[Closed] Most Over Rated Band In History.

I love this revisionist bollocks Effin's spouting

It's simply fact. The Beatles are overrated, because instead of being this wonderful amazing 'best band in the World' type mythical beast, they were simply a bunch of talented musicians who were very adept at plagiarism...

Without Epstein, it could well be argued that they woon't have been anything successful.

You simply don't like the truth being spelled out to you. Don't like your dreams being shattered...

The thread is about the 'most overrated bandin history'. That band is the Beatles. Pure and Simple.

[i]Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, the Beach Boys, Buddy Holly and others. Later, you've got yer Pink Floyd [/i]

you said less famous (don't just run to wikipedia that's just cheating, you big cheat) 😛

Stone Roses.. a few people i know absolutely bum off them.

I really do not see what they see in them. They even split up when my mates were toddlers.

Pioneers of the whole thrash metal genre!!!

no they were not, they were part of the early thrash metal scene along with so many bay area bands. They were also influenced heavily be the UK band discharge, so really metallica where just another thrash group who became rather dull pretty much after master of puppets.

personally I think anthrax and suicidal tendencies were far more pioneering and slayer have more always more thrash 😆

mikey74 - Member

Please don't lump van halen in with the rest of the hair metal crap. The fact that they feature one of the most influential guitarists in history is, on it's own, enough to set them apart.

What? they are hardly good enough to be graced with the genre "hair metal". I used to call bands like that "heavy plastic" because of how derivative of the real metal bands they were

One of the most influential guitarists in history?

Duane Eddy, Les Paul. Clapton, Santana, Chuck berry, Hendrix, Gary Moore, BB king, these are the sort of names of influential guitarists.

They are less famous than the Beatles!

And Ravi Shankhar influenced George Harrison and how many people have heard of him, in the West?

I listen to all sorts me; if I like it then it's good, imo.

Having listened to all sorts of music, I've come to the conclusion that the Beatles are overrated. does not in any way mean they're no good, far from it. Just that they've enjoyed success, adulation and acclaim beyond their real talent and achievement. IE, overrated.

Same way Madonna's bin about for so long; good luck to her, she's made some good pop music, but just cos you've sold X billion albums don't mean you're the best. See the AC/DC comments for proof.

sold X billion albums don't mean you're the best.

so how else would you measure the best then elfy darling? the ones with the nicest shoes, the band that have been voted for the most by pressing the red button on an interactive show on sky?

see you are wronger than a wrong thing in big box of wrong things, but you just can't admit it. it's a failing you have, but I love you anyway 😀

What about Dave Gilmore, TJ? A brilliant guitarist.

Nowt special ~Elf - influential? How many folk wanted to play like him? took up guitar to be like him? does he stand alongside the giants?

Floyd are badly overrated imo as well

I listen to all sorts me; if I like it then it's good, imo.

FCOL Elf GAG 😯

The Beatles were just a bit before my time but they were unique and have made a huge contribution to music. I'm not actually a fan but recognise their achievements.

Blimey, I'm agreeing with TJ - Floyd are over-rated!

so how else would you measure the best then elfy darling?

So you're measuring quality by quantity of records sold then?

Ok, so you must therefore think that Mariah Carey is one of the greatest music artists of all time then? 😕

Nowt special ~Elf - influential? How many folk wanted to play like him? took up guitar to be like him? does he stand alongside the giants?

Erm, well I've known several who rate Gilmore as one of the very best, and yes, they do want to emulate him. I think he does stand amongst the 'giants', yes.

Floyd are badly overrated imo as well

I disagree entirely. Watch 'Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii'. Then come back and we'll discuss. 🙂

The Beatles were just a bit before my time but they were unique and have made a huge contribution to music. I'm not actually a fan but recognise their achievements.

I'm not disputing that, CG. Just pointing out that they're overrated; if you're talking purely in musical terms.

Seems that the mere suggestion that the Beatles might be a teensy bit overrated is treated as heresy, blasphemy even! 😀

The problem with naming bands like Nirvana, Beatles etc as over rated is that they have actually done some great stuff....the Nevermind album from Nirvana is superb, every track potentially a hit single and no fillers to bulk it out with....rare in this day and age....and completely different to some of the self indulgent shite they did afterwards.

My dad has every Beatles album and will happily listen to every track, i dont see the appeal in that respect but songs like Lucy In The Sky, Eleanor Rigby, Come Together and A Day In The Life are brilliant....again, completely different to the garbage like I Wanna Hold Your Hand or Love Love Me Do.

The Rolling Stones have done some sublime stuff....Sympathy For The Devil, Paint It Black, Gimme Shelter are all true classics and it shouldnt detract from the some of the pish they've also put out.

Basically if a band is around for any length of time then they will put out some good and some bad....perhaps a better question would be what is the most over rated album you can think of?

For me that would be the recent album by The XX, it was masturbated over by just about everybody in the industry so i bought it....utter wrist slitting crap.

For me a great band is one that releases an album that you listen to and cant believe your luck that there are 10+ tracks that are all brilliant, its a rare thing.

Pink Floyd....Another Brick In The Wall, Comfortably Numb, Money, Wish You Were Here....amazing songs and stuff that up and coming bands would love to produce.

Led Zep....Good Times Bad Times, You Shook Me, Whole Lotta Love, Stairway To Heaven, Kashmir, All Of My Love....

no bands putting out these kinds of tracks that are still downloaded by 20 year olds 30-40 years after the original releases can be considered over rated.

Elf - I've seen Dave Gilmore a few times. I also saw Floyd when they presented Dark Side of the Moon at Wembley in 1970-something.

As TJ says, there's better guitarists - B B King, Hendrix, Gary Moore and my current fave Joe Bonamassa.

so you must therefore think that Mariah Carey is one of the greatest music artists of all time then?

yep, but i prefer her tribute act

Elf - floyd was acceptable in the 70s but nowadays? really you should know better. decent band of their time but sooooooooooooooooobadly dated

here is another overated band - the smiths. Morrisy a decent wordsmith but the fawning over the Marr is well ott

When I first heard Teen Spirit I thought it was just a Pixies rip off.
Still do.
I will also add Talking Heads to the list.

CG; you are truly spoiled. 🙁

As TJ says, there's better guitarists - B B King, Hendrix, Gary Moore and my current fave Joe Bonamassa.

TJ sez a lot of things.

Gilmour is a fantastic guitarist, and up there with those TJ's mentioned, imo. Different to most of those others, being that they're mainly Blues and R+R guitarists, but just as good technically. Just cos it don't move you don't mean it ain't good.

The problem with naming bands like Nirvana, Beatles etc as over rated is that they have actually done some great stuff

I've said this. And explained why the Beatles are [i]overrated[/i], but people seem to be missing the point somewhat...

Oh and another Solo artist that people wet themselves over, that I just don't think was deserving of quite such an exalted status, is Michael Jackson. There is not one MJ song in my iTunes. I think he had a couple of good tunes, Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal being two of them, but Earth Child? 😯 Please.

Yet mention MJ in any negative context, and oh my God his fayns will descend on you like a pack of hyenas.

Another who benefited enormously from having a svengali to guide him. But later stuff, which is much more his own, is utter shite, let's be honest.

Gilmour is a fantastic guitarist,

Anyway influential was the claim - and who wanted to be glimour? copy his paying style?

IMO he is no where near the greats

nilson is one of the most under rated but he did not write ken lee iirc

Qwality link tazzy

I quite like floyd, i would never describe them as a fav band but i have many of their albums.
MJ was always poor IMHO and yes his fans love him even though his relations with children is at best dubious and his music utter garbish

Anyway influential was the claim - and who wanted to be glimour? copy his paying style?

Plenty, I'd imagine.

IMO he is no where near the greats

And IMO he is. Who is right?

(Actually it's me so don't bother arguing)

Elf - yes I've been spoiled by the 70's, it really was a fantastic era for so many different types of music. 8) I felt part of it, you know, living in That Lundun!

yep, but I prefer her tribute act

😆

[i]Ken lee, tulibu dubu douchou[/i]

😯

No stoppit now it's not funny.

Don't knock Gilmour, technical prowess teamed with feeling and delicacy.
If a day of reckoning ever comes and the spaceman says 'what have you humans done that's any use?' We could say we made music. And if they asked to hear music, we'd pop on Darkside and the human race would be spared.
Best guitarist ever? Hendrix.

And if they asked to hear music, we'd pop on [s]Darkside[/s] the cheeky girls and the human race would be spared.

 

the beatles churned out quality from rubber soul onwards in my opinion , listen to every beatles album from rubber soul onwards and realise how many great tracks they cut ...in the early days over rated but churned out single after single for the masses , which is a talent in itself , FACT the beatles shaped music and society more than any other artist of the time !!!
I am the walrus ,coo coo cachoo

TandemJeremy - Member

Gilmour is a fantastic guitarist,
Is he?

Anyway influential was the claim - and who wanted to be glimour? copy his paying style?

IMO he is no where near the greats

Some times you talk pi5h

But its not your fault that you have no taste, its your upbringing. 8)

Steve - really? Influential like Les paul? a great like clapton?

Eric Clapton was a racist...

i think elf theory is basically this.

All taste in music is subjective. Therefore it is really impossible to rate bands more highly than one another and all bands must be at the same level.

Thefore the band that is considered to best or the most highly rated is also the band that is the most over rated.

This band is probably the beatles.

At first I thought U2 but actually if you just listen to the music and ignore the arseholes singing it it's actually not too bad.

So I'm going for the Smiths. I seriously have never been able to get what that's about. I've never heard a Smiths song that didn't make me cringe at how ridiculous the people are who think they're great. Normal, sensible people who I respect will tell me Morrisy is some sort of genius when it's clear to my dog he's misguided, naive and childish. The songs all sound like a whining teenager bitching about his pocket money and he's so up his own bum I just want to slap some sense into him.

TandemJeremy - Member
Steve - really? Influential like Les paul? a great like clapton?

Sorry Claptout, i would have given you the benifit of the doubt untill you said that.

Talk about overrated.

Gilmore is class, its as simple as that.

samuri - Member

So I'm going for the Smiths. I seriously have never been able to get what that's about. I've never heard a Smiths song that didn't make me cringe at how ridiculous the people are who think they're great. Normal, sensible people who I respect will tell me Morrisy is some sort of genius when it's clear to my dog he's misguided, naive and childish. The songs all sound like a whining teenager bitching about his pocket money and he's so up his own bum I just want to slap some sense into him.

Oh boy do you speak the truth. I would do time for the Smiths if i had a baseball bat and a spare 10 mins. 😀

And now I have read the responses.

Jebus! ACDC? Did someone say Hendrix?

Crack, on, are, you?
I guess there's no accounting for muscial taste but anyone who refuses to accept the influence that the beatles and hendrix and the stones had on the world should accept that their own view of music is heavily restricted.

The beatles changed the musical world. You don't have to like them but over rated? Nope, sorry. You're wrong. It was a revolution and it affected the music you like today, get your head round it.

Take that, just raping hard earned cash off middle-aged housewives.not a band but Elvis friggin prestley ,absolute rubbish. This is not fact only my opinion:)

I will help you do the slapping there samurai imagine him squealing not the face not the face...I may have thought about that too much there
elfin would never argue his point that well or coherently or without any mockney
Please watch the tazzy clip

This is my last post on the subject but again....it's not just the music but the influence. If Elvis made himself famous by producing idle pop trash, I'd agree with you but he made himself famous by totally changing the world. Not just the music world, but the world. He's one of the most famous people who ever lived, in the top ten for most people I'd say, and he was just a singer.

Influencial? Mother of god, yes!!! Over rated? His music might have been but how he changed the world should be rated alongside the influence Caesar and Hitler had on us.

The beatles (and others) changed the [b]Western commercial[/b] musical world.

FTFY.

There are artists in India, China, Brazil/South America etc who outsell most Western artists many times over. Artists you've never heard of.

But hey, what does the rest of the non-English speaking World matter, eh? 🙄

it affected the music you like today, get your head round it.

Funny; last I checked, The Beatles were around sometime after Mozart, Beethoven and the like were doing their thang... 😕

And how d'you know what [i]I[/i] listen to? Are you familiar with all of [i]my[/i] musical choices and tastes? No din't think so be quiet now pliz thnx.

Influencial? Mother of god, yes!!! Over rated? His music might have been but how he changed the world should be rated alongside the influence Caesar and Hitler had on us.

Now you're just babbling. 😐

This is my last post on the subject

Thank heavens for small mercies... 😉

i thought my suggestion for Beatles would be controversial but obviously not

It is, but I can't be bothered to argue with you 🙂

Probably Metallica for me.. despite liking other thrash, I don't really get them at all.
U2 are shite as well.
ACDC.. good rock and I enjoy listening to them, but they are overrated.

unfortunately I now have "ken lee" stuck in my head and know it will come back to haunt me. probably on some godawful grunting climb 😯

The Beatles are the most under-rated band around here!
They more or less invented Pop music as we know it. They were a complete shock to the establishment when they appeared. As were the Pistols in the mid 70s.
Time for a new Revolution but from where?

Re: Van Halen

One of the most influential guitarists in history?

Duane Eddy, Les Paul. Clapton, Santana, Chuck berry, Hendrix, Gary Moore, BB king, these are the sort of names of influential guitarists.

Yes, ONE of the most influential guitarists in history. He practically invented a whole new style of playing. Unlike Gary Moore, who you mention: As much as I rate him and loved the music of his rock era (he was my first guitar hero, alongside Mark Knopfler), he could hardly be described as being innovative.

If you don't think Eddie Van Halen deserves to be alongside the other names you mention, then you clearly don't know anything about the guitar. Pick up any guitar publication and they will refer to EVH in similar reverence as those other names you mention.

Back to hair metal..

I got three for the bands (I think) Poison, VanHalen (who should never be tagged in the hiar metal genre) dunno the third but I think it could be Cinderella and White Lion (again how you can dump them into hair metal is way beyond me, Vito Baretta is an unbeleivable guitarist)

So who was the third band?

on this forum? PWEI. They were decent, not great.

Third - Warrant

Fourth... keep guessing....

on this forum? PWEI. They were decent, not great.

they can't be overrated only about 3 people like them.

anyone who says hendrix is over rated ..please he is still relevant some would say ahead of his time ,IMHO still ahead of todays sounds,music,beats,rythym whatever you want to call it

watch any Jimi concert half the audience are stoned and half cannot take in what is happening ...where did he pull those sounds from ?

PWEI?

Hardly 'over-rated'. They barely made it to mainstream so they can't be classed as OVER rated surely?

Stone Roses and in particular Ian Brown solo. Jesus wept my bestmate literally wants to bum him yet its just 90's catchy-tuned stuff.

mikey74

EVH is nothing compared to those people. A decent guitarist perhaps but nothing compared to the greats - maybe Moore should not be in that list.

A whole new style of playing? educate me - must be a youtube clip you can show me to demonstrate

IMO a 'great' guitarist doesn't have to be technically gifted, just be able to move people with their playing.

For example - Joe Bonamassa. He bores me to tears. He might be wonderful but he simply doesn't inspire me. It's the same with ClappedOut.

Gary Moore is another - just no spark for me - in either his early rock days or his more recent bluesy stuff. And I would say EVH too - apart from perhaps on Beat It where the rock guitars lit up the song wonderfully.

For me, musicians that really do it for me are Randy Rhodes, Slash, Lemmy (bass I know, but who cares) and Gilmour too. Perhaps it is simply because when you watch him he seems to be 'feeling' his way around the guitar and he takes you with him, I dunno. And BB King too for sure - just oozed style as he played. I could also watch Jools Holland on his piano all day long. Probably quite happy to do so with no sound 🙂

Disagree that Madonna's overrated. A lot of it is filler, obviously, and I dismissed her as just another disposable pop bimbo until I heard Like A Prayer, specifically the bass run on the 12" version, which is the sort of thing I never thought I'd hear on a cheesy pop record. Anyone who's prepared to allow real virtuosity on their records when it won't make them sell a single further copy is OK in my book.

Or just listen to pretty much the whole of Ray Of Light, her seventh album, and probably her best to date. How many artists are producing their best work 15 or more years after their first success?

You may not like Madonna - fair enough - but to call her overrated is probably inaccurate. She's certainly had a pretty major impact, although to be fair she's also responsible for foisting Alanis Morissette on the world (signed her to her own Maverick label) so for that she deserves a good punch.

I think the sex pistols are over-rated
I think the jam are over-rated
My friend thinks U2 are over-rated

I would disagree about the Sex Pistols - they defined a whole generation through their style and attitude. Yes they were a manufactured boy band and they weren't the first to make 'punk rock'. But they completely changed the face of music in the UK. I wish I had been old enough to have understood what was going on in 75/76 and to have been able to see them live.

The Beatles are the most under-rated band around here!
They more or less invented Pop music as we know it.

And that's a good thing?

PWEI?

Hardly 'over-rated'. They barely made it to mainstream so they can't be classed as OVER rated surely?

they can't be overrated only about 3 people like them.

that's why i began with "on this forum?". barely a music thread goes by without them turning up..

A whole new style of playing? educate me - must be a youtube clip you can show me to demonstrate

FFS

He set the blueprint for heavy metal soloing. Although tapping had been around for years, never to the extent he employed it. His technique was so revolutionary he soloed with his back to the audience so as to hide his technique.

Nobody played like EVH before, but millions have since. He is one of the most influential guitarists of all time.

Really? Youtube clip that shows how this is differnt from clapton or Hendrix?

Millions have followed his style? really? More influential than Clapton or Hendrix?

I'd vote for:

The Beatles - not 'cos they weren't great, or innovative, but because no band is more consistently lionized by the likes of arse face Paul Gambaccini with a load of simplistic "they invented the '60s" nonsense. A shock to the establishment? Was Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da a shock to the establishment? Was it?

The Sex Pistols - I love the ideas behind them and John Lydon was the most amazing frontman and lyricist, but the music was boring pub rock which reduced the radical ideas of punk to wearing a leather jacket and a mohican.

The Velvet Underground - inept art rock, equating being a junkie with artistic achievement, sod off.

Yup, more influenced by EVH than any of the above you mention, c'ept EVH was influenced by them, well thats a different matter..

Randy Rhodes.. give me a buscuit "spits crubs out over keyboard" the lad was rubbish.
Now Jake E Lee, at least that lad had styleee..

SInce we're talking hair guitarists, one underated, certainly in my eyes.. Warren DeMartino out of Ratt..

Really? Youtube clip that shows how this is differnt from clapton or Hendrix?

Millions have followed his style? really? More influential than Clapton or Hendrix?

One word: tapping

He didn't invent it, but he popularised it and took it too new levels. It's the cornerstone of heavy metal soloing.

Listen to or watch Eruption

He's definitely up there with Clapton or Hendrix. I'm sure it was Tom Morello who said that in the legacy of guitar playing, there was Hendrix and then there was Van Halen and those are the two critical turning points in the history of guitar playing.

On EVH...

Eddie Van Halen is commonly known for his innovative performing and recording styles in blues-based rock, tapping, intense solos and high frequency feedback

[i]The All Music Guide has described him as "Second to only Jimi Hendrix...undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century.".[/i]

And conversely

He is ranked 70th on the Rolling Stone list of Top 100 guitarists.

Now Jake E Lee, at least that lad had styleee..

Are you talking about the same Jake E Lee that was in Ozzy Osbourne's band after RR died? Apart from 'Bark at the Moon' (the song), I don't remember any of his guitar playing to be near to compare to RR's - Suicide Solution, Over the Mountain, Mr Croweley...

there was Hendrix and then there was Van Halen and those are the two critical turning points in the history of guitar playing.

Yep, both re-wrote the book when they developed their style.

You know, it is possible to be the 'greatest' band ever, yet be so far out in front by popular opinion, to also be the most overrated .. 😉

And scousers.

Eddie Van Halen is commonly known for his innovative performing and recording styles in blues-based rock, tapping, intense solos and high frequency feedback

Clapton copy then with a bit of Townsend thrown in?

Van Halen were also enormous in the US, but less so here so their influence is probably less apparent in the UK. They were the ultimate college frat boy party soundtrack in the eighties. Unbelievably big in the US.

Being popular in the US makes you great? I always thought that Van Halen were second rate copies of the real thing

If you think so TJ, then yes - that definitely IS your opinion.

I just copied and pasted the Wiki entry on him so clearly that opinion of him is[b] commonly known [/b] but, as always, you know better than common opinion.

Clapton copy then with a bit of Townsend thrown in

Clapton's far from original.

were second rate copies of the real thing

The real thing being bands like Deep purple, black sabbath, Cream and so on. The 70s originals

The real thing being....

A tremendous album.

The real thing being bands like Deep purple, black sabbath, Cream and so on. The 70s originals

TJ, perhaps you could tell us what you feel best defines greatness?

If it's not sales, and it's not popularity (and I wouldn't disagree with that), what is it?

The real thing?

ICMC

Problem with all music threads is a lot of it is about taste and opiniion. No hard facts. I must confess I had never heard EVH referred to in this reverential way before.

Cougar - Member
The real thing being....
A tremendous album.

And great live.

Cougar - Member

TJ, perhaps you could tell us what you feel best defines greatness?

If it's not sales, and it's not popularity (and I wouldn't disagree with that), what is it?

Impossible to define - a lot of it is about taste - critical acclaim?

mastiles_fanylion - Member

The real thing being bands like Deep purple, black sabbath, Cream and so on. The 70s originals

But Van Halen are an entirely different sort of band to any of them so hardly a copy.

I thought they were supposed to be metal - a style created in the UK in the 70s by bands such as I mention - no?

mikey74

EVH is nothing compared to those people. A decent guitarist perhaps but nothing compared to the greats - maybe Moore should not be in that list.

A whole new style of playing? educate me - must be a youtube clip you can show me to demonstrate

I can't at the moment, but I will find something when I get home tonight.

The fact is that EVH inspired a whole new generation to pick up a guitar, and that is undeniable.