Praised prog albums that you think are overrated

Honestly it makes more sense of talking about albums from band I love, or else I'll just shout "entire Yes discography" or other bands that don't do much for me. Given that, some albums I find overrated:



Edited by Deadwing - November 28 2024 at 08:38

Marillion are definitely a band that I find interesting for their entire output but individual albums less so. I'm not a massive fan of FOABP either. Everyone says it's great so it must be but personally I enjoy In Absentia a lot more. Pink Floyd are all about the 3 masterpieces in a row imo.

Some of the popular and highly praised albums I can't stand:
• Terry Riley - A Rainbow in Curved Air
• Tangerine Dream - Rubycon
• Klaus Schulze - Mirage
• Jethro Tull - Aqualung
• Area - Arbeit Macht Frei

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Saperlipopette! wrote: Is it really any better to write that 70's Genesis is "whiny and pretentious/pompous/overblown" to you? Overrated means "person or thing is considered to be better or more important than they really are". That's not nonsense to me. I understand it's meaning and I'm gonna use it as part of my subjective opinion - that I consider to be correct. I think there is a subtle difference between saying a) that you do not like something as much as others and saying b) that you think that others should like it less, and I'm trying to avoid the latter. But of course I'm aware that any negative comment about these iconic releases might sound like option b to the casual reader.

If I think something is overrated (at least overrated by one or some) it means that I think that give too much worth to it, it's held in too high esteem. That does mean to me that they like it too much. There is music I consider to be very proficient, and I might consider great, that doesn't appeal to me. I would not say that someone like it less, but maybe reassess their claims about the music. As an extreme example, a parent may prefer their 3 year beginner's rendition of "Für Elise" to that of a professional concert pianist, but from a technical standpoint that concert pianist's performance probably is objectively better. I won;t tell the parent that they should like the concert pianist's performance more, but if they believe that their 3 years old's performance is objectively better, well that's likely pretty problematic. What used to annoy me (no doubt I am somewhere on the spectrum but so are a huge many) was when people would make subjective statements as if they were objective fact. And then when one would question, they would double-down on it. Sometimes I do get a sense myself of something not being all that it's cracked up to be bay many (i.e overrated) without clear evidence or a clear argument. We all have our biases, but some come across as less aware of them or ready to acknowledge them. Still, I would not tell others that they should enjoy it less. Maybe they should appreciate it less in some ways however, especially if they have misconceptions, such as, if someone claimed/ believed such a thing (just an example) that Marillion saved progressive music in the 80s or that Ayreon is the most inventive and experimental composer ever and Transitus is objectively the greatest album of recent years in every conceivable way and that should be obvious to everyone else in the world. Greatest for you, fine, but excuse my ignorance and arrogance if I think you are overrating the album and its significance.

Logan wrote:   If I think something is overrated (at least overrated by one or some) it means that I think that give too much worth to it, it's held in too high esteem. That does mean to me that they like it too much. There is music I consider to be very proficient, and I might consider great, that doesn't appeal to me. I would not say that someone like it less, but maybe reassess their claims about the music. As an extreme example, a parent may prefer their 3 year beginner's rendition of "Für Elise" to that of a professional concert pianist, but from a technical standpoint that concert pianist's performance probably is objectively better. I won;t tell the parent that they should like the concert pianist's performance more, but if they believe that their 3 years old's performance is objectively better, well that's likely pretty problematic. What used to annoy me (no doubt I am somewhere on the spectrum but so are a huge many) was when people would make subjective statements as if they were objective fact. And then when one would question, they would double-down on it. Sometimes I do get a sense myself of something not being all that it's cracked up to be bay many (i.e overrated) without clear evidence or a clear argument. We all have our biases, but some come across as less aware of them or ready to acknowledge them. Still, I would not tell others that they should enjoy it less. Maybe they should appreciate it less in some ways however, especially if they have misconceptions, such as, if someone claimed/ believed such a thing (just an example) that Marillion saved progressive music in the 80s or that Ayreon is the most inventive and experimental composer ever and Transitus is objectively the greatest album of recent years in every conceivable way and that should be obvious to everyone else in the world. Greatest for you, fine, but excuse my ignorance and arrogance if I think you are overrating the album and its significance.

I don't know why but I like this topic a lot. Ok, so this doesn't mean I don't like these albums just that I think they might be a tad overrated. Here's a few:

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - November 28 2024 at 14:08

siLLy puPPy wrote: I think the word "overrated" means that the album has been rated too much.

But that's objectically wrong. Go check any dictionary.

I'm being ironically silly. Don't you heed my username?