5 Most Overrated Bands of All Time

Beevie wrote:

music expert wrote:

...

Led Zeppelin

Sets down beer and slowly rises from the bar. "Say that again, to my face."

If you insist. Led Zeppelin was so massively overrated that it could easily occupy all five spots in a Top 5 list. Not only did the music stink, but the notion that Jimmy Page was even an adequate guitarist is gut-busting laughable.

Let's face it; the only reason that band gained any steam whatsoever was because all its fans were tripping on acid. From there, any popularity the band has maintained is due to the fact that people are mindless automatons who simple follow the hype wherever it goes.

Yeah, on their first two records, the Jeff Beck Group did most of what Led Zeppelin did far better than Zeppelin but...personalities were too volatile to keep it together.

Journey is terrible, but isn't Styx even worse?

Yes, Styx is worse. Journey was good until the Sopranos ruined it. REO Speedwagon is da bomb.

Echidna wrote:

Journey is terrible, but isn't Styx even worse?

Queen - rock band for people who don't like rock!

Oasis

Coldplay

Blur

Pulp

Sex Pistols (and any punk/new wave combo, British or American, they're all garbage!)

Basically any band with any sort of reputation that did not come out of the UK in the late '60s to, say, 1976. (Honourable exception Lynyrd Skynyrd!)

Has anyone said The Doors yet? Oh man...The Doors are definitely on that list. I like Nirvana, but they're probably on it too...basically anyone whose lead singer died young.

Any Band that manages to fill stadiums in America still despite always being shit...

Aerosmith

Grateful Dead

Metallica

Eagles

Kiss

Best 5

Beatles

REM

Radiohead

Queen

Rolling Stones

I'm throwing in Vampire Weekend as well.

No bands are overrated. Period.

There are bands I'm not found of: Rush, Journey, Boys II Men to name a few off the top of my head. If you love these band and rate them highly, then who am I to tell you otherwise.

I like Radiohead. I'm not going to listen to any yahoo on this site telling me I'm wrong, or that U2's Achtung Baby was not a great record.

I like or dislike a band for my own personal reason. They are neither right or wrong for anyone else, but they are most certainly right for me. No matter how wrong they are for you (and, not, this is not cultural relativism).

"The mob is not stupid."

Never been to a Sanders' rally hah?

Hmmm..... wrote:

I've seen the Beatles on the list multiple times. Can someone explain their logic on it?

In terms of instrument play and overall musicality, the Beatles weren't very good in the beginning, but they got better overtime. Ringo went from a neighbor garage band level to decent at best. Harrison became a very good guitar play, not great, but very good. Lennon and McCarthy were never more than good musicians; however, they were very good on vocals with great song writering and arrangement, etc. A band is the sum of it's parts, except for song writing, they weren't great individuals, but a very good band. I would not call them overrated, unless you are referring to them as the greatest of all-time, which they weren't. There are bands like Earth Wind & Fire, Led Zeppelin and the Dobbie Brothers for example who were better in terms of what musicians might classify as great, but ultimately it is record sales, concerts, awards and the public's opinion that determine greatness. You can't have millions and millions of people from different time periods, different age groups and other demographics say you are great and not at the very least, be great. By all objective measures, they were a great band, but in terms of the greatest of all-time, I would say no, but I wouldn't call them overrated.

People mentioned Jimmy Buffet, I agree they were definitely an overrated band, they simply weren't very good at all. Buffet had a formula that worked and they never attempted to change or get better.

There are a lot of bands that I could put on this list...

1. Deep Purple

2. Uriah Heep

3. Iron Maiden

4. Bon Jovi

5. Eddie Money

Runner's up..

1. Crosby Stills And Nash (but I think Neil Young is great)

2. ELP

3. Kansas

4. New York Dolls

5. Fleetwood Mac

I understand why someone who didn't grow up in the late 80's-early 90s would consider Nirvana over0rated. However, if you were around at the time, they took a dreadful main stream music period and turned it on it's head. They truly changed history and paved the way for 100's of bands to come after them. When Kurt Cobain died, I remember thinking that this would lead many to think of them as greater than they actually were, but now looking back, I kind of think that it wasn't possible.

We kind of need a Nirvana right now, to be honest.

90% of posts here are either:

1. [5 bands I dislike or 1 band I really dislike]

2. "omg how do u not like a band that i like r u hi?! that band is good but this band is bad"

Add Jefferson Airplane/Starship

Oh hell, I forget The Doors.

1. Beatles

2. Green Day

3. Grateful Dead

4. Def Leopard

5. Linkin Park

I don't think most people around here how influential Radiohead is. They've had a big impact on the industry and have spawned countless knock-offs (for better or for worse). It would be interesting to know how many people have them on their list and have heard only "Creep." Even for the more well-versed folks, you shouldn't deny their influence just because you don't care for Thom's voice or whatever you take issue with. As with a lot of bands being discussed, you don't have to like them to appreciate them.

That said, perhaps they're currently overrated as another poster mentioned. There does often seem to be a "do no wrong" thought among critics and their fans are ravenous... I mean I'm a big Radiohead fan and I could not believe some of the hype. However, their records aren't necessarily redefining genres anymore. Their recently released album is an excellent listen, better than most out there of course, but it's not quite an innovative masterpiece like some of their previous ones. However, it's still new, good stuff... how many other bands are still producing creative, different, solid music after ~25 years together? You can't look at one album or song in a vacuum.

In general, a lot of these larger-than-life reputations are very firmly rooted in historical context, which can be very difficult to fully appreciate. Sometimes you realize what's happening as it happens, but probably more often you can't see the full effect for years, or you were just born too late and can only read about the influence.

ACDC

ACDC

ACDC

ACDC

Grateful Dead