Under Appreciated Bands/Artists?

[BigMac]

I was in high school when they broke out. Very good sound. I saw the lead singer passed away a couple years ago, he had gotten really obese which was a little shocking.

Yeah, Pat Dinizio passed away in 2017 (can't believe it's been that long already). He had health problems/injuries that had caused him to lose the use of his right hand and arm, and had gone significantly downhill prior to his passing.

I loved their sound, have never figured out why they weren't bigger than they were. Dinizio had a great voice, and Jim Babjak was pretty underrated as a guitarist. Babjak has also written/performed compositions for a number of TV shows and movie soundtracks.

 

[HarlettoScara]

I've read this entire post & responses. I question how you can call a band "under-appreciated" if they have made multiple albums and had hit records. Most of the bands mentioned here have done that. Here are two groups that deserve a chance in the national spotlight: JJ Grey & Mofro and Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds.

The Sandford Townsend Band could have been great but they broke up after their first record.

I think it's probably with how great they were that they didn't get more exposure, or maybe become larger on an international stage as opposed to just their native lands. For example, in my eyes Jimmy Eat World that I mentioned do have a number of hit singles and albums, however they never got the recognition that say Green Day or Blink 182 got despite being (in my opinion) far far far superior to either of those. Instead just kept plugging away making consistently great music but never conquered the world.

End of the day, my band made a number of albums, but I would never class us as having been successful

 

[shanewu]

Ozomatli

 

[pattyboy21]

I'm sure they aren't considered under-appreciated, but it was nice to see the documentary on Lynyrd Skynyrd yesterday. I knew the broad story of the band and the plane crash, but it was good to get all the details and really find out about the original and subsequent members.

 

[Vader]

Circling back, because these guys in the US are criminally not well known.

 

[LeftySean]

These bands were hugely popular back in the day, but they're way off the radar these days:
The Kinks
The Yardbirds
Cream
The Animals

A bit closer (sort of) to modern times:
Jesus and Mary Chain
XTC
The Clash

And since I am Canadian (not that you could tell from the above list):

The Guess Who
Streetheart
54-40
The Tragically Hip
Headstones

If I put enough thought into it I expect I could come up with a list of bands that got their start AFTER the turn of the Millennium but as you can see, I'm still a bit stuck in the Auld Dayes...


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[Buckeyegolfnut]

I think it's probably with how great they were that they didn't get more exposure, or maybe become larger on an international stage as opposed to just their native lands. For example, in my eyes Jimmy Eat World that I mentioned do have a number of hit singles and albums, however they never got the recognition that say Green Day or Blink 182 got despite being (in my opinion) far far far superior to either of those. Instead just kept plugging away making consistently great music but never conquered the world.

End of the day, my band made a number of albums, but I would never class us as having been successful

I kind of feel the same way about a band from NE Ohio, but I would NOT call them unsuccesful! They toured the world, opening for headliners, they enjoyed great music and songwriting, but they never became headliners! But I can't call them unsuccesful. At their height, they would play a week long stint at Blossom Music Center south of Cleveland, where they were based. They still hold the all time attendance record at the venue! I used to work with a former lead guitar player. He quit simply because he got tired of the road!

Here's a couple of samples of their music. One smooth, one a little rough!

 

[DataDude]

Jellyfish, Elvis Costello, and the Replacements were already mentioned. A few others that maybe didn’t get the credit they were due: Motörhead, Incubus, Cake, and Blind Melon.

I listen to a lot of music especially in my car that just got an upgraded JL Audio amp and Focal sub/separates in June.

I love Incubus. So many great songs. Was going to see them and 311 last summer.

 

[tehuti]

Fishbone
The Specials


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[russtopher]

I've long called King's X "The Most Under-appreciated Band on the Planet."

There are so many ...
Spock's Beard should be more famous than they are, too.

Love the Jellyfish and 311 mentions, but King's X is the one and only answer I'll ever give to this question. Just the most amazing musicians and the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Seen them 7-8 times, most recently just before things shut down and I was in awe at how amazing their vocals still sound with the guys in their 60's & 70's now.

Spock's Beard and Cynic are two bands that I'll listen to and go "whoa these guys are amazing I need to listen to them more" then promptly not listen to them again for a year... rinse and repeat.

 

[PJSprog]

Spock's Beard and Cynic are two bands that I'll listen to and go "whoa these guys are amazing I need to listen to them more" then promptly not listen to them again for a year... rinse and repeat.

I do that, too. I'll go through spurts of listening to Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, and Glass Hammer (love those retro-style prog bands), then nothing for a long time. Feast or famine. I read recently that Ryo Okumoto has gotten back together with Neal Morse and Nick D'Virgilio for his latest solo album ... kind of a mini old school SB reunion.

 

[shanewu]

Ozomatli (not sure if I mentioned them yet or not)

 

[BostonSal]

I used to have music on all the time.

I have huge JBL commercial venue loudspeakers, but now they and their amplifier are just used for the basement flat screen.
Maybe using five of the 300 watts per channel. Otherwise it would split my eardrums
and be undiscernible anyway as the sound bounces from wall to wall.

I don't know why I stopped listening to music at home. I loved it for so long.
Must be an aging thing. I should play some tunes once in a while because I really used to enjoy it.



i was really big into Sinatra, Stax-Volt soul, jump blues, NOLA trad, and a little classical as well..

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

I used to have music on all the time.

I have huge JBL commercial venue loudspeakers, but now they and their amplifier are just used for the basement flat screen.
Maybe using five of the 300 watts per channel. Otherwise it would split my eardrums
and be undiscernible anyway as the sound bounces from wall to wall.

I don't know why I stopped listening to music at home. I loved it for so long.
Must be an aging thing. I should play some tunes once in a while because I really used to enjoy it.



i was really big into Sinatra, Stax-Volt soul, jump blues, NOLA trad, and a little classical as well..

Wow! You kind of sound like me. My Mom bought a decent stereo, and had almost the whole collection of whoever's, I think CBS"s. selection of classical music. These were big, these pressings! I imagine almost on a scale with the Deutsche Grammophon pressings! These discs were heavy and the grooves were deep and designed to vibrate your needle a plenty! But for me, it was crooners and classical!

 

[tequila4kapp]

Maroon 5

 

[Duffer Waldorf]

Lee Ann Womack

 

[tehuti]

The Band Unbelievably underrated!

How are they underrated? They have a huge reputation.


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[tehuti]

Elvis Costello. Always one of my favorites and never hugely popular in the US at least.

I always thought EC was a mega-star. Wouldn’t consider him underrated.

If you had said Joe Jackson I’d agree.


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[tehuti]

Nickelback..

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[Buckeyegolfnut]

I kind of feel the same way about a band from NE Ohio, but I would NOT call them unsuccesful! They toured the world, opening for headliners, they enjoyed great music and songwriting, but they never became headliners! But I can't call them unsuccesful. At their height, they would play a week long stint at Blossom Music Center south of Cleveland, where they were based. They still hold the all time attendance record at the venue! I used to work with a former lead guitar player. He quit simply because he got tired of the road!

Here's a couple of samples of their music. One smooth, one a little rough!

I just realized I never said the name of the band. Of course you recognized Joe Walsh, but I was referring to the Michael Stanley Band. Joe Walsh knew him and respected him as a songwriter. And he wrote some great music. The performance I posted was with the Resonators, his last project. Between the breakup of the original band and the last, he put together a group call the Mid-Life Chryslers, which I think is a great name! Just had a song pop into my head from the original band. What the heck, let's do it.



It was a sad day in NE Ohio earlier this year when he passed! at the age of 74.

 

[games]

Jellyfish.
They are Beatles meets Queen.

I will give them a listen because my nominee for this thread is Jeff Lynne, founder of ELO.

I say he’s underrated only because he is the least recognizable member of The Traveling Wilburys. Yet he produced music for three of the four other great artists in the group. (He never produced music for Bob Dylan.)

 

[russtopher]

I will give them a listen because my nominee for this thread is Jeff Lynne, founder of ELO.

I say he’s underrated only because he is the least recognizable member of The Traveling Wilburys. Yet he produced music for three of the four other great artists in the group. (He never produced music for Bob Dylan.)

Any day someone listens to Jellyfish for the first time is a good day.

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

I will give them a listen because my nominee for this thread is Jeff Lynne, founder of ELO.

I say he’s underrated only because he is the least recognizable member of The Traveling Wilburys. Yet he produced music for three of the four other great artists in the group. (He never produced music for Bob Dylan.)

Here's another thing. The traveling Wilbury's were composed of superstars, but they elected Jeff Lynne as their musical director! Let's do this.

 

[BigMac]

Not a band, but a highly underappreciated / underrated artist is Elliot Easton of The Cars. A great, very tasteful and melodic guitarist who really only got a chance to shine on their first two albums because they went almost entirely synth-pop after that.

 

[rlew]

Fun.