Is Queen over-rated ?

[z3zep]

There was just so many 70's bands that were much better than Queen.

I have Queen in the same catagory as REO, Styx and Journey

I totally agree!

Kids recognize the songs not because the band is so great, but the fact that the are played at all sporting events. "We will Rock You", "We are the Champions".

[Hector]

Only five hit songs my ***.

This thread sucks, and Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

[WannabeMego]

How's that for a title to stur up the pot ????

Personally, I think they are VERY over-rated ...

I think I read somewhere England voted them best band ever --- even over Beatles.

Why ? ... because of about 5 pop songs ?

Don't get me wrong .....

I like Queen, but I still think they are crazy over-rated.

Seems like the whole Queen Is The Best Band EVER thing started when Freddie died.

What do you think ?

[The Toyroom]

I was on the fringe as far as being a Queen fan....OK back in the day but nothing I'd go Radio Ga Ga over...

[Manspider]

No, definitely not overrated!!!

[Dave Mc]

Heh, this is why we Americans are hated by most other countries. We think that what happened/happens here is what happened/happens everywhere.

Queen was not a 70's only band. They didn't crash and burn in the 80's and 90's. In other countries they remained incredibly popular selling out huge arenas right until the end. Their records from that era sold very well outside the US.

Are they over-rated? No way. They were one of the biggest rock bands ever when you put it in a global perspective. Comparing their success to Journey or REO is... well... insane.

That has nothing to do with personal musical preferences though. I can totally understand why someone wouldn't like their music, or enjoy other stuff from the era more. That's personal taste. I mean, there are a lot of people who hate the Beatles and the Stones. I personally would rather eat glass than listen to The Doors, but I can't deny their impact and importance to Rock and Roll. I hate them, but would never call them over-rated.

Best ever? No one can be best ever. That's up to each listeners personal tastes, but if you look around, really look outside your own window, you can't deny their impact on a global scale. Their success in record sales and concert attendence BEFORE Freddie Mercury died would only be a distant unreachable dream for most of those 70's bands mentioned in this thread.

[apes3978]

Perhaps death has made Queen a bigger success then they are.

It's often said that death is the best career move any artist/band can make...

[Goblin19]

Mildly overrated. To me, they aren't The Beatles, The Stones, or Led Zeppelin, but I still thimk they're in the top ten bands of all time. And Freddie has one of the two or three greatest voices in rock history. I do think their stature rose some after Freddie's death.

[misterdroid]

Well, first let me say I am biased. Super, super biased. I feel Night at the Opera is one of the best mainstream albums of all time. The Beatles at their experimental best didn't cover the kind of ground Queen did on that album, and worse, often sound like they are trying a little bit too hard to be weird. There are few albums I hold in such high regard as Night at the Opera. Sticky Fingers and Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust would be a couple near perfect companions.
The basic problem with this thread, is that if you are not familiar with Queen's full albums and back catalogue, you can't appreciate how truly great the band was. Frankly many of the Queen hits are some of the weakest material. There are not a lot of bands that are like that... Maybe the Stones, a lot of the post Some Girls hits really don't hint at how great they used to be. The Beatles hits are a very good sample of what they were about. Queen hits... something different. If you were to purchase a Queens greatest hits compilation, you would just get the barest sense of what they were capable of.
So my answer is NO. Queen is not over-rated. I would say just Day at the Races and Night at the Opera put them in a class well beyond most bands.

[Vortigern99]

Since most Americans I know consider Queen an "okay band with a great singer and some catchy tunes", no, I don't feel they're overrated. I personally love them more than most people I know, so I think they're underrated. Also, as DaveMc notes in his post, above, worldwide Queen is far more highly regarded than here in the States. In Japan I think they're the #1 band of all time in terms of sales.

[WannabeMego]

...if you are not familiar with Queen's full albums and back catalogue, you can't appreciate how truly great the band was. If you were to purchase a Queens greatest hits compilation, you would just get the barest sense of what they were capable of.

Couldn't have said it better myself...spoken like a true Queen aficionado.

[Vortigern99]

^ ^ ^ That's why I prefer Queen's Live stuff, such as LIVE KILLERS and the video LIVE AT WIMBERLEY. It's the best songs from their catalogue, not just their greatest hits, performed with so much energy and verve it just plain knocks your socks off. And of course watching Freddie strut around like some kind of man-god (I'm not gay but I love that man!!) for an hour and a half is something truly special.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Queen seems to be one of those bands that fans were allowed to pick for themselves. They came out in the 70's with minimal hype, they were a little different, and folks decided they liked them. You don't get to do that too often. Most of the time we're TOLD what we're supposed to like. Which I suspect is why most popular groups have limited life expectancies: they die when the hype dies, and the hype dies when the NEXT big thing comes around.

The decline in the 80's seemed to be around the Highlander/It's a Kind of Magic era. A time when they seemed VERY over-hyped.

Don C.

[huedell]

With all respect Mike---not my "type" of thread----you just smacked Hector
in his cyber-face and the conversation has even inspired a "country self-loathing"
comment from Dave Mc---which by the way I want to comment on by saying that
... any country so large and involved and influential in pop entertainment as the
USA "almost" has the right to percieve itself as the "center" of pop culture---and
the resulting seeming arrogance is not the country's fault---its just the way society
works----bigger entertainment culture equals bigger gravity---it could happen to
ANY country.

Do you think the Japanese know who is popular in the USA and who isn't?
It works both ways. And does that matter anyway? I'm not insulted.

As far as QUEEN and being overrated?

Personally I think that's impossible.

Classic Queen was great at what they did and it spanned all genres of rock culture--
they were SO freakin' accomplished---unlike any other band save maybe the BEATLES--

--even when QUEEN were dabbling in punkier stuff or more metal stuff---it came off
geniune. That's an incredible thing for such a progressive talented and pop song talented
band.

You want proof that they stood apart in this regard?

You wouldn't see a metal influential band like METALLICA covering REO, STYX or
JOURNEY.

So yeah, to lump QUEEN in with those bands (whom I'm a fan of regardless) is silly
in that regard.

QUEEN basically did it all in rock and roll---so how could they be overrated?

[Mikey]

I didn't make this thread to slap Hector in the face

I posted it because of some comment I heard on my local radio station.
They were acting like Queen is the best rock band of all time.
I don't agree, so that's why I thought it would make a good topic.

And as far as the person who called me a troll a few pages back ......
My responce ....... bite me