Overrated / Underrated 2012: The ups and downs

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UNDERRATED: Tame Impala's "Elephant"OVERRATED: The MayasUNDERRATED: "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" (2012)OVERRATED: Judd Apatow's editingUNDERRATED: Goat's "World Music"OVERRATED: "Homeland"UNDERRATED: PhiladelphiaOVERRATED: InstagramUNDERRATED: Cutting the cordOVERRATED: Your Twitter streamUNDERRATED: OwnershipOVERRATED: The "advancement" of motion picturesUNDERRATED: Nick KrollOVERRATED: 'The X Factor'UNDERRATED: 'Brave' (2012)OVERRATED: 'The Dark Knight Rises'UNDERRATED: 'Ben & Kate'OVERRATED: 'The Woman in the Fifth' (2012)UNDERRATED: 'Being Flynn' (2012)OVERRATED: The idea of "hate-watching"UNDERRATED: Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts TrioOVERRATED: 'The New Normal'UNDERRATED: The end of 'Twilight'OVERRATED: 'Red Dawn' remadeUNDERRATED: Kate McKinnon on 'SNL'OVERRATED: 'Daybreakers' (2009)UNDERRATED: Javier Bardem in 'Skyfall'OVERRATED: RihannaUNDERRATED: Massive Attack's 'Blue Lines'OVERRATED: fun.UNDERRATED: D.L. HughleyOVERRATED: Even more 'Star Wars'UNDERRATED: 'Lola Versus' (2012)OVERRATED: SupermanUNDERRATED: Silas Weir Mitchell on 'Grimm'OVERRATED: Bruno MarsUNDERRATED: Beth Orton's 'Sugaring Season'OVERRATED: Edgar Wright's ambitionUNDERRATED: Martin McDonaghOVERRATED: ZombiesUNDERRATED: CalexicoOVERRATED: Celebrity digestive mishapsUNDERRATED: Powers Boothe in "Nashville"OVERRATED: New JerseyUNDERRATED: 'The Master'OVERRATED: The curious endurance of KISSUNDERRATED: Dave Douglas' 'Be Still'OVERRATED: 'The Master'UNDERRATED: Swans' 'The Seer'OVERRATED: Mumford & SonsUNDERRATED: Mandy Patinkin on 'Homeland'OVERRATED: Early impressions of 'The Mindy Project'UNDERRATED: 'Risk!'OVERRATED: 'Revolution' on NBCUNDERRATED: The Helio Sequence's 'Negotiations'OVERRATED: The 'sensation' that is PsyUNDERRATED: The return of 'Sifl & Olly'OVERRATED: Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Kiss'UNDERRATED:' The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'OVERRATED: Movies named after albumsUNDERRATED: Tin HatOVERRATED: 'Hotel Hell' on FoxUNDERRATED: The guys of 'New Girl'OVERRATED: The campaign for 'The Oogieloves'UNDERRATED: Harry Nilsson's 'Jump Into the FireOVERRATED: Animal CollectiveUNDERRATED: 'Baraka' (1992)OVERRATED: 'Go On' on NBCUNDERRATED: 'Up to Speed' with Timothy Levitch on HuluOVERRATED: Musicians as legendsUNDERRATED: Neneh Cherry's 'The Cherry Thing'OVERRATED: 'The Expendables,' againUNDERRATED: Liev Schreiber in 'Goon'OVERRATED: The promotional push for 'The Master'UNDERRATED: Donal LogueOVERRATED: The Spice GirlsUNDERRATED: Jason LytleUNDERRATED: 'Ruby Sparks'OVERRATED: Standards as a career moveUNDERRATED: Parker PoseyOVERRATED: Stretching 'The Hobbit'UNDERRATED: 'The Double Hour' (2009)OVERRATED: NBC and the OlympicsUNDERRATED: 'Bob's Burgers'OVERRATED: 'Melancholia' (2011)UNDERRATED: SugarOVERRATED: The upcoming "Toddlers and Tiaras" spinoffUNDERRATED: 'Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles' (2011)OVERRATED: Dirty ProjectorsUNDERRATED: 'Sound of Noise'OVERRATED: 'Friends With Kids'UNDERRATED: 'Jeff, Who Lives at Home' (2011)OVERRATED: '4-D' cinemaUNDERRATED: Neil deGrasse TysonOVERRATED: Natalie PortmanUNDERRATED: Debo BandOVERRATED: Going back to the Bates MotelUNDERRATED: Ruth Wilson on 'Luther'OVERRATED: 'Chronicle' (2012)UNDERRATED: David LoweryOVERRATED: The 'Call Me Maybe' CrazeOVERRATED: Aaron Sorkin, in interviewsUNDERRATED: Apple TVUNDERRATED: Edward Norton in "Moonrise Kingdom"OVERRATED: Actors who singUNDERRATED: JapandroidsOVERRATED: Andy Samberg's post-"SNL" futureUNDERRATED: Anna Chlumsky in 'Veep'OVERRATED: Best Coast's 'The Only Place'UNDERRATED: Euro 2012OVERRATED: The Redbox redirectUNDERRATED: Gregory Rogove's 'Piana'OVERRATED: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic ZerosUNDERRATED: 'Oslo, August 31st'OVERRATED: Kristen StewartUNDERRATED: The Real World' at 20OVERRATED: James Franco, artisteUNDERRATED: Dessa's 'Castor the Twin'OVERRATED: Jack White's 'Blunderbuss'UNDERRATED: Jeff ParkerOVERRATED: FacebookUNDERRATED: Martin Freeman in 'Sherlock'OVERRATED: The health of CommunityUNDERRATED: 'The Pitch' on AMCOVERRATED: Christina Aguilera on 'The Voice'UNDERRATED: 'Norwegian Wood' (2010)OVERRATED: Today's students on 'Savage U'UNDERRATED: Father John MistyOVERRATED: Tim Burton's recent arcOVERRATED: Phillip Phillips on 'American Idol'UNDERRATED: 'The West Wing'OVERRATED: Boy bands, againUNDERRATED: Romany MalcoOVERRATED: Lena Dunham's 'Girls'UNDERRATED: Playoff hockeyOVERRATED: Gotye fatigueUNDERRATED: 'Frozen Planet' on Discovery:OVERRATED: 'Drive' (2011)UNDERRATED: 'The Green Room With Paul Provenza'OVERRATED: 'Titanic,' againUNDERRATED: Junip's 'Fields'OVERRATED: The return of 'Mad Men'UNDERRATED: AMC's 'The Killing'OVERRATED: The YA-ification of the moviesUNDERRATED: 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' (2011)OVERRATED: Madonna's relevanceUNDERRATED: GalacticOVERRATED: The many March madnessesUNDERRATED: "The Way" (2010)OVERRATED: The return of "American Pie"UNDERRATED: Sharon Van Etten's "Tramp"OVERRATED: 'Doomsday Preppers' on National GeographicUNDERRATED: 'Take Shelter'OVERRATED: Green Day's 'American Idiot'UNDERRATED: 'Borgen' on LinkTVOVERRATED: HBO GoUNDERRATED: Theo Bleckmann's "Hello Earth!"OVERRATED: The modern-day LoraxUNDERRATED: 'The Woman in Black'OVERRATED: HGTV's 'My Yard Goes Disney'UNDERRATED: Anders ParkerOVERRATED: The Beach Boys reunionUNDERRATED: 'Travels to the Edge With Art Wolfe'OVERRATED: Films celebrating filmUNDERRATED: Agnieszka HollandOVERRATED: Complaining about the OscarsUNDERRATED: 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'OVERRATED: Nicki Minaj's shock valueUNDERRATED: Dana GouldOVERRATED: The arc of 30 Rock:UNDERRATED: The Punch BrothersOVERRATED: M.I.A.'s middle fingerUNDERRATED: 'Point Blank' (2010)OVERRATED: 'Moneyball' for non-baseball fansUNDERRATED: 'Key & Peele' on Comedy CentralUNDERRATED: 'How It's Made'OVERRATED: 'Star Wars' in 3-DUNDERRATED: Joe Henry's 'Reverie'OVERRATED: Van Halen, againUNDERRATED: 'Globe Trekker'OVERRATED: TV series as cult objectsUNDERRATED: 'The Debt'OVERRATED: National anthem outrageUNDERRATED: Max Von Sydow in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"OVERRATED: The arc of Lana Del ReyUNDERRATED: Blockbuster video storesOVERRATED: Musical chairs, the game showUNDERRATED: Simon Pegg, action heroOVERRATED: Jay-Z and Beyoncé's parenthoodUNDERRATED: Kathleen Edwards' 'Voyageur'OVERRATED: The 'Portlandia' hypeUNDERRATED: Zachary QuintoOVERRATED: Pirates' taste in moviesUNDERRATED: Van Hunt's 'What Were You Hoping For?'OVERRATED: War-as-video game commercialsUNDERRATED: Christopher PlummerOVERRATED: Katy Perry, chart champUNDERRATED: Laura Marling's 'A Creature I Don't Know'OVERRATED: TV's fetishization of redneck culture

Dare anyone speak ill of this heir to the classic rock throne? While it's great to hear White playing with a drummer capable of more than the caveman beats of the White Stripes, it's difficult to figure why such an avalanche of praise follows his every move. Yes, he's got an ear for history, a sharp eye for visuals, and plays a killer guitar, but before we induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can't he make one truly surprising record?

OVERRATED: Jack White's 'Blunderbuss'

( Theo Wargo / Getty Images )

Dare anyone speak ill of this heir to the classic rock throne? While it's great to hear White playing with a drummer capable of more than the caveman beats of the White Stripes, it's difficult to figure why such an avalanche of praise follows his every move. Yes, he's got an ear for history, a sharp eye for visuals, and plays a killer guitar, but before we induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can't he make one truly surprising record?

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Overrated / Underrated 2012: The ups and downs

OVERRATED: Jack White's 'Blunderbuss'