Overrated albums: Discuss.

Sinfonia

Idea obviously launched by underrated album thread...

I think it's interesting how a band you really admire can produce something you really don't like, while so many other people seem to adore it!
Now I don't really mean in the sort of "They traded in their original sound for a more mainstream over-produced kind of sound", I'm really looking for your experiences of just having an inability to understand the hype surrounding an album, particularly if you're a fan of the band.

So I'll go first:

I find Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' to be incomprehensibly overrated.
Radiohead are my favourite band, edging Led Zeppelin out of that top spot in the last couple of years, but I've never been able to understand how people seem to cream themselves over this album.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the album and listen to it often (although I'll always skip 'Faust Arp' and I'll go listen to the live version of 'Videotape' rather than the studio version), and it beats the hell out of a lot of other albums this decade, but by Radiohead's standards it falters in my opinion. Now you may say that one should judge the album on its own merits, and not on expectations that one has set up based on the previous output of the band, but the problem is that when an artist is capable of so much, I find it a shame when that potential isn't reached. I applaud In Rainbows as a new direction in sound for the band, and I applaud it for its effectiveness in simplicity, but for this band, the high points will always be in the more complex arrangements, where they've created such dense layering that one tends to hear something new on every listen: Let Down, Pyramid Song and The National Anthem to name but a few.
In Rainbows would rank 6th or at best 5th for me out of Radiohead's 7 studio albums

Thoughts (and overrated album stories of your own)?

I thought in rainbows was their best in a while..15 steps and jigsaw are quality..

S.M.B.

Have to agree with pretty much all that.

MilanPan!c

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought in rainbows was their best in a while..15 steps and jigsaw are quality..

I agree... one of their best EVER.

Better than, say, Amnesiac.


As far as over-rated albums go:

Anything by Jay-Z.
Dark Side of the Moon
The Wall
Hotel California
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Siamese Dream (wildly so)
That first Suede Album

Really, many many many albums are over-rated.

punchdrunk

Sinfonia wrote: »

Idea obviously launched by underrated album thread...

I think it's interesting how a band you really admire can produce something you really don't like, while so many other people seem to adore it!
Now I don't really mean in the sort of "They traded in their original sound for a more mainstream over-produced kind of sound", I'm really looking for your experiences of just having an inability to understand the hype surrounding an album, particularly if you're a fan of the band.

So I'll go first:

I find Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' to be incomprehensibly overrated.
Radiohead are my favourite band, edging Led Zeppelin out of that top spot in the last couple of years, but I've never been able to understand how people seem to cream themselves over this album.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the album and listen to it often (although I'll always skip 'Faust Arp' and I'll go listen to the live version of 'Videotape' rather than the studio version), and it beats the hell out of a lot of other albums this decade, but by Radiohead's standards it falters in my opinion. Now you may say that one should judge the album on its own merits, and not on expectations that one has set up based on the previous output of the band, but the problem is that when an artist is capable of so much, I find it a shame when that potential isn't reached. I applaud In Rainbows as a new direction in sound for the band, and I applaud it for its effectiveness in simplicity, but for this band, the high points will always be in the more complex arrangements, where they've created such dense layering that one tends to hear something new on every listen: Let Down, Pyramid Song and The National Anthem to name but a few.
In Rainbows would rank 6th or at best 5th for me out of Radiohead's 7 studio albums

Thoughts (and overrated album stories of your own)?

I think your completely and utterly wrong about it!
it's got the best songwriting thom's done in years,and the stripped back arrangements were done purely to put his voice,and the actual songwriting under the spotlight instead of the layered arrangement approach
it was a wise move

stunning album!

MilanPan!c

punchdrunk wrote: »

I think your completely and utterly wrong about it!
it's got the best songwriting thom's done in years,and the stripped back arrangements were done purely to put his voice,and the actual songwriting under the spotlight instead of the layered arrangement approach
it was a wise move

stunning album!

it's funny, it's a good idea for a thread, but a very poor example. :P

punchdrunk

looking at the previous two albums
the usual high standard had taken a dip in my view

I've highlighted what I'd regard as "radiohead classics"

thats only half an album each at best

Amnesiac

1. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"
2. "Pyramid Song"
3. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"
4. "You and Whose Army?"
5. "I Might Be Wrong"
6. "Knives Out"
7. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"
8. "Dollars & Cents"
9. "Hunting Bears"
10. "Like Spinning Plates"
11. "Life in a Glasshouse"

HTTT

1. "2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)"
2. "Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.)"
3. "Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky.)"
4. "Backdrifts. (Honeymoon is Over.)"
5. "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)"
6. "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky is Falling in.)"
7. "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time is up.)"
8. "The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)"
9. "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)"
10. "I will. (No man's Land.)"
11. "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)"
12. "Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.)"
13. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)"
14. "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)"

compare these to in rainbows and for me it's a whole album of radiohead classics,not a single tune i'd want to skip on it

MilanPan!c

punchdrunk wrote: »

looking at the previous two albums
the usual high standard had taken a dip in my view

I've highlighted what I'd regard as "radiohead classics"

thats only half an album each at best

Amnesiac

1. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"
2. "Pyramid Song"
3. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"
4. "You and Whose Army?"
5. "I Might Be Wrong"
6. "Knives Out"
7. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"
8. "Dollars & Cents"
9. "Hunting Bears"
10. "Like Spinning Plates"
11. "Life in a Glasshouse"

HTTT

1. "2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)"
2. "Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.)"
3. "Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky.)"
4. "Backdrifts. (Honeymoon is Over.)"
5. "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)"
6. "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky is Falling in.)"
7. "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time is up.)"
8. "The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)"
9. "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)"
10. "I will. (No man's Land.)"
11. "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)"
12. "Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.)"
13. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)"
14. "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)"

compare these to in rainbows and for me it's a whole album of radiohead classics,not a single tune i'd want to skip on it

You should track down the surprise 93 Feet East show they did to celebrate the releaese of IR... It's amazing!! A great alternative trip through the songs. Class!

punchdrunk

cool,will check it out!

NapoleonInRags

Sinfonia wrote: »

Idea obviously launched by underrated album thread...

I think it's interesting how a band you really admire can produce something you really don't like, while so many other people seem to adore it!
Now I don't really mean in the sort of "They traded in their original sound for a more mainstream over-produced kind of sound", I'm really looking for your experiences of just having an inability to understand the hype surrounding an album, particularly if you're a fan of the band.

So I'll go first:

I find Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' to be incomprehensibly overrated.
Radiohead are my favourite band, edging Led Zeppelin out of that top spot in the last couple of years, but I've never been able to understand how people seem to cream themselves over this album.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the album and listen to it often (although I'll always skip 'Faust Arp' and I'll go listen to the live version of 'Videotape' rather than the studio version), and it beats the hell out of a lot of other albums this decade, but by Radiohead's standards it falters in my opinion. Now you may say that one should judge the album on its own merits, and not on expectations that one has set up based on the previous output of the band, but the problem is that when an artist is capable of so much, I find it a shame when that potential isn't reached. I applaud In Rainbows as a new direction in sound for the band, and I applaud it for its effectiveness in simplicity, but for this band, the high points will always be in the more complex arrangements, where they've created such dense layering that one tends to hear something new on every listen: Let Down, Pyramid Song and The National Anthem to name but a few.
In Rainbows would rank 6th or at best 5th for me out of Radiohead's 7 studio albums

Thoughts (and overrated album stories of your own)?

Couldn't disagree more about In Rainbows - fantastic album. 'Reckoner', 'Nude' and 'All I Need' are classic tracks.

The most overrated album I've ever heard is 'Smile' by Brian Wilson - just don't get that at all. Mind you I think there's a big distinction between overrated by the critics and overrated by general punterdom.

thebigcheese22

Is This It by the Strokes... I don't get the love for it

old hippy

Any album by Oasis
The Stone Roses
The Arctic Monkeys
Pearl Jam

thebigcheese22

old hippy wrote: »

Any album by Oasis
The Stone Roses
The Arctic Monkeys
Pearl Jam

Any particular album? They have 9 of them you know :rolleyes:

zimovain

I love Dylan but some songs on Blonde On Blonde are just filler for me.

fillmore jive

Doolittle by the Pixies.













































Oh I went there.

Sinfonia

old hippy wrote: »

Any album by Oasis
The Stone Roses
The Arctic Monkeys
Pearl Jam

The point is not just to lists bands you don't like

Sinfonia

zimovain wrote: »

I love Dylan but some songs on Blonde On Blonde are just filler for me.

Great example, and you'd nearly be lynched for not adoring it (if you were in Championship Vinyl anyway...)
Great album all the same, but doesn't live up to its reputation imo

S.M.B.

punchdrunk wrote: »

looking at the previous two albums
the usual high standard had taken a dip in my view

I've highlighted what I'd regard as "radiohead classics"

thats only half an album each at best

Amnesiac

1. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"
2. "Pyramid Song"
3. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"
4. "You and Whose Army?"
5. "I Might Be Wrong"
6. "Knives Out"
7. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"
8. "Dollars & Cents"
9. "Hunting Bears"
10. "Like Spinning Plates"
11. "Life in a Glasshouse"

HTTT

1. "2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)"
2. "Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.)"
3. "Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky.)"
4. "Backdrifts. (Honeymoon is Over.)"
5. "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)"
6. "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky is Falling in.)"
7. "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time is up.)"
8. "The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)"
9. "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)"
10. "I will. (No man's Land.)"
11. "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)"
12. "Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.)"
13. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)"
14. "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)"

compare these to in rainbows and for me it's a whole album of radiohead classics,not a single tune i'd want to skip on it

I Will is a classic but Like Spinning Plates isn't?

No way!!!

loveissucide

Superunknown-Soundgarden
Bored me stiff.

MilanPan!c

fillmore jive wrote: »

Doolittle by the Pixies.


Oh I went there.

The Pixies in general.

I can not stand Mr Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

MilanPan!c

loveissucide wrote: »

Superunknown-Soundgarden
Bored me stiff.

Another great one!

How can people not see that a band that chooses to record garbage like Spoonman is incapable of greatness.

thebigcheese22

MilanPan!c wrote: »

Another great one!

How can people not see that a band that chooses to record garbage like Spoonman is incapable of greatness.

In your opinion... Superunknown is up there in my top 5 favourite albums but each and to their own.

Another one from me is Blood Sugar Sex Magik...loved it when I was first getting into music but it seems kinda crap to me now

Sinfonia

thebigcheese22 wrote: »

Another one from me is Blood Sugar Sex Magik...loved it when I was first getting into music but it seems kinda crap to me now

I wouldn't have said overrated though, I'd probably say the opposite since it's been overshadowed by the bland, funkless albums that followed it (everything since Californication basically - although that's a good album too in all fairness)

Sinfonia

punchdrunk wrote: »

looking at the previous two albums
the usual high standard had taken a dip in my view

I've highlighted what I'd regard as "radiohead classics"

thats only half an album each at best

This'd be mine, but sure Diff'rent Strokes an' all...

Amnesiac

1. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"
2. "Pyramid Song"
3. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"
4. "You and Whose Army?"
5. "I Might Be Wrong"
6. "Knives Out"
7. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"
8. "Dollars & Cents"
9. "Hunting Bears"
10. "Like Spinning Plates"
11. "Life in a Glasshouse"

HTTT

1. "2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)"
2. "Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.)"
3. "Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky.)"
4. "Backdrifts. (Honeymoon is Over.)"
5. "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)"
6. "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky is Falling in.)"
7. "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time is up.)"
8. "The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)"
9. "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)"
10. "I will. (No man's Land.)"
11. "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)"
12. "Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.)"
13. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)"
14. "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)"

In Rainbows

1. 15 Step
2. Bodysnatchers
3. Nude
4. Arpeggi
5. All I Need
6. Faust Arp
7. Reckoner
8. House of Cards
9. Jigsaw
10. Videotape

punchdrunk

S.M.B. wrote: »

I Will is a classic but Like Spinning Plates isn't?

No way!!!

the live Like spinning plates from the E.P is amazing
the album version isn't

Wudyaquit

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks - talked about and analysed for it's impact far more than it's actually listened to imo.

Mercury Rev - Deserters Songs - for being inane crap

Verve - the one with drugs don't work. Don't think it's really that highly rated generally but people must've bought it at the time.

Thundercats Ho

The Libertines - The Libertines

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Pink Floyd - The Wall

(I like both abbey road and the wall, but think people who rave about them, haven't listened to them in a while)

MilanPan!c

Thundercats Ho wrote: »

The Libertines - The Libertines

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Pink Floyd - The Wall

(I like both abbey road and the wall, but think people who rave about them, haven't listened to them in a while)

Love Abbey Road, Own multiple copies, prolly spin it at least once a week.

And I OWN (actually own) thousands and thousands of records.


You're right about the wall though; woulda made a better EP.

montec

Stone Roses debut album. Completely overrated in my opinion.
Also Doolittle and in fact The Pixies in general.

RGDATA!

montec wrote: »

Stone Roses debut album. Completely overrated in my opinion.
Also Doolittle and in fact The Pixies in general.

since the thread says "discuss" rather than "list" - why?

KnifeWRENCH

I love Pixies, but Doolittle is quite overrated imo. I think Surfer Rosa is a much better album.

Have to completely disagree with In Rainbows being overrated - it's my favourite Radiohead album. 9 out of the 10 tracks are what I'd consider Radiohead classics (never quite managed to love Faust Arp)

Spiritoftheseventies

For me it was Thrills N Pills and Bellyaches by the Happy Mondays. NME gave this their album of the year but it had none of the freshness of Bummed. Overall was very disappointed with it.

JerryHandbag

The Killers - Hot Fuss...the opening 2 tracks are good, track 5 is pretty good, but the rest of it just passes me by tbh.

Much prefer their following albums.

rcaz

Fleet Foxes. There's nothing new going on, what's the fuss about?

McCruiskeen

El Pr0n wrote: »

Fleet Foxes. There's nothing new going on, what's the fuss about?

That is such an utterly boring and uninspiring album. I just don't get it.

Don't get the Grizzly Bear Hype either. There are 3 very good songs on their new album, but the rest of the album is just filler

Sútalún

McCruiskeen wrote: »

That is such an utterly boring and uninspiring album. I just don't get it.

Don't get the Grizzly Bear Hype either. There are 3 very good songs on their new album, but the rest of the album is just filler

Yeah I really wanted to like it but find myself skipping a lot of the album.

Probably not strictly belonging in this forum but I think Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin is supremely over-rated. Maybe I just don't get it.. but I have tried to listen to it on numerous occasion and felt each time that I could write some of the songs on my synth if you gave me half an hour. And I wouldn't exactly be proud of them.

Futureadvocate

This one of those threads that is guaranteed to exasperate everybody :pac:

Anyway i'm gonna add to the madness and put forward Kid A by Radiohead.I would say Amnesiac too but deep down everybody already knows that it's completely sh1t.

arsenallegend

old hippy wrote: »

Any album by Oasis
The Stone Roses
The Arctic Monkeys
Pearl Jam

The stone roses is a classic

I think arctic monkeys have done better albums then their first

arsenallegend

The libertines up the bracket shockingly overrated by NME

Florence and the Machine included the best song on her album is a cover version

arsenallegend

Wudyaquit wrote: »

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks - talked about and analysed for it's impact far more than it's actually listened to imo.

Mercury Rev - Deserters Songs - for being inane crap

Verve - the one with drugs don't work. Don't think it's really that highly rated generally but people must've bought it at the time.

urban hynms is a tad over rated but A northen soul is very underrated and the better record

I loved Deserter's songs:eek:

rcaz

McCruiskeen wrote: »

Don't get the Grizzly Bear Hype either. There are 3 very good songs on their new album, but the rest of the album is just filler

I do quite like Grizzly Bear. Haven't given them a real proper listen, but what I've heard so far (one listen through all their stuff, maybe once or twice through Veckatimest) I like. They're obviously very well-educated musicians, as opposed to Fleet Foxes

Aridstarling

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica

I just. Don't. Get it.

pappyodaniel

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion: WTF am I missing?

arsenallegend

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion: WTF am I missing?

i think brothersport and my girls are great but it was a tad overrated

Spiritoftheseventies

fillmore jive wrote: »

Doolittle by the Pixies.













































Oh I went there.

Yeah you went there. Now discuss it

loveissucide

Futureadvocate wrote: »

.I would say Amnesiac too but deep down everybody already knows that it's completely sh1t.

Explain your choice

I nominate Neutral Milk Hotel-In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Fails to capture the imagination at all, is in places incoherent and downright annoying, and great tracks like King Of Carrot Flowers and Holland,1945 can't make up for it.

Spiritoftheseventies

arsenallegend wrote: »

The stone roses is a classic

I think arctic monkeys have done better albums then their first

Agreed. Stones Roses debut a phenomenal effort. Ahead of its time

Sinfonia

loveissucide wrote: »

Explain your choice

I nominate Neutral Milk Hotel-In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Fails to capture the imagination at all, is in places incoherent and downright annoying, and great tracks like King Of Carrot Flowers and Holland,1945 can't make up for it.

I really like this album, and the title track is amazing, but overall I don't get the huuuge following for it either

Aridstarling wrote: »

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica

I just. Don't. Get it.

This is an example of music that is excellently composed and very thoughtful, but aesthetically I just don't enjoy it at all, except for Moonlight on Vermont

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion: WTF am I missing?

I felt exactly like this too, until I heard My Girls when I was out dancing, and it started to make more sense then! I really like My Girls, but overall yeah, I never understood how people creamed themselves over this album.

Futureadvocate

loveissucide wrote: »

Explain your choice

Because the songs are crap!

Spiritoftheseventies

Futureadvocate wrote: »

Because the songs are crap!

Pyramid Song is no way crap.

ricero

eoghans debut album we all know fantastic album but sadly its all covers the guy is a legend thou