These world-famous classic rock bands have ridden the coattails of generic universal praise for far too long. With their passionate vocals and piercing guitars, they all found their unique voice in the music industry. But just because they found their voice doesn’t mean they’re actually as good as people say they are. We apologize in advance because your favourite band might actually be on this list too.
- Bon Iver
For an indie band, Bon Iver is surprisingly repetitive. We’re not saying that every indie band is fantastic, but that’s usually a scene that encourages experimental pieces, meaningful lyrics, funky chord progressions…something out of the ordinary. Bon Iver clearly never got the memo and continues to utilize the same sound over and over ad nauseam.
Listening to one of their songs is fine if you like the style. But we highly suggest that you keep it to a one-song limit or you’ll quickly find yourself thinking: Wait, didn’t I just hear this one? Nope, you didn’t.
- Journey
Look, we’ve all rocked out to Don’t Stop Believing or Any Way You Want It. They know how to make a fun jam. But the enormous mainstream success they’ve achieved stretches the bounds of credulity when you realize that you can probably only name a few other songs by them. Faithfully, sure. Wheel in the Sky, absolutely. But that’s four songs.
We just don’t that four popular songs are enough to skyrocket a band to superstardom as Journey has seen.
- Asia
Fine fine, Heat of the Moment is a fun thing to sing along with at a party. But we find it hard to believe that anyone listens to Asia outside of that atmosphere. Asia is a fun, pop band, but they never did anything ground-breaking.
Do people turn on Asia when they want to listen to something good? Something where they can really vibe with the lyrics? Well, when the lyrics are “You catch a pearl and ride the dragon’s wings,” we don’t think so.
- Boston
This hair metal band gets way more credit than they deserve. We’re willing to bet that half of the time when a song comes on the radio that you think is Boston it actually turns out to be Kansas or America. There’s a reason for that: They all kind of sound the same. More Than A Feelin’ is a perfectly decent song, but how many others can you name?
Kansas actually contributed some pretty good songs, but Boston never hit the same way. We just think it’s about time that society moved on from their lacklustre songs.
- AC/DC
This may start some boos from the crowd, but we’ve never really understood the appeal of AC/DC. Thunderstruck is literally just listening to a man screaming the word thunder over and over again. AC/DC’s song routine seems to be choosing a single word or short phrase and then just repeating it for the whole performance.
Soldiers blared Hells Bells when they rolled into Iraq back in the early 2000s to hype themselves up for the battles to come. On that front, AC/DC was a perfect choice. But for everyone else, Highway to Hell is fun for road trips and not much else.
- Oasis
One clear sign that your band isn’t the greatest is when your fans know way more about your members’ petty squabbles than the lyrics of your songs. Such became the case as the band devolved into the musical equivalent to a messy breakup. Long before that, though, their fellow musicians felt like Oasis was overhyped.
Paul McCartney famously commented that Oasis made the mistake of saying they’d be bigger than The Beatles. His words came true; Oasis never came near the level of influence on our society that The Beatles had and frankly, we don’t think they would have deserved it anyway.
- Guns N’ Roses
Axl Rose had a special, uh, talent for going on long extended monologues, but their stage presence was undeniable. Their raw energy approached bestial in their prime, and that’s something that plenty of fans could get behind. Appetite For Destruction was a fantastic album, and those songs will continue to be great in the years to come.
After that, though, nothing really stood out. Welcome To The Jungle is amazing, but is it worth all of the adoration they still enjoy? We think that by now, they’ve become kind of overrated.
- Motley Crue
Sure, they had a few real bangers, but are a couple of great songs enough to warrant the continued devotion they still enjoy to this day? We think not. Hey, we’re never going to stop enjoying what they had, but everything else was just…meh.
They didn’t reinvent the wheel and nothing was revolutionary. Their songs are fun and upbeat, but they don’t do much beyond that. And we just don’t think that being good in the 1980s as an okay band is enough to keep the praise rolling in nearly four decades later.
- The Rolling Stones
Okay, before you run away screaming, hear us out. Keith Richards is a rock n’ roll icon, no doubt about it. The best music magazine took their name! But, have you ever sat down and listened to an entire Rolling Stones album? After a few songs, it all starts to meld together. Not to mention the fact that they’ve definitely outlasted their fame.
No one can argue that, back in the day, The Rolling Stones were some of the best. But they should take a break and let other people have a chance in the spotlight.
- Credence Clearwater Revival
Affectionately called CCR by their fans (who don’t want to spend the time to say their entire name), this band is fairly polarizing. Some people hate John Fogerty’s voice, other people love it. We think they’re spending way too much time thinking about a band that is fairly mediocre at best.
The weird part was that the band often snuck references to riverboats and bayous into their lyrics when they were actually from California. Not a single bayou in Los Angeles the last time we checked!
So, there you have it, 10 of the most overrated rock bands. I’m ready to fight, change my mind…
