# Criminally underrated/ignored bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890 "2007-07-31T23:21:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/1 "2007-07-31T23:21:24Z")
I’ve just been listening to _The Crossing_ by **Big Country** , and it’s made me jump around and sing along. This made me think that are tons of bands (or just albums) that should have, or should have had, a wider audience. Some of the ones I can think of have been really influential and indeed are really well known, but I don’t think any one of them ever sold a lot. I’ll give some examples: \*Empires and Dance \*- _Simple Minds_ before they became the worst band in the world _Marquee Moon_ - **Television** _Sister Lovers_ - **Big Star** _High Land, Hard Rain_ - \*\*Aztec Camera \*\* _Treasure_ - **Cocteau Twins** _Forever Changes_ - **Love** _Sorry for Laughing_ - **Josef K** and there are some bands who were great singles artists _Singles Going Steady_ - **Buzzcocks** _Complete Madness_ - **Madness** _The Singles Collection_ - \*\*The Specials \*\* Anyway, what I’d like to ask is does anyone have any similar tips for bands/albums that are a bit neglected these days. I’ve got a hundred quid to spend on Amazon and I’m in a mood to spend. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/2 "2007-07-31T23:37:06Z")
XTC The Fixx ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/3 "2007-07-31T23:55:31Z")
Someone has to say it, but everything you listed is widely loved by critics and legitimate music fans, even if your average radio listener has never heard of it. It’s all GREAT stuff, too. I’m going to go out on a limb and list a few things that are truly criminally ignored - even among critics and people that think Television are so well known that they’re practically mainstream - artists that truly seem to be forgotten by even the people that should be trumpeting their genius. **Judee Sill** - early seventies laurel canyon singer/songwriter who did heroin and was into some weeeeeird gospel mysticism. Made two absolutely _amazing_ records before OD’ing. **Jackson C. Frank** - Cut from the same “suicide folk” mold as Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, and Bert Jansch, he was an english folk singer who made one incredibly dark record called _Blues run the game_. So good it’s astonishing that he’s not more well-known than the aforementioned guys. \*\* the Passage\*\* - “Pindrop” - the Passage were trying to be the American Joy Division in 1980, and their impersonation ended up on some completely other mutation that doesn’t really sound like JD much but has that same vibe. “Pindrop” is a great record, all washes of echo and clang over thudding drums and synths. It’s the equal of JD’s “Unknown Pleasures,” and literally NOBODY ever talks about it. \*\* Hackamore Brick\*\* - “one kiss leads to another” - Hackamore Brick came out of NYC in the beginning of 1970 doing something very similar to what the Velvet Underground were doing on “Loaded” - spiritual yet free-wheeling post-sixties rock music with an emphasis on killer ballads and flat vocals. This record was supposedly recorded in the same studio as “Loaded” or with the same producer or something - all I know is that it’s become a straight-up sister record to “Loaded” in my mind. In many ways, it also reminds me of Big Star’s first record, vacillating and oscillating between poppy, unthinking rave-ups with names like “Oh, those sweet bananas” and ridiculously gorgeous ballads like “Peace has come,” which sound like Lou Reed and Chris Bell sitting down together over a bottle of quaaludes. **Budgie** - especially their first, self-titled record - are so often overlooked that it’s truly criminal. People tend to think of them as one of many faceless Black Sabbath and Led Zep followers - and in many ways, they were, especially on their sludgy caveman stompers - but they always balanced it out with these unprecedentedly wispy and ethereal moments. “Everything in my heart” could be a Red House Painters song and presages the 4AD sound by almost two decades; coming on the heels of opening shredder “Guts,” it’s doubly effective. **Gong** - it’s hard to talk about Gong because, like their quasi-peers Magma and Amon Duul II, they changed so much from one album to the next that we’re left to describe them with general terms that paint the broad picture of what they were about. I think of Gong as the “fun version” of Can - they worked in the same breakbeat-fueled soundspace, re-interpreting funk, dub, and psychedelia through the lens of prog rock, dadaism, and krautrock. They made a million really GREAT records, and in fact are still doing so, but 1973’s [Angel’s Egg](http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jzfrxqqald0e) is my personal favorite. In every way that Can are paranoid, threatening, and Teutonic, Gong are jovial, fun, and hilariously Australian. Unlike Can, Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, etc., Gong don’t get namechecked as an influence by bands and are very neglected by critics. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/4 "2007-08-01T00:08:05Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] Someone has to say it, but everything you listed is widely loved by critics and legitimate music fans, even if your average radio listener has never heard of it. It’s all GREAT stuff, too. [/quote] Yeah, I know, but that was kind of my point. But.. > [@](#): > > **Gong** - it’s hard to talk about Gong because, like their quasi-peers Magma and Amon Duul II, they changed so much from one album to the next that we’re left to describe them with general terms that paint the broad picture of what they were about. I think of Gong as the “fun version” of Can - they worked in the same breakbeat-fueled soundspace, re-interpreting funk, dub, and psychedelia through the lens of prog rock, dadaism, and krautrock. They made a million really GREAT records, and in fact are still doing so, but 1973’s [Angel’s Egg](http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jzfrxqqald0e) is my personal favorite. In every way that Can are paranoid, threatening, and Teutonic, Gong are jovial, fun, and hilariously Australian. Unlike Can, Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, etc., Gong don’t get namechecked as an influence by bands and are very neglected by critics. I’ve just ordered _Gong in the '70s_. I think I’ll like them, seeing as I love Can and Neu. A recommendation to you is **Loop’s** \*Fade Out \*, which is kind of Can crossed with Spacemen 3. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/5 "2007-08-01T00:23:52Z")
**Paramore** - fun, punky pop. **The Vincent Black Shadow** - they’re sort of like… No Doubt, Blondie, Green Day and Evanescence thrown into a blender. **Blonde Redhead** - alt/indie rock. Check out their _Misery Is a Butterfly_ album. **I:Scintilla** - industrial rock. I really like Capsella Bursa Pastoris from their first album, _The Approach_. **Rachael Yamagata** - pop rock. **Tegan and Sara** indie pop/rock. Their '04 album, _So Jealous_ is definitely worth a look. Unknown? No. Underrated? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/6 "2007-08-01T00:44:46Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] \*Empires and Dance \*- _Simple Minds_ before they became the worst band in the world [/QUOTE] When are you postulating that this transition took place? ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/7 "2007-08-01T00:57:21Z")
[Arboretum](http://www.myspace.com/arbouretum) [Juju B Solomon](http://www.myspace.com/jujubsolomon) [David Karstan Daniels](http://www.myspace.com/davidkarstendaniels) These are not Tegan and Sara, Television, or Buzzcocks famous. Hell, I’ve played two of those bands on the radio in the last week. These are “I went to the show and the only other people there was the guy I brought with me” underrated. All are cool, good to talk to, etc. Go seem them if you can. (Also, Blitzen Trapper. They are great to hang out with, but I feel they’ll get pretty popular by their next album.) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/8 "2007-08-01T01:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] When are you postulating that this transition took place? [/QUOTE] At some point between _New Gold Dream_ and \*Sparkle in the Rain \* **Simple Minds** turned into fucking rotten bloat-rock. Perhaps they moved from trying to be _Roxy Music_ or _Kraftwerk_, and instead turned into U2-lite for the dumbo market. “Don’t you forget about me” aye right, ta-ta. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/9 "2007-08-01T01:22:02Z")
The Beta Band. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/10 "2007-08-01T01:24:40Z")
I could go on for pages and probably will eventually). [Emitt Rhodes](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/GBF/rhodes.htm) **Kak** – Nice little psychedelic rock band of the early 70s. One very good, underpromoted album. **Spirit** – Their **12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus** is one of the great albums. Tremendous musicians who were orphaned by their record company; **12 Dreams** came out after they had broken up, so it didn’t matter. Bad selection of singles, too. Got some fame recently as an early song seems to have been lifted directly as “Stairway to Heaven,” but they were much better than that. **McDonald and Giles** – nice little album by a couple of King Crimson alumni. **Van Dyck Parks** – “Song Cycle” blew me away when I first heard it. **Otis Taylor** – Blues musicians are always underappreciated, but Taylor is amazing. Intense, dark music. **The Roches** – Folk/jazz sister trio, with the best harmonies ever. **Soft Machine** – Terrific jazz/rock fusion pioneers. Their album “Third” is superb. **Raymond Scott** – Jazz composer of the 40s. He was connected with Warner Brothers cartoons (though they bought the songs; he didn’t compose them with cartoon in mind), so you’ve heard a lot of his work. “Powerhouse” still gets played all the time. **Harry Warren** – one of the greats of the American popular composers of the 30s. Everyone knows his songs: “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” “We’re In the Money,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “42nd Street,” “Lullabye of Broadway,” “Dames,” “That’s Amore!” “Ballad of Wyatt Earp.” Yet he is pretty much obscure; when they turned **42nd Street** into a Broadway musical in the 70s, his name wasn’t featured at all. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/11 "2007-08-01T01:34:55Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] The Beta Band. [/QUOTE] I agree, but I live a little too close to _The Beta Band_ for them to be that obscure. Mind, looking at my list upthread, that applies too. I will now attempt to sell six copies of _The Three Eps_ by the [Beta Band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbR2dEmHGc) . ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/12 "2007-08-01T01:38:37Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] The Beta Band. [/QUOTE] If you like _The Beta Band_, you should check out [The Bees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bees_(UK_band)). ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/13 "2007-08-01T01:48:50Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **Spirit** – Their **12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus** is one of the great albums. Tremendous musicians who were orphaned by their record company; **12 Dreams** came out after they had broken up, so it didn’t matter. Bad selection of singles, too. Got some fame recently as an early song seems to have been lifted directly as “Stairway to Heaven,” but they were much better than that. [/QUOTE] Ah good one, I have the self-titled album. Was it you who recommended _The United States of America_ in an earlier thread - if so thanks, if not well thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/14 "2007-08-01T01:49:41Z")
If you like singer/songwriters within the country music genre, try Shelby Lynne esp. _What about the love we made_. Roxie Dean wrote _I’m a Soldier’s Wife_ and my favorite: Charlie Robison; _Barlight_, actually anything by him. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/15 "2007-08-01T02:28:24Z")
The Gathering, during their long Anneke van Giersbergen era, which is sadly over now. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/16 "2007-08-01T02:42:45Z")
Go get some Jayhawks. And Hem. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminally-underrated-ignored-bands/413890/17 "2007-08-01T03:51:23Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] _Complete Madness_ - **Madness** [/QUOTE] As I understand it, Madness were quite successful in England, but in America are only known for “Our House” and maybe one or two others, which does indeed make them criminally ignored. Pretty much everything they’ve done is a joy to listen to. They’re in my personal Top 10 list, and I especially love _Keep Moving_ and _One Step Beyond_, which show the two sides of the band. [QUOTE=RealityChuck] Van Dyck Parks – “Song Cycle” blew me away when I first heard it. [/QUOTE] I was underwhelmed by “Song Cycle,” but I’m quite fond of his other stuff, including _Jump!_, _Tokyo Rose_, and _Orange Crate Art_ (which is a Van Dyke Parks album with Brian Wilson on lead vocals). Also on my Top 10 favorite bands list are a couple others that nobody’s ever heard of, to their great loss: **Something Fierce** - tremendously fun college pop/rock band that might have gone big if their singer/songwriter hadn’t been in a career-ending car accident. You’ve never heard them unless you lived in Minnesota in the late 80’s/early 90’s, or rented the minor Harry Connick/Sarah Jessica Parker movie “Life Without Dick,” or happened to catch Dr. Demento’s Christmas show where he played “Satan Claus.” But their college newspaper’s record critic called their second album “the most hook-filled piece of vinyl since _With the Beatles_,” and honestly, I can’t disagree. **Trip Shakespeare** - the earlier, and far more interesting, predecessors to Semisonic. Their album _Lulu_ is one of the albsolute great pop\* albums of all time (\*pop as in power-pop or pop/rock), and their earlier song “Toolmaster” is what I imagine Tenacious D would sound like if they were from Minnesota. **Daniel Amos** I have praised before, in threads on Christian Rock. They’ve released a number of brilliant albums that haven’t received anywhere near the attention they deserve, being too quirky and genre-hopping for either the Christian or secular markets. Unfortunately, all these “ignored” bands are out of print, which makes it hard to unignore them. I’d have to think harder to come up with unjustly ignored bands/albums that are still readily available. Maybe tomorrow…