Is Robert Fripp Overrated?

Sumdeus wrote: moshkito wrote: All in all, I like ITCOTCK, Red/Starless and then some parts of Lark's Tongues in Aspic. All in all, the rest of KC, is rather forget'able to me, and not interesting, though I can listen to it and enjoy it ... but it is not the "grand spectacle" that some of us prefer, instead of another rock song!   are you actually saying that things like Lizard and Islands sound like "another rock song" to you instead of a "grand spectacle"? I'm curious to know what kind of typical rock songs you listen to and what standards you have for something to be a "grand spectacle"

 

Slartibartfast wrote: I may have had enough of me but I've had enough of you?  I stand by my assertion that Robert Fripp is properly rated.

Read his post carefully.  In the middle of all his rambling, he has nailed exactly why overrated is a much abused word.  

moshkito wrote: It's not about the "person" and their work anymore ... it's about one person's view that some other folks work is considered better and has a lot more respect from many folks, than his favorite band ... sorry! discussion over!

Amen.  It is hardly ever about the influence or importance of an artist's work to the music....it's simply, "Too many annoying people like this band, so I find the band annoying."

Blacksword wrote: renaudbb wrote: Are "Red", "In the Court" or "Lizard" overrated ?  In addition, Fripp's influence on modern music is far beyond the progressive circle.  This question is a nonsense for me. Indeed, in fact I would say he is arguably underated. I suspect many young folk listen to music that he has greatly influenced without even knowing who he was. I suspect this may have also been the case in the later half of the 70's. His name pops up all over the place; in relation to all manner of artists including Daryl Hall, David Bowie, The Orb, Future Sound of London..That pr!ck Kanye West even sampled KC.

DisgruntledPorcupine wrote: Kanye also sampled Can, another band with a huge influence that isn't that recognized.

oh god really? i already died a little when i heard his horrendous sampling of 21st Century Schizoid man, but now you say he has sampled Can too? I don't even want to hear what the hell that would sound like.

on a related note, here's a hip-hop tune sampling KC that I can really dig

My Dreaming Hill wrote: Everywhere else on the internet? He's doesn't even register. I've yet to see a "Greatest Guitar Player Ever" poll even mention him. The Living Conscious Stupidity that is the internet would rather gush over hacks like Buckethead than a real guitarist like Robert Fripp, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, or Dave Murray. I could be exaggerating through elitist rage, though.

I think you are exaggerating. I have yet to see a "greatest guitarist" list on the internet that does not have Henrdix, Gilmour and Page somewhere near the top. I mean most guitarist lists anywhere tend to have Hendrix somewhere within the top 3

moshkito wrote: DisgruntledPorcupine wrote: Kanye also sampled Can, another band with a huge influence that isn't that recognized.  ...   He listens to a lot more stuff than he lets on, and I am not sure that he is just playing the fame card right now, and later might start to bring out some serious music, instead of just some sampled stuff here and there and somewhere else.

He's also sampled Mike Oldfield, Aphex Twin, Steve Miller Band, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Steely Dan, Daft Punk, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, the Doors, Bon Iver, Tears for Fears, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Gil-Scott Heron, Milton Nascimento, and so much more... [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West_production_discography ]

Edited by jude111 - January 13 2013 at 13:57

I will say that I am a huge hip-hop fan and I absolutely loathe Kanye. HIs music ranges from truly terrible to painfully mediocre. His production is nowhere near "brilliant". It's all very safe and predictable mainstream sh*t. I am personally in the Madlib school of thought when it comes to hip-hop production and I don't think Kanye is even a slight fraction of the producer and musician that Madlib is.

sorry if this comes off too strong or arrogant but I seriously hate Kanye so much. The most overrated and overhyped person in hip-hop.

I also question the credibility of that article.. They put Dr. Dre before Madlib, J Dilla and Pete Rock... Yes, Dr. Dre above legends like Pete Rock and J Dilla. Dr. Dre, the guy who makes the same beat every time and has 4-5 people "coproduce" it with him. actually the more I look at this list the more I'm amazed by how many truly terrible producers are on there and how high up they are


Edited by Sumdeus - January 14 2013 at 16:06

i was not implying he is bad simply because he is mainstream, i think he is bad because of his music. he is a pretty sh*tty person but i agree with you that the music is the thing. The thing is though, his music is painfully mediocre to me and sums up everything I think is bad with mainstream hip-hop. uninspired production, lackluster rapping, terrible lyrics...

I will say though I am by no means trying to force (persuade?) you to not like him and i really don't mind if you do. it was the "Kanye's production work is brilliant, second to none" comment that really spurred my response because i disagree so strongly. The best Kanye production I've heard was still nothing compared to the production of those I consider the greats.

Robert Fripp is a very good musician, but as a guitarist I don't see why he's particularly special. If I were to ask you to name me some of his best guitar work in King Crimson, what would you say? 

Hercules wrote: snowsnow wrote:   IMHO - Yes, Genesis, Floyd,Tull, Camel, Caravan, VDGG, Rush etc blow them out of the water.   But I appreciate that they are well respected here- just not my thing.   I agree 100% with everything you say except VDGG.

I'm with Hercules on this one KK and VDGG - far too an acquired taste that I have tried to acquire but with so much more accessible music open to me I'm not really wanting to try and make myself like it purely because they are considered pioneers of prog...
RF is obviously gifted as a guitarist - but he just isn't for me and Hackett/Stolt/Howe/Petrucci/Latimer/Akerfeldt are all supremely more gifted and appealing to me!