Top 5 Most Overrated Bands

Everyone knows that there are bands out there that are good, but that quite a few people put far too much stock into them. This is what this list is all about, those bands that we know don't deserve the praise they get. You can take it as you like, but this list is different than one such as worst bands. That is why you won't see someone like Britney Spears in here; while she is overrated, she has no musical ability to speak of so it is a travesty that she is even rated.

Tory's Top 5:

1. Nirvana - As I said, these bands are good. But come on, is Nirvana really that good. Yes, they inspired or pioneered the grunge genre, but just because they were the first doesn't mean that they are the greatest. See some lyrics such as Polly and Lake of Fire to see what I am talking about. I feel that their popularity was helped by the apparent suicide of Cobain, but alas, so was the musical community as the true musician (Grohl) was able to come about and form Foo Fighters, a far superior band.

2. Aerosmith - Joe Perry is an excellent guitarist. Steven Tyler is not an equally good singer. There are songs that I think really thrive, but then there are songs when Tyler does his rap-rock type singing that make me want to vomit ie Sweet Emotion.

3. U2 - I do not like this band that is on my list. They are trite. The Joshua Tree was not an epiphany in history of music. Plus their recent music has been some of the best

4. Green Day - Since Dookie, and really up til Dookie, they offered nothing close to the praise they earn. I suppose Insomniac had a decent playlist, and Nimrod had one good song, but with the recent pointless release of American Idiot, some of the worst political satire or commentary or whatever it is supposed to be, they have shown that the days in which they were a relatively accessible band are gone.

5. RHCP - Probably the best band that is on this list. I understand the majority of people liking them, but there are those that seem to equate this band to a modern day Zeppelin (perhaps not that high of quality, but within a nearby echelon at least.) Their music has seemed to get incredibly boring and repetitive; they did have their days though with Blood Sugar Sex Magic and One Hot Minute.

Dan's (Altered) Top 5:

1. Metallica - Pretty much nothing by this band is good. And they have the audacity to call themselves "metal?" I'm not as much of a metal fan as some friends of mine, but I do know that Metallica sucks when compared to some of the bands I've heard them play on their car stereos.

2. The Grateful Dead - I really haven't heard anything I like from them, and I have a predisposition to not liking "jam" bands (Dispatch excluded). How they got one of the biggest followings ever is beyond me. In essence, I guess they're not bad, but they're also not as spectacular as countless bumper stickers lead me to believe.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Everything since Blood Sugar Sex Magik has been bland and mediocre at best. Their career is the ultimate fade-away, going from songs like "Catholic School Girls Rule" and "Stone Cold Bush" to a rip-off of Tom Petty in the form of "Dani California." Interestingly enough, as the uniqueness of the music decreases, the popularity grows.

4. Pearl Jam - I haven't really heard anything by this band that I really like, and they're being equated with Nirvana? Vedder's voice is too caustic, and the music itself seems fairly bland and uninspiring. Speaking of Nirvana, though...

5. Nirvana - I do like a few of their songs, and Nevermind was damn good. But many people call them the best band of the 90's, which is simply wrong. Bonus artistic merit points for a suicide ending, but you lose points tenfold for the fact that Courtney Love is still around.

Honorable mentions: Bob Dylan (not a band - the only reason he didn't make the list), Aerosmith, Nickelback, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy (these last four are all overrated, but unfortunately they all suck too much for inclusion.)

Ryan's Top Five

This will be a quick one for me because I'm tired--of course, though, bad bands inspire me.

1. Metallica - They've had a few good songs. Get over it. Does anyone else have trouble meeting a Metallica fan who doesn't think they're not better than The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who combined? Also, Lars Ulrich is one of the biggest douches in the music industry.

2. The Doors/Jim Morrison - I like some their singles all right, has anyone else heard anything mindblowing? "When You're Strange" is a forgettable "classic." I once saw a poster that had Jim Morrison next to Hendrix and Lennon, billed as the "gods of rock." Give me a break.

3. Green Day - I agree with everything Tory said. I hated American Idiot, and their album before that was wretched.

4. Aerosmith - Am I the only person (I might actually be, I'm not sure) who hates the "Walk This Way" hip-hop crossover? I'd much rather hear just hip-hop, or a better rock band. Anyway, they're an all right band, I just think they're a good deal overhyped.

5. Kiss - Here's a band that is kind of all right (I guess) to begin with, but when you're fronted by Gene "I created Kiss and therefore am a musical god" Simmons, you make me want to hate you. Sorry Kiss. But thank you for bumping No Doubt from the list, as I knew at heart they violated Tory's rule of bands that are just plain bad.

Tim's Top 5:
I think Metallica has been given enough credit, as has Aerosmith, although "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" is really worthy of an entry all its own -- if you consider yourself a rock band, you don't play Diane Warren songs. PERIOD.

1) Dave Matthews Band - This is difficult for me, because I don't really know if anyone considers them good anymore, so they might just fall into the category of bands that are just awful...but every white college-aged male who enjoys recreational drug use (i.e. every white college-aged male who besides me, back in those days) thinks going to a Dave Matthews Band concert is their idea of frat boy paradise. No thanks. They haven't recorded anything but pablum since their first album, which is itself not good, so far as I can tell, but not the most contemptible thing of my lifetime. And everyone seems to at least sort of like them. Screw that. I hate Dave Matthews Band and all its works.

2) Radiohead - Radiohead inspires hatred in me unmatched by any other band. It's not because they're bad, but it's because they are so universally admired by critics for putting together tracks with incomprehensible lyrics and shit like "big fish eat the little ones". Thom Yorke has a great voice, their music was interesting on OK Computer, but the gooey mess on rock critics' face after Kid A and Amnesiac is inexcusable. Their willingness to be so utterly un-pop reminds me just why pop music has value...because at least it's honest.

3) The Doors - Again, like Radiohead, they're not a bad band. I own their greatest hits album, having bought it when I was 15. Other albums I bought when I was 15? Lord knows, but they have to be better than this. People who listened to FM radio in the 1980s and 1990s delightfully forgot that The Doors had songs with three minute keyboard solos for no apparent reason. Every once in a while I will voluntarily not skip by The Doors on the radio...but that's not to say they deserve the acclaim they've given themselves.

4) Led Zeppelin - I really just don't get it. And I will be honest, I don't get it so much that unlike Pink Floyd (who I could have put here, concededly), I've never tried to force myself to listen to Led Zeppelin. I'm not a heavy metal guy and I guess Led Zeppelin leaned in that direction, but I just don't find their music interesting. And people who listen to it I find even less interesting...because they're like self-parodies. Having watched half a season of Freaks and Geeks, it reminded me of why Led Zeppelin is still so revered -- because the people who really love Zeppelin are also the people that didn't ever get jobs, and therefore have more time to tell people about Plant & Page. I think the value of each individual in Led Zeppelin would add up to something around 500% of the value of Led Zeppelin to me. I like Fool in the Rain, but I think by liking Fool in the Rain, I really only underscore just how much I dislike Led Zeppelin. Whole Lotta Love, Stairway to Heaven...these are songs that I shan't miss.

5) ZZ Top - It's hard to not just list "The 1970s" in this list...Journey, Boston, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Rush...they could all go here. But in trying to distill a list of pure overrated via the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, I don't think it gets any more obvious to me than this one. ZZ Top is in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. My only question is..."Lord almighty, how?" I know they've been around a long time, but this isn't the baseball hall of fame, I thought that you had to actually have more than two tracks people knew and at least one that people liked. They're not really trendsetters either, but here you have it. I'm not sure what world puts ZZ Top in the Rock 'n' Roll of Fame while excluding ... well, anyone.

Also of note: Rod Stewart warrants mention for having never done anything of significance by himself yet still attaining substantial fame/acclaim.