Who do you think is the most underrated musical artist/band of the modern era?
(It should be someone who the vast majority of us have probably never even heard of.)
If you can link to a song of theirs on YouTube, all the better…
The Meters (and then later the Neville Brothers) should be household names, but thankfully among their professional musician peers The Meters in particular are indeed rightfully revered for the groundbreaking “New Orleans Uptown Funk” genre that they created and nurtured.
There is a reason why Art Neville will always and forever be a cherished part of Crescent City music & culture. His original songs have been played live somewhere in the French Quarter every day for the past 30 years, and that will be certain to continue for as long as music rings out over the city of New Orleans.
RIP, Art.
“Underrated” always brings up the question, “by whom?”
There are plenty of artists and bands that never gained much of a popular following, but received plenty of recognition from either the critics, or aficionados of their genre of music, or both.
This is a band I worked for a few hundred years ago. The lead guitarist was my first guitar teacher.
Fans realize he is a fantastic and amazingly versatile guitar player with literally hundreds of albums, but I’d bet few others have ever heard of Buckethead.
I thinkWalter Troutis underappreciated. IME, other than guitar aficionados, few (in the US) have even heard of him.
I’ll nominate The Monks, who were an elemental force of nature vastly underappreciated in their or any other time.
No one ever approached the primitive longing of “Oh, How To Do Now” - at least, not since Dale Hawkins recorded “Susie Q”.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Oh, how to do now.
Well, I been waiting a long long long time.
Well, I’m gonna make you you you you mine.
Well, I don’t know how how how how to say.
Well, I’m gonna make you you you you mine today.
That will do that will do that will do.
You probably have heard of him but I think Robin Trower is under appreciated:
A good opportunity to plug my favorite band nobody ever heard about (at least in the USA), Norway’s national treasure Motorpsycho. They are popular in Norway and have a loyal base of followers all over Europe, but merely as a cult act, they never had a chart hit anywhere than in Norway as far as I know. But they are relentlessly touring and have a vast record output over the last 30 years of about 60 releases including all LPs, EPs, live albums and compilations. Think of them as an hybrid of prog, heavy metal, hard rock and acid rock, with traces of country rock, westcoast rock and even jazz sometimes, a very eclectic band with a mighty power trio sound and sometimes >30 minute epics, but also masters of the short pop song. One of the best rock bands of the world of the last 30 years IMHO, and they are still getting better with every new album after all this time.
A good introduction is the the samplerSupersonic Scientists (whole album as youtube playlist).
Here are some sample songs:
Starhammer (hold on, the intro is long and quiet)
Vortex Surfer (in a way their signature song)
Lacuna/Sunrise (the best Pink Floyd song Pink Floyd never recorded)
Spirit. Four excellent albums, including one of the best of all time: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. Here’s how it starts out.
Never really caught on because their record company wasn’t interested in promoting them.
I have played music for my entire adult life, been in bands and am currently in one, been in the scene, and am constantly around serious music people and talk to them about music and I CANNOT BELIEVE how many of them have NEVER heard of XTC. XTC! One of the most consistently interesting and talented bands currently in existence, with a LONG discography, and they’ve never heard of them! I can’t believe it. To me, that makes XTC my number one most underrated band in the sense that so many people seem totally unaware of their existence!
Good pick!
Well, I’ve Got A Line On You got a lot of airplay.
And Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus was all over college radio stations… and my dorm. The song “Nature’s Way” was an anthem for my freshman year.
And here’s an amazing cover. By a duo that should be world-famous: Rodrigo y Gabriela. They did this with Øystein Greni, frontman for Norway’s band Bigbang, another contender for this thread.
A seminal influence on Mark E. Smith and The Fall
The original version of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, the one with Al Kooper on organ, the one that did The Child is Father to the Man.
Big Bill Broozny
The fusion bands Dreams and Stuff
Laura Nyro
Saw Walter Trout play with a band called Supersonic Blues Machine that featured him, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and Robben Ford in 2016 at the Holland International Blues Festival held outside of Groningen, when they were opening up for Tedeschi Trucks Band and Bonnie Raitt.
They said it was the first time that particular lineup had played together, which was clear to anyone with two ears. I was surprised that for a large international festival appearance they seemingly didn’t bother to practice, but it was still OK, but nothing to write home about.
The first name that came to mind when I saw this thread, and the first name my wife said, was Robin Trower. (Note: In the video, he’s the guy player lead guitar, not the singer, who’s a damn good bassist himself.) His first three solo albums after he split from Procol Harum all went Top-10, cuminating in his 1976 live album, one of the best live albums of the time, which got quite a bit of radio play. Yet for some odd reason, “Album-Oriented Rock” radio never really stuck with him after that, and without much radio play, he slipped out of the public mind. His later studio albums are first-rate but didn’t sell all that well.
Yeah, that is pretty surprising. They get reasonably regular airplay on some of the stations here in Chicago (93.1 WXRT is the main one I’m thinking of, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard them elsewhere. Looking at their playlist, “Senses Working Overtime” was played as recently as 10 hours ago.) Among my music-afficianado friends, they’re known (but we all have many common influences), but among casual listeners, they don’t have as much name recognition as they should.
I would definitely agree that they are overall under-rated.
Scottish band Trashcan Sinatras have been producing peerless guitar pop since 1990. Every few years they release another set of gems to critical acclaim and no market response at all. However they have enough keen fans to continually tour - they are stateside again in October.
I recall talking to 2 Scottish contractors at work a few years ago. When conversation turned to music and Scottish bands I mentioned the Sinatras and they had never heard of them. I was horrified.
Obscurity Knocks their one hit was prophetic.
Cool! Never heard of these guys, and this stuff is totally up my alley! Thanks!