Are The Beatles and Queen overrated?

[OB1]

Fair enough... but I still think that both Queen and the Beatles are overrated.

:-)

That’s fine. No one actually knows if they are or they aren’t because you can’t measure it empirically, so you are are right, it is all a matter of opinion.

 

[give it to gordon]

View attachment 109859

Never knew posh spice was so tall

 

[TinFoilHat]

Never knew posh spice was so tall

That's why only Nicky Weaver could satisfy her...

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

It might be an unpopular opinion but does anyone else think Beatles and Queen are both overrated? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying they aren’t good bands but I don’t think they are at the very top. I much prefer Rolling Stones and the Who.

Welcome to the 173rd Beatles thread of the last 4 years. To save time, those that like them will swear they’re great (which they are), whilst those that don’t like them will claim they’re overrated or shit……

 

[hilts]

I always got the impression that those who don’t like queen tend to be a bit on the grumpy side in general so I’m not overly surprised to see them not getting much love on BM! Haha!

Its the trying to be cool or being a bit dim in expressing themselves properly.

That or just really stupid.

 

[hilts]

Welcome to the 173rd Beatles thread of the last 4 years. To save time, those that like them will swear they’re great (which they are), whilst those that don’t like them will claim they’re overrated or shit……

You have missed the sane 3rd option for our resident deaf heads. Saying you don't like someone but admitting that doesn't make them shit or overrated.

 

[Phil1]

Its the trying to be cool or being a bit dim in expressing themselves properly.

That or just really stupid.

Sounds like me in fairness.

 

[Dr Jacoby]

Yes, along with Oasis and The Smiths, they are two of the most overrated bands ever in my view. But that’s not to say I don’t enjoy some of their songs.

 

[TueartsOHK]

Also, objectively, not the case but also rather irrelevant. Lots of session musicians will, by necessity, have technical ability but that is very different to having personality, style or the ability compose highly successful or original music.

Roger Taylor is a very fine rock drummer, one of the the best of the many 100's I've seen live in concert.

Brian May is a great rock guitarist (Total Guitar named him as the greatest in 2020). And whether you like his guitar sound or not, it is unique. Steve Vai, who is probably as technically gifted as a rock guitarist gets and can parrot most other guitarists, has made these comments about May:

“He has real quality, integrity, rock sensibilities – he has a phenomenal ear for the actual music, you know? His inner ear constructed that amazing tone that he has, and it always sounded great. And just the fact that he was able to build that guitar when he was young… that Red Special was hand-built by him, so it has a myriad of tones to it. “But all these tones and everything in his guitar, in his amp, are just one dimension. It all comes from his fingers and his mind.”

“And I’ll never forget that day, perhaps a few days after I moved out to Los Angeles when I was 20 years old, when I walked into the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Sunset Blvd and there was Brian standing at the bar. It was surreal.

I went up and just started talking to him and he was so so kind. He was interested and interesting, and I could not even believe I was talking to my guitar hero. He even invited me to a Queen rehearsal the next day. Of course I went and got to meet and see the whole band. It was kind of unbelievable to me. And there it was, The Red Special plugged into his Vox Rig. It was so odd to see this guitar in real time. And then Brian said, 'You’re welcome to try it.' It was just a few years prior that I was still ogling this guitar from my Long Island teenage bedroom, and now it was in my hands. Of course I played it, but to my chagrin it didn’t sound anything like Brian. All that magnificent tone is in his fingers.”

“… When I heard Queen, and all that great music of the ’70s… it held a special place that never goes away. “And lucky for me, they were all absolutely brilliant musicians. There’s nothing like that, nothing even remotely like it. It was like a paradigm shift, and what Brian was doing, and the way the stars came together with him and the band. And Brian’s whole overview of sound and guitar parts, there was just nothing like it."

May was different to any other guitarist I‘ve heard. His solos were written to follow the melody of the song so he didn’t have to improvise them live he could reproduce them almost note for note. Unlike Page who played a different solo every night.

He had a brilliant musical ear - have a listen to Good Company off a Night at the Opera the song starts with a ukulele but by the end he’s reproducing a brass band - reproducing the sounds of the clarinet and brass instruments on his guitar.

Queen’s trademark was vocal harmonies. I know some people hated that but they were incredibly good at layering voices upon voices (for me even better than the Eagles or the Beach Boys). Somebody to Love is an example of creating brilliant gospel harmonies. A lot of this disappeared when they turned commercial in the eighties and started churning out shit like ‘body language“ - I’m surprised May didn’t leave at that point.

 

[Fiftyyearsandcounting]

Cliff Richard's worldwide sales are 260 million, which makes him the second highest selling British male solo artist worldwide of all time, after Elton John.

For many years I used to organise coach trips to the NEC for musical concerts. The two acts that booked the most coaches were -
1. Cliff Richard.
2. New Kids On The Block.
Chacun a son gout!