Here are some of mine

Feist- The Reminder, look it's 13 songs of a genre-swapping mess. Don't care for Mocky's production, i really thought her first record was much more intimate and lush sounding at the same time, and while i know it comprised of covers...that was part of the appeal!! Now to see all this Grammy hype surrounding the album is just silly and uneccessary, although i'd like her to get some respect in the mainstream.

Bloc Party- A Weekend in the City, ah, don't get me started. Silent Alarm was my number 1 album of 2004, but they really dropped the ball this time. A sketchy, paranoid rambling mess...which would be fine, but they didn't let the tunes out, man.

Interpol- Our Love to Admire. They pushed the guitar to the front, and their signature bass sound to the back. So therefore, this album sucks. About 1 or 2 redeemable songs and i'm being nice. By the way, I think Antics is waaaayyyyyy better than the good, Turn On the Bright Lights

Feist's 'The Reminder'

It's really a pretty good album, but it's not nearly as good as everyone has made it out to be.

also, the Arcade Fire. I was a big fan of their debut, but I fail to see how the new one is so special.

"In Rainbows", nominated unheard, because Radiohead is the most overrated band of the last decade.

quote:

amlabella
Participant
Posted 23 December 2007 03:05 PM Hide Post
I'd have to say "Magic" by Bruce Springsteen. I liked the album, and I like The Boss, but it didn't really do anything for me. Basically, it's a good album, but I don't see why it's making end of the year lists.

Depends if your talking top ten or top 50/100ish. I agree it's not top ten material, lacks a true A+ song...but it is extremely solid and accessible...I feel it easily belongs somewhere in any top fifty that's not dominated by a nerdish elitist streak ala Pitchfork/cokemachineglow.

For my money, three biggest overrated given results of polls are...

3. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon. Extremely Solid, definite top 20 material. But I struggle with it emerging as one of the 6-7 most celebrated albums of this year...it's not THAT special, and there were at least 10 other that were.

2. Graduation - Kayne West. I just feel Kayne's getting the post 72' Rolling Stones treatment, where anything he serves up is given at least a 4star out of 5 ranking on past reputation alone...Personally, I feel this work, while not a bad album, is a precipitous drop-off from the previous two efforts (is there are worse album midsection out there this year than patch centered around "Barry Bonds"), and barely one of the ten best rap efforts in an incredibly dull year for rap.

1. The Reminder - Fiest. Gotta agree with so many posters in this thread...this album is top 50 material...but top 10 material, please...No album even close this year on the overrated scale.

arcade fire, panda bear and animal collective are varying degrees of overrated.

the new modest mouse and white stripes keep popping up on lists i see.. now they are alright, even pretty good, but there are so many better albums released this year.
Same goes for Shins and Bloc Party though they're less well-liked.. but still.. having a really good previous album doesn't mean your new one is automatically good!

Meself, I quite enjoy Raising Sand, though I've only heard it once.. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

M.I.A. and Arcade Fire are unparalleled degrees of overrated. They have now achieved "coasting through reputation" status.

I think that it's easier to talk about albums that actually lived up to the hype, which IMO are the following:

Battles - Mirrored
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Radiohead - In Rainbows

The rest: Not so much

I'm not sure if I have the same understanding of "over-hyped." I think of hype as a media effort to increase awareness of an unworthy work. For example, the Star Wars prequels received more attention on TV and in print than their quality deserved. Mostly, though people seem to be talking about "over-praised" albums. That is, albums that people like you and me say they like that you don't. I guess it doesn't matter either way, but those seem like very different statements.

So, over-hyped: Spoon. It's not bad, but I keep seeing it listed in the press and there are much more deserving albums.

Over-praised: No Age, Arctic Monkeys, The Shins, Band of Horses

I love, love, love that Feist album. It's more than just pleasant. It's pop as art.

quote:

Originally posted by fearlessweaver:
I'm not sure if I have the same understanding of "over-hyped." I think of hype as a media effort to increase awareness of an unworthy work. For example, the Star Wars prequels received more attention on TV and in print than their quality deserved. Mostly, though people seem to be talking about "over-praised" albums. That is, albums that people like you and me say they like that you don't. I guess it doesn't matter either way, but those seem like very different statements.

This is an excellent point. I too interpret "over-hyped" as meaning albums that receive undue media and record company promotion.