What does overrated mean to you?

[no country for old wainds]

Well, duh, that pretty much makes sense. Who rates a band? The listeners. There's no almighty being or force that assigns an all-time exact rating on how good a band is. I think that you either read and use the word overrated, in which case you have to believe in the value of objectivism (and possibly elitism), or you should shun the word completely, because when you're dealing with the concept of something being overrated, you're comparing the value of the band's music as seen through the ears of other listeners, and your own. So if you have the stance that 'it's all just opinion' and the subjective truth is the only truth, then you can't deal with the term 'overrated' because it assumes some sort of valuable objectivity that one person sees (the critic) and the the other doesn't (the fanatical fanboy). If you use and believe in the term, then you have to believe that there is more to music and it's appreciation than just the subjective interpretation. I'm of the latter; I believe in objective quality, but not to the extent that i'd be considered an 'elitist' of any obnoxiously recieved standing...in which case, yes, the above quote makes perfect sense to me.

Best post in the thread. I totally agree.

To me, an overrated band is a band on which the general consensus is that they are extremely talented and skilled, yet someone who knows a lot about guitar and musical theory (like me) would be able to tell that they are really not as incredible as they are made out to be. And I like some bands that are overrated, like Darkthrone, Slayer, Hatebreed, Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, etc.. IMO "overrated" isn't simply a term people use for bands that they don't like but many other people do.

To me, talent has little to do with the ability to play an instrument, talent is the ability to produce music which people can enjoy. Darkthrone, for instance, have made 3 or 4 better albums than some bands which are twice as good technically. That has more value than being good musicians technically.

To me it means:
Something which is seen as better than it is.

But who actually decides whether it's better or worse than the fanbase would suggest? You? Are you always right?

 

[no country for old wainds]

'Darkthrone, for instance, have made 3 or 4 better albums than some bands which are twice as good technically. '

'But who actually decides whether it's better or worse than the fanbase would suggest? You? Are you always right?'

Notice that these two quotes contradict themselves....I claim that Darkthrone albums are 'better', not that I enjoy them more.

Y'see, nobody's perfect. :Smug:

 

[nataservant]

I feel I am always right even though everyone could prove otherwise. I don't really care only my opinion really matters to me.

 

[no country for old wainds]

I feel I am always right even though everyone could prove otherwise. I don't really care only my opinion really matters to me.

If nobody else's opinion matters to you, why do you post on a forum, wanting to hear the views of other people? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Board]

The definition of overrated: The Beatles

Everyone claims they created rock today, they are the most important band in history, blah blah blah. Yeah fuckin' right.

Basically, something is overrated if everyone and their grandma says it's the shit. Everyone has a different taste, and almost everyone I know absolutely hates the Beatles, yet the media CONSTANTLY bestows enormous quantities of praise on them to this day. That's overrated.

No offense, but that was plain ole ignorant!
I don't claim The Beatles to be the inventors of rock music, surely not, as people like Little Richards, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ritchie Valens, etc. made rock n' roll in the mid 50's and The Beatles didn't come out until '62. BUT "The most important band in history"? It can be debated of course, but whether you like them or not you'd have to acknowledge that they've made stunningly timeless music. I may be that the people you talk to mostly listen to metal or something. And also, almost everybody in their youth listens to music that's coming out at the moment and don't really dig into the older stuff, so that may also be an explenation to why you don't know anybody who likes The Beatles.
We've discussed this before (and I've probably also said this before), but as a record collector I can say that The Beatles has definetly made some of the music with objectively quality in it. They've sold millions of records (a Beatles fan I know actually told me that they've sold 1 billion items (records, cd's shirts, record players, etc.)), but still records that've sold several millions can still fetch enourmeous prices. It all has to do with supply and demand. In the 60's they sold millions of records and had millions of fans and a record like the White Album can today get prices of several hundred dollars, although it has sold several million copies. Do you think Madonna's "Like a virgin" can do the same, although Madonna is one of the biggest and best selling artists of all time? I doubt it!
Elvis was known as The King, but if you take that cd that was issued recently with his 30 #1 hits and play it to the man on the street I don't think his songs will be as recognisable as if you take The Beatles' "#1's" or whatever it's called (the cd with their 27 #1 hits on it). It has the catchy quality to become a hit, but also the stamina to stay in people's mind long after the band split up (it's been 33 years now). I doubt that Destiny's Child's hits will have the same quality in 33 years.
Well, enough about The Beatles. I don't hope I appear to be calling you a jerk for not recognizing The Beatles, as this was surely not my intention.
But anyway, overrated for me is as empty as for nataservant. I agree with what some of what Sculptedcold said (as you may can see in what I wrote above), but I also feel that "overrated" is a word I could do without. To me it also appears to be that it's a word that is used if you don't like the band. I was actually gone use the example about Beatles, as someone said they were overrated on the Opeth forum, until I saw LuminousAether's post!
Of course, if a band have 10 million fans today and in 20 years have 23 you may brand it "crap" objectively, but still, there are 23 people who like it, and I won't call anything crap objectively as there will always be someone who likes it! Of course then you can't name anything "good" objectively, as there will always be someone who dislikes it, and therefor Beatles cannot be the greatest band ever or the band who've made the music with most quality in it, which I usually refer to them as, but you get my drift (I hope)...
Thus you have my opinion; Overrated doesn't exist.

 

[LuminousAether]

The people who I know that hate The Beatles have varied tastes in music, ranging from hip hop to industrial to metal to rock. The only people I know who like The Beatles are either a) old, b) likes old music, or c) is lying. I don't think their music is timeless, I think it is incredibly dated sounding.

I think The Refused album "The Shape of Punk to Come" says it the best: "They say the classics don't go out of style... but they do, they do."

 

[Board]

The people who I know that hate The Beatles have varied tastes in music, ranging from hip hop to industrial to metal to rock. The only people I know who like The Beatles are either a) old, b) likes old music, or c) is lying. I don't think their music is timeless, I think it is incredibly dated sounding.

You're welcome to do so! Personally I think they've made some good stuff, but also some horrible crap like "Yesterday", "Let it be" (the song, not the entire record), "Yellow submarine", etc., but that's just my opinion. If we at least has to try to look at music objectively, The Beatles could easily be called the greatest band of all time. That "#1's" cd that was released a couple of years ago sold 250.000 copies here in Denmark, I think, which just shows that their music still impresses people today. A friend of mine said "How can that cd sell 250.000 copies? Everybody has the music already!" Apparently their music also impress the younger generation, although I guess most of the people who bought it were from the older generation. Some years back I was only into hip hop, but began looking for 70's funk, as most hip hip is stolen from that shit, and when someone mentioned The Beatles I always said "Man, The Beatles, that's some wack-ass hippie shit!!". When I actually really listened to some of their songs it really impressed me! It might also had something to do with that I had started loosing my prejudices (which basically were "If it's not something I can bang my head to, it's crap and I don't wanna listen to it, no matter what it is") and my taste in music had widened.
But anyway, this is just my opinion of the Beatles and I'm mostly into the music from the 60's and 70's. If you don't like any music from before teh 80's I of course understand why you think their music sucks, but saying you don't like them and then calling them overrated is a big difference. I don't think one single band has influenced as many bands in the world as The Beatles have and that's quite the opposite of overrated.

 

[no country for old wainds]

I used to like The Beatles. Eleanor Rigby was one of my favourites...I can't really remember any, other than that.

 

[Immortal Death]

I think the word overrated is overrated.
What do people mean when they say it?
I feel it is used by people who feel that a band or whatever is liked by many people except for them. Just because you don't enjoy the music does not mean a band is exactly overrated it just means you don't agree with them. I think the word overrated should be erased from our heads because it may mean one thing to someone but it will not mean the same to another. So I feel people should think before using that term or explain to me why they feel they need to use the word because I think it is only used when people are angry that others like a band that they don't like.
So I ask....
What does overrated exactly mean to you?

I completely agree man.

 

[Esteban]

Overrated is an opinion, there's nothing scientific about it, and you can not prove a band is overrated. It's a very subjective term, it has nothing to do with talent or popularity. If I don't like a band but a lot of people do, I might say it's overrated, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Gentleman of the Lake]

I skimmed some posts on the first page of this topic, then saw some really longs ones and just said screw it. So sorry if this or something similar has already been posted.

I think people who get pissed off by the term "overrated" need to lighten up. I do indeed like the term overrated and use it a lot. However, overrated (as well as underrated) is relative. Its just another opinion. If person A thinks band A gets way more praise than they deserve, than Band A is overrated according to person A. But if person B thinks that band A deserves all the criticism they get, or if they deserve even more than they get, than band A is NOT overrated according to person B. Yes, it really is that simple. Saying something is overrated or underrated is no less an opinion than saying, "This sucks," or "this is cool," as it has to do with YOUR feelings about something compared the feelings of a certain majority of that same thing, and thus just as valid as such. I don't expect people to agree with me on what's overrated or underrated, but I do expect people to let me have my own opinion on the matter.

They only thing that gets on my nerves about people using the word overrated is when they use it to describe something that doesn't seem to get much praise in the first place. For example, in a topic on another board about what albums are overrated, someone said, "Anything by Nirvana." Granted, I think Nevermind is quite possibly the most overrated album of all time, and In Utero and Unplugged in New York get their due, but who the fuck talks about Bleach and Incesticide? I like Bleach, but I think Incesticide fucking sucks. But even though I think Incesticide fucking sucks, I cannot even begin to call it overrated, because it gets no attention. I only knew about the album from seeing it in a store. I've only known one person on the internet who likes this album, and none in real life. How can that be overrated?

 

[Board]

I agree with what you say, Gentleman of the Lake, but instead of saying "overrated" about something, why not just say "I don't like it" or "I think it sucks" or something like that?
To me it appears that overrated is usually used as "Man, this sucks! How the fuck can you like this crap? Everybody should know that there's nothing in that song!!" and saying "I don't like it"/"I think this sucks" is quite different IMO.

 

[Gentleman of the Lake]

I agree with what you say, Gentleman of the Lake, but instead of saying "overrated" about something, why not just say "I don't like it" or "I think it sucks" or something like that?
To me it appears that overrated is usually used as "Man, this sucks! How the fuck can you like this crap? Everybody should know that there's nothing in that song!!" and saying "I don't like it"/"I think this sucks" is quite different IMO.

Well, "This sucks" or "I don't like this" could easily work, but sometimes when damn near everyone thinks a certain something is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and you think its not very good, you can get a little annoyed, and you go, "Its so overrated it makes me sick."

 

[Lanterns]

I always found Nirvana "overrated"...

 

[nataservant]

If nobody else's opinion matters to you, why do you post on a forum, wanting to hear the views of other people? Makes no sense to me.

I am not saying my opinion cannot change, I am just saying if I believe something for what it is, no matter how hard someone tries to convince me otherwise, I will not change my mind unless I feel it is nessesary.

Yes I like to hear others opinions just to hear them, not because I am looking to change my mind, but if It happens it happens. mmm good, feels good

 

[Dev]

I always found Nirvana "overrated"...

 

[Board]

Well, "This sucks" or "I don't like this" could easily work, but sometimes when damn near everyone thinks a certain something is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and you think its not very good, you can get a little annoyed, and you go, "Its so overrated it makes me sick."

Well, if everybody likes it it's just their opinion. When "Overprotected" by Britney Spears came out everybody thought it was awesome, except me and another guy, but that didn't make me say "It's overrated" I just said I didn't like it. If they like it they're welcome to, as long as they don't force me to like it, which they didn't and I guess you haven't been forced to like anything either.