resurrectionsong

July 21, 2004

Overrated?

Were the Beatles overrated? The Stones? The Who? David Bowie?

While I can't stand listening to more than a few Stones songs, thing the Who were uneven at best, and think that David Bowie is well past his sell-by date, I wouldn't say that any of the above are overrated. See, there's a difference between being overrated and being disliked by me--the difference is that, in some situations, you could still see the artistic value whether you enjoy the work or not.

You could easily make the case that all of those artists were extremely influential in their field whether you like the music or not.

Again, one thing that I want to return to is the idea that you can dislike the music without thinking that the artist is overrated. I'm not a fan of I.M. Pei, for instance, and happen to think that his designs are violate what is best about architecture, but I would never say the man is overrated. His designs are wildly influential in the field of architecture.

As for me, I prefer Mies Van Der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Does my personal dislike of Pei's style make him overrated? No. (Michael Graves, on the other hand, can't be forgiven for the abomination that is the Denver Public Library.)

See, in my world there are three basic classifications of art (it's a simplified world view, I know):

Art that I like that is good. (Screaming Trees)
Art that I don't like that is good. (Rolling Stones)
Crap. (New Kids on the Block)

If I were feeling honest, I would also note the existence of a fourth category: Crap that I like (a-ha and OMD). I'm not feeling honest right now, so we'll just pretend that the fourth category doesn't exist.

That's why I would tell Mark (aside from the fact that I really like Bowie's pre-90's work) that, no, David Bowie isn't overrated.

Posted by zombyboy at July 21, 2004 09:51 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Bowie: DEFINITELY not overrated...the man who went from "Ziggy Stardust" to "Man who sold the world" to "Let's Dance" to "I'm afraid of Americans"? He's so flexible, and his music grows and changes without trying to see overtly "modern".

Yay Bowie!

Posted by: Jo at July 21, 2004 10:28 AM

Hooray Bowie!

Posted by: zombyboy at July 21, 2004 10:33 AM

Yeah, but what about the New Main Street Singers?

Posted by: nathan at July 21, 2004 11:20 AM

I'm more of a Folksmen fan, myself...

Posted by: zombyboy at July 21, 2004 11:24 AM

Nathan, that nearly made coffee come out my nose. :) I didn't follow the link...trust me, didn't need to.

Posted by: Jo at July 21, 2004 11:44 AM

...ignore me...that italization (sp?) was not a link.

Posted by: Jo at July 21, 2004 11:45 AM

I admit that I adore "Blue Jean" and "Modern Love" but only because this really hot guy sang 'em to me once. . .annnny-wayyy. Heh.

Seriously. The man who featured Stevie Ray Vaughn in one of his albums (and arguably gave him a big break into the Bigtime) is okay by me.

(That would be David Bowie featuring Stevie on guitar in "Let's Dance.")

Posted by: Emma at July 21, 2004 03:12 PM

You won't find any disagreement from me.

Must go listen to the "Let's Dance" right about now...

Posted by: zombyboy at July 21, 2004 03:28 PM

incidentally, "Let's Dance" was my first record. Well, I bought it on the same day as Blondie. ;)

Posted by: Jo at July 21, 2004 03:47 PM

My first record was Queen's Greatest Hits, which was a Christmas gift. My second record, which I bought myself, was Asia by Asia.

Posted by: nathan at July 21, 2004 04:11 PM

N-

were you happy about your Christmas gift?

Posted by: Jo at July 21, 2004 04:34 PM

Very...Except for that one stupid song with the overrated David Bowie on it, Under Pressure...

Oops, did I say that outloud?

Posted by: nathan at July 21, 2004 05:14 PM

Hey! I like that one...

Posted by: zombyboy at July 21, 2004 05:16 PM

See, you listen to a talented singer like Freddie Mercury back-to-back with Bowie, and it just proves my point. Bowie sang like he was above everything; Freddie let it all hang out.

Posted by: Mark Hasty at July 21, 2004 06:16 PM

Which, sadly, probably led directly to his death.

Posted by: Nathan at July 21, 2004 10:47 PM

Okay, without going into that last comment, the fact is I never liked Queen and I only liked Freddie on a few songs. I would much rather listen to old Bowie.

Posted by: zombyboy at July 21, 2004 11:17 PM

Differences. I'd rather not listen to either, but if I had to choose, I'd choose Queen.

Posted by: Mark Hasty at July 22, 2004 07:02 AM

"Under Pressure" is one of those songs I sing along with in my car, rocking out in my own little world and acting like a complete doof. :)

Incidentally, this makes me think Gary Neuman's "Cars" should be added to your cheesy 80's list.

Posted by: Jo at July 22, 2004 09:07 AM

I think I have never hated a song as much as I hated Gary Neuman's Cars.

One thing about Queen: In my opinion, their best album was Jazz. For some idiotic reason, the two worst songs on the album were chosen for release as singles: Bicycle Race and Fat-Bottomed Girls. If you ever get the chance, listen to songs like Dead On Time, Fun It, Dreamer's Ball, Let Me Entertain You, If you Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em, Don't Stop Me Now, and a great Arabic hard rock number called Mustafah.
In the same manner, what I love about Styx is the depth and range they showed in songs that weren't released as singles. It wasn't called AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) for nothin'.

Posted by: nathan at July 22, 2004 09:36 AM

Yessss! It took 4 tries, but I finally killed all commenting on this post by mentioning Styx!

Posted by: nathan at July 22, 2004 05:18 PM

*cricket chirping sound*

Posted by: Jo at July 23, 2004 11:37 AM