There are musicians who live up to expectations, who surpass the hype and deservedly cement themselves into the cultural consciousness. And then there are bands who become so commercialized in the media that they become outworn, and their importance is suddenly no longer able to be exemplified to its original extent. The bands on this list are good and at times can be great, but through constant overkill have revealed themselves as celebrity debasement at its nadir.
An enjoyable band in its own right, equal amounts grunge and incendiary funk (dig the rhythm section) but nowhere near as primordial as critics have made them out to be. For twenty years they have stayed true to the same terse formula which sometimes works out but often times simply grows tedious. Strangely, their attempts at sappy sentimentality usually end up being the singles that receive constant airplay.
Even more formulaic than the Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi were the poster boys for 80s hair metal and were loyal to their code long enough to make repetitive clones of their every single, and fans were unable to tell the difference. In an interview, one band member claimed they would never make an experimental album because they didn’t want to cheat fans by being selfish. I guess no one ever told them that it takes selfishness to make art.
Before American Idiot, Green Day was an impressive young band, blending pure punk with delicious melodies, cranking out songs such as Brain Stew and Good Riddance. But after 2004, they ceased to be a band and became a franchise. It was no longer a musical entity as much as a stadium-selling appearance. Dozens of bands tried to follow their example and are partially responsible for the dearth in punk rock today.
Long considered the ultimate stadium band, U2 in its day (that time known as the 80s) were a very imaginative powerhouse. But now that vamping guitar seems less influential and more trance-inducing, and not in a meditative way. Bono’s voice is astounding, but at times falls under the weight of carrying some mediocre songs that somehow end up getting major airplay.
Axl Rose is possibly the quintessential overrated hair metal frontman, the paramount of flashy, overbearing crankiness that some critics take as a form of ambition. How did this band become known as one of the greatest influences in rock today? Slash is a great guitarist, but a solo does not make a song. A worthy guitar band, but as monumental artists, they leave much to be desired.
Yes, they made Smile. Yes, they composed some of the catchiest music of the 60s and almost single handedly invented California rock. But there is a time when a band ceases to be simply influential and moves into the territory of being distilled. Not to mention, almost all of their singles are indistinguishable until midway through the chorus.
Metallica, contrary to popular belief, did not reinvent the wheel known as heavy metal and are not so much a major creative influence as a very popular band. Their range from speed rock to epic “composition” is very hollow on close inspection, both musically and lyrically. [They are also a bunch of whiners. - JFrater] [LOL @ J -Cyn]
What began as a turgid imitation of grunge ended up selling a whopping 8 million copies in two years of a gratingly compromised and soul-sucking pop album, supporting mind-bogglingly popular singles and pale, tasteless fan favorites. The attention this band gets on a daily basis for being unoriginal is unfair in comparison to the innovative unknowns struggling in LA clubs. How did a band this trite and adolescent gain so much favor? It is one of the world’s greatest mysteries.
Fans and critics alike praise them for being able to carry their songs using only three chords and constantly bludgeoning riffs. They rank highly on this list not only for that very definition, but because they have taken the gospel of rock and turned it into a Wal Mart commodity, joining Aerosmith in having Guitar Hero avatars and countless songs on the charts that are nigh-indiscernible. They represent classic rock on its last legs, and while that may be supportable, its no reason to put them on so incredible a pedestal.
Don’t get me wrong: Kurt Cobain was a great songwriter and was able to get away with repetition because that’s how
punk rock was meant to be presented: as a slipshod dungeon of sincerity; not that they couldn’t be melodic, as on the incendiary MTV Unplugged. It’s not the band that’s overrated so much as the premise: after Cobain’s death Nirvana ceased to be a band so much as a corporate enterprise, spawning a massive appeal of T-shirts and other forms of apparel, which Cobain despised and saw as a form of cock rock conformity. Ironically, Nirvana has become the very thing Cobain always fought against, and has inspired infinite punk bands to sell out and become equivocal commodities. Not to mention Cobain’s death has made him in the eyes of fans to be a martyr, a horrible misinterpretation of a melancholy end. Cobain was no Werther, but the popularity that has ensued for the past decade is sorrowfully appalling.
The first punk rock band? No. The first over-recognized punk rock band to be franchised on an insurmountable basis? No doubt.
Contributor: F. McClure
Hehe – Excellent list. Well written and all of your choices well thought out and defended. I can’t even really disagree with any of them. My Husband and I have been fighting over AC/DC for years. Formulaic, in fact so formulaic that you can’t tell which tune you’re listening to until it’s damn near over. (Excellent to watch live btw, I would still love to go to one of their concerts). But just to listen to? Boooring.
I would add The Killers – seen ‘em perform live, they can’t sing. In fact they suck.
My favorite Nickleback tune is not a Nickleback tune, and although you maybe wouldn’t be able to tell, Chad Kroeger actually can sing. Thank god for Carlos Santana, else we never would have known. Or then again maybe it is just the superior Carlos Santana guitar work seducing me.
Love it, Love it. I would have put U2 the self appointed kings of Irish music and conscious thought as #1.
I thought I would disagree with this list the moment I saw the title, but I was wrong.
Bloody well done! This couldn’t have been more spot on!
No Aerosmith, KISS, or No Doubt? How about the biggest bullsit band ever….THE POLICE? They are truly overrated.
I agree with Jenna_Bug Metallica shouldn’t be on this list. No they didn’t reinvent the wheel but they did bring metal back to its roots and away from the glamorous hair bands of the 80′s. Most of the rest I agree with even though I enjoy alot of their music. You hit Guns and Roses on the head and I almost feel like they should be higher on the list. But to whoever said that Greatful Dead should be on here are nuts because the Dead were never that highly rated to begin with. They are more of a cult band who were seeking fans not fame. Technically they are a one hit wonder, so to say they are over rated is a little ridiculous.
Good list…. haha… U2. My boyfriend would weep if he saw them on this list (and he will, hee hee!)
I have to agree that Aerosmith ought to be on here too. Their newer songs are lame, and get played constantly… on many different stations, in fact.
stupid list
Not really agreeing with most of this list…but here are some bands/artists to add.
Rolling Stones
KISS
Elton John
Madonna
Tupac
Notorious BIG
Motley Crue
Every band is full of human beings and no human being is inherently any better than another. Every human being is an individual and art exists so each individual may articulate their own, and inherently unique, point of view.
As soon as an artist is held upon even the smallest of pedestal they have become overrated. As soon as a band consistently enters into conversations based around the sortability of taste they are already overrated. As soon as you start ranking other humans against each other, especially based on highly subjective criteria (and one could argue that subjectvity is really the only view point of reality), you are inevitably giving an individual more credit than they are entitled to.
Making these kinds of lists are fun as long as you realize that making these kinds of lists are meaningless by nature. Art can be appreciated on its own merits rather than comparative measures that the entirity of human history has tried to establish in search of some sort of universal truth – objectivity. Granted it is harmless to do so once one realizes their judgment is nothing more than that and nothing less; ignorance to this idea will create idol worship, a mark of our subjective nature that can be dangerous given the assertions above.
Philosophical rant aside this is a rather unremarkable list; perhaps every list that tries to do this can be nothing more than unremarkable. You want a far more interesting list? Try taking the ten artists you hold most dear and discuss their flaws. There is at least a greater likelihood of discovery in compiling that list than will ever be able to be generated by this one.
Here’s what you missed:
1. Oasis – Seriously, have Oasis fans ever heard other music?
2. Yes – Pretentious art rock; I think most people bought their albums for the artwork on the cover.
3. Frank Zappa – An autistic emo kid could write more humorous and interesting lyrics; annoying complicated music for the sake of being complicated
4. Jeff Buckley – get a few music critics to like you then die young and you’ll develop a reputation for being great even when you weren’t
5. Rolling Stones – Seriously, they copied every other band of the time. I’m not sure one single song of theirs is actually original.
6. The Clash – Couldn’t decide if they were a punk band or a pop band (see: Green Day)
7. Pearl Jam – A super-mediocre band silences its own buzz by alienating the music industry before people discover how monotonous their music really is.
8. The Cure – Yea, we all thought it was hip in the 1980s but when you listen to it now, you really do want to kill yourself, but for entirely different reasons.
9. Bruce Springsteen – Millionaire sings about working class people; walks down the “Streets of Philadephia” before getting into his bullet proof limo and heading to the Four Seasons. Like the Stones, if you want to see him in concert you have to mortgage your house to get tickets.
10. Jimmy Buffet – the worst of them all… half his songs are about food; the other half about recovering his lost youth, and all of them suck and are sung by drunk baby boomers who dream of living on an island.
nickleback lol god I hate them..
the list seems to begrudge bands that have gotten really famous. the fact that these bands are so well known makes them overrated for some reason. =/
“Every band is full of human beings” OH SHIIIII you just blew my mind omg!
it’s funny how people are saying ” This should not be on the list. They’re good but agree with the rest because they suck.”
It’s not about sucking it’s about being overrated they are to completely different things. I love Nirvana but I can’t deny that they are the pinnacle of overratedness. It’s about how if you take away a lot of the glamor and publicity many people just wouldn’t recognize the bands and dismiss them.
if the Jonas brothers knew how to sing or play instruments they would definitely be number 3, 2, and 1
The Beatles.
Yeah. I said it.
NIRVANA?!! NIRVANA?!!…you bite your tounge!….how about the goddamn BEATLES??!!!! have you ever heard “yellow submarine”?!!….thats torture right there
How are Metallica whiners when Napster dicked them over, Lars Ulrish got *****ed off and the rest of the band thought it was funny. Even in the Some Kind of Monster commentaries, they’re all laughing about the whole napster thing and joking about the cartoon videos people made of them and what not. I hardly call that whining. Any normal person would be *****ed if something got stolen from them. Do people make a bigger deal of them that needs to be, yeah, but those are also the same people who think Enter Sandman was their first song.
re 103 yes I said the ***** Pistols were a boy band. I am a huge fan of punk rock, among other genres and sorry they fit the very description of boy band. They were thrown together for image, an image created by Malcolm McClaren, not by them. Of the four only one could even play an instrument better than the average 12 year old. And yet they are credited by too many morons with “creating punk.”
They were the junkie version of New Kids on the Block.
The Swindle continues to this day
I really enjoyed this list F. McClure. The inclusion of RHCP blew my mind; I didn’t think anyone else thought of them as overrated. I was slightly surprised by the Metallica mention, but I understand why they were listed. My only complaint: switch Nirvana with Nickelback and the list is perfect. Fun list to read
I agree with everything on this list but u forgot KISS. KISS should easliy be #1 and bump everything else down, knocking my RHCP’s off the list!
Anyone else notice that every ACDC song sounds the same?
let me see if i’ve got this right; nirvana is the #1 overarted band, but nowhere on this list are bands such as creed, linkin park, my chemical romance, poppa roach, and other bands featuring grown men crying. also, ***** pistols, beatles, deathcab for cutie, an countless thers are highly overrated. but that’s just my opinion, what do i know?
I usually have little to no problems with any of the lists, but the choices for the bands on this list are terrible. Clearly, for example, the peppers and the beach boys are two of the most unique and influential bands of all time.
This is one of those rare lists that I completely agree with. I was a little skeptical about Nirvana being number 1, but when I read the description it made more sense. I just have one question. Why isn’t motley crue and aerosmith on this list?
3 points.
(1) In terms of musical influence, Nirvana may be the most underrated band on this list.
(2) Motley Crue was never big enough to be that over-rated.
(3) As for Aerosmith . . . that's just a matter of opinion, which is what determined pretty much everyone on this list.
No Beatles? LOL.
andy, he is saying that the peppers and the beach boys are overrated because they never strayed from their original style and made no progressive effort. This might shed more light on the subject.
65. Sky: I laughed at you so hard. As someone else later pointed out, “The Man Who Sold the World” IS A COVER. Sure, Nirvana influenced a lot of other grunge bands and music in general, but they were over-hyped. There are a few pearls, like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Breed”, but most was crap. Ever actually listen to “Polly”? Same four blasse chords over and over again ad nauseum. And I REALLY loved Nirvana
why no slipknot?
JohnSomats, because no one thinks slipknot is good. at least some people have to rate a band as “good” in order for it to be overrated.
I absolutely agree with this list minus the beach boys. pet sounds is arguably the most influential album in music history. Brian Wilson is a genius.
i might have added someone like fallout boy or disturbed.
ps. metallica is awful.
As soon as I saw the title of the list I immediately thought of U2. I was so pleased to see them included in this list!
Cedstra, I believe you have been troll’d. LOL noob.
You forgot to put Radiohead on your overrated list. Honest mistake, I’m sure.
I could rabble on about the many things that are wrong with this list, or the way the list maker contradicts himself,
or even perhaps that he seems to not know what the definition of the word overrated means when he only seems to say the bands are great but sold out cos they starting selling t-shirts or some such *****.
Heck, i could even point out how the very same list maker had some of these bands on his list of “greatest rock bands of all time”
But instead i am just going to go ahead and say
THIS LIST SUCKS!
I like all of these bands except for Nickelback. Overrated or not, I enjoy their music. Alas, to each his/her own.
Now, to more important issues, does anyone else think the drummer from RHCP looks like Will Ferrel??
Music taste is one of the most opinionated things in society, therefore the definition of “overrated” varies from person to person.
I like the attempt to show how the bands posted are overrated, but no matter how hard you try, there will always be a bias involved in the list.
yeah mining but i think we can hit common ground, nickelback, panic! at the disco, fall out boy, the white stripes, linkin park, are bands that are presented to us as “the next big thing” but they musical merits, dont match the package.
I read the title of the list, then predicted half of the ones that were actually on it. I think I actually pretty much agree with the list, with two exceptions: There is too much of the “songs sound alike” accusation. With most of the bands on the list, I find their music easy to distinguish song to song, I just don’t particularly find anything distinguishing in each song. There’s a difference between sounding alike and not sounding unique. Also, I think the Beach Boys almost don’t deserve to be on this list. Why? Pet Sounds: God Only Knows. With that song being so perfect, and Brian Wilson being so… elusive, we’ll call it, the band does deserve some respect.
Ok, even though I believe “overrated” to be very subjective I have to disagree with those who say beatles are overrated. I think #103 really explains why…
And Madonna is not overrated, because she is not critically aclaimed. Overrexposed maybe…
i usually love this list.
on the top 10 crappy lists, this is my first.
Is this a joke?
umm…the new kids on the block and nsync….I hate em’. overrated, I think.
Great list, with one exception. The Beach Boys should be limited to AFTER “Pet Sounds,” when they told Brian where to shove “Smile” then went back to just doing songs about girls/cars/surfing. From then on it was one God-awful record after another.
That said, I’d like to comment on the amazing lack of musical intelligence shown by many of these comments. On the lines of “Duh, sucks! Ludacris is 100 times better.” With this level of taste within the general population, it’s no wonder that people like Beyonce, Sheryl Crow, and most rappers are big stars.
are you serious or being sarcastic ?
Where is Radiohead?
Where are the Beatles?
where is Bob Dylan?
between “Duh” and “sucks” goes (insert iconic rock figure). This thng didn’t accept my formatting. Thank you.
I agreed with your list with the exception of the beach boys, guns and roses, and nirvana.
you said for the beach boys “Yes, they made Smile.” were you talking about the album Smile by Brian Wilson? beach boys never finished that album and it was completed by Wilson solo in 2004. so when you said “Yes, they made Smile.” it makes me think you know nothing about the beach boys… why didn’t you say Pet Sounds?
what else? o ya, Axel Rose is an awesome frontman and a great songwriter. have you heard November Rain?
Nirvana was grunge not punk rock. i know one influenced the other but you cant call a grunge band punk… makes me think you know nothing about nirvana.
This list is complete *****. THe only really over rated bands here are Bon Jovi, Green Day, and Nickle Back. The author obivously has something against highly successful bands.
Here’s why I think The Beach Boys are underrated, not overrated, at least by me. What I mean is that I was debating with a professional musician about who should be on the list of the greatest American bands, a list that is disappointingly short BTW, and I didn’t even have them in the top ten. He presented a fairly compelling argument that they should be at the top. Since then I’ve gone back and listened to all of their old albums, and as it turns out, he’s right. I’m not even a Grateful Dead fan, but I had them at #1, so I have to put them to the list of overrated bands.
jonas brother anyone?
I agree with all but the last one, Nirvana. They changed the sound of music, seriously. Their influence is astounding.
They should have been replaced with ….hm…..I don’t know. But the last one killed the list for me.
Oh, goodness, The Jonas Brothers and what’sherface(s) Miley Cyrus should definitley been on this list.
Jonas brothers yes, miley cyrus isn’t a band. but if she was she would definitely be #1.
But Jonas brothers. For the love of the force Jonas Brothers. Yes Jonas Brothers
Jonas Brothers should be up here, cuz they suck soo bad. They’re music is sooooo lame
The Beatles should have the top 10 to themselves.
You should only be allowed to wear a Ramones tee shirt if you can name 5 of their songs.
Either this list is made to attract commenters, or the writer is old and stupid.
Hmm… I disagree with most of these. Oh well. I agree that many bands simply become iconic ‘t-shirt bands’ or sell-outs, but that doesn’t mean that their music wasn’t originally good.
“Either this list is made to attract commenters, or the writer is old and stupid.”
And i don’t mean it because of Green Day.
Zindsoros – I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thinks Led Zeppelin is overrated. I’ve always thought that. I was sort of hoping to see them on this list.
I don’t agree with Nirvana, The Chili Peppers or Metallica…some of the live performances those bands have put on are amazing…think Nirvana – Unplugged. I definitely agree with Nickelback, though. They deserve to be number 1!!
@158
Again, those are your opinions, despite how much I think fall out boy sucks, they are still around because they have a fan base. I personally don’t mind listening to Linkin Park, but I can see why people think they are overrated.
@180
Led Zeppelin isn’t overrated. You may not like them, but that doesn’t mean they’re overrated. I will say that Stairway to Heaven is overrated compared to their other songs, but hey, that’s my opinion.