Most overrated rock star

[Wazmankg]

I was never much of a fan. I came of age in the 80's when he seemed to be pretty cheesy with the Born in the USA stuff.

About 10 years ago, I was invited to a concert of his and I decided to go because I wanted to see what it was all about. After committing, I read that his concerts usually are 3+ hours. It was on a week night, and I was in the midst of an extremely stressful time in my professional life, so I was not psyched to go after learning how long the concerts were.

So, I went in with a relatively bad attitude, and I have to say, he and his band blew me away.

I delved into his catalog and I've since become a fan. I don't think he's a god, and he's not my favorite, but I have a very healthy respect for what he's done. His first three albums, Greetings From Asbury Park, The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle, and Born to Run are fantastic. Born to Run was, in my opinion, his zenith, and that might be one of my top 10-20 albums of all time. He has some great songs after that, but I think from a full album perspective, that was his high water mark.

He's got some serious lyrical chops, too. I don't put him quite up there with the upper echelon with guys like Tom Waits, Sting, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan (who's on a level of his own in this regard), but he's not too far behind them.

Springsteen was probably my favorite artist through the 70s. Darkness on The Edge Of Town is terrific too. I lost interest after that, though I like some of his output since then. But I don't think I've played Born in The USA, for instance ..which put him on a different level, more than once or twice since it came out. Their live performances are legendary for a reason. I've attended several and nobody puts on a better show.

You bring up a great point about lyrical chops. I think for many that's a secondary consideration, if they think about it at all. I agree about all you listed and that's one thing that always separated The Stones from the Beatles, LZ and some of the other groups of that era for me. Jagger is no Dylan but he wrote great lyrics that were perfect for their songs and stand the test of time.

 

[Wazmankg]

Kill Em' All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All are up there for the best first 4 albums ever, from any band in any genre.


They suck a fat dick after that, but those first 4 are fucking incredible. 10 songs is laughable. There is not a bad song on any of those albums.

I'll take your word for it. I don't judge metal. It's not my thing aside from the first 2 Sabbath albums which I really dig. I like some Motorhead, too.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Will yall quit bickering and just agree that the answer is and always has been Journey.

And "Don't Stop Believing" is in the running for most overrated song ever.

There's a lot of artists I put down and shit on, but for most of them, I can name at least one song that I can listen to(new Country fags notwithstanding), but literally every song I've heard by Journey has gotten on my nerves.

In fact, I didn't know it was them that sang it, but one of their songs came in second on my list of most annoying songs of all time, the one that goes "When the lights go down in the cit-ay."(second only to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girls.")

 

[Wazmankg]

Pretty much anyone who dies young will be slightly overrated.

Nirvana, fosho. I like Nirvana enough, but they are far from the best band from that era/scene.

Spawning from that, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters are overrated. Sorry @bamabear82

Nirvana was my favorite band from that era. Agree about the Foo Fighters, though... talk about a band that reworks the same damn song over & over.

 

[Chewbaccer]

And since we're pretty loose on the definition of rock star, I'll throw in Patsy CLine to the mix. She wouldn't have been anything if not for Harlan Howard and Willie Nelson writing her songs, and even then, if she didn't die in a plane crash, nobody would remember her.

 

[Wazmankg]

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds alone puts them on a list of underrated if anything. Brian Wilson is another truly great writer.

Agree. People who consider the Beatles or Beach Boys overrated just lack perspective... which is understandable if you didn't experience them at the time.

 

[beardown07]

I'll take your word for it. I don't judge metal. It's not my thing aside from the first 2 Sabbath albums which I really dig. I like some Motorhead, too.

The first 6 Sabbath albums are as good as it gets, IMO.

 

[beardown07]

Nirvana was my favorite band from that era. Agree about the Foo Fighters, though... talk about a band that reworks the same damn song over & over.

I like em' enough, just not as much as other bands from that same time.

 

[Wazmankg]

Back to the Rolling Stones for a sec....the Stones were/are one of the best bands ever...Sticky Fingers...Exile...so many great albums up until the mid-70's...then they fell apart. The last good thing they did was Some Girls.

Drugs caught up to em'.

Tattoo You was solid and they've had a good song here and there since then. I think it's just more that the well runs dry, rather than drugs or anything like that. It's a dirty not-so-secret that some of the best music ever made has been created by drug abusers. But there aren't very many artists who've put out masterpieces 20+ years after their creative peaks. It's a very short list..Dylan, Neil Young .. ?

 

[Wazmankg]

And since we're pretty loose on the definition of rock star, I'll throw in Patsy CLine to the mix. She wouldn't have been anything if not for Harlan Howard and Willie Nelson writing her songs, and even then, if she didn't die in a plane crash, nobody would remember her.

Top 5 female singer ever for my money. Most of them don't write their own stuff.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Top 5 female singer ever for my money. Most of them don't write their own stuff.

She wouldn't crack my top 20 for female singers considered to be COuntry(Patsy Cline ain't Country FWIW).

Patsy Cline wouldn't be fit to test Emmylou Harris's microphone.

 

[Myles]

There's a lot of artists I put down and shit on, but for most of them, I can name at least one song that I can listen to(new Country fags notwithstanding), but literally every song I've heard by Journey has gotten on my nerves.

In fact, I didn't know it was them that sang it, but one of their songs came in second on my list of most annoying songs of all time, the one that goes "When the lights go down in the cit-ay."(second only to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girls.")

I'm OK with most Journey songs. My favorite was always Any Way You Want It. Don't stop believing has really gotten old.

 

[Chewbaccer]

I'm OK with most Journey songs. My favorite was always Any Way You Want It. Don't stop believing has really gotten old.

There's a few exceptions(Vince Gill, Osborne Brothers, etc), but for the most part I can stand a male lead singer with a high pitched voice.

I recognize their talent, but that's a big reason why I can't listen to Led Zeppelin.

 

[beardown07]

Tattoo You was solid and they've had a good song here and there since then. I think it's just more that the well runs dry, rather than drugs or anything like that. It's a dirty not-so-secret that some of the best music ever made has been created by drug abusers. But there aren't very many artists who've put out masterpieces 20+ years after their creative peaks. It's a very short list..Dylan, Neil Young .. ?

Well, whatever the reason, they shit the bed almost 40 years ago. Tattoo You is ok. I put the cutoff at Some Girls, personally, for "great" albums. Their live shows have been terrible since then too.

Arguably the greatest rock n roll band ever tho....they would be number 1 by a mile in my book, if they had called it quits after Some Girls.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

"I don't like The Stones" is a perfectly fine opinion. "The Stones are garbage" is an objectively cocktarded one from anyone who pretends to have an appreciation for Rock and Roll.

This.

In fact, I have a hard time calling any band/star "overrated" generally speaking. I mean, if it's something specific, like "so and so is the best guitarist of all time," yeah, I could see a debate about being overrated, but not in terms of popularity.

 

[Ricky Roma]

Agree. People who consider the Beatles or Beach Boys overrated just lack perspective... which is understandable if you didn't experience them at the time.

It's understandable from an ignorant point of view. I have no problem with people not liking any form of music...no matter how influential or important the shift was at its time.

As I've said...I'm not a Beatles fan, and anytime you say that, you get an eyeroll from most everybody. I respect their contributions and general impact, but from a purely aesthetic point of view, it's not my thing. I'd take almost all of the other big british acts around that time (Zep/Floyd/Who/Stones) over them in a heartbeat.

To make a blanket statement like 'the Stones suck' and also claim to like rock and roll of any kind is just laughable to me.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

You bring up a great point about lyrical chops. I think for many that's a secondary consideration, if they think about it at all. I agree about all you listed and that's one thing that always separated The Stones from the Beatles, LZ and some of the other groups of that era for me. Jagger is no Dylan but he wrote great lyrics that were perfect for their songs and stand the test of time.

I'm big into lyrics/words, and I agree those bands all have good lyrics, but I set the guys I listed apart because for me they just have such an eloquent way of turning a phrase. Their lyrics seem almost literary.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Springsteen was probably my favorite artist through the 70s. Darkness on The Edge Of Town is terrific too. I lost interest after that, though I like some of his output since then. But I don't think I've played Born in The USA, for instance ..which put him on a different level, more than once or twice since it came out. Their live performances are legendary for a reason. I've attended several and nobody puts on a better show.

You bring up a great point about lyrical chops. I think for many that's a secondary consideration, if they think about it at all. I agree about all you listed and that's one thing that always separated The Stones from the Beatles, LZ and some of the other groups of that era for me. Jagger is no Dylan but he wrote great lyrics that were perfect for their songs and stand the test of time.

We agree on a lot of this stuff. We'd probably be BFFs in real life. But we're on the internets, and you're from Michigan, so I'm gonna just call you a dick-sniffer from time to time. Dick-sniffer.

 

[fknhippie]

I'm big into lyrics/words, and I agree those bands all have good lyrics, but I set the guys I listed apart because for me they just have such an eloquent way of turning a phrase. Their lyrics seem almost literary.

No love for Neil Young?

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Nirvana was my favorite band from that era. Agree about the Foo Fighters, though... talk about a band that reworks the same damn song over & over.

I don't think they're amazing or anything, but they've got some songs I like.

My Hero is cool.