The Ten Most Overrated Bands of All Time

---Broken Brain---

Your favorite band isn't as good as you think it is.  This is a fact.  It doesn't matter who you are, it's true.  My favorite band isn't as good as I imagine, either.  Everyone.  Some bands, for whatever reason, tend to garner lots and lots of people feeling this way about them.  It kind of collects until there's some sort of general (at least within a social class) consensus that this band is way, way better than they really are.  If it keeps up, it eventually gets to the point where this overrating is a living, breathing thing, a monster feeding on our lesser urges and undeserved acclaim via those terrible invasive radio waves.  Here are the ten worst cases.

11.)  KISS

There's this weird thing that everyone seems to forget about KISS: their music isn't very good at all.  On the scale of music greatness, they're somewhere below Boston, right around Kansas.  A few good songs, but nothing worth getting too excited about.  Yet, for some reason, there are a whole lot of people who think that KISS is the end-all fuck-all of Rock and Roll.  That's just stupid.

10.)  Radiohead

I like the Bends pretty well, I guess.  The rest of it is kind of annoying.  I'll readily admit, though, that I suspect that there's something about Radiohead that I just don't get.  Still, people fucking worship this stuff to a creepy level.  No band is that good.  Except the Beatles.  And the Who.

9.)  U2

U2 has put out some really fucking good music over the years.  Any band that has an iPod dedicated to them, though, is overrated somethin' fierce.

8.)  The Dave Mathews Band

It's possible that, if it weren't for Dave Mathews' rabid fans, this stuff would be basically listenable, in a sort of worthless, unobtrusive Muzak sort of way.  Sadly, though, those asswads are pretty fucking hard to avoid, and they seem to have designed their entire lives around being a douchebag that listens to Dave a lot.  And there are millions of these guys.  If you need to find some (for whatever reason) just go to any American university, find a frat house, and yell "FREE HEMP ANKLETS!"

7.)  Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin is pretty awesome.  Way, way overrated, though.  No Stairway.  Denied.

6.)  The Sex Pistols

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, guys, but the Sex Pistols sucked.  Never good.  Not even a little.  I love punk rock, and that's exactly why I hate the Sex Pistols.  You people need to fucking quit talking about them like they invented Punk Rock.  They were a fucking boy band built to cash in on the movement, only without all the talent or artistic integrity of Menudo.

5.)  The Grateful Dead

The Dead are OK, I guess.  Not super-great.  The thing is, if you have to do drugs to really "get" why a band is so great, then they're not that great, you're just a dumb fucking stoner.  I am glad when people follow the Dead around (or whatever bullshit hippie band is standing in for them now, Phish or Oar or whatever [what's with the pseudo-aquatic imagery, hippies?] ), because when those people are busy smoking dope and driving their vans, they're not in my fucking face.  Also: Patchouli is not soap.

4.)  The Doors

The Doors are probably the most extreme case of a band that had a few really good songs that seem to have confused everyone into thinking that they're the best thing since fellatio.  They're not.  Great songs, really good band, but just because Morrison was really weird and died young that doesn't mean that we all have to spend the next hundred years smoking his corpse-dong.

3.)  Bob Dylan

You know what the best thing about Bob Dylan is?  When someone else sings his songs.  Absolutely brilliant songwriter.  Really, really shitty singer.  And I'm pretty sure he's a vampire.

2.)  Pink Floyd

I like most Pink Floyd songs.  Well, the first two minutes of them.  After that they lose me.  If they'd had a sense of when to end a song, Pink Floyd probably could have been a totally middling-good rock band.  As it is, though, they're crap.

1.)  The Beatles

The Beatles are, bar none, the single greatest rock band of all time.  Awesome.  Spectacular.  Mind-blowing.  Delicious.  No band could ever be half as good as people think the Beatles are, though, not even if you made a band out of Jesus, Muhammad, Beethoven, Bombay Sapphire, and Shakira's hips (which are the five best things I can think of).

Honorable Mentions:

The Rolling Stones/The Clash/Nirvana/Weezer - Also truly great bands that have developed a bizarre cult status that goes well beyond what they deserve (and all of these bands deserve quite a bit).

Oasis - While they were never actually bigger then the Beatles (or even Jesus), Oasis was way bigger than they ever should have been.

Tool - Every time I see a guy in a Tool shirt I think it's a label.

Elvis/Sinatra - Again, both are great, but not that great.  They probably would have made the list, but for the fact that both were basically solo acts (the Rat Pack?  Not overrated).

Pearl Jam - Made some good music.  Made some bad music.  Seriously, though: a live album for every single concert on a national tour?  Fuck you.

Guns 'n' Roses/Aerosmith/AC/DC/Def Leppard - All totally acceptable bands, in their way.  All way, way overrated.  The reason that these didn't make the list, I think, is that so many people hate them so much that it sort of balances out some of the love they get.

Pretty Much Everything Played on a ClearChannel Station in the Last 8 years - I don't think that I need to explain that.  And if you don't understand why this is, go play Halo and talk about how awesome drunk chicks and carbon-fiber hoods are and masturbate while watching Fox News and crying.

Comments

[You forgot a Ton]

u made a list of 10 overrated bands, and most of them are true, but instead of a few of them, you should have replaced them with the following:

Fall out Boy
Nickleback
Linkin Park
Hinder
Panic! at the disco
and Metallica

pink floyd and radiohead should have been spared

[Preston Mantooth]

@ You forgot a ton:
YOU just made a list of shity and or flash in the pan bands that NOBODY will still like in 4 years let alone almost 40. Except for the guy who still rocks out to his old Third Eye Blind, New Radicals, and Our Lady Peace albums. Who? Exactly. Overrated doesn't mean bad. All of the bands you named ARE overrated... by 13 year old girls.
I'm sorry, my not so esteemed colleague is not only right about Pink Floyd but I would have made them #1. At least The Beatles (for the most part) had a reason to be overrated. Pink Floyd just sucks Warehouses full of dick and drooling idiots with heads full of acid think its "deep" and "trippy".
And also, WHO THE FUCK IS HINDER?

[Broken Brain]

@ You forgot a Ton:
Preston's right (don't get used to it). Furthermore, I feel that I covered all of those "bands" in the last entry of the Honorable Mentions. Except for maybe Hinder. I think that's just a word you made up.

[You Forgot a Ton]

@ preston and broken brain:

so u dont think hinder exists eh? look up the songs "get stoned", "better than me", "by the way", and especially "lips of an angel". they exist. i hate them. i still think metallica should have been put on the list. just say'n

[Spork]

Preston and Broken:
Have you even fucking listened to The Wall? In its entirety?
Or The Division Bell? Have you thought about what they're trying to say?
The first few albums made no sense, I'll give you that, but you say they're overrated, when they have some of the most intelligent music of the era. There are better, but they don't deserve what you fuckers are piling on them.
Go listen to the Wall. Now. Then, if you don't get the album, look it up. I'm sure you're familiar with Wikipedia.
Also, last time I checked, I was not a 13-year-old girl. Get your fucking facts straight.

[Preston Mantooth]

Facts!? Ha!

[Broken Brain]

@Spork:
Seriously, dude. I hate to agree with Preston, because I don't like him, but what about this site could possibly make you think that we concern ourselves with getting our facts straight? Don't get me wrong, I'm generally right about the things I say on here, but that's more in a philosophical sense. Facts are for the weak-minded.

[Chakote]

Please fuck off. Floyd is great, sure, but no matter how great they are, they will always be overrated, get it? Just like the Beatles.
However, I'm not offended that this guy thinks Floyd and Tool are pure crap, since he seems to be sympathetic to bands like GNR and Def Leppard, the musical shit-trough of the last century.

But really, you late-teens people who just discovered Floyd and jerk off and smoke ounces of pot because you think it's the best music EVER, just listen to the albums, get sick of them like we all did, and shut the fuck up. Yes it's great music, we know. But comments like "JUST LISTEN TO THE WALL MAN JUST LISTEN TO IT READ BETWEEN THE LINES MAN" just make me want to ram a steel dildo down your throat, even though we like the same band.

[Detective Lubic]

You can start by wiping that fucking dumb-ass smile off your rosey, fucking, cheeks! Then you can give me a fucking automobile: a fucking Datsun, a fucking Toyota, a fucking Mustang, a fucking Buick! Four fucking wheels and a seat!

[LedSpencer]

Zeppelin, not overrated at all. Stairway is just overplayed. Page could do more on a guitar with his pinky finger than any other guitarist.

[Dave (wtf)]

@LedSpencer
Tell that to Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, etc.

They'd fuck the shit out of page.

[Austin]

haha, running a steel dildo down your throat? That's epic xD

Pink Floyd is actually underrated to me. Like, most people listen to The Wall and Dark Side and call it quits. Truthfully, The Wall wasn't amazing. Clever story and some excellent tracks, but all in all THE WALL was overrated.

The other albums most people forget are Wish You Were Here, Animals, Meddle, and a lot of other gems that I won't list, but uh...

Floyd were geniuses for their time. I'd take one of their older albums and give it a spin. Those are amazing. Underrated.

The Wall just made them overrated.

[LedSpencer]

@Dave

They wish they could touch Page, and they would admit that. Hell, if it wasn't for Page they wouldn't even know what the fuck they were doing

[Brandon]

the beatles by far back in the day i was one of the few people who didnt like them i just never saw the greatness like others,kiss sucks to for the most part they have some good shit and some bad shit,AC/DC is a band that i listened to back then somewhat but they arent great and not even close to the greatest band of all time that i have heard people call them,and i agree with you on the sex pistols they just fucking suck i cant stand them there huge frauds and the never invinted punk they i would put them at 2,the greatful dead was terrible and so was all that hippie bullshit it was all lame,i like bob dylan as a songwriter he really does have a terrible voice though but i wont say hes more overrated than aerosmith who just sucks ball

[Brandon]

and hinder should be on there everytime there on the radio and i go to change it and my daughter yells "no,dont change it I love this song" and i sit thru a entire hinder song I want to shoot myself in the head with a shotgun,and other terrible music my daughter likes is lil wayne,soulja boy,justin timberlake,T.I.,Kanye West,50 Cent,and anyone else with young or lil in there name

[Chris]

I love nirvana and totally agree with you they no doubt are overrated.Lil wayne is also overrated he sucks ass I heared a guy call him the shakspeare of the 21st century?please more like the mc hammer of the the platnum era of hip-hop I personally like hip-hop like rakim,nas,eminem(his first 3 albums),jay-z,wu-tang clan etc and when I here someone utter the words lil wayne is the greatest rapper ever I wanna strangle them.Kiss has some ok songs and they have some songs that suck they spent more time on makeup than on music
Slipknot really really sucks there not overrated by most but they have a core group of fans that think there the greatest band on the planet and are the heaviest band of all time wtf? please slipknots about a notch heavier than the worse band of all time icp and barley heavier than limp bizkit go compare those idiots to slayer to hear real metal

[kotite's corner]

here is agree/disagree with you then i will put comments after that

11.) KISS- agree
10.) Radiohead- agree
9.) U2- agree
8.) The Dave Mathews Band- agreed
7.) Led Zeppelin- disagreed
6.) The Sex Pistols- agreed
5.) The Grateful Dead- disagreed
4.) The Doors- agreed
3.) Bob Dylan- disagreed
2.) Pink Floyd- disagreed
1.) The Beatles- disagreed

KISS is not even talented, they are just a caberet show or something like that. i think radiohead is good. the bends and okay computer are great albums, U2 is a band of a generation. I cannot stand them and agree with you. Also agree that dave matthew band is not too bad, but their fans are awful. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Bob Dylan influence alone should keep them off this list. For all 4, i do not even know where to begin to disagree with you. Bob Dylans electric band from 65-67 had some amazing musicians and made the best music of the 60's. Get over his bad voice, there is alot behind it. The grateful dead is a unreal band. Even if you find their hippie fans annoying (who doesnt) The fusion of genres was never done before that. Curious as to who you like, name the top ten underrated bands. Interesting to see what you think

[mammal]

listen, drink a bottle of wine
try to forget the commercial aftermath
and all the Adornian horror of reproductive media
:)

[LolBeatles]

The beatles aren't a rock band. They're like Radiohead (fooling everyone into thinking that just because they have guitars and drums they're rock).

They were a rubbish pop band that wrote bog-standard peace, love and hippy tunes to profit from the largest music buying demographic of the time (hippies).
Can't stand the dross they put out.

[ihateoldbands]

top 20 overrated musicians/bands

1) The Beatles
2) Rolling Stones
3) Elvis Presley
4) Led Zeppelin
5) Jimi Hendrix
6) Michael Jackson
7) Madonna
8) Nirvana
9) Pink Floyd
10) Elton John and Billy Joel
11) Queen
12) James Brown
13) Beach boys
14) Aretha Franklin
15) Chuck Berry
16) Bob Marley
17) Johnny Cash
18) Lynyrd Skynrd
19) AC/DC
20) Aerosmith