Overrated bands.

[Sammy-San]

What are some bands that you think are overrated? Overrated doesn't just mean "they're okay, take or leave their music", it means that, and also, they are given too much iconic status and popularity.

I would say KISS, Guns N Roses, ACDC, Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Beatles were overrated.

 

[WolfGate]

Hard to overrate the Beatles given how much they completely revolutionized the sound and style of popular music. Looking backwards for those who didn't live through that time, it is hard to see and the temptation is to simply compare their music to other similar music that was released shortly after the Beatles did something new - but they may have been the most innovative popular band ever. In addition to the influence, they are still one of the most commercially successful bands ever.

I'd agree with Kiss. Never thought GNR was anything special or viewed as iconic, so perhaps they are correctly rated (in my mind) as just another short term popular rock band.

U2 in the early years was pretty special - lately not so much.

Who would I put on the list? In the Christian realm Steven Curtis Chapman easily. Pretty generic to me but people seem to view him as some kind of musical great. I think it is just a side effect of releasing something like 20 albums.

Also Maroon 5, Linkin Park make my list.

 

[Sammy-San]

Hard to overrate the Beatles given how much they completely revolutionized the sound and style of popular music. Looking backwards for those who didn't live through that time, it is hard to see and the temptation is to simply compare their music to other similar music that was released shortly after the Beatles did something new - but they may have been the most innovative popular band ever. In addition to the influence, they are still one of the most commercially successful bands ever.

I'd agree with Kiss. Never thought GNR was anything special or viewed as iconic, so perhaps they are correctly rated (in my mind) as just another short term popular rock band.

U2 in the early years was pretty special - lately not so much.

Who would I put on the list? In the Christian realm Steven Curtis Chapman easily. Pretty generic to me but people seem to view him as some kind of musical great. I think it is just a side effect of releasing something like 20 albums.

Also Maroon 5, Linkin Park make my list.

Would you say the Beatles are the most influential group/artist in music? I would say people like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jackson, and Elvis, are up there too.

 

[WolfGate]

Would you say the Beatles are the most influential group/artist in music? I would say people like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jackson, and Elvis, are up there too.

Would be hard to say "the most" for the Beatles or any of those. Different times and circumstances. Certainly MJ changed the music video area and eradicated some musical racial assumptions that existed. Hendrix took guitar playing as an art to a new level and his influence is strongly felt today. Elvis was huge influencer in his time as well. Dylan I would put below those 4.

 

[Sammy-San]

Would be hard to say "the most" for the Beatles or any of those. Different times and circumstances. Certainly MJ changed the music video area and eradicated some musical racial assumptions that existed. Hendrix took guitar playing as an art to a new level and his influence is strongly felt today. Elvis was huge influencer in his time as well. Dylan I would put below those 4.

Why? He wrote music and lyrics, and played as well as sing. Elvis and MJ were just singers and dancers. They were more entertainers than artists, especially Elvis. Bob Dylan is also a cultural icon because he stood fo 1960s liberalism.

 

[Jadis40]

Led Zeppelin. They're definitely overrated.

I find their songs boring for the most part (Dazed and Confused in particular) and I don't like Robert Plant's vocal style either. I don't think John Bonham was that great of a drummer either. If you were to ask me straight out if Led Zeppelin were the grandfathers of the multi-branched tree which has become "metal", I would say no. I would say Black Sabbath has a better claim to that, and Deep Purple too. I'd say the song "Highway Star" is one of the first speed metal songs ever written.

 

[Sammy-San]

Led Zeppelin. They're definitely overrated.

I find their songs boring for the most part (Dazed and Confused in particular) and I don't like Robert Plant's vocal style either. I don't think John Bonham was that great of a drummer either. If you were to ask me straight out if Led Zeppelin were the grandfathers of the multi-branched tree which has become "metal", I would say no. I would say Black Sabbath has a better claim to that, and Deep Purple too. I'd say the song "Highway Star" is one of the first speed metal songs ever written.

What about Elvis? I mean, he was good, especially in the 60s and 70s, with his vocal range especially, but his big influence was only just for a few years in the 50s. I liked his 60s and 70s music a lot, but his 50s songs were boring for the most part.

He was one of the biggest icons ever in music, but he isn't anywhere near one of the most influential. He just made black music more popular in an extremely racist America. All I'm saying is he gets too much credit.

 

[Citanul]

Why? He wrote music and lyrics, and played as well as sing.

Dylan's influence was more from a song/lyric writing perspective. Unlike The Beatles or Hendrix, he wasn't all that innovative musically, and I don't think he was too influential when it came to singing, other than maybe to prove that anybody can do it no matter what you sound like. So he was influential in a different way, which maybe makes the comparison with the others a little tricky.

 

[Citanul]

If you were to ask me straight out if Led Zeppelin were the grandfathers of the multi-branched tree which has become "metal", I would say no. I would say Black Sabbath has a better claim to that, and Deep Purple too. I'd say the song "Highway Star" is one of the first speed metal songs ever written.

I think it's fair to say Led Zeppelin's influence was more on hard rock than metal. While hard rock does feed into metal, and sometimes the lines can become blurred, I would agree that Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had a much more direct influence on metal than Led Zeppelin.

 

[Citanul]

As for an overrated band, I'd put Nirvana forward. They often get credited with killing off hair metal, but the reality was that the genre was running out of steam by that time anyway, and Nirvana just happened to be the band that found themselves at the forefront of the new wave of bands that replaced it. Kurt Cobain may have been a decent songwriter, but I'd say that it was more about being in the right place at the right time than being saviours of heavy rock.

 

[Sammy-San]

Led Zeppelin. They're definitely overrated.

I find their songs boring for the most part (Dazed and Confused in particular) and I don't like Robert Plant's vocal style either. I don't think John Bonham was that great of a drummer either. If you were to ask me straight out if Led Zeppelin were the grandfathers of the multi-branched tree which has become "metal", I would say no. I would say Black Sabbath has a better claim to that, and Deep Purple too. I'd say the song "Highway Star" is one of the first speed metal songs ever written.

Aren't Kashimir and Immigrant Song "metal"?

 

[Dave-W]

Would you say the Beatles are the most influential group/artist in music? I would say people like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jackson, and Elvis, are up there too.

eh - I would say people like Link Wray were more influential. He invented the "power chord."

People like him influenced the people more popularly seen as "influential." Pete Townshend said once that it was Link Wray who inspired him to play guitar in the first place.

 

[Dave-W]

Aren't Kashimir and Immigrant Song "metal"?

Borderline at best. I would still put them in the hard rock genre.

While hard rock does feed into metal, and sometimes the lines can become blurred, I would agree that Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had a much more direct influence on metal than Led Zeppelin.

IMO psychedelic rock had a huge influence on metal, well before Sabbath or Deep Purple made the jump. Sabbath's 1971 first album was barely hard rock, let alone metal; and Deep Purple had one true proto-metal song (Smoke on the Water) along with their abundant top 40 stuff. (Hush, Kentucky Woman).

I believe Blue Cheer was considered the first metal band (1968), followed in 1970 by Frijid Pink. They both came from the acid culture.

Demo of Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues."

Going back to 1967, here is the Iron Butterfly, a staple of the Southern California Acid sound:

 

[Sammy-San]

Borderline at best. I would still put them in the hard rock genre.



IMO psychedelic rock had a huge influence on metal, well before Sabbath or Deep Purple made the jump. Sabbath's 1971 first album was barely hard rock, let alone metal; and Deep Purple had one true proto-metal song (Smoke on the Water) along with their abundant top 40 stuff. (Hush, Kentucky Woman).

I believe Blue Cheer was considered the first metal band (1968), followed in 1970 by Frijid Pink. They both came from the acid culture.

Demo of Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues."

Going back to 1967, here is the Iron Butterfly, a staple of the Southern California Acid sound:

What is the difference, though, between metal and hard rock? For example, Iron Maiden is considered metal, but to me, they sound less heavy and far more melodic than bands that are traditionally considered "metal", with the exception of their more recent albums.

 

[Dave-W]

I will grant you the dividing line seems rather fluid.

Tell me what you think of Pink or Cheer.

It was my son that enlightened me to the fact that Iron Butterfly Theme was actually a proto-metal tune. After playing it for 30 years, he showed me what I had been missing.

 

[Sammy-San]

I will grant you the dividing line seems rather fluid.

Tell me what you think of Pink or Cheer.

It was my son that enlightened me to the fact that Iron Butterfly Theme was actually a proto-metal tune. After playing it for 30 years, he showed me what I had been missing.

Do you consider Iron Maiden metal?

Not really a fan of them-but I'm also not sure on how most people perceive their musical legacy or talent, so it's hard to call them overrated or not.

 

[Dave-W]

Do you consider Iron Maiden metal?

I have only heard them once, part of one song.

But I am familiar with a christian knock off of theirs called Barren Cross. They ARE metal. And pretty good.

As to IM, I do not know. Not enough information.

 

[Sammy-San]

I will grant you the dividing line seems rather fluid.

Tell me what you think of Pink or Cheer.

It was my son that enlightened me to the fact that Iron Butterfly Theme was actually a proto-metal tune. After playing it for 30 years, he showed me what I had been missing.

Do you mean the singer who sang Raise Your Glass?

 

[Dave-W]

Do you mean the singer who sang Raise Your Glass?

Never heard "Raise your glass."

If you are referring to my comments on Iron Butterfly Theme, their HUGE claim to fame was Inna-Gadda-Vida. (from their next album)

 

[Sammy-San]

Never heard "Raise your glass."

If you are referring to my comments on Iron Butterfly Theme, their HUGE claim to fame was Inna-Gadda-Vida. (from their next album)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_Your_Glass