You know, interesting you should bring this up, because I too have the tendency to avoid big buzz things, but not bands--movies is my thing. And I find my avoidance towards movies with much hype tends to be correct. For example, take that bore "Napoleon Dynamite." Boy oh boy did it get much hype, especially from my sister who took me to see it on her fourth out of eight times in the theater (!!!!) While she was laughing her head off, she turns to me and asks, "Why aren't you laughing?!?" Uh, because I'm waiting for the movie to be funny?

Not to sound like an asshole, but I was thinking about trends which tend to be "hip", especially in the younger music loving crowds. I determined most people are simple minded, thus why simple things tend to really take off. Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes. Which would explain why bands who are considered by music snobs to have "no talent" go mainstream, while bands who's musicians are totally talented and music is multi-layered and complex don't hit as big. It's not a rule of thumb, just generally how it runs.