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Cant speak for their more recent albums. Just for perspective I probably havent listened to anything after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but Coldplay couldn't sniff SP jock strap.
Radiohead is both a underrated band and overrated. People who hate them don't understand their importance and brilliance, and people who love them can't see past them. That said, to compare Nirvana to Radiohead is ridiculous. Radiohead is far superior both musically and for their contributions to their genre.
There are posts on this thread telling us Disturbed is underrated and the Stones overrated so I know we aren't discussing music with intellectuals. Someone saying Smells like Teen Spirit is the best rock song ever? wtf?
Cant speak for their more recent albums. Just for perspective I probably havent listened to anything after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but Coldplay couldn't sniff SP jock strap.
People who love them can't explain their importance and brilliance because it's largely in their own minds. They may be technically superior in some ways, but that's not terribly difficult.
OK Computer changed Alternative music. Everything you hear today from the Killers to Pheonix to Muse wouldn't exist without that album. That album in itself opened the doors for a generation of Alternative music to use different instruments and make music as intellectuals rather than just make loud music.
Except that lesser known bands had been doing it for years, Radiohead crested the wave. Just like Nirvana. Originality isn't really a hallmark of rock music or its derivatives.
the Cure and REM were the only predecessors of the late 90's Radiohead, but Radiohead took it to another level. Radiohead made music that sounded like REM on Pablo Honey and by the time OK Computer came out they were their own band and genre. That is nothing like Nirvana. Nirvana was the opening band for Mudhoney and the Melvins and their hit got them on the radio. Radiohead was making a style of music and was successful touring with Dinosaur Jr., but threw it all out the window and created their own genre. They did it again for Kid A. There is no band to make music like there is on Kid A- not one. That is nothing like Nirvana
You'd better Run to the Hills after that comment.
Right, because you love Radiohead they are completely original. You don't sound much different than "smells like teen spirit is the best song in the world"
but I have the history to back me up on both fronts. There is no band to bring ambient and avant-garde styles into rock music before Radiohead. There is no history before them. The Beatles recorded tracks, but didn't release them, and when they did it sounded awful. Radiohead made it a style, and that style is what Alternative music is today. That style is what you hear in Coldplay, Muse, The Killers, MGMT and the thousands of other bands that are out now. Radiohead changed music.
Nirvana is a good band, but they just changed the scene of music. That is different. Nirvana was the band who got on the radio and brought a scene to pop culture. They were the FACE of grunge, not the CREATORS of grunge. That is why they are overrated. People often confuse Nirvana with other bands by saying they created the grunge sound- they didn't. They were the first to get on the radio.
Radiohead changed Alternative music by created their own style. It didn't even get them famous the way Nirvana was. By 2000 most stations didn't even play their music, however they influenced millions.
I should say that I really like Nirvana too, I listen to their Unglugged and Live at Reading almost daily. So I don't hate them, but they didn't create anything and I'm not saying what I'm saying because I dislike them.
Let's see... any number of Bill Laswell influenced/produced bands have been doing it since the mid 80s, take your pick - Massacre, Painkiller, Material, Celluloid records artists. Plenty of bands fused Kraftwerk/Can/Tangerine Dream/Faust influenced krautrock with jazz/rock/whatever else. Just because you aren't familiar with them, or they weren't imminently popular doesn't mean they don't exist. Buckethead himself was doing it in the mid-90s, and yes, I have the albums to prove it.
but Radiohead didn't tour with those bands. They didn't tour with Painkiller or Buckethead and become famous. They toured with Alanis Morrisette in 1996, came back in 1997 and made an album that sounded like nothing else. The Beatles didn't create rock music, but they are credited for changing it, that is the same thing I'm saying with Radiohead. They changed their genre. Nirvana is different because the genre already existed and was popular, they just became more popular than the genre.
Radiohead came out with an album that sounds like dozens of others before it that you hadn't heard, that's the point. It's not original, they brought it into the mainstream. Just like Nirvana did. Who they toured with is irrelevant. You said they created their own genre of music, which is patently false.
Aerosmith is highly overrated, especially Walk This Way with Run DMC. Johnny Lydon and Afrika Bambaata had already broken down that barrier with the far superior World Destruction.
Afrika Bambaata sure likes to get involved in crossover collaberations with much success. Anyone ever heard 2 kool 4 skool by Uberzone and Afrika Bambaata? Great song.
Lol Beyonce was heartbroken when her brother died...
Thing is Sublime wasn't very popular or "rated" when they were playing and really in their prime. Bradley Nowell's death helped them gain a lot more popularity outside of Southern California. And, it is very much obvious that it was all Bradley. Guy was a musical genius. The rest of the band were basically studio musicians compared to him. All of the music writing, lyrics, melodies was on Brad. Listen to the Long Beach All Stars, which is the bassist and drummer from Sublime with a few other guys and you quickly realize that Sublime was all Bradley Nowell.
As for Nirvana, I too felt they were overrated, but more so when it came to people calling them musical geniuses. There's a couple different ways at looking at them, their music and their impact on music. People have addressed much of that already in the thread. They were overrated musically. It's true Kurt couldn't sing all that well and especially their early stuff was about catchy melodies over power chords. But, their impact on music and rock is undeniable. I don't think their impact is at all overrated.
I never got into Radiohead. I was slowly transferring over to hip hop during the period they started getting popular. I don't really have an opinion on them. Early to mid 90s, I got heavily into East Coast hip hop and started listening to that exclusively. It wasn't until around 1997 that I started listening to other stuff again, but at that time it wasn't alternative rock, it was country, jazz, and funk as I had moved to New Orleans.
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an interesting one. I don't think they're overrated too much, but I do think some of the later work got more hype than it deserved. Their early music was unbelievable and groundbreaking. From Uplift Mofo through to Blood Sugar, I think they were making unbelievable music. I think it fell apart when Frusciante left and David Navarro came in for One Hot Minute (I believe that's what the album was called, but can't remember). Changed everything. I stopped listening to them after BSSM.
I agree that Radiohead is overrated. Mainly by their fans. They think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I think The Killers are a very underrated band though. In 20 years people will consider them one of the best bands of this generation. They make amazing albums and have some great songs, and their lyrics are really cool too.
This statement right here is why they are overrated. The fact that people believe this is proof that Nirvana as a band and Kurt as a person are overrated.
Johnny Cash is overrated.
Radiohead is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I don't know if I could take serious a person who disparages Radiohead and then mentions The Killers in a positive light in the next utterance. But, as I'm so inclined to do--I respect his choice in music and that is how it should always be. Music is so damn essential for a good quality of life that if you like a certain genre or a band, go ahead and listen to them until you can't stand them. being overrated or underrated because in the end no one really gives a about your musical taste anyways.
What does overrated even mean? arent all bands overrated by at least some grouping of people?
That's what I'm saying...the word overrated/underrated doesn't lend much to comparison. Who decides what is which? Is there a definitive meaning to either word? If so, did the "music gods" give you the right to call a musical act like that? I'm a huge "indie and eclectic" fan of music, but even snobs like Pitchfork.com and the like annoy the out of me when they try and determine what is "good" music.
I agree to an extent
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