Top 3 Most Overrated Artists contest in R&R.

Czarivey,

For the record, I wasn't being defensive when I pointed out that Keith Richards, Charlie, Watts and Ron Wood all display far more technical skill than their counterparts in The Velvet Underground, which you cited as a more skilled group of musicians in your original post.

Of the Velvets, only John Cale can reasonably be deemed as technically proficient relative to their RS counterpart. None of Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed, and Mo Tucker ever demonstrated much technical skill, probably because it was not remotely important for them to do so, given the music that they wanted to play.

You can certainly prefer the Velvet's songwriting (if that's your cup of tea) vis a vis The Stones. For better or worse (maybe better and worse), the VU really abstracted the rock n roll rhythmic conceit into something very different and spawned a major branch of rock music that included Brian Eno, David Byrne, and many prog rock luminaries. No question that they were creative and innovative, but it would be very tough to make a case for their playing.

In the end, I think much of the response here was anything but defensive, it was simply an attempt to address the misinformation in your original post regarding the technical skills of The RS as instrumentalists.

Incidentally, none of this means that The Rolling Stones are/are not underrated. In my view, that's just a function of personal taste.

i submit that to qualify as overrated, you have to be a real critic's pet, which would exclude some of the aforementioned nominees (bonjovi, kiss, etc.). my own candidates:
u2--as seth rogen immortally opined with respect to steely dan (who i quite like), they gargle my balls. noone who trumpets his own sincerity should wear sunglasses indoors
eric clapton--much beloved on these pages, but nothing he's done since layla has grabbed me. and layla was all the way back in '70
tom waits--seems like a lovely guy, but the appeal of the hipster-growl thing completely escapes me. his numerous records earn hyperbolic critical praise, tho i don't know anyone who actually listems to 'em

Lindisfarne, great reply, thank you, I mistakenly thought you named the boy Ronnie! This thread is amusing, predictable, and funny. Paul Simon said it, one mans ceiling is another mans floor. Where's the beef I say? There is no accounting for taste, and I could write a sociology paper on the responses to the initial posting. If I were a sociologist. I'm not.

The Beatles.

In what way are the Dead over rated?