Most Over Rated Rock Bands!

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I was listening to the radio today and the station I had on played a bit of The Who's Quadraphenia album.....now I have never been a huge Who fan, I like some of their music but I always believed them to be over rated when held up to the bright light of other bands like the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin.....Pete Townsend to me has to be the most over rated guitar player ever......I don't think I have ever heard him play anything other than power chords and would not know a good solo if it fell on him......the stupid windmill gimmick he always had....nothing more than smoke and mirrors along with alot of noise!

I am going to take some heat from Who fans I know so I might as well throw in The Greatful Dead as over rated.....I just never got them.....OK Slip...bring the heat!

What bands do you think were over rated?

Larry, as a guitar player for the last 40 years I must say that the Who's music is amongst my favorite. Townsends blending of acoustic riffs backed by power chords are thier not for the reasons one might think. True, lots of bands use the power chord as the main body of thier music. Bands in the big hair era like Motley Crue ( who I happen to love) and Ratt etc were no where near the musicians Townsend, Daltrey, Moon and Entwhistle were. The blending of the many tones both acoustic and slung low Les Paul with all knobs on ten were thier to convey the dramatic impact of the song and it's story rather than a 3 knot power chords wall of noise masking the inability and range of some supposed "super Stars". The Who's music is as technical as it comes along with Led Zepplin's. Ever try to keep up with Jimmy Page while playing along? Tough assignment for the best of them.
My fav players were Mick Ronson, Bowie's late lead man who was classically trained, Jeff Beck and PM'S fav, Frank Zappa, really a genuis when you think that he actually WROTE every note played on his albums.

Overated, The grateful dead to be sure, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC-DC and just about all the newer bands.

To be truely great on a guitar you have to be able to capture the emotion of the song, to convey through the notes you play the hurt, joy, emptiness of the piece and make it recognizable as such when you play it.