# Most overrated recording artist?



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Everyone loves to talk about their favorite rock band, jazz singer or country artist. It seems to me, or at least in my experience, we don't spend much time talking about the artists who are either way overrated or should have pulled the plug on their careers decades ago. *This does not necessarily mean you don't like this artist*, but you should be honest enough to admit they need to stick a fork in the career and retire (Sir Paul, for example).

Okay...I'll start:

Bob Dylan (especially the Bob Dylan of the past 20 years)
Tom Waits
David Sanborn
The Eagles
The Rolling Stones (note: oddly one of my favorite rock groups)
Madonna
Billie Holiday
Iron & Wine
Ringo Starr
Rush
Pink Floyd (after Roger Waters left)
Van Morrison (and I am a HUGE fan...but I have to honestly admit most of is recent music is absolute cr*p)
The Dave Matthews Band
Greatful Dead
Phish
The White Stripes


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I never thought Garth Brooks was great, although I don't begrudge his marketing success.

Everyone except me loved the Eagles. The only song of theirs I liked was "Witchy Woman."

Others may disagree.


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## BertieW (Jan 17, 2006)

Sting.

I would argue against the OP's reference to Tom Waits being overrated. As far as the mainstream goes, does he even /rate/? I happen to like the guy. Check out his old concert video, Big Time, if you can find it. Exceptional.


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## JRR (Feb 11, 2006)

Phil Collins


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

+ 70 on Sting. I never understood what the big deal was about him. "Roxanne" is one of the most annoying songs ever.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> + 70 on Sting. I never understood what the big deal was about him. "Roxanne" is one of the most annoying songs ever.


Two things: timing and packaging. I agree...he's an annoying wanker.

Tom Waits? Maybe he never was "mainstream," but that's not a requirement to be considered. He lost me after _Nighthawks at The Diner_, and his recent music seemingly (strictly IMO) has become freakish or the sake of being freakish.


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

The worst thing about Sting is his ego, I think. He is so pretentious, he makes me gag.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> The worst thing about Sting is his ego, I think. He is so pretentious, he makes me gag.


Bono is in serious danger of that too. BTW...I am seriously considering throwing U2 on the "overrated" pile too...they gotten tremendously repetitious the past few years.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

I agree with you 100% about Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, except that I would say that except for Blood on the Tracks Dylan's last good album was Nashville Skyline, so we're talking more than 35 years ago now.

I can't agree with you about the Dead for a couple of reasons. As a long time Deadhead I can tell you that it's not really accurate to call them recording artists; they recorded some great albums, but their real element was the concert, and there they were incomparable: whenever you went to a show you could always be sure that you would hear something that nobody had ever heard before. I think some of their albums (especially Live/Dead and Terrapin Station) are among the greatest rock albums of all time. 

Other overrated artists:
Eric Clapton
Cream
The Beatles

The only reason I don't throw bands like Rush and Aerosmith into this list is that nobody seriously claims they were actually any good. It would be like calling Alice Cooper or Kiss good bands.

(There, is there anyone I haven't offended yet?)


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

jackmccullough said:


> I agree with you 100% about Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, except that I would say that except for Blood on the Tracks Dylan's last good album was Nashville Skyline, so we're talking more than 35 years ago now.
> 
> I can't agree with you about the Dead for a couple of reasons. As a long time Deadhead I can tell you that it's not really accurate to call them recording artists; they recorded some great albums, but their real element was the concert, and there they were incomparable: whenever you went to a show you could always be sure that you would hear something that nobody had ever heard before. I think some of their albums (especially Live/Dead and Terrapin Station) are among the greatest rock albums of all time.
> 
> ...


Having also seen the Dead in concert, I agree with you Jack. Ditto for Phish.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Gents,

I will prepare for the onslaught that will surely come my way but I say Elvis and Bruce Springsteen.

Karl


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Karl89 said:


> Gents,
> 
> I will prepare for the onslaught that will surely come my way but I say Elvis and Bruce Springsteen.
> 
> Karl


The Boss? I totally agree...though "Thunder Road" is one of the best "roll down the windows, crack open a road brew and crank up the car stereo" songs ever written. "Born in the USA" and "Dancing in the Dark" were just plain embarassing. The Boss needs to retire, God knows his vocal cords did 25 years ago.

Elvis...dunno know about that one. Like Miles Davis, he helped usher in new music forms and artists. Not that I am a big fan, mind you, but I think the rock/pop music industry would look a lot different today if it weren't for The King. Now, pass me 'nother peanut butter and 'nana sandwich, Colonel....


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Playing to country audiences in small towns, I have had to play Elvis songs so often, I could just burst. He did have some talent, though. 

A bunch of critics decided Bruce Springsteen was cool and just shoved him down our throats. He was solid, but no deity in my opinion. I guess I should be careful, though. (I played "Pink Cadillac" more times than any sane person should be forced to over the years.) All those years playing cover tunes on stage have seriously put a pall on any love of music I may have had once.


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## Thracozaag (Sep 5, 2002)

Early Rush was fantastic, imo.

koji


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Any band that can write a rock opera to an Ayn Rand book is tops in my book. I agree with many of the over-rated bands noted above.

My additions, including those that just need to pull the plub, and forgive me if I duplicate:

Van Halen
U2 +10000
Snoop Dog
P Diddy
Goo Goo Dolls
Tommy Lee
Beastie Boys
Morrissey

Any band that has replaced their aging lead singer with a younger sound-alike, i.e. Judas Priest


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Wayfarer,

We have to part ways a bit here. U2 is greatness and while Morrissey as a solo artist doesn't reach the heights he did with the Smiths he still is genius. Work your way through Bona Drag and tell me I am wrong - I dare ya!

Karl


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Karl89 said:


> Wayfarer,
> 
> We have to part ways a bit here. U2 is greatness and while Morrissey as a solo artist doesn't reach the heights he did with the Smiths he still is genius. Work your way through Bona Drag and tell me I am wrong - I dare ya!
> 
> Karl


They come under the part I put in specifically, time to pull the plug. I was a huge fan of U2 through Boy, October, War, and Joshua Tree. About the time Bono started thinking he had something to say politically, they should have pulled the plug IMO. If nothing else, counting "1, 2, 3, 14" is Spanish = jumped the shark.

Morrissey...I mean, come on, he's a Scot! Still, time to roll his swollen mid-section off stage for the last time emo kid.


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> They come under the part I put in specifically, time to pull the plug. I was a huge fan of U2 through Boy, October, War, and Joshua Tree. About the time Bono started thinking he had something to say politically, they should have pulled the plug IMO. *If nothing else, counting "1, 2, 3, 14" is Spanish = jumped the shark.*
> 
> Morrissey...I mean, come on, he's a Scot! Still, time to roll his swollen mid-section off stage for the last time emo kid.


Makes me cringe everytime I hear that song. I do like U2 for the most part though, mainly the old stuff you mentioned.

Morrissey...I tend to agree with you there. I do like the Smiths though.


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## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Ditto new U2, the older stuff was decent, Vertigo is about as generic a hard rock song as you can get nowadays

The DOORS - I like one of their albums but find most of their stuff to be jam laden indulgent crap. I can't stand Morrison's voice, either. They could write a decent song, I just don't think they executed very well at all.


Disagreements:

Beastie Boys - They've been around since the inception of hip-hop, and are refreshing in that they'll play anything they want and put it on an album. Some of it doesn't work, a lot of it does. Find another group that'll do speed punk, jazz, and rap on a single album.

Elvis - I don't like Elvis, but he's a good singer, and his songs were well put together. I'd also say he had a pretty big influence on popular music as a whole. Just not my cup of tea.

The Beatles - I'm not sure how you could call a band overrated when most of their albums contained multiple charting records. I know that popular doesn't equal good, however, they are STILL popular and you can hear there music pretty much everywhere in popular culture. I'd say that says something about their quality and impact.


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## Alistair (Aug 12, 2007)

My emphasis:


TMMKC said:


> ...we don't spend much time talking about the artists who are either way *overrated* or *should have pulled the plug* on their careers decades ago.


Are these not two separate - though not mutually exclusive - categories? As such, they really seem better suited to two different threads. I will just take the overrated one here, and just the first things that immediately jump to mind. :devil:

*Overrated
*The Band
Radiohead
Eminem
Patti Smith
Velvet Underground
Marvin Gaye
Pink Floyd


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## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

VU overrated!? I'm surprised when anyone has actually heard of them.

Brian


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## Alistair (Aug 12, 2007)

vwguy said:


> VU overrated!? I'm surprised when anyone has actually heard of them.


obviously not for their influence, which is unquestionable, but I have always found their records to be the auditory equivalent of reading the telephone book.


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## Alistair (Aug 12, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> Morrissey...I mean, come on, he's a Scot!


Do you know something Morrissey doesn't? I think that would be news to him. He must have just been taking the piss when he wrote "Irish Blood, English Heart."


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Alistair said:


> Do you know something Morrissey doesn't? I think that would be news to him. He must have just been taking the piss when he wrote "Irish Blood, English Heart."


I stand corrected. He should still pull the plug on his career though IMO.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Wayfar,

Maybe we should start a list of posters who should call it a career as well!

Karl


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Alistair said:


> *Overrated*
> The Band
> Radiohead
> Eminem
> ...


The Band?! C'mon...that's a low blow. At least they had the good sense to call it quits before they ended up playing riverboat casinos across the U.S. I owe a lot to Marvin Gaye in my bachelor days...he helped turn several "good" dates into "GREAT" dates.:icon_smile_wink:

Never knew quite what to make of VU. Lou Reed did, after all, give the world "Sweet Jane." After that, VU was kind of an empty experience for me.


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## omairp (Aug 21, 2006)

50 Cent. He had a spark of talent when he started, now his music is just garbage.


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

Morrissey, I love. Not overrated.

Sting, I could take or leave, but I kind of enjoy Sting. However, The Police were better.


Overrated:

Coldplay
Michael Jackson Oooh hooo. Wee hee! (crotch grab) Sha mon! Zzzzzz.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

I almost forgot--Beck. I really can't see what people see in this commercial, superficial pretty boy.


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## LotharoftheHillPeople (Apr 30, 2006)

TMMKC said:


> The Band?! C'mon...that's a low blow. At least they had the good sense to call it quits before they ended up playing riverboat casinos across the U.S. I owe a lot to Marvin Gaye in my bachelor days...he helped turn several "good" dates into "GREAT" dates.:icon_smile_wink:
> 
> Never knew quite what to make of VU. Lou Reed did, after all, give the world "Sweet Jane." After that, VU was kind of an empty experience for me.


Quoted for absolute truth.

The Band was simply incomparable, thanks in no small part to Levon Helm.

I too have found that Marvin Gaye helped me to "walk with women." (sorry, obscure Lothar reference).

U2 overrated? That's crazy talk. The Joshua Tree is in the canon of rock albums.

Eric Clapton overrated? Again, this is heresy. I've give you that Cream was lame, but Derek and the Dominoes lame? No way. But I guess that was at least partly due to the addition of Duane Allman on the slide guitar.

My biggest beef is with Van the Man being included on this list of lameness. The guy is without peer.


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## LotharoftheHillPeople (Apr 30, 2006)

jackmccullough said:


> I almost forgot--Beck. I really can't see what people see in this commercial, superficial pretty boy.


I really liked some of Beck's earlier stuff but I lost a little respect for him when I found out he was an L. Ron Hubbard devotee.


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## jpeirpont (Mar 16, 2004)

By far, the Beatles, Nirvana and Micheal Jackson.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I'm going to say Prince.lately,I haven't heard his new music but I still think his 80's songs ruled.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Howard said:


> I'm going to say Prince.lately,I haven't heard his new music but I still think his 80's songs ruled.


Speaking of people that should pull the plug on their act...


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## Duck (Jan 4, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> Speaking of people that should pull the plug on their act...







"It looked like something a figure skater would wear..."


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## Trenditional (Feb 15, 2006)

I vote for the Beatles and U2 after Joshua Tree. As much as I am not a fan of the Beatles, like Elvis their historical value is their impact on music at the time. For recent artists, I just don't get the Dave Matthews Band hoopla. I can't stand his voice or his music.

As a fan of country music, Keith Urban is highly overrated.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

Sarah Brighton is an attractive young lady ( Under all that fairie queen makeup) with a clean voice. Problem is, she sounds clean as triple distilled water. Celtic Women-blehhh!!! They jump around like a nude volleyball team colliding with Riverdance to excite irish new money that would otherwise be spending it on russian escorts in Dublin. Andre Ruell- Classical Music meets A Prairie Home Companion.


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

Karl89 said:


> Wayfar,
> 
> Maybe we should start a list of posters who should call it a career as well!


RJman


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

LotharoftheHillPeople said:


> My biggest beef is with Van the Man being included on this list of lameness. The guy is without peer.


It pained me so to put Van the Man on my list. I have nearly everything he recorded and love his music. I just think he started churning out a string of really bad efforts in the early- to mid-1990s (e.g. _Too Long in Exile_). The fairly recent _Magic Time_ has a couple good tracks but the rest was disappointly weak for such a massive talent...the CD of country music covers was a train wreck.

On second thought...can I change my mind?:icon_smile_wink:


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

TMMKC said:


> The Boss? I totally agree...though "Thunder Road" is one of the best "roll down the windows, crack open a road brew and crank up the car stereo" songs ever written. "Born in the USA" and "Dancing in the Dark" were just plain embarassing. The Boss needs to retire, God knows his vocal cords did 25 years ago.


I know someone who used to work for Sony, so he would get free tickets to see Springsteen whenever he wanted. I can tell you, he got really sick of seeing the exact same set, the exact same moves, and the exact same off-the-cuff comments to the audience every single night.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Duck said:


> "It looked like something a figure skater would wear..."


I was refering to the poster, not the content


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

This might be a moot point at this writing, but in case it is not, I have a band for consideration:

Metallica.

If they could get the bassist question answered well...heck, maybe even get Jason Newsted back...pull the plug or enter the sandman?


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> This might be a moot point at this writing, but in case it is not, I have a band for consideration:
> 
> Metallica.
> 
> If they could get the bassist question answered well...heck, maybe even get Jason Newsted back...pull the plug or enter the sandman?


Pull the plug. At this point, even if they could pull it all together, they'd come off as a goofy novelty act. Too much time had passed. Then again, I think Motley Crue should just fade away under the warm glow of their past fame too. I'm sure the lure of bags of $$$ from tours is too tempting for any of these bands (and it gets expensive paying off all those bills from trips to rehab and divorces from Playmates and _Baywatch_ stars  ).


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

TMMKC said:


> Pull the plug. At this point, even if they could pull it all together, they'd come off as a goofy novelty act. Too much time had passed. Then again, I think Motley Crue should just fade away under the warm glow of their past fame too. I'm sure the lure of bags of $$$ from tours is too tempting for any of these bands (and it gets expensive paying off all those bills from trips to rehab and divorces from Playmates and _Baywatch_ stars  ).


I don't think the Crue can be compared to Metallica, if for no other reason than John and the boys were putting out fresh, chart topping material, just several years ago. The Crue has not had large scale commercial success in nearly two decades. Crue lost Vince Neil at the same time that one of Metallica's best albums was released, The Black Album, and their 1997 Load and Re-load was still quite good.

I am not trying to dice up your comparison too much, but it just hurts to see masters of Thrash Metal that could really write a good tune compared to a band that really, IMO, were just lucky hair-rockers.


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## JRR (Feb 11, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> I don't think the Crue can be compared to Metallica, if for no other reason than John and the boys were putting out fresh, chart topping material, just several years ago. The Crue has not had large scale commercial success in nearly two decades. Crue lost Vince Neil at the same time that one of Metallica's best albums was released, The Black Album, and their 1997 Load and Re-load was still quite good.
> 
> I am not trying to dice up your comparison too much, but it just hurts to see masters of Thrash Metal that could really write a good tune compared to a band that really, IMO, were just lucky hair-rockers.


You mean James right???


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> I am not trying to dice up your comparison too much, but it just hurts to see masters of Thrash Metal that could really write a good tune compared to a band that really, IMO, were just lucky hair-rockers.


Dice away. I'm no expert on Thrash Metal...even less so since I lost my hair!

Rock on...:aportnoy:


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

JRR said:


> You mean James right???


Sorry, was not even 8am when I posted that. Yes, Seamus. And as you knew the correction, I'm going to guess you were/are a fan too?


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## JRR (Feb 11, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> Sorry, was not even 8am when I posted that. Yes, Seamus. And as you knew the correction, I'm going to guess you were/are a fan too?


Yes, I am a fan. Still prefer the mid-80s stuff with Cliff over new though.

Same deal with most of the thrash bands. Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc. Pretty much peaked in late 80s early 90s.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

JRR said:


> Yes, I am a fan. Still prefer the mid-80s stuff with Cliff over new though.
> 
> Same deal with most of the thrash bands. Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc. Pretty much peaked in late 80s early 90s.


Well, we're all slowing down as we age, I mean, I have not even heard of Dave Mustaine hitting someone lately. I guess we're talking things no one cares about unless you are already a fan, but I think Hetfield brings a new depth to many songs that were not there when he was younger.

Anyways, it's all rather moot as last I heard, they were officially broken up.

Has anyone else ever felt like punching Lars though?


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## JRR (Feb 11, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> Well, we're all slowing down as we age, I mean, I have not even heard of Dave Mustaine hitting someone lately. I guess we're talking things no one cares about unless you are already a fan, but I think Hetfield brings a new depth to many songs that were not there when he was younger.
> 
> Anyways, it's all rather moot as last I heard, they were officially broken up.
> 
> Has anyone else ever felt like punching Lars though?


Numerous times...LOL...

Agree re Hetfield bringing a new depth that didn't exist as a p'oed 20 something. However, the music lacks the urgency it had back then. I don't think thrash is music that ages well. To me it speaks best to the angry 14-18 year old.

Of course, I am an old man now at 30. I pretty much just listen to classical nowadays...


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

JRR said:


> Numerous times...LOL...
> 
> Agree re Hetfield bringing a new depth that didn't exist as a p'oed 20 something. However, the music lacks the urgency it had back then. I don't think thrash is music that ages well. To me it speaks best to the angry 14-18 year old.
> 
> Of course, I am an old man now at 30. I pretty much just listen to classical nowadays...


Heh, I have 10 years on you. I still sometimes need to drive home with something from thrash to nu-metal cranked up after work. I am sure anyone that could spy the 40 year old exec driving home in his Rover with Linkin Park, Metallica, or Bush cranked up would get a laugh.

As to what I usually listen to now, my chill music thread has it all


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> As to what I usually listen to now, my chill music thread has it all


Turning 40 does that to a man, Wayfarer.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

TMMKC said:


> Turning 40 does that to a man, Wayfarer.


As I said recently, making that painful transition from stud muffin to bran muffin.

Twenty years ago the thing to do was go have a drink, listen to loud aggressive music, and look for a fight or a woman (or both!). Today it is to go have a drink to forget about the daily fights required to make a living, turn on some quiet relaxing music, and be happy with the woman I found a decade ago.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Wayfarer said:


> As I said recently, making that painful transition from stud muffin to bran muffin.
> 
> Twenty years ago the thing to do was go have a drink, listen to loud aggressive music, and look for a fight or a woman (or both!). Today it is to go have a drink to forget about the daily fights required to make a living, turn on some quiet relaxing music, and be happy with the woman I found a decade ago.


 :biggrin2: ...sounds like my life (and, I'm sure, many others).


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Madonna,She's been making music for almost 25 years now and back then her music was listenable as well as watchable.I'm just not crazy about her music now as I was in the 80's.As she gets older,her vocal cords won't be much of any use,In my opinion.


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## AMVanquish (May 24, 2005)

Hillary Clinton won a Grammy, so can we add her to the list for her overrated audio book?


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

AMVanquish said:


> Hillary Clinton won a Grammy, so can we add her to the list for her overrated audio book?


No. She is the smartest, hardest working, bestest woman ever. She can never be overrated as we constantly do not comprehend her genius and underrate her.

:devil:


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## AMVanquish (May 24, 2005)

(Feigning Southern accent) And *you* know what I'M talkin' 'bout!



Wayfarer said:


> No. She is the smartest, hardest working, bestest woman ever. She can never be overrated as we constantly do not comprehend her genius and underrate her.
> 
> :devil:


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## guitone (Mar 20, 2005)

Celine Dion


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

guitone said:


> Celine Dion


+infinity


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

guitone said:


> Celine Dion


My eardrums started bleeding at the mere thought of her.


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