This is another subject that is very interesting and has loads of potential for great discussions imo. Why do some albums get overhyped? Why do some albums become almost universally loved and admired and then experience such a backlash in time that 5 or 10 or however years later they are almost universally considered overrated and are hated? And perhaps the most interesting question for me is why some bands seem to get away with their albums being hyped without ever experiencing a significant backlash or change in opinions? I am a huge fan of Opeth and Radiohead for example and I know full well just how obsessively fans like myself can hype albums like OK Computer or Blackwater Park to give one example from the field of more mainstream alt-rock and one from a popular metal band. I haven't met too many people that think those two albums are overrated, even those who don't like either one seem to at least respect the albums and the bands. Why? This is the internet and it's not like music fans are afraid to give their opinions and bash away at album they feel are overrated. Are albums like BWP really that much better than Wintersun's debut? And if so, why do albums like Wintersun get hyped so much in the first place?

What makes this even more intriguing for me is that there doesn't seem to be too much in common between albums that many consider overrated or overhyped. Wintersun's debut (which I personally do find overrated) is sometimes complimented for having great musicianship, but more often people just seem to love how the album makes them feel. Then there's Aquilus' debut Griseus, where people like myself, who love it, always compliment the musicianship and never mention the emotions the album invokes (doesn't make me feel anything tbh).

Apologies, if this all comes across a bit ranty, I shall now pass over the mic to all of you. When does an album become overhyped? Why does that happen? Can hype completely ruin the experience of listening to an album? Why do some albums seem to get away with it? Please discuss.

I think Blackwater Park and OK Computer are overrated. It just means that I don't think they are as good as the general consencus says they are. Perhaps the eventual change of an album from great to overrated comes from people first listening it to it years later and not finding it as good as they were expecting.
Another factor is that when something is hyped up too much, the expectations become too high for it to meet. So when it is talked up as being so awesome by so many (or few but repedetivley), if it fails to be the pinnacle of awesomeness you were expecting, it feels like a bit of a letdown.

Easy one: taste is a social thing. Some still belive that sound has some objective measures but in the end all will follow the alpha male. But socializing around music inst a bad thing. The only bad thing is that some people still belive that the alpha male has all the answers. The king has lost his head and yet we continue to hunt down, to surveiller et punir a headless torso.

I never buy into the hype. You either like something or not regardless of what the general consensus is about it. I always hate reading a brutal review of an album because some people believe it and never give it a chance. The same goes for a positive review too. You read people raving about something and then you hear and are like wtf are these guys listening to? My point is that don't listen to the hype and form your own opinion.

I have noticed that people tend to overhype upcoming releases from famous bands and leave the less known ones in the dark.
This brings either of the two consequences: 1) the next famous band's releases never live up to expectation and hence they turn out to be giants that have fallen 2) people blindly accept next famous band's releases as astoningly great followups and keep hyping the band throughout their whole discography (ie: overrating)

I could start on what I think about this whole famous band overhyping but I guess I'll wait for the discussion to take that turn first

You mentioned Wintersun: Wintersun got hyped because of what? Jari. Jari used to play in Ensiferum.. Ensiferum is a big (if not the biggest) "viking" metal name. of course people will follow/look forward for the biggest name side projects. That Skuggsja got a lot of listens just because of Enslaved too. If it was just a random neofolk band no one would mind them. I think side projects might be the central overhyping factory for new bands

Then there is the Aquilus case. Aquilus is a band which started from nowhere, yes. A similar overrated/overhyped album is probably that second to last by Haggard. Nowadays Haggard is highly well-known, but back in 2004 no one knew about this band. The hype made them what they are now (and they haven't even released anything since, which is quite impressing)
For this cases, I think reviews is the way to build the hype. there are reviewers, then there are famous reviewers for the most read site, whose reviews somehow are worth more. If those last ones decide to rate an album high on their review the chance that this album gets a lot of listens (and therefore probably a lot of likes) is pretty high. And even higher if every reviewer out there starts writing good stuff about them.
In this cases I think the bands which get the most out of it are the unknown ones which make something "different" but not too different. For instance, take Aquilus. They compose black metal with some classical interludes thrown here and there. This has been done lots of times before, but not everyone knows it has. So if this one appears on a famous reviewer review and it is mentioned that its distinctive quality is blending classical music and black metal it is going to become the "omg". Now if the band was too weird, like say Anal Hardcore Hydrogen, even if the reviewer gave it a high score, the listeners would probably not agree, so the band wouldn't get much of the review, and even worse: the reviewer would get some less points because his tastes aren't matching the mass. That's why the famous reviwer won't give a high rating for Anal Hardcore Hydrogen, because of fame and hookers. But that's other whole story...

Written by Karlabos on 19.04.2017 at 16:47

Then there is the Aquilus case. Aquilus is a band which started from nowhere, yes.

Clicked on the thumbs up just 'casue you implied Melbourne is nowhere.

The classic example of this for me was the new Suicide Silence self titled. I had somewhat of high hopes for it considering their past material was pretty good, but i completely letdown and bummed out. But the new Body Count was worth the hype because I ended up spending a lot of money and pre ordered it. It happens, as a huge music fan, you cant help but to get hyped for your favorite bands and their records and get letdown as well. It happens.