Overrated?

I can not be objective. I will give an example that is very fresh at the moment. Few minutes ago I looked at the reviews in the homepage and saw someone gave ELO's Xanadu a 4 star rating (saying it is realy 3.5 stars to be fair with the guy).

What we need to implement is a system that'll let us rate the raters. That way the raters that are underrated have no weight in their ratings and we'll avoid overrating altogether.

Now seriously, if we could rate the raters we could devise an algorithm so good raters ratings carry more weight (older members, more posts, more reviews, etc.) than newcomers that know nothing about Prog other than, for example, their newest fad "prog" metal group of whome they rate all their albums 5 stars and up (very objectively - not).

Not complicated enough? Then we could have different weights for the ratings of the raters, this way... ahhhh shutupayaface! But I still think there'd be some merit in not weighing everyones ratings the same way, we all know democracy doesn't work, at least not when the majority of voters are uneducated.

Mogens


Edited by mgallard - June 16 2006 at 00:42

The site's whole ratings system and the algorithm showing the Top 100 bands positively encourages overrating by fans eager to promote their favourite bands. So we either abandon the system or accept that the ratings are skewed and take the results with a bucketful of salt...

The Miracle wrote: There are cases of something being overrated, usually with cheap pop bands that are being pushed by the media to being super hip and popular, while many truly alented prog bands remain obscure because no one promotes them.  They don't because prog is not for everyone and it's so much harder to make a teen girl like Hella than green day. They promote what's the most marketable without paying much attention to the quality, so most of this music is complete sh*t. In the prog world, there are a few bands that are overrated because they are over-the-top rated, like DT albums(don't get me wrong, DT are one of my all time favorite bands, I love them). I mean, over 300 ratings for octavarium, mostly people passing by who don't know much other prog, while a lot of more obscure bands with albums better that deserve more attention. I don't like the term Underrated though, "overlooked" is much better. They're not really rated too low(usually if a band/album is rated very low it deserves it), they're just not getting the attention they deserve due to labels not willing to promote.

erik neuteboom wrote: In my opinion you can better focus on the underrated, overlooked and underestimated bands because some bands got so much attention like Dream Theater, Tool, Pain Of Salvation, Arena, Opeth, etc. Of course these are good bands (not my cup of tea) but in my opinion the huge attention they got on this site is unbalanced with the little attention lots of great bands from Spain, Italy, Japan and Latin-America get. But thanks to the treads about these bands I have the idea that more and more progheads discover bands like Museo Rosenbach, Triana, Gerard and Nexus. Nonetheless, to return to the origins of this thread, I think that bands like Dream Theater and Tool are overrated if you compare the quality of their music with, for example, Italian Le Orme and Banco or Spanish Triana and Cai or Argentine Crusis and Nexus.

jj1414 wrote: Xenoxen wrote: How can a prog be overrated? I just don't see this word useful in music.   SO What makes a Prog band overrated?   Overrated is a very good word to describe most prog music...

Edited by Snow Dog - June 16 2006 at 14:50

horza wrote: jj1414 wrote: Xenoxen wrote: How can a prog be overrated? I just don't see this word useful in music.   SO What makes a Prog band overrated?   Overrated is a very good word to describe most prog music...      Ouch !!!

     Here's a recycled post on the same subject, but since the question keeps coming back again...

     The problem with the over/under-rated argument is a semantic
one. Rating is a process has to do with numerical, verifiable evaluation,
like in sports...most touchdown passes per season, or fastest hundred
yard sprint. This can be measured and independently verified. Or in
television, where ratings are measured for each program...this can all be
determined. But in music?...maybe 10% of technical ability can be agreed
on, and the rest is purely subjective, a matter of taste. For example, I may
not like that Camel scores so high in the polls here, because I find them
to be boring and derivative. But there are obviously many people who are
moved by that stuff, and who am I to say they are wrong? And if I say they
are overrated, what "rating" is that referring to? If it's about popularity,
forget it, because Britney Spears will always be more popular than anyone
on this site...Hitler was also very popular in his time (not that I'm
comparing Britney and Adolph in any other way, although the Führer was
probably a better singer and dancer). Measuring quality by sales, as the
Grammies do, or by the polls on this site is obviously irrelevant. So, in
maintaining that Camel is overrated, I am putting forth the false premise
that 1) there are ways to objectively rate musical quality, and worse, 2)
that I know better what the basis for this rating should be. Correct would
be to say, "In my opinion, too many people like Camel, whereas I find
them mediocre", and than to list the reasons for my opinion. Just to say
Band A or B is overrated is to add nothing to the discussion except to
further the misconception that musical rating exists.
    

Edited by RoyalJelly - June 16 2006 at 17:07

well, one problem that occasionally occures cauesin such "overrating" is when there are topic started asking people to rally behind a band because they dont have a single cd in the top 250 and some people not even knowing the band rate a particulat album 5 just because whomever said it was "Awesome"

Philéas wrote: jj1414 wrote: Overrated is a very good word to describe most prog music... Although you did have some valid points in your other topic, this comment is as stupid as many of the harsh comments you got in your own thread. If you seriously think that, then why are you here?