Someone like Steven Wilson is tricky for me. While I'd say he's overrated to the nth degree by his fans, the fact that the vast majority of the music-loving community doesn't even know who he is kind of complicates that.
Saying someone like Portnoy is a bit more understandable to me. While he does seem to be one of, if not THE, hardest working person in music, his performances of late have been nothing spectacular. Read: I said his performances have been "nothing spectacular"-- that's not to say that they're bad or anything, but they can't hold a candle to those performances of his from DT's "Middle Years." Back then, you could just plain hear how bad he wanted those awards-- like you can hear how bad Gavin Harrison wants them now.
Getting back on track, the difference between Portnoy and Wilson is that Portnoy continues to win awards and get all sorts of fame while putting out less than jaw-dropping material. Wilson, as far as I know, doesn't not. Which is a shame, regardless of what you think about Porcupine Tree's most recent output.
Seriously, though. Unless I wanted to piss off someone on the boards, neither make my shortlist.
OverratedKURT COBAIN- Being influential doesn't mean anything if you're influential in a bad way.
Ozzy Osbourne- Or Zakk Wylde. Or, hell, anyone involved in Ozzy's solo career. Too many meatheads who don't know anything about metal going on and on about how great Ozzy is.
Green Day- Sloppily carried the torch for a genre I hate into the next millennium.
Muse- Commercial rock with a little something extra is nice, but it really shouldn't be THIS popular. They're not that good, people.
Nightwish- They're good, but for a band that seems to be one of the more generic and least interesting in their genre, they seem to get all the love.
UnderratedEcholyn- This band always seems to have gotten the short end of the straw, especially with their label, but they're better and more creative than a great deal of their prog-rock contemporaries.
dredg- I still can not figure out why they have not had their moment yet. Like Echolyn, I guess it's just too much tough luck with labels and whathaveyou.
Alter Bridge- Given Creed's success, there's absolutely no reason why Alter Bridge shouldn't be dominating the airwaves. I chalk their relative failure to the masses unhealthy shallowness and obsession with personalities over substance.