[atsonicpark]

Regarding Tom Waits. I LOVE Bone Machine. One of my all time favorite albums. But I can hardly stand to listen to anything else he's ever done. He's not bad, but overrated? Definitely.

underrated: Make a Rising. One of the only bands currently out there making music that is truly unique and also extremely pleasing to my ears. No one knows who they are.
overrated: The Breeders. They made one half-decent album 20 years ago and people are still jerking off to them. All their recent stuff is lazy, inconsistent, sounds half-written, and really doesn't have much to it, surely qualities that appeal to pot-smoking "slacker rock" afficianados, but you know what? Kim Deal has proven she can write interesting, entertaining, off-kilter pop songs. Her drug-hazed musings on the last few albums she's made have been terrible. And I don't really care for "Last Splash" either, which has none of the faults I just mentioned but is perhaps even worse -- because it's damn safe and boring.

underrated: Fire on Fire. Coming from the "ashes" (haha) of the amazing (and underrated) Cerberus Shoal, who were the best "freak folk" or whatever band around when they were around... here's the OTHER best "freak folk" band around. I hate the term "freak folk". Either way, perfect fucking songs. The general populace doesn't give a fuck.
overrated: LIARS. This has to be one of the shittiest bands around. As far as a band that has no idea how to properly compose a song properly, here you go. DRUM'S NOT DEAD is a good little album, but how could it not be? It's mainly just tribal drumming and chanting and some production tricks. It'd be hard to fuck that one up (and they almost do, since their drummer isn't that great). But any time they've had to write an actual "song".. you know, with parts that cohesively flow... yeah, they don't know what they're doing.

underrated: Volcano the Bear. Maybe they're not "underrated" in some small circles (circle-jerk circles) but from my point of view, they deserve to be WAY bigger than they are. Truly brilliant, forward-thinking, and awesome. Every listen reveals new subtle nuances. I dunno, I guess I just usually like music that has a bit of thought put into it, unlike ...
overrated: Sunburned Hand of the Man. I've listened to a good 5 albums and can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would give a shit about this band.

underrated: Zazen Boys. Okay, they're one of the # 1 bands in Japan but here no one knows who they are. Either way, they play many different styles of music, and they're just one of the most consistently great bands I can think of. Mixing elements of "math rock", funk, art rock, noise rock, and just an overall weirdness and fierceness, with a very singular vision, that makes their music extremely special, even in its complexities.
overrated: No Age/Deerhunter. Okay, this is a bit obvious, but since I saw them last night, I gotta say: Two completely dull bands.

underrated: Koennjihyakkei. I like RUINS as much as the next guy, but KOENNJIHYAKKEI (and yeah I love them but am probably spelling this wrong) is really where it's at.
overrated: Throbbing Gristle. Okay, I like a few of their albums just fine, and I realize a lot of it was ahead of its time and whatnot. But damn they've also got some of the worst bullshit ever recorded by mankind on some of their albums. Don't get me wrong, they have some songs that I would rank amongst the greatest industrial/"noise" songs ever made, but you really have to wade through a LOT of shit to get to the brilliance...

underrated: Dun. Just one of the best prog bands ever, if not the best. Too bad they only wrote, like, 5 songs.
overrated: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Shit. They sucked (suck?). Lydia, in general, just annoys me. I've heard basically every no wave band ever and this one is easily the least interesting. Meh.

underrated: Stars of the Lid. What? You're kidding, right? No, I'm not -- I think this is easily one of the greatest bands currently in existence. And though they've recieved some acclaim and recognition, they deserve to be waaaaay bigger than they are. Feel free to argue this one.
overrated: Boris. AHHHHH!!!! I love a lot of Boris stuff, but they're in the same field as Throbbing Gristle here. They've released way too much shit, and some of their more "rockin" stuff doesn't do a damn thing for me. FLOOD and ABSOLUTEGO and AMPLIFIER WORSHIP and FEEDBACKER all give me a boner. But of the 600 albums by them, I'd say those 4 are the only ones that are essential. I'm saying they're overrated -- I'm not saying they're a bad band.

underrated: Caroliner. One of the most wacked-out and greatest bands I've ever heard. Brilliant, unique, talented. Every quality you'd want in a band.
overrated: Wolf Eyes. You know what? After 600 releases, and after personally hearing well over 100 (with about 90 of them that suck), I think they can just, uh, stop anyday now.. please?

underrated: TFUL # 282. Goes without saying, but find me another band that is this perfect and I will give you a dollar.
overrated: Bjork. Ugh. I wish her and her stupid husband would go away and never return.

underrated: Slowdive. Well, obviously, they're in my top 10 favorite bands ever. I mean, they may not be underrated in some circles, but compare them to that one shoegaze band known as...
overrated: MY BLOODY VALENTINE. The most overrated band of all time? I don't hate them, again, but they are definitely overrated. A few great songs songs. A few good songs. Most of it is dull.

underrated: Suishou No Fune. I just love this band so much. Did anyone besides a few people on this board give a fuck about prayer for chibi last year? That has to be one of the best albums of all time.
overrated: Dinosaur Jr. See MBV. Like, 2 or 3 good songs.. maybe. Difficult to listen to.

etc.