Saturday 25 March 2006

Over-rated

Here is a list of the most over-rated albums in recorded music. Note that to be overrated the album must first have been rated; it can't just suck (like Dire Straits, Guns n' Roses, Hayley Westenra, rap, techno and country and western do), it must have lots of suckers who think it doesn't. Note too that by 'suckers' I don't mean people; I generally mean critics or hippies or folk who like country and western:
  1. The Wall - Pink Floyd.
    This album has some really deep and impressive analysis of the systems by which we're all oppressed. If you're stoned. And a hippy.
  2. Thriller - Michael Jackson.
    It wasn't. It still isn't.
  3. X & Y - Coldplay.
    Yawn. File under 'vapid.'
  4. Sergeant Peppers - Beatles.
    Not even their best.
  5. The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem.
    Faux outrage; faux music.
  6. Pet Sounds - Beach Boys.
    Wouldn't it be nice? No, it wouldn't.
  7. Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones.
    The boys review their own album: 'Turd on the Run.'
  8. Joshua Tree - U2.
    If Brian Eno knew then what we know now, he would have stayed home from the studio that week.
  9. Any album - Robbie Williams.
    The supreme victory of ambition over talent.
  10. The Queen is Dead - Smiths
    The Smiths are dead - The Queen. Thank goodness she's correct.
And here's the most over-rated pieces of non-pop:
  1. Four Seasons - Vivaldi
  2. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart
  3. Bolero - Ravel
  4. Star Wars Theme - John Williams
  5. Bitch's Brew - Miles Davis
  6. Köln Concert - Keith Jarrett
  7. Brandenburg Concert - Bach
  8. Salome - Richard Strauss
  9. Wozzek - Berg
  10. Amazing Grace
Feel free to disagree -- even though you know I'm right. And see if you can make any headway on a list of the all-time ten most overrated songs. John Lennon's 'Imagine' would surely have to head the list.

TAGS: Music

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

ten guitars?

Anonymous said...

Actually I'd love an original, unblemished Thriller or Sgt Peppers LP with its cover etc.! Hippies and suckers will part with a lot of dosh for them.

As for the Wall. Well, that was among a cache of CDs someone stole from me in Palmerston North. That's one of the few albums I haven't missed - probably because I'm no longer forced to endure public High School in NZ.

ZenTiger said...

Music isn't just about the quality, or that some songs are more universally liked and recognised as other equally worthy candidates - it's also about the memories and the times we lived listening to it. It's about what ideas and thoughts were triggered, unleashed, revealed or felt.

For that reason, I personally disagree with Pink Floyd, The Wall being on the list.

For that reason, others may disagree with some of the others on the list.

Anonymous said...

it's pretty bold to just dismiss some of the most important milestones in music without explanation, aside from some pithy little self-congratulatory platitudes.

Lindsay Mitchell said...

There is a song I really hate yet thousands of people apparently turned out to hear it just weeks ago - Lady in Red. Yuuuuck.

Anonymous said...

the most overrated song of all time would be "Star Spangled Banner" with "God save the Queen" and "God Defend NZ" taking out the minor placings.

Peter Cresswell said...

"Ten guitars."

Somebody rated that when sober?

"Lady in Red." "God Defend New Zealand."

People rate those at all? Really?

"Actually I'd love an original, unblemished Thriller or Sgt Peppers LP with its cover etc.! Hippies and suckers will part with a lot of dosh for them."

Phew. Your first sentence had me worried there for a second, Robert.

ZEN, you say that due to subjective reasons, "others may disagree with some of the others on the list." They may very well disagree, but as I said above, I'm right. ;^)

"Music isn't just about the quality, or that some songs are more universally liked and recognised as other equally worthy candidates - it's also about the memories and the times we lived listening to it. It's about what ideas and thoughts were triggered, unleashed, revealed or felt."

Ino ther words, it's not about the music, right? Certainly true with Pink Floyd. :-P

"it's pretty bold to just dismiss some of the most important milestones in music without explanation, aside from some pithy little self-congratulatory platitudes."

Yes, I guess it is. You've never made up any lists yourself, Milo? Do you not agree that Robbie Williams is the supreme victory of ambition over talent. Don't you think that one listen to 'Pet Sounds' tells you all you need to know? Don't you agree that 'Revolver,' Abbey Road,' and the 'White Album' piss all over 'Sergeant Pepper's Only Darts Club Band'? You think that Coldplay aren't vapid? Or that 'turd on the run' wasn't self-descriptive?

Don't you agree that further analysis would be redundant? Or would you like to pick any two of the above, and I'll give you a whole paragraph-full of reasons for being so bold? :-)

""Star Spangled Banner"

Oooh, no. That, along with the Marsellaise, has to be one of the world's most stirring anthems. As opposed to "God save the Queen," which could very well make the list.

Anonymous said...

You can't be ZEN and be a Tiger. Tigers are a fighting fury. In any weather...

Star Spangled Banner? Anti-American wanker! To see how this song is inspirational and great in origin and in sound, read here:
http://tiadaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=1