Continuing the sacred cow tipping debate in this Sgt. Pepper month, the British newspaper The Guardian asked a host of musicians to name the most overrated album they'd gladly never hear again. Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand takes down Television's Marquee Moon, Scritti Politti's goes after this year's hallowed Arcade Fire disc, Neon Bible, Billy Childish joins the Pepper backlash and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips has the cheek to criticize the sainted Kurt Cobain and Nirvana's Nevermind. Pink Floyd, the Strokes, and the Smiths also get strafed, and my favorite crime writer, British novelist Ian Rankin, takes aim at one of my favorite bands, the Velvet Underground. Hmmm. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
And speaking of the Guardian, and British writers, Martin Amis of London Fields and The Information (that's a novel, not a Beck album) fame, has an epic profile of Tony Blair in the UK paper. It's extremely long, but contains references to Bob Geldof and Kate Moss as well as the phrase "velvet looned Bee Gee." Oh, and somebody give Jon Corzine the Brit PM's number to tell him to buckle his seat belt.
Comments (16)
MSNBC.com has a similar type of article - "The Rock & Roll Hall of Lame" - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19313280/
Posted by OGC | June 19, 2007 9:12 PM
Posted on June 19, 2007 21:12
Nevermind cannot be overrated. It changed music. The question they should have asked is "What album does everyone loves that you do not." That makes more sense.
Posted by xposedfilm.ctom | June 20, 2007 8:03 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 08:03
Being in college when Nevermind came out definitely impacted how I feel about it. Looking back I see it was a decent album, but I remember it more because it sounded fresh and different from the tired old rock (glam and Guns & Roses both). Rock was pretty much dead in the water before grunge.
But it's still just people's opinions - anyone getting upset by this article should take a step back. That's why music is so great, there's something for everyone ...
Buttermaker
Posted by Buttermaker | June 20, 2007 8:22 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 08:22
Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is my pick. You might have to be a snooty hipster doofus indie rock person like me to understand why this is overrated- otherwise you might not have even heard of it. So sick of hearing how great that album is.
Posted by Rob | June 20, 2007 9:13 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 09:13
I think Alycia Lane's overrated.
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2007 9:14 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 09:14
Alicia Lane is not overrated, Cecily Tynan is. I want to see those darn bikini pictures!
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2007 9:19 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 09:19
The Brit pop "stars" always seem to be slagging someone off. I think its fun to question what's "good" but some of these records are absolutely great.
Posted by Earvolution | June 20, 2007 9:48 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 09:48
Well, they picked some of the more enduring yet unpopular artists to answer their question, so what did you expect? If they asked the same panel what the most underrated albums of all-time are, there's a good chance not even the experts would know what to say about them.
"Nevermind" is an easy target for these fops, who despite their critical accolades have never broken through here in the States. Bitter much, you bastards?
Posted by anonymous | June 20, 2007 11:05 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 11:05
Nirvana may have sounded fresh to you, but Poison-13 was doing the same thing in the mid 80's. A fact wich Nirvana has duly noted.
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2007 11:42 AM
Posted on June 20, 2007 11:42
These too cool for the room brits are jealous. The Flaming Lips? Seriously? Wasn't their big hit a song about jelly? But I give them points for their appearance on BH 90210.
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2007 12:48 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 12:48
Good category. I'd add the following:
1. REM's "Document" - Come to think of it, anything by REM after "Fables of the Reconstruction." I loved REM as a college student, and recently popped "Document" into my CD player. I now can't fathom what it is I liked about that album.
2. Anything by U2 except "Achtung Baby" - is there anyone out there who actually craves listening to U2? If so, what's wrong with you?
3. "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" - a marketing effort (poorly) disguised as an album. Not being able to play your instruments shouldn't be something to brag about.
4. Anything by Yes, King Crimson or Jethro Tull -- boring, ponderous, self-absorbed crap. In some cases, with flutes.
Posted by Self-Appointed King of Rock Critics | June 20, 2007 1:17 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 13:17
Michael Smerconish would whack you for dissing Yes.
Posted by Domenic | June 20, 2007 1:37 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 13:37
Nevermind cannot be overrated. It changed music.
You're absolutely right, it did change music. For the worse. Don't get me wrong, it had some good tunes, but it sounds incredibly dated and it's production is horrible, so please don't try to sell me on how "grunge" saved rock music. Anyone who says that obviously wasn't listening to the Pixies before the release of Nevermind. If you were, you'd realize American rock didn't need saving.
And for one of the Anonymous posters, The Flaming Lips aren't British.
Posted by St. Brian | June 20, 2007 2:11 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 14:11
Anything by Yes overrated? Damn straight. Add to that: every album released by Led Zeppelin. As far as individual albums ... I'd go w/Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Yes, it's a good album ... but great?! Puh-lease.
Posted by Jeff | June 20, 2007 8:41 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 20:41
Nevermind is definitely overrated. I like Nirvana, but if I want to listen to one of their CDs, I'd pick In Utero or Unplugged before I'd pop Nevermind into my CD player.
Nirvana only changed music for people who had bad taste in music. Sure, back in the early 90's there was a lot of crap like Poison and Warrant being played on MTV, but there were many of us had the good taste and intelligence to avoid bands like that. We didn't need to hear Nirvana to know that Poison was shallow garbage. We were already listening to bands like Sonic Youth, Husker Du, The Replacements, and the Pixies.
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2007 10:33 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 22:33
I saw the Guardian article. It's a measure of Rankin's insane popularity that he was the only non-music figure quoted. I'm not sure he was right about the Velvets, but Nico really was not a good singer. In any case, Rankin invokes the Stones too damned much and to no great effect in his own work.
More to the point, the whole idea of taking shots at "classic" anything in the mass media is all part of the same promotional machine. You think Lou Reed gives peel-off banana peel what Ian Rankin says? It's all buzz.
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Posted by Peter | July 12, 2007 4:09 PM
Posted on July 12, 2007 16:09