Most Underated / Before Their time Bands

WorsterMan

WorsterMan

10,000+ Posts
OK - my list is short & will date me. I may think of another band or singer to add but here goes to get this started:

1. Buffalo Springfield
2. Electric Light Orchestra
3. Gino Vanelli
 
Can (and many other Krautrock style bands)

Kraftwerk (famous in certain circles but made a massive impact on so much in the future)

Joy Division
 
It takes balls to call the Eagles overrated in one thread
and then roll up in another thread with Gino Vannelli
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Bravo, great submission. You probably know this about them already but it's a fun story all the same. They were friends with Molly and Beth Ringwald, yes, the actress and sister. They made their way on to Pretty in Pink where they were the band in the club Diceman worked at. They are on stage.

Also, if you pay close attention to Samantha Baker's (Molly) notebook in Sixteen Candles you will see their name written on it. It's the scene where she and her friend are walking down the hall after she dropped THE piece of paper on the floor and Jake Ryan found it. Clear as day when you know what to look for.

They worked the warehouse for I think A&M Records but never got signed there. I have their debut, ep and followup on vinyl. Prized possessions.

The Rave-Ups. Great submission.
 
Gino Vanelli, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles.
Hell, we might as well throw in Xanadu
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Not that there is anything wrong with that.
 
LC - oh you caught my slight of the Iggles?
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I do not however, appreciate you throwing in that box office smash Xanadu!

When I started the thread I had 3 in mind and when I started typing I forgot the real third band I had in mind... Gino Vanelli just popped in my small brain. I will think of the third and replace Mr. Vanelli at some point.
 
First place goes to The Smiths.

Four albums in three years: The Smiths ('84), Meat is Murder ('85), The Queen is Dead ('86), and Strangeways, Here We Come ('87).

These albums fueled the British indie rock movement of the early '80s. Considering their very brief time together as a band and limited catalog, The Smiths wielded incredible influence.

Honorable Mention goes to Roxy Music.

Roxy Music has an eight album catalog spanning the 70's with musicians/artists such as Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno. But make no mistake: this band is driven by Bryan Ferry, a certified crooning bad ***. Their musical influence stretches well beyond the 70's.

Just replay Avalon. Enough said.
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-The Melvins!!!

Seattle band that may not have invented grunge, but they are the most common influence of most all seminal grunge acts. They probably did invent slude/drone metal. If you like hard music and haven't heard of the melvins do yourself a favor and get Melvins-Stoner Witch from 1994

-Graham Parker

I love graham and his contemporaries Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. New wave of this type was well crafted and smart. Graham was about 6 months earlier than Elvis and joe so he
gets the "before his time" nod


X

Now this is going to be going to be controversial . There are plenty of people whose musical taste i respect who absolutely hate this band. I think the're great. The blending of punk with rockabilly and country was unique and masterful. I think X was a huge influence to lots of bands of that era, including many local austin acts i enjoyed seeing when i was a student in the 80's

Cheap trick

These guys are a great rock power pop band with that was a victim of record company management that was bent on sanitizing their studio sound in hopes of squeezing as many nickels out of them as they could. Their lead singer is quite possibly the best ever in rock. If you have a chance to see them live, Do it. Most of their music is built for the stage, evidence being, they have the largest selling live album ever.
I like the fact its now finally cool to admit you like cheap trick.
 
I am sort of shocked you don't know them given your vast knowledge of music, hook. Then again nobody can ever know it all. I love those moments when you come across a band that escaped you and get "that" feeling.

I wanted to name Smiths, Cure etc. but don't know they were underrated because they were pretty famous in that genre. Very important indeed. I guess they are more the before their time. Very much so.

For those of you that like the synth revolution in music breaking the post-punk mold I strongly urge you to watch the BBC special, SynthBrittanica. It's on youtube in its entirety. It's pretty great.

And then give Krautrock a try. Another BBC gem where you can find out where possibly some of your favorite musicians got ideas and inspiration from. Also on youtube.
 
Worster,

As long as us older guys are going to bring up older bands, I'll submit:

Love - Cali psychedelic rock band with the great Arthur Lee. "Seven and Seven Is...", "Little Red Book"

The Chambers Brothers - r&b rock. "Time Has Come Today"

The Creation - one hit wonders with "Makin' Time", the intro song to "Rushmore".

The 13th Floor Elevators with Roky Erickson - legendary Texas hard psychedelic rockers.
 
Worster, I'll mention "The Moving Sidewalks" and "Fever Tree" to accompany those you and Mesohorny listed.

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"Led Zeppelin" and "Pink Floyd" didn't get that much appreciation from me back when they were happening.

I saw Zep in concert in the late '60a, but overall I thought they were pretty masturbatory and overly derivative of the original blues artists (and songs) with whom I was already very familiar.

In concert, their musical chops were obviously great but the live sound seemed unsupported and thin to my ear.

I liked then much more when, in later years, I listened to all their recorded work.

With multiple guitar parts and more instrumentation, they sounded much better to me.

In the '60s and '70s I was playing dance music in cover bands and LZ didn't fulfill my needs.

"Pink Floyd" was another group whose music didn't fit my ear until I later critically listened to all they had recorded.

Then I came to fully appreciated their understated soulfulness and overall excellence.

My bad, but I was contented and very busy with Soul Music, the Top Forty British Invasion and American Rock and Roll.

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The Stooges to me always seemed like they should have been more popular. Today a few artists and musicians like to throw their name out there as being influential but it was rare to hear them on the radio or find someone that actually listened to them.
 
Lot's of generations represented here... that's good!

FF - good post. You are a go-to guy around here about music and movies. We had some similar experiences about Pink Floyd. I loved LZ's first 3 albums (still listen to them often today) but started losing interest after LZ III for some reason. I did not fully appreciate PF greatness until sometime in the 90's. Moving Sidewalks was a good choice for the list.

Cheers!
 
Jellyfish

"spilt milk" is the greatest album you've never heard.

beatles, queen, supertramp, all rolled into one.
 
3 Dog Nite never gets the love for what they meant to early 70's rock--Momma was allsome!! oh yeah, Priest laid foundation for metal in early 70's
 
I've always liked Warren Zevon and I had never heard of him until someone introduced me to his music in the 90s. I suppose he's probably too big time for this list.
 
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