In particular with these forums, this is who comes to mind right now:


Overrated: Sufjan Stevens (except Seven Swans), Band of Horses, The Decemberists, Kanye West, Midlake

Underrated: Subtle, Califone, Cyne, Broadcast, Edan

Sufjan Stevens and the Decemberists, although I love them both, I can definately agree with you on the overrated call.

Kanye West, he's just always bothered me (except Gold Digger and Diamonds From the Sierra Leone).

Are Nirvana overrated? No, they're fashionable. Half the people I know who have Cobain shirts haven't listened to much more than Smells Like Teen Spirit shirts. They made music do a 180 turn in a way. Atleast a 90 degree turn. I still don't like them though.

Underrated- Sex Pistols (Ton of critical aclaim, crowned w/ starting punk, yet, it seems that people who call them overrated just say it because it's fashionable for a "punk" kid to name drop them--- like Nirvana)

(Charged) G.B.H. (Excellent punk music)

Rick Ross (He gets no love on the board)

That's all I can think of at 5am. I need to retrain my body to fall asleep.

quote:

Originally posted by b0arder753:
Underrated- Sex Pistols (Ton of critical aclaim, crowned w/ starting punk, yet, it seems that people who call them overrated just say it because it's fashionable for a "punk" kid to name drop them--- like Nirvana)

I say the Sex Pistols are overrated, but not because of the reason you mentioned. I think they get a lot of credit for popularizing punk when they were essentially a manufactured band that released one decent album. There were many other bands from the 70s punk scene that had more longevity and wrote better songs (The Ramones, The Clash, and The Buzzcocks to name a few).

Going out on a limb here, but I don’t think many bands from that 1970s punk scene can be deemed as underrated—including The Clash and The Ramones. Someone on here once mentioned that they find The Ramones 3-note chords to be brilliant, I don’t know what they are talking about because when I hear their music I find it boring and mediocre at best. They sound to me like they were making music, or attempting to, just to make noise and somebody came out and labeled it as punk and breakthrough. Maybe it is something that I just don’t “get” and will see its greatness later on but right now I don’t see anything great about it.

Some interesting choices for underrated and overrated artists. here is my two cents, which are, of course, somewhat subjective.

Overrated:
Eric Clapton - I would love to read a good defense of Clapton. I recognize he's a good guitar player, but always found his "blues" a bit superficial.
Peter Gabriel - Never understood his appeal.
The Strokes
The Artic Monkeys
The Futurists
Coldplay

I can't think of many artists who haven't already been mentioned for either category.

Underrated:
Blackalicious - smart, original hip hop music.
Betty Lavette - such a gritty, gritty voice.
Outkast - they have received ample recognition, but not as much as their greatness (imho) warrants
Lucidna Williams - i have the same opinion of her as i do outkast
Aimee Mann - an artist with tremendous integrity. a wonderful lyricist.
Roseanne Cash - her latest record (black cadillac) is an incredibly moving elegy to her father

quote:

The Strokes

Aw, C'mon, Is this it? is a great album.

Well, the Sex Pistols did popularize punk music. And Never Mind the Bollocks... is an amazing album. I wouldn't say the Ramones are overrated, I'd just say they are boring. Their was a viciousness behind the Sex Pistols that was the epitome of what Punk set out to do--- seperate themselves from the Hippies and others with their violence, sarcasm, and raw edge. Punk has influenced so many sounds/ subgenres it's ridiculous.

So, the Sex Pistols may not have a good catalogue, and they may get mentioned a lot, but it's primarily by people who don't grasp what they did for music. That's where my underrated/ overrated perspective comes from. Just because they get talked about (on a surface level) doesn't make them overrated to me, it's just poeple jumping on music and not looking around. Just like I don't view the Beatles as overrated because they were revolutionary.

EricG: What do you mean by "manufactured"? There are a lot of bands out there that I'd call "manufactured" but the only aspect of that I can see with the Sex Pistols is after the fact, not when they were around (marketing).

Sorry if this is scattered, I'm in a rush.

The Ramones were playing music a year before the Pistols were formed. One month after Bollocks was released, the Ramones put out their third (and best) album, Rocket to Russia. The Ramones were even treated as much-bigger deals on their U.K. tour in 1977 than the Sex Pistols. I realize that they didn't have to play inside cages like the Pistols did sometimes in the Deep South of the U.S., and no, there weren't a lot of safety pins through cheeks at Ramones shows, but they invented punk anyway.

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EricG: What do you mean by "manufactured"? There are a lot of bands out there that I'd call "manufactured" but the only aspect of that I can see with the Sex Pistols is after the fact, not when they were around (marketing).

He can speak for himself of course, but I think was he meant by that was that Malcolm Mclaren put the Sex Pistols together for the express purpose of making a british version of the Ramones. I think Richard Hell and the Voidoids also were oen of the 'models' in Mclaren's mind when he introduced the members of the sex pistols to eachother.

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Originally posted by mark f:
The Ramones were playing music a year before the Pistols were formed. One month after Bollocks was released, the Ramones put out their third (and best) album, Rocket to Russia. The Ramones were even treated as much-bigger deals on their U.K. tour in 1977 than the Sex Pistols. I realize that they didn't have to play inside cages like the Pistols did sometimes in the Deep South of the U.S., and no, there weren't a lot of safety pins through cheeks at Ramones shows, but they invented punk anyway.

What it comes down to is different views on punk. I didn't say that the ramones didn't come first, but to me, the Ramones music wasn't really the epitome of punk, whereas the Sex Pistols were. The Ramones may have been quite punk when compared to other bands of the time (which I guess is where it counts) but looking back, they just weren't very hard. And being hard is a big part of punk (unless you're the Adicts haha, then appearing to be hard but making catchy poppish tunes is punk)

I don't like talking about "overrated artists" very much, but I'll talk about some underrated.

Califone- They've been around forever and have yet to release a bad cd (with the exception of Herion King Blues, though I liked it)
MC5 and The Stooges- Since when did the Sex Pistols OR The Ramones invent punk?
The Cramps- Basically invented the whole cow-punk/physcobilly era
The Fall- The biggest reason for the much acclaimed Pavement
Cunninlynguists- More so criminally unheard of than underrated. By far the best Southern Rap group around for me.
Charles Mingus- Not really underrated, but I think he should be lumped in with the other classic Jazz artists like Coltrane, Miles Davis and Monk.

Other's:
Cyne, Grant Lee Buffalo, The Kinks, Aztec Camera, Spacemen 3

However I will say that I do think a lot of what Brian Eno does is held in a higher regard than should. I mean his stuff with Roxy music was really good, but c'mon, his cd Neroli is on 70 minute piece with about 8 notes, a frig opening and literally nothing else. I've seen people say that it's even more genius of a piece than some of the works of Bach or Beethoven. I know it's Brian Eno and all, but jesus, get off it.

Good call on both MC5 and The Stooges. Damn good bands.

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Originally posted by culture is ordinary:


Eric Clapton - I would love to read a good defense of Clapton. I recognize he's a good guitar player, but always found his "blues" a bit superficial.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a good defence of Clapton". My interpretation of his place in rock history is this: before Hendrix came to town, Clapton presided over the cult of the electric guitar. His playing on the Bluesbreakers album was as extraordinary as it was thrilling. He pretty much invented the concept of the Guitar Hero with that album. Post-Derek and the Dominos, the story's not pretty, but, IMO, you've got to give him his early years.

I agree with you about his blues playing. I've never regarded Clapton as a blues player. Blues-rock, yes. Essentially what he did was to take Freddy King's licks, speed them up and embellish them, and turn his amp up to 11. Mind you, that's pretty fuckin' good! If you want to listen to a great white blues player - Peter Green.

Just for your edification, here's a comparison of Jimi and Eric.

quote:

What it comes down to is different views on punk. I didn't say that the ramones didn't come first, but to me, the Ramones music wasn't really the epitome of punk, whereas the Sex Pistols were. The Ramones may have been quite punk when compared to other bands of the time (which I guess is where it counts) but looking back, they just weren't very hard. And being hard is a big part of punk (unless you're the Adicts haha, then appearing to be hard but making catchy poppish tunes is punk)

Here's what Iggy Pop has to say about the label 'punk' in general. This is the interview that Mogwai sampled in their song 'punk rock.'

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Originally posted by vitunkrapula:

quote:

EricG: What do you mean by "manufactured"? There are a lot of bands out there that I'd call "manufactured" but the only aspect of that I can see with the Sex Pistols is after the fact, not when they were around (marketing).

He can speak for himself of course, but I think was he meant by that was that Malcolm Mclaren put the Sex Pistols together for the express purpose of making a british version of the Ramones. I think Richard Hell and the Voidoids also were oen of the 'models' in Mclaren's mind when he introduced the members of the sex pistols to eachother.

Ditto. McLaren also played a big part in shaping their musical direction.

The Ramones didn't have some manager telling 'em what kind of songs to write. Dee Dee would've kicked his ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:

quote:

The Strokes

Aw, C'mon, Is this it? is a great album.

I do like Is This It?. Guess I put them in this category because all the hype around them got a bit much. Haven't heard the second record. Would you recommend it?

quote:

Originally posted by Sideshow Bob:

quote:

Originally posted by culture is ordinary:


Eric Clapton - I would love to read a good defense of Clapton. I recognize he's a good guitar player, but always found his "blues" a bit superficial.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a good defence of Clapton". My interpretation of his place in rock history is this: before Hendrix came to town, Clapton presided over the cult of the electric guitar. His playing on the Bluesbreakers album was as extraordinary as it was thrilling. He pretty much invented the concept of the Guitar Hero with that album. Post-Derek and the Dominos, the story's not pretty, but, IMO, you've got to give him his early years.

I agree with you about his blues playing. I've never regarded Clapton as a blues player. Blues-rock, yes. Essentially what he did was to take Freddy King's licks, speed them up and embellish them, and turn his amp up to 11. Mind you, that's pretty fuckin' good! If you want to listen to a great white blues player - Peter Green.

Just for your edification, here's a comparison of Jimi and Eric.

You make a good point about Clapton's early years. I do love his work with Cream. And now that I think about it, I also like what he did with Derek and the Dominos. Guess I placed him in the overrated category based on his work after Derek and the Dominos.

I also agree that he is not purely a blues guitar player, but doesn't he fashion himself as one? And are you referring to the Peter Green that was once in Fleetwood Mac?

quote:

Originally posted by culture is ordinary:

I also agree that he is not purely a blues guitar player, but doesn't he fashion himself as one? And are you referring to the Peter Green that was once in Fleetwood Mac?

Yes and Yes.

quote:

Originally posted by culture is ordinary:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:

quote:

The Strokes

Aw, C'mon, Is this it? is a great album.

I do like Is This It?. Guess I put them in this category because all the hype around them got a bit much. Haven't heard the second record. Would you recommend it?

Yes, whole heartedly. I may be in the minority on this one, but I like Room on Fire better than Is this it?

Overrated:
Red Hot Chili Peppers
U2 (Bono is such a fuck)
Kaiser Chiefs
Franz Ferdinand
Radiohead

Underrated:
Andrew Bird (His albums are very catchy, but still musically different than all of the other "indie" stuff out there)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (Amazing songwriting)
The Mountain Goats (see above)
Leonard Cohen (the second greatest songwriter of all time next to Dylan)
Voxtrot (great pop)