musicians that only just made music "good enough" but were never great

[Himu]

I posted about Bon Jovi fitting this earlier in the 80's music thread.

It's like, his band isn't great or even terribly memorable but I like their music. It's just basic ass rock music and I love it for that.

I think I'd put Tom Petty in the same boat except I like Bon Jovi more than Petty. Petty is like, I don't think I've ever heard a great song from Petty? Plenty of good and likable songs but I find it to be background rock music. Not that that's bad. It's inoffensive enough and I won't seek out more. And yet if you asked if I liked Tom Petty I'd say yes.

Who else are B  or even C tier musicians you can think of?

[team filler]

steely daniel or whatever

[Momo]

2000s rock the thread.
Linkin Park
Evanescence
Hoobastank
3 Doors Down
The Calling
The Killers
Whatever the fuck Green Day became
Kings of Leon
Paramore
Keane
Train
Hinder
Lifehouse
Thirty Seconds to Mars
The Strokes
Fall out Boy
Simple Plan
Jimmy Eat World
Good Charlotte
Maroon5
Travis
etc etc

The only people that made it out that era still in my playlist
- AudioSlave
- Foo Fighters
- Coldplay
- Snow Patrol
- Three Day's Grace
- blink182
- RHCP
- Alien Ant Farm (limited library of songs)
- Saron Gas/Seether
- Sum41 (limited)
- Velvet Revolver
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Smile Empty Soul
- Queens of the Stone Age
- A Perfect Circle
- Tool
- Muse
- Interpol
- SevenDust
- Our lady peace


and some others not worth listing, you get the point. (i actually am surprised how many bands i carried over from then)
 

[Momo]

I fucking miss Scott Weiland

[Potato]

Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet is a legit classic and was almost as impactful on 80s hard rock as Appetite for Destruction.

Everything else is meh, I'll agree with you there.

[Momo]

Is it just me or was Oasis a little bit shyte?

[skullstorm]

Shitting on Tom Petty jesus christ Why couldn't God take me instead of him  

spoiler (click to show/hide)

True story I still can't listen to Tom Petty or Mudcrutch or any other artists' songs he is on because I know I'd completely break down. I hope someday the hurt will stop :'( Worst celebrity death of all time :'(

[close]

[Huff]

Tom was a legend you fuckin pleb

[Akala]

steely daniel or whatever

steely daniel 

if you mean STEELY DAN GTFO they are awesome. also they are named after a dildo from naked lunch, so that's extra points

[ToxicAdam]

ITT "Popular music I don't vibe with"

If something was popular it clearly moved other people. When an artist makes a great song or a great album, it overrides whatever other reservations you might have of them.


So, when you're talking about banal music, I think of people like John Tesh, Paul Anka, Hootie and the Blowfish.

[chronovore]

Is it just me or was Oasis a little bit shyte?

Mediocre Beatles tribute band.

[Tasty]

[Tasty]

Cascada had some great hits but there was always something missing from her overall discography...

Within Temptation should have broken out more but they kept a bit too samey for too long...

Nightwish had potential then fired their singer and didn't really recover, even though the new one is fine...

Kelly Clarkson fell too hard into the country trap, then tried to hard to escape it...

Panic at the Disco's made some bangers but I kinda hate what Brendon's turned it into...

La Roux was great at first but I fell off at some point...

Same with Woodkid, and their stuff started sounding the same...

21 Pilots could have been fucking amazing but they're basically just douches...

Bieber honestly has potential but he's a fuckhead too.

I was gonna also say Michelle Branch, but nah, she made it.

[Joe Molotov]

The Cult is my favorite band that had a couple of bangers but where never really considered great.

[tiesto]

Candlebox and Silverchair were the first to come to mind. Got a bit of hype back in the 90s but are all but forgotten nowadays.

Bon Jovi... you can't go to any bar here without hearing Livin on a Prayer at least once (and having half the bar sing along).

[Phoenix Dark]

steely daniel or whatever

Mods pls

[Himu]

The Strokes are definitely one of my favorite B bands.

[Himu]

Tom Petty was a solid B musician. Good stuff, but on par with the greats? The thing about Petty is his consistency. Guy was solid B for DECADES. When you have that much consistent good - but not great - music you'll earn yourself a rabid fanbase and be admired while building up a great body of work. Kind of like how Tarantino has kind of been coasting since he came back to film making with Kill Bill.

Bon Jovi... you can't go to any bar here without hearing Livin on a Prayer at least once (and having half the bar sing along).

Yeah, you can't go to a bar without hearing Livin On A Prayer, but it's ultimately basic ass rock music just done really well.  It just ticks all the boxes. But it's not like transcendent or anything. It's just a good song.

[MMaRsu]

Running down a dream is quite..better than "good enough".

Not really familliar with the rest of the stuff he and the heartbreakers did

[Uncle]

Bon Jovi... you can't go to any bar here without hearing Livin on a Prayer at least once (and having half the bar sing along).

Yeah, you can't go to a bar without hearing Livin On A Prayer, but it's ultimately basic ass rock music just done really well.  It just ticks all the boxes. But it's not like transcendent or anything. It's just a good song.

I wonder if some of that is just the era it was made vs. the age of the listener, it can be hard to find something transcendent when you're not being exposed to it in a contemporary way

And I know if course there will be plenty of examples to the contrary, which is fine

I don't really like the Beatles but Eleanor Rigby clicks with me for some reason

I guess what I mean is, I bet there are some people who heard it for the first time as a brand new song, brand new album they just bought and at the time they were like

[Himu]

Bon Jovi... you can't go to any bar here without hearing Livin on a Prayer at least once (and having half the bar sing along).

Yeah, you can't go to a bar without hearing Livin On A Prayer, but it's ultimately basic ass rock music just done really well.  It just ticks all the boxes. But it's not like transcendent or anything. It's just a good song.

I wonder if some of that is just the era it was made vs. the age of the listener, it can be hard to find something transcendent when you're not being exposed to it in a contemporary way

And I know if course there will be plenty of examples to the contrary, which is fine

I don't really like the Beatles but Eleanor Rigby clicks with me for some reason

I guess what I mean is, I bet there are some people who heard it for the first time as a brand new song, brand new album they just bought and at the time they were like

(Image removed from quote.)

Not in my experience. I love the Beatles and I was born in the 80's and was exposed to their full body of work with the 2009 re-releases. A lot of us here pretty much went through The Beatles discog in earnest for the first time and fell in love. I am able to listen to listen to music very far back so I really don't have that issue. A good song remains a good song; a great song remains a great one.

Strange Fruit still remains great. If it were truly great, it would evoke that feeling imo. Time is a great filter for what's truly good.

[bork]

Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet is a legit classic and was almost as impactful on 80s hard rock as Appetite for Destruction.

Everything else is meh, I'll agree with you there.

The acoustic version of Wanted Dead Or Alive was a big deal for a little bit.  Was that one of the first "MTV Unplugged" concerts?  Can't remember.

[Uncle]

Even Elvis?

[Himu]

2000's rock



Glen?

[Momo]

2000s rock the thread.
Linkin Park
Evanescence
Hoobastank
3 Doors Down
The Calling
The Killers
Whatever the fuck Green Day became
Kings of Leon
Paramore
Keane
Train
Hinder
Lifehouse
Thirty Seconds to Mars
The Strokes
Fall out Boy
Simple Plan
Jimmy Eat World
Good Charlotte
Maroon5
Travis
etc etc

Most of these guys were never even "good enough"; they were just mediocre to shit from the beginning.

The Strokes and Jimmy Eat World were solid B+ bands. Juice Box

I literally only like juice box from them lawl

[Himu]

Where do we place Metric?

[Himu]

I noticed Momo didn't list Sufjan.

Because Sufjan is an A. :pepe

[Momo]

The very best of 2000s rock imo, queen's of the stone age comes close too

[Himu]

2000's rock is the definition of flabby and sick.

[Momo]

I mean collectively, all the APC albums

[Himu]

Yeah I'm not getting you A Perfect Circle example, momo.

[Momo]

2000's rock is the definition of flabby and sick.

(Image removed from quote.)

[Momo]

APC isn't on the "good enough" tier. Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step are two of the best albums of that decade. Billy Howerdel is pretty much a genius. Plus you get peak Maynard vocals.

And Paz Ortega before she became a complete weirdo

[Momo]

If you liked that here's the full spectacularity

[Momo]

Lmao, as someone who plays video games you can see how I made that mistake

[Himu]

I gotta give it to Rick James. I think he counts.

[Himu]

I might go a step further and include Ohio Players.

Is this not the most overplayed funk song of all time?

[Momo]

Verdict on Atlantic Starr? I love so many of their songs but I just don't hear people talking about them (could just be a social group thing)

[agrajag]

opinions in this thread can be safely ignored

[Mr Gilhaney]

chris cornell

[Himu]

genuinely surprised by the defenses for Petty.

I like his music and he's a good - emphasis good, not great - musician, but his content is pretty average, his lyrics mundane, and his singing all over the place. The best thing he has to offer is his guitar playing. His best album is probably his greatest hits album and he never transcended past his original inspirations: 60's blues rock. If Tom Petty never came around, I'm pretty sure rock would have stayed the exact same. As a complete package he's a solid B.

[Akala]

I’m trying to decide if The Chemical Brothers are in this tier. They might just make it into the “great” tier. Not sure.

 

I think the problem with the question is the delineation of good v great.

[Himu]

Examples of the great tier in that broader genre would be like Daft Punk or Aphex Twin, IMO.

Problem with that is electronic is a broad genre. Daft Punk is French House and Aphex Twin is ambient. The definitions of what's "great" in these genres is totally different.

I think the problem with the question is the delineation of good v great.

Good point. What do you define as good vs great.

[Himu]

Steely Daniel: Bad

Tom Petty: Pretty good

Bruce Springsteen: Bad

I'd Springsteen is just alright. That said, I like him.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Every classical guitar composer. Ever.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Every classical guitar composer. Ever.

Even the dude who busted out his own shit that his virtuoso friend said was impossible?

Villa-Lobos?
He composed for other instruments. And his virtuoso friend was Segovia. But yeah, even his guitar stuff was "good enough"

[Himu]

Unfortunately I would have to file a lot of rappers in this category. Like you say, a lot of emcees have spotty discogs, even the legends. This is why I warned Glen not to compare genres because different genres have different standards. What's a legend in hip hop might be average or above average for rock or r&b.

[Himu]

not necessarily. I'd argue there's no such a thing as an artist with 5+ albums where the average is high than 50% of it being worth your time. Like David Bowie you can say had a good-great album every decade but there's meddling to putrid shit in between. Nobody cares much for Prince 90's on. Metallica are everybody's go to Metal band yet everyone agrees the first four albums are the only ones anybody should listen to.

Hip Hop I do legit think has a lesser average per artist, but in music as a whole it's how long you were great and what you were able to do when you're great as opposed to how consistent you are. Think of it like a batting average or field goal percentage, as wonky as that may sound.

True enough. Thing about Bowie is his 70's and early 80's output though. How many great albums did the guy release in the 70's? 6-7? This is why I think the standards are different for rock and rap. Rock in the 70's was its own beast.

Outside of 90's Wu, I can't think of a single hip hop artist with a legendary rock star's output.

[Himu]

“Frauds like Aerosmith and Foreigner”

*chokes on own spit while laughing hard af*

[Himu]

Radiohead: The Thread

I....can see why people think this and yet I still love them and one of my favorite bands.

[Himu]

Radiohead: The Thread

I....can see why people think this and yet I still love them and one of my favorite bands.

Taste is subjective, so that's obvious. A lot of people love them. I think their output past OK Computer ranged from decent to downright awful.

Seems you're misunderstanding the thread then.

This isn't a "such and such band is overrated" thread or even "they suck" thread. It's about musicians who are touted as legends but really are just good or even really good, but not great.

[Himu]

[Himu]

I think Jimi Hendrix might be the opposite of this thread. Like, I think I know Jimi. I thought I know Jimi. Then i read this thread the other day.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/bvilpd/jimi_hendrix_only_released_3_studio_albums_in_his/

Dude is just a rabbithole of talent and hard work. My idol. <3 He's the type where you know he's a legend but you don't realize just how deep it all goes with him. I remember reading constantly (mostly from white rockers) how Jimi apparently "peaked" and had given all he had to offer. lmao.

[Himu]

That's indisputable. He's my favorite guitarist. The thing about Jimi is that you know he's great, but you still haven't realized just how much. Like as the decades roll on and we still learn new shit about how great he truly is.

[Akala]

Well if you want to define what a 'great' musician is, I'd say influence is a huge portion of it. So yeah, Hendrix would make it on that list.

Do you not remember that small stretch where everyone tried copying bullshit 'KID A' flavor Radiohead? I would say they had influence, but Thom Yorke navel gazed their relevance away. It's been around 15-20 years since anyone has really cared what they're coming out with, at least as far as mass market or whatever.

Subjective, but I would def put Radiohead in the 'great' category, just based on them putting out arguably two of the best albums of all time back to back. Also, the next few albums had at least 2-3 great tunes, just a ton of filler. The last two albums never grabbed me, maybe will give another shake today.

[Himu]

Well if you want to define what a 'great' musician is, I'd say influence is a huge portion of it. So yeah, Hendrix would make it on that list.

Do you not remember that small stretch where everyone tried copying bullshit 'KID A' flavor Radiohead? I would say they had influence, but Thom Yorke navel gazed their relevance away. It's been around 15-20 years since anyone has really cared what they're coming out with, at least as far as mass market or whatever.

Subjective, but I would def put Radiohead in the 'great' category, just based on them putting out arguably two of the best albums of all time back to back. Also, the next few albums had at least 2-3 great tunes, just a ton of filler. The last two albums never grabbed me, maybe will give another shake today.

People def cared about In Rainbows but that was like ten years ago. It's also one of my favorite Radiohead LPs.

The Bends -> OK Computer -> KidA is one of the best runs in modern rock, if not the best, as far as mainstream rock is concerned. All three have completely different flair and tone too with varying degree of style and subject matter. Hell, they made their own subset of electronic rock. I might be speaking with bias but I feel Radiohead is more than good - they're great.

[Akala]

People def cared about In Rainbows but that was like ten years ago. It's also one of my favorite Radiohead LPs.

The Bends -> OK Computer -> KidA is one of the best runs in modern rock, if not the best, as far as mainstream rock is concerned. All three have completely different flair and tone too with varying degree of style and subject matter. Hell, they made their own subset of electronic rock. I might be speaking with bias but I feel Radio is more than good - they're great.

I will give you In Rainbows as it was kind of a 'return to form' album, but IMO it was only only pretty good. KID A kind of diverged from what I liked about them. Its clearly a natural progression, but IMO was boring outside of optimistic and idioteque. 

[Himu]

I was shaken pretty hard the first time I listened to Kid A.

But I'm the type of music listener who listens over and over and over the understand the meaning of the album and ended up liking it as much as OK computer in return. I feel it's more of a grower than a shower but given the time since release I'm pretty sure you've solidified your opinion on it.

I really love the lyrical minimalism and imagery. "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon". Great way to articulate the feeling of waking up tired and groggy with a need for a cup and a splash of water to the face. I also credit Kid A for partially getting me into electronic music. I started with Kid A and then just branched out from there, finding an entire spider web of genres, subgenres, and bullshit.

So it's pretty impossible for me to accurately rate Radiohead. I'm far too big a fan of them and they're way too influential regarding my musical tastes.

[El Babua]

Radiohead's last album might be my favorite one. Also 18 hours of OK Computer sessions got leaked yesterday in case anyone was curious 

For the thread title, I'd have to give it up to Vampire Weekend. Enjoyed all their albums, and been listening to their latest one, but they never went to the "great" level for me.

[Himu]

So who is the "they're considered a legend but they were really only just good" of classical music