonous song that doesn't tug on the heart strings. It just winds and meanders on. This isn't me being unappreciative of slower more reflective songs. They're my favourite type of songs. This just does nothing for me.

Anyone at all out there agree with me?!

The thing about this list is part of what makes the artist overrated is what we think of them...

I do like Imagine, and Lennon's a decent writer, but he's definitely overrated. I really don't understand why people get so excited and reverent whenever his name comes up.

For Lennon it's all in the Beatles for me. That's where the reverence lies with most people I think

I am eagerly awaiting the Stripes' article. Based on the one-liner at the beginning of the thread, I feel like this is going to be a weak argument. I hope you prove me wrong.

How dare you Crowe, how dare you.

And to think I gave you props on Bi-Level; which i only kept because the bird on the cover reminded me o the bird from the Guinness beer commercial. I gave away the other four cds in the promo pack to some kids skateboarding in the parking lot outside my sons restaurant.

I'm pretty sure it could be fielded by anyone who's heard a complete album. It's not just the lack of complexity or depth that gives cry to the call "overrated," but the humungous flaws in the rhythm section of their music. Don't get me wrong; Jack White is a great guitarist, a talented lyricist and an overall good songwriter. But Meg White is an embarrassment to music. She isn't simple - she's completely off-beat! She is singlehandedly the worst drummer in music, and one of the most inappropriate drummers ever. Don't believe me? Go listen to Seven Nation Army and listen to the breaks after the verse and pre-chorus. And THAT's supposed to be one of their best songs.

Raconteurs = good. The White Stripes = horribly overrated.

As the official founder of the Meg White is Beautiful and Wonderful and the Best Drummer Ever Club, all i can say is pffft!

Haha. A good friend of mine actually told me he found her attractive. I...think she looks like a badly prepared cadaver.

I don't even know why i fancy her. There's just something about her that makes me want to take her to a bowling alley and buy her a coke (guess the Stripes reference!)

Haha. I am a Stripes man through and through, and I've heard it all by way of Stripes critics and haters. Although you call them overrated and didn't say you hate them, I consider it a call to arms. My duty! I am not a typical forum kiddie, though, and let our different thoughts on one artist effect our shared thoughts on another... that just seems retrogressive in terms of creating a community!

Cream soda?

The Raconteurs are nothing more than boring retro classic rock pleasing rubbish. I gave them a chance but I became so bored I stopped bothering.

And why shouldn't Meg White play drums. Did punk rock not teach us anything? I don't want a Neal fucking Peart clone in every band. That rawness and simplicity is what makes the White Stripes work.
Maybe Mo Tucker shouldn't have bothered either.

Complexity and depth do not give birth to greatness, and the lack of the aforementioned qualities do not detract from the state of one's greatness.

Meg White's drumming and its effect on the rating of the stripes:

First, one 5 second section of an offbeat is not going to turn any fan 180 - since it is such a miniscular fraction of their entire discography. Second, Meg White has never, EVER been called a "great" technical drummer by anyone. What people DO say is that the way she drums fits in completely and totally with the music that the Stripes play.

That being said, your big point in this post is that the Stripes are "overrated" because Meg doesn't have the best grasp on drum technique or music theory (which noone... has ever claimed). So, how could they be overrated based on the fact that Meg is no John Bonham? Since they were never rated based on that fact to begin with. When people talk about the White Stripes, you won't hear them talk about the wondrous complexity of Meg's drumming... you hear about Jack mostly (you gave him a load of credit yourself) and how Meg does her job by keeping time with thundering drums.

Come on now...

Are you for cereal?

Just because the Raconteurs draw heavily from blues rock legends like Led Zeppelin doesn't make them utter trash. Anyways, it's preferable to the huge alternative rock sweep that goes across the radiowaves nowadays.

And I'm gonna repeat: it was never about the simplicity of their music that makes The White Stripes overrated. It's about the terrible rhythm section - if you wanna call it "rawness" so be it but it doesn't make Meg White any better at the drums. I'm all for keeping music simple and not overengineering the sound, but I can't tolerate listening to consistently trashy drums on EVERY SINGLE ALBUM. She sounds no better on Icky Thump than their s/t, when it was her first experience on drums.

They are overrated because people confuse her poor rhythm skills for simplicity. Simplicity I can deal with. But Meg White - Meg simply sounds like a child who got hold of her mother's kitchen utensils. And no matter what, you can't deny what a burden it is to listen to someone that bad on drums for as long as The White Stripes have been popular.

Save for the right place and time...geez

Or is it really that you are confusing her simplicity for poor rhythm skills? The argument can go both ways. However, I see it as her simplicity exists out of a lack of formal teaching. She knows what she can and can't do. So does Jack. She doesn't try to to anything she can't.

And... yes I -can- deny that because I have been listening to The White Stripes since they have been popular, and before they were popular... not only can I bear it, but it is something that I enjoy.

15. The Eagles

Most Overrated Album: Desperado
Most Overrated song: Witchy Woman\Take it Easy

There is nothing blatantly bad or objectionable about the Eagles. They don't suck totally, they are not pompous or arrogant, they even have a few real good albums, however they have a way of annoying people (especially me) that is matched or exceeded only by their fans. A lot of Eagles fans feel like the Eagles were the Beatles of the 70's and while shockingly, record sales are comparable, in terms of influence, impact and creativity it's like arguing that a lemon is sweeter then an apple.

The Eagles have a nice safe mellow sort of groove to their music it's not country, it's not blues, it's not rock and roll, it's what guys my age (apx 50) who were cargo shorts, open toed sandals and Sunglasses at night listen to. When's the last time you seen some kid rush into a record store and buy a crisp new copy of "Hotel California" or "The Long Ru"n. It's mostly because the Eagles are lame, but even if they wanted to hear the Eagles all you need to is turn on Classic Rock radio and wait until Stairway to Heaven finishes and surely an Eagles tune will pop up.

a brief personal note...

My son had a private bar tending Business in college and worked a party at a clients home who had a juke box installed in his basement\bar it had nine Eagles albums in it out of 25 total. My son, who was a pretty well known musician in the area gets pulled aside by this guy after the party and sat down and made to listen to the entire brand new "Long Road out of Eden" album. He came home and took a rape shower. That guy usually wears Cargo shorts and sandals.

...

Most egregious of all is what they did after they initial break-up in 1980. Amongst the crimes against music they commited:

Don Henley: Leather and Lace, Dirty Laundry and All she wants to do is Dance.

Glenn Frye: Party Town, Sexy Girl and The Heat is On.

and don't get started on hell freezes over.

Without Joe Walsh I'd have put a hit out on this group by now. And that if nothing else makes the the 15th most overrated band\artist of all-time.

Beautiful write up on the Eagles, mate. I can't stand them - my roommate loves Hotel California et al... blech. Boring is right. And you are right on the money with Joe Walsh. Rocky Mountain Way is in my Top 150 favorite songs. Maybe Top 100 if I'm feeling nostalgic.

I like the Eagles. Great mellow band to stick on when in a certain mood. Maybe they're over rated in the States but I don't think they are over here in Europe.

It's pretty much spot on like JayJamJah told it. I'm not in his generation, but my father is, and from what he tells me he spent half his life trying to convince people that the Eagles weren't that good.

I honestly can't wait for the Dave Matthews Band review. He is the single most overrated artist in my generation.

I Hate To bring the white stripes/racontuers argument back up but...

i agree with what you said about meg white because people who don't listen to the white stripes for the lyrics listen to it FOR THEIR SIMPLICITY

but what you said about the racanteurs is ****!
I mean come on just because they don't please the hordes of brain-dead ****-sucking pop radio whores doesn't mean its "rubbish" it's great indie music and if you got bored from it thats probably because you're to busy trying to make them live up to the white stripes standards you don't actually see that the musics good even if it isn't like the white stripes!

I don't compare them to anybody , I take them for what they are and find them dull ... sorry.

Next time they make an album i'll drop a few firecrackers down my pants & see if that livens up my listening experience. just for you.

Is that a sort of tip off the cap to America in homage to recent Independence Day holiday.

You mean you all drop firecrackers down your pants on that day?

Consider me visiting for that day next year :thumb:

Garth Brooks
 

14. Garth Brooks

Most Overrated Album: Sevens
Most Overrated song: Two Pina Coladas

So as I figured and has been confirmed, those of you in the UK can tune out, for the rest of us, remember how effing huge this guy was circa 1992-1994. Garth Brooks at one point had a #1 record that outside all nine of the remaining top 10 combined. Not on the country charts, on the billboard pop charts. He was even #1 in the UK Country charts (they have those) And this was not undeserved, his first five albums are very good, and I am not a big country music fan at all. Here's the problem, somewhere around 1995 when he was swinging into the audience on a rope while performing live in prime time on national TV a concert in Central Park, he must have hit his head or something.

His next album, "Fresh Horses" was by his standards a flop. It was the first album not to top the pop charts since "No Fences" just 18 months into his career. My wife having been a fan bought, I bought her the album, and we both reacted the same way, kind of like okay wheres the rest. Then came "Sevens" which was hyped as a great comeback album and it was commercially. It was again the #1 record in the US regardless of genre. But the content is exactly the type of thing that turns mainstream music fans off to country music. Mindless twang in a predictable petty circle. Rock bottom right? Not even close.............Enter Chris Gaines...Brooks takes on the persona of "Gaines" and releases an Alternative Rock album. No I am not making this up. Now this could be daring or creative or well at least interesting except here's the catch. It's not Brooks idea, it's for a movie (that never happened) and he doesn't write the songs (he typically co-wrote his country songs), and it's obvious. It's so lame I cringe when i hear it.

So the album bombs and Brooks left turn lovin' fans are confused, where'd our Garth go? Then he makes an announcement, times are tough and when the going gets tough the tough...retire? Well that's what he did. No more music he said, and he meant it, well except the part where he made another horrible record that was so Country it came with a straw hat and blue jeans and capitalized on the millions it rained down on him. A very wise person who once slept on my couch for a couple weeks told me something very profound "It takes balls to play music" he said, Garth for all your failings, more then any it's your lack of balls that get you ranked as the 14th most overrated artist in music history.