1) Bob Dylan

2) U2

3) The Rolling Stones

That is all.

He has like 4 good songs yet is regarded as one of the greatest song writers of all time. His songs are boring and he can't even sing them well.

Eagles

Fleetwood Mac

Grateful Dead

They (Coens) asked T-Bone Burnett to pick songs for the soundtrack of the film. However, he had a tough time securing the rights to Townes Van Zandt's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers", which plays over the film's closing credits. Former Stones manager Allen Klein owned the rights to the song and wanted $150,000 for it. Burnett convinced Klein to watch an early cut of the film and remembers, "It got to the part where the Dude says, 'I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!' Klein stands up and says, 'That's it, you can have the song!' That was beautiful".

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The start of pop rock. Plus, $200 bucks to see their crap?

Brian Philips was a fucking genius. Good Vibrations was even Paul McCartney's favorite song. Nothing today compares technically. Hell, most bands only use a couple chords.

Most people have no idea who Mahler or Stravinsky were, so perhaps in that sense they are under-rated in the pop culture. However, among people who know classical music, I think you'd find that Mozart is certainly not over-rated, but given an appropriate place in the pantheon.

Further to the point of timing, certain instruments just had not been explored and incorporated yet--think of the contributions that the clarinet, cello, stringed base, timpani, and trombone made in later music. Hell, replace the harpsichord with the piano and consider the possibilities there. You just could not have had romantic era chamber music without the vast improvements in the piano. Even if you only make that one switch, it opens up so many avenues...

Ultimately, Beethoven was amazing, but his timing was also impeccable.

I'm judging overrated based on how much play he gets on classical music radio and by symphonies and chamber groups. I just cringe whenever I see Mozart on the program.

Bach had a similar output (1000 pieces in 65 years), but he is, IMO, significantly better.

I'm a huge troll for both the Romantic Era and for American composers, but one simply must acknowledge Mozart, Hadyn, and Bach.

I don't think there is much comparison between Mozart and Sousa. This is a huge slap in the face to Mozart. You're really comparing these two? The only way I can see this is if you strip Mozart down to merely his Overtures. All his other writing shows an innovation and understanding of melody that was ahead of his time. Sousa isn't even the 10th best American composer and is known for writing catchy tunes during a period of nationalism and nostalgia, when American pop culture was young and brain dead. Sousa is well known, fan-friendly, but ultimately boring.

As far as American composers go, just off the top of my head, I'd say that Copland, Samuel Barber, Ives, Glass, David Diamond, John Adams, Gerschwin, Bernstein, Duke Ellington, and Stephen Foster are the best. Sousa goes in a category with John Williams and Irving Berlin, below these fellows in my opinion.

I'm divided between Copland and Barber as the best American composer, FWIW.