Re: Overrated bands/musicians
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I confess. I don't like discussions of overrated ________ one bit. There's no quantitative or objective means to determine how a particular _________ is currently rated or should be rated, so most discussions of how a particular _________ is overrated begin with a few people mindlessly bashing on the most popular _________ in an effort to make themselves seem more informed, hip, or fashionable than the supposed masses that are in love with that most popular __________. Next up, we get people who call the people bashing that particular _________ retards, and that that particular _________ is as good as the masses think it is. If it wasn't, why would the masses love it so much, right? Finally, we get the original bashers to come back in the thread and say that they don't necessarily think that the popular ________ that they bashed is truly terrible, just that it's overrated. And still, no one knows exactly what that means.
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Okay... I see where you're coming from, but am inclined to disagree. Sure, different artists and songs mean different things to different people, but I am inclined to argue that some music is straight-up better than others. Example: Billy Joel - Piano Man >>>> Too Short - Blow Job Betty. I can't provide a quantitative analysis as to why, but isn't it sort of an a priori truth?
Not overrated:
-The Grateful dead (incidentally my favorite band ever). The tunes are catchy and the lyrics are fairly deep and thoughtful. QFT to whoever said that seeing this band live was unparalleled (I didn't, but have heard).
-The Doors, for much the same reasoning. A glass of electric kool-aid would probably help all the haters see the light w.r.t. these two bands.
-The Beatles is obvious attempt at levelling (I hope).
-Nirvana is not overrated... I'll easily vouch for the likes of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Polly," "Lake of Fire," and "Come As You Are." Like someone else said, they also helped define a genre. Cobain was ahead of his time.
Overrated:
-Nickelback. All their songs sound the exact same. I have a mild obsession with "How You Remind Me," but it's kind of like a car accident I can't help but stick my head out and observe.
-Dave Matthews Band. As somebody said, decidedly uninteresting... I could never figure out why this one was so popular among the college crowd.
-50 cent et al. I would venture to say that anybody who enjoys listening to this sort of music on a regular basis outside of a club-type setting has absolutely no value of artistic talent or integrity.
-Coldplay. "omg, I'm soooo depressed, I'm going to lock myself in my room and listen to Coldplay all day long." Am I off on this one?
My two cents.
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