# Most Overrated Bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2003, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924 "2003-02-05T11:14:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/21 "2003-02-05T17:46:03Z")
Not to rag on other folk’s opinions, but in Springsteen’s defense, Tunnel of Love had a lot of good tunes on it; but of course, that is pushing 15 years old, so maybe you’re right. But, his live show is still damned incrediable. IMO his current reign is based more on the energy of his concerts than the quality of his more recent albums. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/22 "2003-02-05T18:03:45Z")
U2 and Springsteen, off the top of my head. Hey, Bono! Shut the f\*&% up! I don’t give a goat-colon what you think about world economics! * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/23 "2003-02-05T18:25:57Z")
Nirvana The Doors (I admit they did one great one album, their first, and one great song not on that album, “L.A. Woman,” but disruptive entity is right – this is one WAAAAY overrated band and Jim Morrison is not a great poet) Black Sabbath Ozzie The Grateful Dead (actually, I like American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, but the band is basically a glorified jug band and you’ve heard one live album, you’ve heard them all) Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship (this conglomeration must have put out more than 30 albums and yet one double set will hold all the good stuff) Kenny G Janis Joplin Aerosmith Heart (actually, I liked Dreamboat Annie when it came out and I think “Crazy on You” is a helluva rocker, but the Wilson sisters spent too much of their careers trying to be the female Led Zeppelin. However, Ann Wilson is not Robert Plant and they never had a guitarist, bassist, or drummer one-quarter as talented as Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones or Bonzo.) The Sex Pistols (you know civilization is nearing its end when supposedly educated people start praising this band of degenerates as first-rate musicians. Shit, I would rather listen to a hog scratch its ass with a bristle.) Van Halen Abba Smashing Pumpkins All rap artists Alanis Morrisette ---
**Author:** ![dwmacg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwmacg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwmacg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/24 "2003-02-05T18:54:29Z")
Led Zeppelin. ---
**Author:** ![rhinostylee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@rhinostylee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhinostylee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/25 "2003-02-05T18:54:59Z")
Wow - Killer post! I agree with almost every band in the 1st 10 replies, especially: CREED! RUSH! STROKES/VINES/WHITE STRIPES - (interchangable) WILCO - I’ve tried and tried, and just don’t like it. I defend System of a Down (not all of it, but a few songs kick ass) and the Doors. Just forget about the horrible Oliver Stone film and all of the “hippie” assholes that never stop playing it. (Real hippies are not assholes.) ---
**Author:** ![Novus\_Opiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Novus\_Opiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novus_Opiate)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/26 "2003-02-05T19:03:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nineiron \* > \*\*Tool. > > Constantly, my students tell me how amazing and talented This band is. I reply with a “m’eh.” They then tell me that if I were to just listen to them, I’d love them too. The problem is, I have listened to them and find them to be utter crap. \*\* Blasphemer! If you just listen to them, you’ll love them too. Are you sure it was Tool? 🙂 Oh well, if I can live with my wife hating them, i guess I can live with you hating them, too. Novus ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/27 "2003-02-05T19:03:46Z")
**James Taylor** : Treacly pseudo-folk fit only for Stepford-wives. A male, balding Linda Ronstadt singing soulless tenor on banal covers, playing third-rate Travis-picking-patterns. I liked him better when he was a heroin-addict. **The Eagles** : Take The Byrds’ _Sweetheart of the Rodeo_, remove Gram Parsons, and replace him with John Denver. Stir gently and allow to congeal. Serve lukewarm. **The Dreadful Grate** : They had several singers, but nobody had a range greater than a minor third, and all notes were flat. They had two guitarists, but neither had the chops of your average 16-year-old guitarist. They had two drummers, but neither could keep a beat. They sang lyrics eclipsed only by those of Jim Morrison and Neil Peart in embarrassing bombast/pretense. They were, as Dave Marsh put it, “the kind of thing that gave peace ‘n’ love a bad name.” **Crosby, Stills and Nash** : The-Eagles-meets-The-Dreadful-Grate. The Archies for adult hippies. Only slightly redeemed by the presence of Neil Young. And somebody needs to tell Mr. Stills he’s not a guitar player. Not really. **Gordon Lightfoot** : Imagine Neil Diamond imitating Richard Thompson. OK, you also have to pretend Neil is Canadian. He seems like a nice guy, but…no. **Don McLean** : James Taylor without even the third-rate Travis-picking-pattern. **Joan Baez** : Anne Murray sings Dylan. Somebody needs to make her stop. **"Sir" Paul McCartney** (solo): A hard day’s knight. **Led Zeppelin** : They hold the career-record for songs about hobbits. The first record is goodÑalthough it is plagiarismÑand they are slightly redeemed by Sandy Denny’s singing on “Battle of Evermore,” but the bulk of their career is a spiralling descent into ever-greater depths of irrelevance. It is not ironic that their signature-songÑ"Stairway to Heaven"Ñis pure gibberish. **Rush** : Banshee vocals, singing perhaps the most pretentious lyrics ever written, set to amateurish arrangements (where exactly is this chord-progression going?). Many fifteen-year-olds call this stuff “intense.” I call it “unnecessary.” **Jefferson Airplane** : Drugs are badÑdon’t do drugs, m’kay? **The Doors** : Sophomoric “poetry” set to psychedelic lounge-music. For people who think that merely being pissed-off at one’s parents makes one “deep.” Jim Morrison should never have picked up a pen. Robbie Krieger should never have picked up a guitar. John Densmore is too lazy to pick up the beat. Ray Manzarek is too lazy to pick up anything. **Yes** : _No_. Emotionally detached virtuosity (Hey, MomÑlook what I can do!) backing wispy, castrato vocals singing incoherent platitudes. Effective only as an antiseptic. **Black Sabbath** : Too easy… **Billy Joel** : It may be rock ‘n’ roll to him, but it’s a major annoyance to me. John Denver with a piano. Actually, Denver has more life in him than Joel does. **Janis Joplin** (and Big Brother and the Holding Company): Legions of baby-boomers think she had soul. No, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith had soul. Janis merely possessed the ability to mimic the sound of a cat being tortured. The highlight of her career was having Robert Crumb design the cover of _Cheap Thrills_. **Peter, Paul and Mary** : Peter Paul’s Almond Joy’s got nuts; Peter, Paul and Mary don’t. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/28 "2003-02-05T19:13:02Z")
“Actually, Denver has more life in him than Joel does” John Denver is dead (and if you already knew that, than Billy Joel must be REALLY down on your list). ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/29 "2003-02-05T19:29:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by thirdshiftgrottoslack \* > \*\*most overrated: lenny kravitz. \*\* Lenny Kravitz has a knack for writing songs that sound like I got sick of them 15 years ago. I’ll second Tool, as well. They’re good, but lord, the adulation. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/30 "2003-02-05T19:31:22Z")
Who _do_ you like, **rmbnxs**? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/31 "2003-02-05T20:28:45Z")
**Widespread Panic** Maybe not where you’re from, but they’ve got legions of followers in the South. I saw them live once, and it was the most boring thing I’ve ever seen. And I was on acid, which is supposed to make everything interesting. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/32 "2003-02-05T20:31:39Z")
Santana I can understand how someone might like it if they had never heard real Salsa music. But if you have ever heard what Latin Jazz is _supposed_ to sound like, you have to realize that Santana is just watered-down CRAP. And my grandmother can play guitar better than that guy. His solos only have like 5 different notes in them, and even then, some of them are the _wrong_ notes. And I’ll second The Doors and The Grateful Dead. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/33 "2003-02-05T20:44:55Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by rmbnxs \* \*\ ***The Eagles** : Take The Byrds’ _Sweetheart of the Rodeo_, remove Gram Parsons, and replace him with John Denver. Stir gently and allow to congeal. Serve lukewarm. **Billy Joel** : It may be rock ‘n’ roll to him, but it’s a major annoyance to me. John Denver with a piano. Actually, Denver has more life in him than Joel does.\*\* Both excellent choices but you do a disfavor to Mr. Denver who is **vastly underrated** as a songwriter and unjustly vilified by the neo-urban \* faux-hipsters\* who spew out their malodorous opinions like so many richly fricative farts. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/34 "2003-02-05T20:47:18Z")
I’ll second Led Zeppelin. Jesus, when I saw that kitten Viking video I just burst out laughing. Not at the kittens but at the idiotic lyrics. Hammer of the gods, indeed! Also, Weird Al. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/35 "2003-02-05T21:10:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MemoryGongs \* > \*\*These are the ones I am so sick of hearing about > anything with Jack Black > let the flaming begin \*\* Well, the only _thing_ with Jack Black is Tenacious D. I don’t think they even fit in this category. They are a comedy act. Their act revolves around the duo, but this is more a case of whether or not you “get” the comedy. Besides, I’ve been aware of Tenacious D maybe since 1996, and have come across possibly 2 or 3 dozen media mentions of them, not counting times I’ve specifically looked for information about them. OTOH, I _am_ sick of hearing about Jack Black’s acting career. I think he’s played himself out. Incidentally, it took all my intestinal fortitude to not simply post, in all caps “Tenacious D Rules,” and insult your intelligence and manhood repeatedly. 😉 hrh ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/36 "2003-02-05T21:46:05Z")
egad, I’ve long since come to acknowledge my distaste for “classic rock”, by which I mean especially the likes of Foreigner, Bad Company, and Led Zeppelin. Competently played, blues-based rock that I nonetheless find boring. “I Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love…I take whatever I want, and baby I want you”. How inventive was that lyric? Umm…not at all. And I second Billy Joel, who IMHO doesn’t even belong in the rock canon, really sounding more like AM pop. (Is there even still any pop music on AM radio)? But at least some of the earlier bands mentioned were trying to do something different or at least to create a mood, and they deserve some credit for that. The Dead defied categorization. The Doors…well, IMO psychedelic lounge music is a good thing, especially when matched against Hootie And The Blowfish, and the legions of bands/singers now putting out one hip-pop song after another in which the vocalist’s voice is electronically modified to sound like they’re talking through a tin-can telephone. I like a lot of later stuff too, but I just couldn’t walk by without defending some of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/37 "2003-02-05T21:48:32Z")
I’ll add someone: **Shania Twain**. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Wilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@Jeff\_Wilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Wilder)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/38 "2003-02-05T23:36:37Z")
Goo Goo Dolls: Their songs sound fine on the radio. Other than that, they sound like the what The Replacements would sound like if James Taylor was their lead singer. Matchbox 20: See above. Nickelback: Imagine Sundgarden with a penny’s worth of the talent. Creed: See above, only with Pearl Jam Pearl Jam’s Ten Album: It’s very good. But it’s not the only one they’ve done. VS and Yield are ten times better. Michael Jackson: He’s always been ovverrated to an extent. Now the overadulation is finally wearing off. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/39 "2003-02-05T23:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by disruptive entity \* > \*\*The Grateful Dead. They’re boring even when you’re on LSD. Can’t forget Rush, either. If one more person tells me what great musicians they are, they’re gonna get smacked. I don’t care how musically competent they may be, they need to start writing some songs that don’t suck. The Doors are another one, too. Jim Morrison was not some sort of shamanistic poet. He was just a moron who took way too many drugs and forgot how to shut the hell up. As for Pink Floyd, I believe the world woud be a much better place had they never existed. Boy, my hatred of classic rock is really coming out here, isn’t it? To balance things out a little here, I nominate Godsmack too. Simply put, boring repetitive music with positively dreadful lyrics. They’re mutiplatinum selling rockstars. How bad can that guy’s life really be? Their only statement seems to be go away, leave me alone. I didn’t think they could possibly wring another album out of that theme, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t \*\* Can I buy you a drink? 🙂 Great post. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924/40 "2003-02-06T00:22:11Z")
Another vote for Creed. I can’t stand them, and I don’t understand AT ALL why so many women think the lead singer’s hot…eck. Also, does anyone else think he acts like he’s Jesus in all their videos? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-overrated-bands/152924.md?page=3)