Your 'most underrated' band(s)

Octahedron

I think we know where this is going to go. 

Who do you think is seriously underrated? Been around for a while, made a number of albums, had some highs and lows, but ultimately underrated?

For me it's gotta be Stereophonics. I don't love every single song that they've ever made but they've got a good, consistent career that they built. 

Their last few albums including Keep the Village Alive, Graffiti on the Train, Pull the Pin and Language Sex Violence Other? have been varied, and full of great songs but a lot of what they've done has largely fallen under the radar.

Similarly, Supergrass. Been around for a while. Made a number of albums, but seem to have slipped through the cracks a bit. Recently got a bit more into them by picking up some of their albums on the cheap.

Vaiai

Kings X sprang immediately to mind - huge sound for a 3 pc and each musician is just brilliant.

nick79

Volbeat for me. They've done a few albums now, supported Metallica a few times and played the big festivals but no one i know has heard of them. Excellent musicians, especially Rob Caggiano (ex Anthrax). His playing blows me away. 

Vaiai

The heavy groove side
The great riffs and harmoies

The other guys sing too. 

Ty Tabor is also an underrated guitarist - plays some incredible chord voicings and riffs and his lead work is fantastic

Gassage

Talk Talk
Squeeze
Crowded House.

And 3 of the best live bands ever.

stimpsonslostson

Rush. I KNOW they're huge in certain circles, but generally they're unknown & utterly brilliant.

Blink 182. Seen as a joke band due to their "humourous" singles, but look past that & you find great song writing and very solid playing (especially from Travis Barker) throughout their catalogue.

McFly. Similar to Blink: dismissed as a gimmick/manufactured band and yet great catchy tunes well played.

underdog

Pearl Jam, made consistently great albums for more than 20 years, constantly touring, live performances are regular, always different and around 3 hours long. Great songs written by amazingly talented musicians, with often amazing lyrics and always trying to be the best they can.

Most people just wanted more Jeremy and Alive

lustycourtier

The living end for me. Went off the boil tbh, but early 00s, consistently brilliant. I'll also give a shout out to a guy I work with sometimes Ian prowse of Amsterdam/Pele. 25 years of great songwriting, and hit singles yet still sometimes playing gigs to 15 people with an 8 piece band.

axisus

Dada - great catchy songs and some lovely guitar playing. Love this record, great outro on the guitar!

Gassage

axisus said:

Dada - great catchy songs and some lovely guitar playing. Love this record, great outro on the guitar!

100% with you. I saw them supporting Crowded House c. 95 and they were bloody immense.

Michael Gurley is a brilliant player.

My fave Dada track

StanleyAccrington

Big Country. Lindisfarne.

mudslide73

I usually say "Warrior Soul" at this point, so I'll say it again. They happened just before Grunge so got washed away by Nirvana etc. I really loved their eponymous debut.

JookyChap

@Gassage said:

Talk Talk
Squeeze
Crowded House.

And 3 of the best live bands ever.

Got to agree with all three of those. Fantastic songwriters all, but then you have Spirit of Eden which is on another level in a different galaxy. 

Speaking of which - Galaxie 500 were rather awesome, only got to see them once (supporting the Sundays of all people) and they just exploded in a totally minimal way (I know, hard to visualise).

Otherwise, I offer you Japan - should be lauded in the way the Velvet Underground are, but I never hear them mentioned at all.

Iamnobody

The Beatles - those four young men slipped under everyone's radar...

Seriously - indie outsiders Ultrasound. They came to the party late in 97/98 and suffered with their image; and a protracted first album didn't live up to expectation.

They never get mentioned in any 90's music conversations but do have a third album coming out soon.

I remember these Jools performances had an impact on me at the time:





Now I've written this post I've come to the conclusion that rather than being underrated this band simply underachieved. They should have done more...

Talking of 90's indie - Mansun should get more recognition.

Philly_Q

Good calls on King's X and Warrior Soul.  Sticking to that same period, I'd add Living Colour, and a couple of great "never were" bands, Galactic Cowboys and Saigon Kick.  Maybe even Extreme.

Personal opinion, but I think they all made the same "mistake" - inadvertently! - of being too good early in their careers and not maintaining the quality later on.  

There were other factors, of course - they were all, to a degree, killed by Grunge like everyone else around 1991.  King's X fell out with their producer/manager and lost their major label deal, that didn't help, but I do think the quality tailed off after the first four or five albums.  Kory Clarke said his "job was done" when Clinton got elected(!), dumped the politics and became a moronic party animal.  Extreme disappeared up their own arses with "III Sides".  I don't know what went wrong with Living Colour.

In a way I'd say most of the bands I like are underrated.  Hard rock and metal bands can be extremely successful for decades but they almost never cross into the pubic consciousness.

stickyfiddle

The Envy Corps.

Gassage

Just re the Crowdies, this is just what it is all about.

The greatest pop song ever written (IMO) by my fave songwriter of all time.

Just wow wow wow.

Nunogilberto

Extreme
Mr Big
Skin
Thunder

And all those other post-hair metal, pre-grunge bands who were casually tossed away by their record labels when Seattle became the buzz word of 1991...

thecolourbox

Cold War Kids for me...






That guitar tone!!! Love the dirty bluesy sound to it all as well

richh

Strangelove.

Never heard of them?  Check our 'time for the rest of your life' - broke up a long time ago, never really got much / any success.

Interesting how it is pointed out above that an absolutely amazing band like Rush is just not known to the vast majority of people.  The huge majority of their fans are male, and 'of a certain' age.  Tragic to think that in 40 years they may be forgotten.

octatonic

The Tea Party

Big Wreck