Overrated players

Haych

You’ve heard people waxing lyrical about a certain player, on which albums they shine and how their style or tone or songwriting is unique.

It can’t be coincidence that they seem to respected by everyone, right?

So you buy the album and excitedly play it expecting to be blown away but instead you’re left felling ‘meh’ and wondering what all the fuss was about. 

Who, for you, has left you feeling like this?  

For me Rory Gallagher and David Grissom stand out - I’d heard all the hype but I never played their record a second time. 

DanR

I’m not sure not liking a particular guitarist means they are over rated.

Jalapeno

daveyh

Dave Gilmour

ICBM

Billy Gibbons and Alan Sparhawk.

+1 on Rory Gallagher.

Stuckfast

I have never quite seen what's so great about Eric Clapton, but it's quite possible I haven't heard the really good stuff if it exists.

guitars4you

DanR said:

I’m not sure not liking a particular guitarist means they are over rated.

I agree - I don't like the 'technical' playing styles of Vai/Satriani etc - But I certainly would not say to others 'don't be influenced by them or that indeed they are over-ratted - That style of music just does nothing for me - But they influence many others so I totally accept that - I can apply a similar ethos to the 'technical wizz kids on piano/sax etc etc

JAYJO

I was unsure about Rory Gallagher until i watched a live concert recording on dvd. He is imo amazing. It was more a case of seeing the player than hearing for me .As the gig went on i just thought wow..He is better than i ever thought. I still cant name many of his songs but i think i very much underrated him...

Cols

John Frusciante.  Anything after BloodSugarSexMagick is mediocre at best, but people inexplicably rave about him.

chrisj1602

Why do we need to do this?

OilCityPickups

guitars4you said:

DanR said:

I’m not sure not liking a particular guitarist means they are over rated.

I agree - I don't like the 'technical' playing styles of Vai/Satriani etc - But I certainly would not say to others 'don't be influenced by them or that indeed they are over-ratted - That style of music just does nothing for me - But they influence many others so I totally accept that - I can apply a similar ethos to the 'technical wizz kids on piano/sax etc etc

chrisj1602 said:

Why do we need to do this?

 Totally agree.
My heart sinks at the prospect of another one of these potentially negative threads where people to cue up to take a pop at guitar 'icons' whose style they don't like ... what's the point? 
I can see the point of drawing other players attention to overlooked players they might enjoy ... but maybe that's too positive for popular entertainment.

Funkfingers

JAYJO said:

I was unsure about Rory Gallagher until i watched a live concert recording on dvd.

There's the rub. Rory performed best in front of an audience. His studio recordings always seem to lack something.

On a general level, much of what the innovative guitarists from the past could do has become taken for granted. It is just another element of Standard Rock Guitar.

guitars4you said:
over-ratted

Warren DiMartini
Jake E. Lee
Hugh Cornwell

stickyfiddle

OilCityPickups said:

chrisj1602 said:

Why do we need to do this?

 Totally agree.
My heart sinks at the prospect of another one of these potentially negative threads where people to cue up to take a pop at guitar 'icons' whose style they don't like ... what's the point? 
I can see the point of drawing other players attention to overlooked players they might enjoy ... but maybe that's too positive for popular entertainment.

+1

I don't like Steve Vai or Joe Bonamassa, someone else will love both of those but not Peter Buck or John Mayer or Cory Wong.

It's human nature to try and define "best" in almost every context but, much as with the Guitarist of the Year thing, it's not a competition.

Haych

OilCityPickups said:

guitars4you said:

DanR said:

I’m not sure not liking a particular guitarist means they are over rated.

I agree - I don't like the 'technical' playing styles of Vai/Satriani etc - But I certainly would not say to others 'don't be influenced by them or that indeed they are over-ratted - That style of music just does nothing for me - But they influence many others so I totally accept that - I can apply a similar ethos to the 'technical wizz kids on piano/sax etc etc

chrisj1602 said:

Why do we need to do this?

 Totally agree.
My heart sinks at the prospect of another one of these potentially negative threads where people to cue up to take a pop at guitar 'icons' whose style they don't like ... what's the point? 
I can see the point of drawing other players attention to overlooked players they might enjoy ... but maybe that's too positive for popular entertainment.

You don’t need to do anything. If you don’t like the broadcast just change channels. 

It wasn’t my intention to create a ‘negative thread’ taking a pop at guitar icons, I think you’ve missed the point I intended. Perhaps I worded my OP wrong, if so I apologise. 

The question was prompted by a post I saw on Instagram which was asking who the most underrated player was. I couldn’t think I one at that moment but I could immediately think of several I thought were overrated. 

By overrated I meant players who seemed to have become influential without offering anything special, not that I don’t like them per se. As far as Rory Gallagher and David Grissom go, for example, I don’t dislike them but neither do I think that what they do do is deserving of all the hype that seems to accompany their legacy. 

Their music is ok, but I’ve heard it a hundred times before, I was expecting something remarkable, it wasn’t. I wasn’t suggesting their playing is bad or even mediocre, just that with all the ‘wow’ that they come with I was left feeling less than wow. 

I don’t like Steve Via’s style, but I’d never accuse him of being overrated. His legacy is deserved. Other players seem to have earned that legacy without reason. I can’t say I think Curt Cobain deserves all the accolades that he seems to collect, for example. That takes nothing away from what he does, whether I like him or not is irrelevant. 

If you find that negative then I offer my sincerest apologies. it wasn’t my intention. I thought it might be a discussion piece and nothing more. 

TonyR

It’s all subjective... I’m not keen on a number of guitarists, but it doesn’t make them overrated, they’re just not my cup of tea...

DrCornelius

Jordan Henderson. Bang average imho

Funkfingers

OilCityPickups said:

people to cue up to take a pop at guitar 'icons' whose style they don't like ... what's the point? 

Perhaps, it makes some inadequate human beings feel slightly less inadequate?

While I was at secondary school, one of my contemporaries would proclaim his devotion to Queen. His ability to construct a reasoned argument was limited. Instead, he would use his considerable bulk and fists to "win" any debate. This would have been at the time when Freddie Mercury's sexual orientation was suspected rather than confirmed. The Queen fan fell silent once Freddie was out.

Gassage

Brad Shields. All the hoohah and he's done fuck all at Wasps since he arrived.

GoldenEraGuitars

Haych said:

OilCityPickups said:

guitars4you said:

DanR said:

I’m not sure not liking a particular guitarist means they are over rated.

I agree - I don't like the 'technical' playing styles of Vai/Satriani etc - But I certainly would not say to others 'don't be influenced by them or that indeed they are over-ratted - That style of music just does nothing for me - But they influence many others so I totally accept that - I can apply a similar ethos to the 'technical wizz kids on piano/sax etc etc

chrisj1602 said:

Why do we need to do this?

 Totally agree.
My heart sinks at the prospect of another one of these potentially negative threads where people to cue up to take a pop at guitar 'icons' whose style they don't like ... what's the point? 
I can see the point of drawing other players attention to overlooked players they might enjoy ... but maybe that's too positive for popular entertainment.

You don’t need to do anything. If you don’t like the broadcast just change channels. 

It wasn’t my intention to create a ‘negative thread’ taking a pop at guitar icons....

By overrated I meant players who seemed to have become influential without offering anything special, not that I don’t like them per se.

As far as Rory Gallagher and David Grissom go, for example, I don’t dislike them but neither do I think that what they do do is deserving of all the hype that seems to accompany their legacy. 


I don’t like Steve Via’s style, but I’d never accuse him of being overrated.

 Other players seem to have earned that legacy without reason. I can’t say I think Curt Cobain deserves all the accolades that he seems to collect

Just because it isn’t special to you doesn’t mean the player hasn’t touched millions of people through his/her work on the guitar. Not everything needs to be cutting edge.

You seem to be valuing the technical ability of the player over their songwriting.

Did you write or play the guitar on “Nevermind”?  

gordiji

What's overated now wasn't necessarily overated then, before youtube could teach you all you want. (if you're up to it).

darthed1981

All the guitarists I dislike are over-rated.

Conversely, all the ones I like are under-rated.