most overrated alleged prog rock band

SheriffJB wrote: Ed_The_Dead wrote: Jup Mate, Ayreon does own'em. Why don't people state WHY are the band overrated? Well, an awnser like "I just don't like em", "THEY SUCK", or "JUST BECOUSE" dosen't get to Me It's the Universal Migrator albums that are overrated . . . Lucassen does not know how to write a melody. Songs like "My House On Mars" with their persistent one-note vocal lines, added to the slow tempo, create a plodding and dreary effect. Many songs on the album are simply uninteresting. In addition, the concept is cliche and the music horribly overproduced. I was expecting something memorable, and I fell asleep. I thought The Human Equation was a very strong release, however.

Well, i dident hear the universal migrator, but ill qeep Your post in mind. At least Your post has statements, that sound sensible. Not just "I hate'em, the suck!" The Human Equation is in my opinion the album of 2004... Thats why i'm defending Arjen and his stuff. But the migrator had Bruce on vocals! Stuff with Dickinson on the vocals can't sound bad (sorry, devotion is a bad thing)

Certif1ed wrote: Trouserpress wrote: MARILLION. That there's fighting talk, Trouserbreath...

*rolls up sleeves* All right then - I'm game.

Tony R wrote: Trouserpress wrote: *rolls up sleeves* All right then - I'm game. Well you certainly grouse a lot ...

ELP.....Everything's Laughably Pretentious

 

King of Loss wrote: SheriffJB wrote: Migrator had a whole bunch of guest vocalists . . . Johan Edlund Floor Jansen Lana Lane Neal Morse, etc. As does Equation (except Equation has a real concept and a "cast" so to speak) But Equation's vocalist IMO are better thought out. Universal Migrator 2 is good if you are a Prog Metal or Prog Rock fan, but I'm not too fond of it. Its not the greatest cd, but its good enough for me.

I wouldn't say it's the vocalists themselves that are better - moreover, the composition, arrangement, and production.

I'm a metal (as in "RAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" type metal) fan, as well as prog rock, and both volumes, IMO, are "a tad" overdone. The concept is still cliche and IMO not very well-written. A "space concept" is great if you can pull it off without sounding stupid - but Ayreon just doesn't do it with UM. There are songs and parts of songs that really click (like "The First Man on Earth" and etc.), but most of the songs fail to entertain my ears.


Edited by SheriffJB

arcer wrote: Wrath_of_Ninian wrote: arcer wrote: My own vote for most overrated - King Crimson rubbish songs, po-faced faux avant gardism, crap singers and dull ideas. (and that was just on ITCOCK) I can agree with you on the crap singers - a string of pub karoake crooners (the worst of which was Wetton) ruined much of Fripp's cosmic ambience, leaving the group sound somewhere between the Andromeda galaxy and Guildford Social Club.  Who sat in on those auditions???? Po-faced avant gardism?  Hardly a put-down for a prog band, indeed, I rather like the image. But rubbish songs and dull ideas??  Certainly they had compositional peaks and troughs, but their high (over?) rating comes from their pioneering of original/ experimental music - something you certainly cant accuse Kansas of.  Whether KC's music still stands the test of time, is certainly open to question, but personally, I think most of the early albums have aged rather well, and the inspiration and creative processes evident in the KC sound, still stand out from other music of the period, and over the last 30 years.  Furthermore, their impact on other bands, especially outside of the UK, was immense.  Kurt Cobain regularly cited 'Red' as the "greatest album ever made" - and that one was made WITH John Wetton singing!  They are an interesting band, changing from album to album (due to perpetual changes in line-up), and I think their reputation as prog pioneers is well deserved.     But KANSAS? - do you really like Kansas?  I thought they epitomised everything that was wrong with rock music in the 1970s.  Anyway, how are you getting on with PFM by the way?  The first two albums owe alot to King Crimson, but of course, PFM do it much better!! I can't help liking Kansas - yes, they have awful cheesy moments (ref 'I commaaaand the lighning's haaaand!') and occasional lapses into what sounds like prog-polka and keystone cops chase music but I just love the melodies, maybe it's cause I grew up with them - first heard leftoverture in 1979. KC I idn't hear til I was much, much older and I just can't get into them. There's nothing to hold on to in terms of songwriting - lots of half-baked ideas and no real direction or any inclination to self-edit. And Fripp is such a pseud! As for their experimental music hmmmm Moonchild starts like a nice tune and then develops into the soundtrack to a 70s Czech cartoon. Hopeless... and more dmaning - it's boring. Now PFM are a different story. They are singularly the best prog discovery I've made. the first 3 albums are fantastic and where KC (for me) meander aimlessly, PFM brim over with ideas, conceits, humour, inventiveness and melodic savvy. There are still bits to cringe over ('Is my face on straight') but by and large they're so much more fun than dull old KC. getting on just fine thanks! Anyway, i should probably re-think my most over-rated choice. KC at least have some interesting moments, ELP on the other hand.....

They can be a bit frustrating KC - I do find myself "listening through" bits of it, just to get a small hit, and yes the whimsical pants lyrics are not the sort of thing you want intruding into a dinner party silence (more on that later), but in terms of their contribution to prog during the late 60s, they probably do warrant a little respect.  I hate the old "they're a seminal, influential, established, traditional...etc. band" motif, and have frequently pummelled Beatles 'fans' for liking them "because they should", or folk who argue that Robbie Williams must be 'great' because he 'sells lots of records".  These are not arguments, but in the case of Crimson, I do think they have some genuine moments of originality and guile tucked away in the music, and it offsets some of the crap 60s hue, and Lake/Sinfield/Wetton's childish faux-poetry.

I am of course delighted (and a little jealous) that you have discovered PFM and hope they continue to mop the proverbial lino with Fripp's beard.  The 'cringe' song lyrics you refer to were of course penned by ex-KC and consequently jobless Pete Sinfield.  I've had cross words with 3Fates about Sinfield's attempts to defile PFM before they got shot of him and started writing proper lyrics with an Italian poetess. He has his admirers apparently, but I have never been one.  His mark is deep on the early Crimson stuff, but I suppose you have to put things in context, and psychedelic whimsy instigated by the choice drugs of the time probably dictated lyrical fashions.  I often wondered why Fripp even had a vocalist, and to be honest, I'm not sure he really cared that much.  Perhaps the most unfortunate thing was that Lake set the vocal standard on the first two albums, and subsequent singers tended to mimic his full throat pseudo-crooning "I really, REALLY mean it" style - to the detriment of later albums.  Perhaps L's success with E & P had alot to do with this.

Finally, I have not heard a huge amount of Kansas, but I have heard Leftoverture and (on first and only listening), found it to be a really banal record, which at times made me think of the Eagles, the Sweet, and Lynyrd Skynyrd trying to jam a Steely Dan song.  A kind prog archiver even posted an Mpeg up after I berated them in a previous thread, and that just made it worse.  They even LOOKED awful!  But I know what you mean, and I too have sanguine, and yet inexplicable ties to records that would be laughed off this site.  However, I shall listen to Leftoverture again to see if I actually missed anything.  I try not to rashly dismiss things that people seem to genuinely care about.  Unless its neo-prog... 

The only thing overrated in this thread is all of your opinions!!  You all suck wafers!!

(I think I'm channeling Karney)

For me the most overrated are Yes and Genesis 

DreamTheatre without a doubt. I dont see what everyone sees in them.

As for actual good bands who are overated, id probably go for PinkFloyd.

Marvin wrote: For me the most overrated are Yes and Genesis

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