Crowe

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.

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Son of JayJamJah

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.

Crowe

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!

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lucifer_sam

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.

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first.am

Urban Hat€monger ?

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.

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lucifer_sam

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.

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first.am

Crowe

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.

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Son of JayJamJah

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.

FaSho

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!

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Crowe

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...

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