Time out… may I make a request? If you’re going to say that ANY band or artist is “overrated,” you have to explain a few things:
- What does “overrated” mean?
- “Overrated” by whom?
- In what way?
- And why does that bother you?
Most of the posts here just list popular acts that the poster just doesn’t like. Now, everyone’s entitled to his opinion, but just because an artist you dislike sells millions of records and has millions of fans, it doesn’t follow that he’s “overrated.”
Personally, I’ve never liked Madonna (in fact, I hate most of her music and LOATHE pretty much every persona she’s adopted), but I’d be silly to call her “overrated.” After all, she IS one of the most popular recording artists of all time. She’s sold tens of millions of records, which means she has LOTS of fans, which means the entertainment media are absolutely RIGHT to give her a lot of attention!
She’d only be “overrated” if she were constantly being hailed as a great artist- but NOBODY has ever made that argument! Critics don’t praise her work to the skies, and even her most ardent fans admit that her music is inconsequential but fun (“it has a good beat and you can dance to it”). So, feel free to hate Madonna (I do), but what makes her “overrated”?
I could say the same for a host of acts. I never liked the Spice Girls, I never liked 'N Sync, I don’t like Jennifer Lopez… but how are any of them “overrated”? Again, even their most passionate fans never claimed those acts were great artists, and they never got critical raves. Feel free to say that those acts stink, that they have no talent, whatever… but “overrated”?
I’ve seen several performers I like a lot called “overrated” in this thread. Now, it doesn’t bother me a bit that there are people who hate Rush, for instance. If Geddy Lee’s voice grates on you, if the music does nothing for you, then by all means, don’t buy their records, and feel free to tell your friends how awful their music is. But “overrated”? Again, by whom? I rarely see Rush mentioned in the mass media. They haven’t been on the cover of a major music magazine in ages! They’ve never been popular with the critics (who tend to lump them in with the “pompous, pretentious” art-rock bands). So… even if you think Rush’s music reeks, WHO’S “overrating” them? Their fans?
For the most part, calling an act “overrated” is like calling a Big Mac overrated. It’s silly! People either like Big Macs or they don’t. People choose to eat them or not. The millions of people who like them aren’t boothered by the fact that many people. And the people who DON’T like Big Macs don’t feel a need to start threads complaining that Big Macs are “overrated.”
So, what DOES make an artist overrated? To me, an artist is overrated if he’s showered with media attention and critical praise even though he hasn’t accomplished much or achieved any real success.
Music writers and critics are often WAAAY more concerned with making themselves look cool, or with impressing their peers, than with writing about what’s popular. As a result, they often latch onto new, (seemingly) up-and-coming bands, and hype the heck out of them BEFORE they’ve actually done anything of note. THOSE are the acts that may actually deserve the title “overrated.”
And, finally, there are the perennial “critics’ darlings.” I recall that, when I was a teen in New York, a band like Black Sabbath could come to town, play before 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden, and not even merit a mention in the Times or the News. But if Lou Reed played in front of 50 people at some dive in the Village, there’s be three-page interviews with Reed the day before, and glowing reviews the day after.
Even if you like Lou Reed (I don’t and never have), and even if you hate Sabbath (I loved them then, but haven’t listened to them in years), I think you grasp my point. Media hype and coverage often have little to do with what’s popular or successful. Given his (to put it politely) modest success over the years, I’d say Lou Reed is incredibly overrated.