Posted: Thursday, July 21, 2005 7:00 pm
The most overrated band of all time is drumroll, please Nirvana.
That might be overstating the case a bit. But the grunge progenitors got the most mentions on the GZO blog and in e-mails I received after I set out my list of overrated bands a couple of weeks ago. I got about 30 responses on GZO and by e-mail. Nirvana got seven mentions as either THE most overrated band or one of the groups that should be on the list, by far the most of any band.
"Nirvana is definitely one of the most overrated bands of all time," Brienna wrote on GZO. "A friend of mine and I were talking about this topic after I read the article in the paper, and both decided that the only reason Nirvana has been built into such a legend' is merely because the timing of Kurt Cobain's death was impeccable. Just as the whole grunge' scene was beginning to make its exit and become a thing of yesterday,' Cobain also made his. He left while his music was still considered cool.' If he had sticked around much longer, there's a good chance that Nirvana could have silently slipped under the cracks and back into the garage from which they came."
Her comments typify much of what was said about Nirvana. Others said Pearl Jam was a more important band to emerge at the same time a position that was reflected in a recent USA Today list of the best American rock bands of all time. Pearl Jam, of all bands, topped the survey.
Other bands that received multiple mentions as being overrated were: Aerosmith, Run-DMC, U2, The Doors and the Grateful Dead. Getting single mentions were: Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Husker Du, Sex Pistols, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, Steely Dan, Radiohead and Sonic Youth.
Rob Barnhardt nominated a band that's coming to Lincoln next month:
"Although there are many, in my mind, no band compares in their overratedness to the one, the lowly, Def Leppard," Barnhardt wrote in an e-mail. "This is a band I have been ranting about for years. And I'm not even the ranting type. It's not so much that I think they suck which they most determinedly do but that they think of themselves as rock gods. Not only is their name an obvious ripoff of Led Zeppelin the original and unrivaled rock gods but in the few interviews of them I've had the misfortune of enduring, I've actually heard them compare themselves to this same giant among giants. I mean of all the vain, arrogant, delusional, self-important, puffed up well you get the idea. If anything, they are on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. How great could you possibly be when you're sharing the bill with Bryan Adams?"
John W. Maag provided a list of nominees in his e-mail: "For this decade, I'd have to say Coldplay fits that bill. Chris Martin's lyrics are at best bland, and at worst nauseating. Previous decades could find Guns and Roses, Journey and Foreigner in contention." He also took me to task a bit for putting The Doors at the top, or bottom, of my worst list, arguing that Jim Morrison and company were a mixed bag.
E-mailer Joe Yosten also came up with multiple entries, including The Beatles: "Brilliant band who wrote brilliant pop songs, but hardly the best band of all time,' which I have heard way too many times. Once again, the death factor plays a role. What might Lennon have done if he were still here? They also evolved from an almost boyband' into absolute magnificent songwriters, but can you really tell me that bands like Nirvana would not have existed without the influence of The Beatles? They may have been influences, yes, but if it wasn't The Beatles, it would have been some other band. I hate to say this, but some of their music is in fact, disposable."
But the Fab Four didn't top Yosten's list. That honor belongs to Led Zeppelin:
"Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham did in fact make up one of the best bands of all time, but they invented a genre that has been surpassed musically by many bands. Bonham overdosed, which gave them that death factor' (I'm brilliant, but I want to kill myself with substances, so because of that I'm a bigger legend, that I passed away too early, i.e. Jim Morrison).
"Also, they can hardly be called hard rock. Plant sounds like a woman screaming after slamming her hand in a door, and many of their songs (Stairway to Heaven') are just not even close to comparable with other artists in the same genre such as Metallica. (I wouldn't put Enter Sandman' and Stairway' in the same genre, let alone category.) Again, Zeppelin is a great band that did a lot for music, but to be idolized makes me nauseous when bands like Metallica and Nirvana are out there, accomplishing much more musical substance."
Sam Bethune came up with a good list on the GZO blog and included one of my most hated bands in another post Steely Dan. Here's Sam's initial list:
"1) The Rolling Stones: Although they have a few good songs, most of them are boring and self-indulgent. The fact that some critics and fans refer to them as the world's greatest rock band' just goes to prove my claim that they're overrated.
"2) The Velvet Underground: I find their music to be dull and lifeless. Hearing self-appointed experts like Wolgamott raving about them and their overstated influence on rock and punk sealed the deal for me.
"3) The Dave Matthews Band: While they're unquestionably good musicians from a technical point of view, most of their recorded output is not very interesting. They became the next flavor of the month' band after yuppies started getting bored with Hootie and the Blowfish.
"4) Fleetwood Mac: I have to qualify this answer to some extent. Although their early works are quite good, about everything from the Rumours' album on is soundalike pop garbage.
"5) The Grateful Dead: This band's mystique is more about the life of the late Jerry Garcia than about the music, which was good but not great by any means.
"6) Van Halen: Frankly I'm tired of hearing everyone talk about Eddie Van Halen's guitar talent. For someone who's supposed to be the world's greatest guitarist, he suffers from what I call the George Thoroughgood Syndrome' in that he seems to always favor playing the same two or three riffs over and over instead of coming up with something new and different."
If you've got more comments on overrated bands, you can send an e-mail to groundzero@journalstar.com.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@journalstar.com.