The Smiths/Morrissey are, by far, the most overrated band in history.

agip wrote:

I hear you - musical taste can be so frustrating when there is disagreement.

there are only around 5 bands I actively avoid:

Nickelback

Foos

Smiths

Radiohead

Whitesnake

Foreigner

just about any serious heavy metal

And I'm sure it is frustrating to you that I am grouping the smiths in with bands you think are rubbish. But I'm serious.

have you ever noticed that draize train sounds exactly like led zep's trampled underfoot?

draize train:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVX9vN-3Vsw

zep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ykjFhu48f8

is that something everyone knows? Was draize train a tribute to zep in some way?

It does sound pretty similar, but I think he got it from Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." In any case, Marr regularly pulled from past musicians and was never shy about giving credit. Eventually, you're gonna rehash past stuff.

Marvin Gaye

Marr

My pick of 2014. Give them a listen

Future Islands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ee4bfu_t3c

XY wrote:

My pick of 2014. Give them a listen

Future Islands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ee4bfu_t3c

I like, I like. I utterly love the singer's f&^% it, I'm dancing! style. And hard not to like the music - tasteful and dreamy.

here's the new band I truly love: Hurray for the Riff Raff. they were on conan's show last night. I think they are the deuces.

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

they were among the most underrated bands in their time, hardly heard by anyone as we were all subject to blue oester cult and bryan adams and peter gabriel and so on, and didn't get to hear any of the great '80s alternative bands. Danceable and peppy, yet with heavily depressing lyrics, but you don't think that is some kind of feat???

Depressing? maybe. But they had a sense of humor as well:

just came across a great take-down of the smiths, esp Marr. Why the guy is considered a great guitarist, I'll never understand. Anyway. I think it is on target:

Time for a more controversial selection. To me, the Smiths are synonymous with "so underrated, it's overrated." The love this band gets from the underground, "hipster" music scene is downright mind-boggling. Every album from their eponymous debut to Strangeways, Here We Come is apparently near perfect. But, looking at the songs from a distance, one really does not get that sense. Nearly every song is Johnny Marr's guitar jangle, with little to no variation between strumming styles, combined with Morrissey's characteristic warble. The lyrics, while occasionally clever, are often borderline stupid or insulting. "Girlfriend in a Coma" could come off as cruelty rather than wit.

And then there's Morrissey's singing voice. Few voices on this planet manage to evoke the same response whenever I listen to this man sing. It's as if he is literally singing from the back of his throat in a really bad Sammy Davis Jr. impression. His tone is downright unbearable. He manages to drain the passion from every song he sings (well... aside from the excellent "How Soon Is Now"), taking any power the lyric had and throwing it out the window. Yet he is praised as one of the all-time great singers. While he may have inspired several vocalists, I wouldn't call it change for the good. Morrissey is a living excuse for every hack poet to hire a guitarist and sing like a dying goat to a boring track.

Now, the Smiths can be very creative at times, and their influence certainly had some good byproducts. They do have a place in rock history... just not one as big as they have.

"How Soon Is Now," for the record, is absolutely incredible.

Putting the music aside, The Smiths represented a time and consciousness like none before. The first time I heard them as a senior in HS (1983), I said to my self, I've never heard anything like them before.

I hear people talk about "How Soon is Now" as THE song of the Smiths. They have many other great songs. Analogy of people who say they like Radiohead because they know the song Creep.

Just side 1 of "The Smiths" album is fantastic, creative, original and sounds great

1. "Reel Around the Fountain" 5:58

2. "You've Got Everything Now" 3:59

3. "Miserable Lie" 4:29

4. "Pretty Girls Make Graves" 3:24

5. "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

XY wrote:

Putting the music aside, The Smiths represented a time and consciousness like none before.

ummm.....really? no one you can think of represented a time and consciousness so well?

My vote for most overrated of all time goes to that cheesy band Paul McCartney was in before Wings.

Not what I said.

Why do you write "ummm"?

Johnny Marr is the GOAT guitarist/songwriter combo ever.

AVFTW wrote:

Johnny Marr is the GOAT guitarist/songwriter combo ever.

heh heh heh heh

Nope, not overrated. Plenty of bands have had bigger hits that have little real artistic merit.

I would think that Morrissey would be a hero on these boards, now that he's come out as a far-right wing racist xenophobe.

The Smiths are a decent band, and one of the better from the 80s.

The word over-rated surely applies to Radiohead and Coldplay.

And Elvis Costello

Whilst the "entertainer" Chris Martin and the "band" Coldplay exist to entertain teenage girls and slightly older gentlemen, who believe themselves to be slightly alternative by listening their bland sonic excrement, then even questioning the holder of this particular title is an absurdity beyond comprehension.

OK, you trolled me... This "overrated" thing is always a pissing contest to see who can name the most genuinely talented whatever with a straight face.

Elvis Costello is one of the most talented "rock" musicians ever, from his punky early stuff to "KIng of America" to ...

Also he has great taste in wives, from the awesome Pogues bass guitarist to Diane Krall.

David Gilmour,Bruce Dickinson,Freddie Mercury and Dio are miles ahead of Paul Rogers. I also like Tim Booth(James) who I rate as being better than morrissey. Morrissey was amusing to start with but no I can't stand his constant sniping. Johnny Marr is a great guitarist,without him morrissey would still be at home ripping the head off it in mummies bedroom.

KISS is the worst band in the history of Bands. And yes, I was a fan as a 10 year old in the late 70's.