Most people that complain about electric motors end up having picked up the cheapest most available thing rather than the right thing. You can get electric motors of varying natural speeds which is dependant on the number of "poles" (strictly magnetic poles) formed by the windings. A common 4 pole motor runs at about 1760rpm on a 60Hz supply (1800rpm synchronous less a little slip), but a six pole motor runs slower and an 8 pole motor slower again. Picking the right motor can make all the difference to performance as well as power consumption.
If you need fine speed control you can get variable frequency drives relatively cheaply (compared to a few years ago) that can do amazing things. Alternatively, if you can only get a given motor you can always use a belt and pulleys to adjust the drive speed to something less aggressive. It won't be easily adjustable, but pulleys aren't particularly expensive.