Discussions
Most Underrated Bands and Musicians
Posted by flamingpoodle • 10/17/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: bands, discussion, music, musicians
In response to this thread:
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/most-overated-musician-or-band
Quite a few interesting picks of overrated bands and musicians.
Now how about the most underrated bands and musicians?
I'd say:
The Troggs and The Kinks, both contemporaries of the Beatles who somehow got lost in the whole Beatlemania thing.
Paul Westerberg and the Replacements, who failed to really break into the mainstream because they were too wasted. Paul is actually a very talented songwriter.
King Crimson, because they might just be the best band in existence, whichever way you look at it.
Deicide, whose anti-religious stance detracts from the fact that drummer Steve Asheim writes some highly technical music.
Soundgarden, whose syncopated rhythms and tight riffage made them far too technical in the era of Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Morbid Angel, who are contemporaries of Metallica and would never, ever, ever bare their souls on a reality-TV type mockumentary. Their music is structurally inspired by Mozart and Bach.
Jeff Beck, who can rock out with the best of them and then go and record some intricately delicate acoustic guitar for Seal.
Chuck Schuldiner, who was a prodigy and whose work with Death rarely gets acknowledged by the Slipknot crowd.
Frank Zappa, because you can't overrate genius.
User Comments
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Psychotic Pineapple! -
Freedy Johnson, Timmy T, Sepultura, the Unseen ( i love them), Powerman 5000, Cradle of Filth (their remake of Hallowed Be thy name puts the original to shame)-
Blasphemy! Well, I tend to agree with the CoF cover. But it is still blasphemy!
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Zydeco, as a genre. Bobby McFerrin - so many people never got past Don't Worry, Be Happy and are the poorer for it. Michelle Shocked, who has a terrific voice and a great sense of humor. Dang, I've gotta go. I'll post more later.-
Yes, Bobby McFerrin is a one hit wonder and that is such a shame.
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Me!! -
Griffin House, a virtual unknown, also love Landon Pigg amazing such great origional stuff can come out of kids in their early 20's....Matt Kearney awesome! -
I'm probably older than most everyone here. I don't mind saying I 57 yrs old, started playing guitar when I was 10. I spent over 25 years on the road playing every honky tonk and juke joint in the South and up and down the East coast.
The most underrated musicians I've heard are mainly the ones that didn't make it in the music business. Especially now days, image is more important than talent.
Growing up in the Mississippi Delta in the 50's and 60's I was exposed to alot of blues and grassroots music and musicians. I guess you could say I was "country before country was cool". I remember a friend of mine (Jerry Brown) who was experimenting with Hendrix sounding tunes before anyone had ever heard of Hendrix.
Through all my years of playing and listening to music I've learned to appreciate many genre's of music. There is so much great music that has been recorded that 99% of the people have never heard. So here goes.....
Milton Brownie - A fantastic jazz swing band from the 40's. Bob Wills was the most notable band from that era and Milton mainly drew attention from other musicians.
Danny Gatton - Probably one of the greatest guitar player's ever. Danny playing was over the head of most listeners but had total respect from his peers. Danny committed suicide about 10 years ago.
Hollywood Fats - The blackest white guy I've ever heard play guitar.
Leon Rhodes - Leon played with the Ernest Tubb Band (The Troubadours) a great great jazz player that played in a country band.
Freddie King - BB King and Albert King are household names, Freddie never received the recognition he deserved.
David "Fathead" Newman - The great alto sax behind the genius Ray Charles.
My time has run out, gotta cut out from work.-
"The most underrated musicians I've heard are mainly the ones that didn't make it in the music business. "
I don't think it could of been said any better. One thing that I found amazing is how many songs that are either covers of lesser known bands or pretty much have stolen/borrowed parts from lesser known songs.
Now it's pretty common with the top 100 of today but I didn't expect that it was just as bad decades ago.
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Hanson.
Hands down. Because MMMMBop is what it's all about.-
You ever notice that when people sing karaoke, they don't always sing songs that they'd normally listen to - they sing Hanson, and "It's Raining Men" (guilty), but it's probably because it's a way for them to sing a song which they truthfully LOVE, and sing it hidden behind the guise of their 'parody'. Okay, that's just me? Forget you guys.
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love me some mmmmmmmmmmbop, they are old now married and kids and all ,well at least two of em
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Yes, the little one's voice broke and that derailed their meteoric rise to fame.
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I thought the hokey pokey was what it's all about.
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krs1 -
moi -
I have another one: Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
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Just like I thought The Police would be big someday after Reggatta de Blanc ... I think these bands should be bigger than they seem to be today
B-52's
Dream Theater
Harlequinn
Jane's Addiction
Medieval Babes
Porcupine Tree
Royal City
Queen City Kids
Rye Coalition
Sensational Alex Harvey Band
The Pumps
The The-
Medieval Babes is gorgeous!
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Jane's Addiction definitely belongs in this thread.
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Porcupine Tree too. Amazing band for me, but some of my prog lover friends think they're too soft. I don't know, I really like them. And I'm a metal head..
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I vote for King Crimson -
Decan blue
Fightstar
Cheeky girls.lol? -
Ok cheeky girls also...
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lol
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This is a complex question, how to rate musicians, what is the criteria?
Does it mean that if they are not famous that they are underated?
Does it mean that if they a good players but are not recognised as equals to lesser musicians that had better marketing, that they should be?
Ther are players that a technically great but are quite aweful to listen to.
Many of the following having followings in there specific fields
Acoustic Guitarists:
Ansgar Dalken from Germany is exceptional
Pierre Bensusan based in France, but he is rated highly by people know what he is doing?
Michael Hedges (the late) was probably one of the most influential players in redirecting contemporary acoustic guitar.
Egberto Gismonti from Brazil is extraordinary.
Ralph Towner - American Nylon string contemporary jazz
World (ethnic) musicians:
Ali Akbar Khan (the late) recognised by Yehudi Menhuin as the worlds greatest musician
Shiva Kumar Sharma the Santoor player from India
Anouar Brahem the Oud player from Tunisia
vishwan Mohan Bhatt
Harry Manx the Canadian Blues and Indian music guitar/mOHAN vINA PLAYER
Electric Guitarists:
Martin Taylor - jazz guitar
Ed Bickert (the late) - Jazz Guitar
Ike Isaacs - Jazz guitar
Robben Ford
Jimmy Johnson - Chicago Blues
James Vincent - electric guitarist
SINGERS:
MILTON NASCIMENTO - Brazil ( famous there)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (the late) - famous in Asia
Jimmie Spheeris (the late) - You've got to hear Ports of the Heart
Ned Doheny - Hard Candy ( why this album wasn't famous is beyond me)
David Grisman - Mandolin
My blogs cover great guitarists
acousticguitarist.wordpress.com
the-guitarplayer.com
electricguitarist.net-
This is a complex question, how to rate musicians, what is the criteria?
You're allowed to use your own criteria. It's just a discussion.
Likewise, you can use your own discretion for determining whether they are over or underrated too.
Robben Ford is phenomenal.
Pentangle would also make my list of underrated bands. Bert Jansch is also underrated as a guitarist. -
Thanks Flame
I wasn't quite sure how to approach this
But it's always nice to recommend players that I like
I saw Jansch play, he went on before John Martyn one concert, I like his playing but prefer Renbourn
I had Robben Fords first album over 20 years ago, I find it incredible how far he's gone.
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I rarely hear anything about Morphine, despite their having been around for nearly 20 years. They've got a distinctive and fun sound - sorry AG, no guitars.
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Yes, that's a good one. Very unique band that deserves more attention.
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Blue Öyster Cult!
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Ooh, Imaginos...
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Lita Ford was also terribly under rated
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Great guitarist and accomplished songwriter. She's a hunny too. Lives with her hubby Jim Gillette on their island now. Speaking of Jim, his former band Nitro is also underrated
Jim Gillette had a 6 octave range voice and cracked glass with his voice.
Guitarist Michael Angelo Batio is the fastest shredder alive.
One of their drummers, Bobby Rock, is credited with recording the first commercial example of blast beats (album: O.F.R, track: "Machine Gunn Eddie").
Let's just say they were a sign of the times.
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RUUUSHHHH-
I agree. One of the world's hardest working bands. Once you get past Geddy Lee's Mickey Mouse impersonation vocals, they're awesome.
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Mike Doughty
Rilo Kiley -
Jason Becker. He was a prodigy of a guitarist who took root in the neo-classical metal scene. After a stint with Marty Friedman (of Megadeth fame) in Cacophony, he became the touring guitarist of David Lee Roth replacing Steve Vai. Some big shoes to fill. Unfortunately, Becker suffers from ALS, a degenerative disease. He is currently in a wheelchair and can't play guitar any longer, but he still records music on a computer. Many guitar heroes (like Eddie van Halen) made friends with Jason and recorded with him to raise funds for Jason's treatment.
You can listen to some Jason Becker here:
www.last.fm/music/Jason+Becker -
hmm.. megadeth? cause everyone cheers metallica, though deth's always made more technical, true metal music! and dave mustaine is a pure musical genius!-
Yes! Megadeth is really, really good. Dave always has some serious musicians backing him too.
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I think what impresses me also is Dave FINDING all the musicians that have backed him over the years. Dude did some SERIOUS hiring...lol -
lol. but really, megadeth's one of the few bands that hav stayed true to its roots and played true metal music. also, they're one of the few that hav really stood up to say "f*** you UN, this is what is wrong with you!"
oh btw, Dave's my idol (minus the ego!) -
He did it again, with Chris Broderick. I hate that guy. He's too good.
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Magnetic Fields - Stephin Merritt is awesome! Listen to "Yeah, Oh Yeah" Good stuff. -
I will have to give a vote for Deicide.
I am also going to have to say the older days of G.W.A.R., especially the "America Must Be Destroyed" album. there musical arrangement was awesome.
My last would be Coven, particulary the album "Blessed Is The Black". One of the true early speed/death metal albums. (If anyone knows how I could get a CD of that album, contact me please!!!!!)-
G.W.A.R rules!! I haven't heard any of that Coven in a while. I do have a compilation LP with 2 of their songs on.
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If you want to write about your favorite band (sign or unsigned) or generally any other music topic and get backlinks for it. I have a new music only article directory at theotherblog.net/freeonlinemusicarticles/ -
The Roots!-
I agree, even though they're rap. They're actually really playing drums. That makes them underrated for a rap group already..
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So many, The Presets, Robots in Disguise, Crystal Castles..
www.last.fm/music/Robots+in+Disguise-
www.last.fm/music/The+Presets If you're interested, it's also worth checking these out:
www.last.fm/music/Frank+Turner
And check out Crystal Castles' Myspace if you're into electrothrash -
I've only listened to one Frank Turner song so far, but I'm definitely impressed. I wonder how many people get the Prufrock reference, though. Or how many of them are running off to Google to figure it out.
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I always liked Michael Penn-- doesn't have a ton of albums, but some really clever, catchy songwriting. Hardly anyone has heard of him, aside from one hit he had in the late 80s early 90s. -
ummmm, Wolf Mother...
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The Lawrence Welk Band...boy!!! they could jam.
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It's true. Sheesh, use an accordion regularly and people insist on labeling you.
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Links, people! What, do I have to do all the work myself?! I'm checking these folks out (except Wolf Mother, with whom I am already familiar. They're certainly identifiable, if not favorites of mine.)
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Also, Wolfmother www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKPPnGsdh0A &
Priestess www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdWGIJX2_14 -
Ill Niño. These guys are good and still nobody knows them. -
Definitely would have to be Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. "Delaney and Bonnie and Friends" were joined by legendary musicians. Members included: Dave Mason, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Bobby Whitlock, Leon Russell, Carl Radle, and Rita Coolidge - just to name a few.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D32Mlz3HdvU-
That's pretty impressive.
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