Thursday, September 22, 2011

Overrated

Earlier today I posted this on my Facebook wall: So, bands more overrated than The Doors. I'm trying to hard to think of one. Anyone?


Obviously this is a completely subjective opinion, but I think you can add some criteria to it. As my friend Pete asked, Does "overrated" simply mean, "Other people like them, but I don't"? Or is there an empirical imbalance between of their popularity & their musical talents?


And, to me, Overrated means the latter, especially when you call out a band like The Doors. Overrated or not, they are an incredibly important band and always will be. But that doesn't mean they don't suck. There are some definite criteria to this. 


1) Another friend listed, "any boy band since 1984".  I'm not sure what boy band pre-1984 did not suck, perhaps she was referring to Van Halen. But, while the most overrated band of all time may have originated in 1984, it just doesn't seem like nearly enough time. To be the world's truly most overrated band you must have time to have your reputation grow and flourish. You can not be a flash in the pan, and you can not be forgotten. Indeed, you must have certainly been great, or nearly so, and only the ravages of time have exposed your limitations. This, in my mind, disqualifies anyone from so recent a year as 1984. You can certainly argue for artistic decline, nearly every rock n' roll survivor suffers from decline, but that does not mean that they were not great or that their reputations were ill-deserved. Prince, to just pick one example, certainly has not maintained his quality, but it is difficult to dispute his golden age or his influence. 


2) Sticking with the 'boy band' premise, another requirement to being 'the most overrated band of all time' or the MOBAT, you have to be taken seriously in the first place. Certainly there are bands that have been critically panned but have gone on to prove their importance, Led Zepplin comes to mind as the most obvious example. But there are hundreds of bands that achieved a fairly significant level of popularity that have not, and will never, be any more than the entertaining flash-in-the-pans that they are. New Kids on the Block sure as shit bothered me when I was in the sixth grade, and they sold a kajillion records, but they were not influential (except for providing a template for future money-making-shit-shows) and they certainly were not important. The true MOBAT must have achieved, at some point, either during their heyday or later, some critical praise.


3) "Other people like them, but I don't". I must admit, this is a double-edged sword. First, it is very hard to not slap this label on your favorite band to hate. Right off the bat a couple friends put forth Rush. I must admit it is very tempting to me. I am not a fan of Rush. I have never found them captivating, and I think Geddy Lee sounds like a chimp being strangled. But, this is exactly why I am inclined to give Rush a pass. They traffic in music I believe I do not fully understand. I certainly know what I like, but even when engaging in a purely subjective enterprise, that is no reason to completely discard the objective. However, this also biases me against The Doors. I understand their music. I'm familiar with their genre and I know what their trying to do. I'm familiar with their catalog, and even now, nominating them for the MOBAT, I enjoy their music, but no where near as much as I used to.  


4) While I was at a happy hour I put this question to a couple co-workers and one of them listed The Beatles. I didn't think much of it at the time, not being a huge Beatle fan, but this is another important criteria, and the one where The Doors have the best chance to take their stand against being named the MOBAT. Simply, some bands are just too influential to be the MOBAT. I'll be the first to admit that the Boomer hold on pop music drives me nuts, but that doesn't mean that they aren't right. Artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and, in my mind the most important, Bob Dylan, are revered for a reason; they influenced EVERYONE. It is literally impossible to imagine the trajectory and development of rock and roll without certain people, and by definition none of those people on that list could be the MOBAT. Are The Doors on that list? I don't know. I think it could be argued, persuasively, that they are. I would certainly put people considered lesser artists on it. I personally would include Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Nirvana. People without which the pop music scene could very well look considerably different. 


But for this criteria to really work you must have influenced other artists. Without conducting a search of artist interviews for mentions of Jim Morrison, let's look at their "Followed by" list from Allmusic.com. Billy Idol, Echo & the Bunnymen, Alice Cooper, The Jesus and Mary Chain, MC5, The Mission UK, The Birthday Party, Mother Love Bone, Julian Cope, Iggy Pop, Danzig, The Stooges, Jane's Addiction, INXS, Godsmack, Pearl Jam...


I don't know, if I see an Iggy interview saying Jim Morrison led him to become a singer, well, that might be something. I don't really see the MC5 as actually giving a shit. I think there is little doubt that Jim Morrison was an influential character and probably gave license to many front men dying to misbehave, but whether that translated to influence for his band is debatable. And whether it allows them escape the noose of the MOBAT is very debatable. My point is rock would've survived without most of those people, and those who were most influential from that list, I don't see having a direct link to The Doors. I think The Doors came along at the perfect time to be named the MOBAT. Early enough to matter, but late enough to not be an indisputable pioneer. 


5) Of the criteria so far, this is the most subjective. Do they just suck? Some bands just do not hold up, and this is my main problem with The Doors. In my Facebook inquiry Pink Floyd was mentioned, and I must admit that I thought of them. But, and this is the subjective part, I think that The Wall has not held up well lyrically, or maybe it just means more when you're 16 than when you're 35, or maybe complaining about your mother just does not age well. But Animals, Wish You Were Here, Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon I still consider masterpieces of rock and just because I do not listen to them due to familiarity does not mean that I do not get a charge from them when I do. On the other hand, The Doors tend to bore me. They seem to have only the flimsiest grasp of the blues, Jim Morrison's lyrics, while unconventional, are not too impressive once you are familiar with Dylan's 'electric' records, and they have some of the most boring solos this side of a 4th grade recorder recital. The records, to be sure, are not bad. In fact, when The Doors do have a hit it is hard to argue with it, Roadhouse Blues, Break on Through, and L.A. Woman, in my opinion, are great pop songs, but can they carry the weight of The Doors entire reputation?


6) And that brings me to the final point. What is the gap between ability and reputation. Certainly another subjective criteria, but not as much as #5. Here I think is where one could argue for Rush taking home the MOBAT. In my mind The Doors are still widely popular. If a band acheieved widespread critical importance, and a loyal fan base, but cannot deliver the goods when you crank them up on your home stereo, do they not deserve to be called overrated? But, here again, I am applying my own teenage worship of Jim Morrison. Maybe no one gives a shit. Maybe the world has moved on. Maybe, somehow, inexplicably, Rush records are flying off the shelves. Two decades have passed since I listened to The Doors with anything approaching attention (until tonight), perhaps you can no longer find posters of Jim and his youthful, iconic torso in your local Spencer's. Despite my current ambivalence towards The Doors, that does make me a little sad. But, no doubt, those who seek The Doors will still find them.