Top 5 Most Overated Albums

[CubbiefanMike]

1) Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks - badly played rude lyrics.

2) Rumours - Fleetwood Mac Heard this too many times and still dont get why songs about relationships breaking up are interesting?

3) Pink Floyd - The Wall depressing always thought that this was one of their worst albums.

4) Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf this is some really bad theater music although I do like the song with the baseball refferance.

5) Talking Head - Stop Making Sense - did they ever make sense?

[TOMMY TUNES]

1) Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks - badly played rude lyrics.

2) Rumours - Fleetwood Mac Heard this too many times and still dont get why songs about relationships breaking up are interesting?

3) Pink Floyd - The Wall depressing always thought that this was one of their worst albums.

4) Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf this is some really bad theater music although I do like the song with the baseball refferance.

5) Talking Head - Stop Making Sense - did they ever make sense?

Hey Mike,

Why do I have a feeling that I and probably most of this board would prefer the songs on this list to your five favorite CDs? Can you humor me and make a list of your five favorite albums of all time?

[popdude]

1. Anything by The Doors after their debut.

2. Any solo effort by Sting.

3. Any album by U2 after "War."

4. Pretty much anything that came out of Seattle between 1991-1999.

5. Rush.

[TOMMY TUNES]

1. Anything by The Doors after their debut.

2. Any solo effort by Sting.

3. Any album by U2 after "War."

4. Pretty much anything that came out of Seattle between 1991-1999.

5. Rush.

Youre right on the money on 4 out of 5 of these (especially Sting) but I still love U2's stuff and admire that they have been able to still be contemporary in this day of Hip Hop,R&B AND Country.

[pierson]

3) Pink Floyd - The Wall depressing always thought that this was one of their worst albums.

Absolutely... this is where they totally lose what they "had" (bar a few moments, i.e. "Comfortably Numb")... and since it way outsold "Dark Side Of The Moon" (reports have it well passed 20 million) it's disgusting... not a "bad" album per se, but not a Good Pink Floyd album...

others:

Bruce Springsteen- Born In The USA

Rolling Stones- Tattoo You

Led Zeppelin- In Through The Out Door

Boston- Boston

Def Leppard- Pyromania

Motley Crüe- everything

Duran Duran- Rio

Police- Synchronicity

good call popdude on The Doors

[pierson]

how'd i forget...

Eagles- Hotel Crapafornia

[Bob Allen]

Pretty much anything by the Eagles I would say (although I admit to liking a handful of earlier tracks - don't tell no one!). Pat's right on with that one above -- I'd MUCH rather shove bamboo shoots under my nails than to subject my soul to that. Any day of the week.

[JohnO]

(1) Anything by Sting or The Police;

(2) Anything by Pink Floyd, post Syd Barrett;

(3) Anything by Fleetwood Mac once Buckingham/Nicks joined;

(4) Anything by the Eagles;

(5) Anything by Springsteen after The River; tied with (5) Clash LPs post-London Calling

and, as an honorable mention, Any album with tons of "guest stars" (EX: that Santana piece o'crap that sold millions of copies).

Regarding "Bollocks", I'm assuming it's considered "overrated" by critics? Because it still hasn't sold sh*t....and frankly, most of the critics who profess to love it now, didn't when it was released (Rolling Stone trashed it, later "reassessed" their take on it).

[BadfingerBarb]

The most over rated album has to be "Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band". Now don't get me wrong, I'm a Beatles fanatic and love 'Pepper' but it's constantly heralded as the greatest rock album of all time and it's not even The Beatles' best album (somewhere in the middle). I understand the impact of when it was released is why it gets so much acclaim but it's still over rated. I also never cared for Springsteen at all. He always sounds constipated.

Hey Popdude, The Posies came out of Seattle between 1991 and 1999. You might want to change that statement.

[TOMMY TUNES]

Sergeant Pepper makes my list (if I ever get around to making it

[JohnO]

I totally forgot "Sgt. Peppers", but agree with BadfingerBarb. Also, I forgot my two biggest recent overrated acts/albums - the 3 CDs by The Strokes, and everything by The White Stripes (should be called "White Hypes"). Those two acts have got the greatest publicity agents I've ever seen. The Strokes are just bad recycled NY garage, and the White Stripes aren't doing anything that the Flat Duo Jets or Bantam Rooster didn't do first OR better in terms of 2 piece primitivism.

[TOMMY TUNES]

The Beatles White Album could be on mylist also ( if I erer get around to making one)

[Tony Cartmill]

Wait! Does JohnO like pop music?

Maybe some of you guys should just say, "Anybody whoever had a hit album is overated."

[popdude]

Hey Popdude, The Posies came out of Seattle between 1991 and 1999. You might want to change that statement.

Actually, I thought of that, but I figured I was safe since their debut album, FAILURE, came out in 1988 and their classic DEAR 23 came out in late 1990.

[JohnO]

Tony C. - Yes, I love pop music....BUT what in the Hell does that have to do with my postings of overrated LPs???? Wouldn't an album, BY DEFINITION, have to be somewhat successful, either with the critics or the public, in order to be "overrated"? Actually, I like quite a few of the LP's in my list (early Police, later Springsteen, later Clash, Sgt. Peppers) - BUT to me, they didn't warrant millions and millions of sales, their critical praise, etc. To me, a lot of these bands peaked early, then had little to say....but became ten times more popular....to me, the very deifnition of overrated.

Tony - Does your definition of "pop music" include anything but Billboard hits? Just curious......

[Tony Cartmill]

Let me get my foot out of my mouth, then I'll answer you later...

[JohnO]

Tony - it's not that big a deal, and I'm NOT trying to bust your chops....it's just that the thread was to discuss LPs we think are overrated, NOT ones that we think suck, per se.

In order to be overrated, to me, you can't sell like 50-60,000 albums; you have to be pretty successful....or, in the case of the Sex Pistols, for one example, be deified by the critics even if you didn't sell much.

I mentioned The White Stripes - I've seen them live and frankly, Meg can't play the drums very well at all, and their records kinda sound to me like retarded Led Zeppelin (very primitive blues based)....but they're now multi-millionaires, hitting the top of the charts, producing Loretta Lynn comeback LPs', etc. - and I just don't get it - to me, they're way overrated.

[Tony Cartmill]

That sounds reasonable to me...Got my foot out...only to find my head still stuck up my a...

As long as you see some merit in artists like Fleetwood Mac, The Boss, The Police and The Eagles...These people had/have some classic recordings that have held up for 30 years...

[Early Wynn]

Wow, great choices here. Alot of my choices have already been taken, especially Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and Sting. But here's a few off of the top of my head.

Anything by Dave Matthews

Anything by the Dead

Dan Fogelberg's GH

I think a better post would be the top five underrated albums. In fact, I think I start that one.

[CubbiefanMike]

Early Wynn I agree whole heartily with your post although Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band" is his Definitive classic hard not to listen to that when its on the radio.

[Billy K.]

CubFan, yes, I can tolerate listening to some of the stuff on “Bat out of Hellâ€, but really and truly, it is overrated. And for once, radio in San Francisco did something right by not overplaying Meat Loaf----in fact, played almost none of his stuff.

John, I would “sort of†agree with you concerning U-2.......although I enjoy SOME of the tracks on any of their albums, I can’t honestly listen to them through---just listen to individual tracks. And yes, I honestly think “With Or Without You†is one of the most overrated songs of all time.

I would disagree on the Seattle assessment, though. Although there were some overrated stuff(i.e. Pearl Jam’s “Even Flowâ€)I think that was a seminal period for Seattle rock. Certainly not all that much of interest nowadays, as far as actual full-length CDs.

Pierson, I would disagree....I think “Tattoo You†was the last great Stones album. Every new studio album since has mostly been lackluster, as far as the songwriting goes. As for Motley Crue, they have a couple of songs here and there, but their claim to fame has to do with things other than music. Yes, overrated.

Barb, yes, “Sgt. Pepper†is. On two accounts.....â€Pet Sounds†actually was the album that started the new innovations, not “Sgt. Pepperâ€. Secondly, the “White Album†is my personal favorite, though people could equally have a solid case for “Abbey Road†as best Fab Four album.

Early, I have not found any Matthews song, much less album, that I could find memorable.

But there are a few others I must add:

Most of Patti Smith’s stuff. (Rolling Stone has this fixation with her, don’t know why)

Robin Trower- great guitar player, but why all the fuss?

"Veedon Fleece" and "St. Dominic's Preview" by Van Morrison.....certainly decent and listenable but can't understand why they are on many critics' top list.

[BadfingerBarb]

Thanks for reminding me, Billy. This will rugffle a members feathers on here but "Pet Sounds" and Brian Wilson are completely over rated. This notion of Wilson being a genius seemed to start in the '70s; I guess because it was obvious he was crazy. Folks tend to think if a musician is crazy, he must be a genius. I don't get it at all. The Beach Boys had a few nice pop songs, but only a handful, really ("God Only Knows", "Sloop John B", "In My Room"). As a whole, they were usually pretty juvenile. I prefer Eric/Raspberries Beach Boys style songs to anything by the actual Beach Boys.

[Carmen Smalley]

Anything by Michael Bolton,Richard Marx,Glenn Medeiros,John Waite,John Parr,Celine Dion,Rush,Starship,REO Speedwagon,Stix,Journey,Ready For The World,Chicago,Peter Cetera,Phil Collins, and more AOR/soft AC acts.

[pierson]

"Pet Sounds" and Brian Wilson are completely over rated. This notion of Wilson being a genius seemed to start in the '70s; I guess because it was obvious he was crazy. Folks tend to think if a musician is crazy, he must be a genius. I don't get it at all. The Beach Boys had a few nice pop songs, but only a handful, really ("God Only Knows", "Sloop John B", "In My Room"). As a whole, they were usually pretty juvenile.

yes and no...... yes "Pet Sounds" is overrated.... no, Brian was indeed a musical genius between 1964-1966... not nearly as juvenile as the "hits" make 'em out to be...

anyone who writes these 25 songs (in a 30-month span) has to be:

Please Let Me Wonder

Surfer Girl

In My Room

Don't Worry Baby

I Get Around

The Warmth Of The Sun

Little Honda

Wendy

She Knows Me Too Well

Girl Don't Tell Me

Let Him Run Wild

You're So Good To Me

I Know There's An Answer

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

Caroline, No

God Only Knows

Hang On To Your Ego

I'm Waiting For The Day

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Let's Go Away For A While

You Still Believe In Me

Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)

Pet Sounds

Still I Dream Of It

[Bill C]

It's easy to call a particular album overrated after many years. The Impact of Sgt. Pepper loses it' luster after 40 years. Boston's debut album was a new sound that swept the airwaves. Fleetwood Mac-Rumours was more than just the lyrics and about break-ups. The band itself new how to put a quality recording together. I'm not saying they should or shouldn't be in anyones overrated list, I just think it's unfair to judge them in the present tense.