Well, the beggining of the post-Gabriel and even more important, post-Hackett period wasn’t so bad. But after a while they became the Phil Colins band and after that they were even worse than Phil. And then there was Calling All Stations.
But yeah, I miss prancin’ dancin’ Gabriel and I think they “sold out”. I don’t think that selling out is necessarily bad but in their case it led to awfull, derivative, boring music.
I’d pick Jimmie Lunceford, Charlie Barnett, or some of the groups that played big band bop as underrated bands of that era, Davebear.
I may be alone in this opinion, but I always thought that The Little River Band kinda got pushed off to the side after a few top 40 hits. I wouldn’t call them the MOST underrated, but I think they were considerably underrated. Their music was pretty much in tune with the times (late 70s) and I would have liked to hear how they would have evolved through the years.
I’m going to recommend a band that most of the people on these boards have never heard of (save for Chicago-area Dopers, maybe). While to say that they’re the most underrated band of all time would be an overstatement, they are severely underrated. I learn from surfing around the 'net that at least one of the men is now eeking out a living playing in dives in Chicago.
I speak of Aliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah, a quintessential 70’s hippie-rock band. Because they’re from Illinois, they get a fair amount of airplay on classic rock stations around these parts. They could have been great.
Their one “big” album, Lake Shore Drive, has the single of the same name that has just about every ‘70’s hippie-rock cliché imaginable. They’ve got oblique drug references ("Runnin’ south on LSD, Friday-night trouble bound" (“LSD” in this case also means “Lake Shore Drive”)); feel-good philosophy ("…just you and your mind and Lake Shore Drive, tomorrow is another day"); and heartfelt references to the band’s home (“There’s a road I’d like to tell you 'bout, and it’s in my hometown”).
Other songs on the album include a fun drug anthem with the sample lyric “Uppers and downers is bad for you; it ain’t like drinkin’ wine,” and For Eddie, a touching dittie about a one-armed piano player ("…he played better with one hand than most men with two"). Throughout the album is good harmony and bitchin’ piano.
All in all, a better-than-average '70’s band that should have been much bigger than they ever were. 
If we really mean “Most underrated bands that we’ve probably all heard of anyway,” I second (actually, I think it’s fifth at this point) XTC and would like to add The BoDeans as well.
The most underrated band that I know of personally is a Texas local band called Ten Hands. Great stuff.
The most tragically underrated individual artist is (IMNSHO) Marshall Crenshaw. Why he’s not at least as big as Springsteen I simply do not understand . . .
Yes!
Also Renaissance, The Poozies, Fairport Convention and also my all time favorite acquired taste - the truly underrated Incredible String Band.
Yeah, I know, I’m old - but they’re still great! 
Okay, so if I posted these before you can tell me!
Stupid smartass me. I point out there’s numerous boards on the topic just to remember some. :o While not the most underated bands in the world, Spoon, Pedro the Lion, and Guided By Voices deserve more attention. Ask Kantalooppi about who I named last time. 
vasyachkin, can you at least name some bands? (not intended as a flame)
Great call on the BoDeans. Except for the “Party of Five” themesong virtually no one I know has heard of them (and even though they know by sound the PoF song, they don’t know who sung it).
Great band. Great, great band.
Gonna have to toss my vote to The Catherine Wheel who released five of the most potent and musically brilliant albums of the 90’s. A band that was loved by other bands and people in the know but grossly mishandled by Mercury Records.
my second choice would be the Chameleons (uk).
Exactly. Bands/artists like The Pixies (forgot who mentioned them) don’t get mainstream attention at all, but that doesn’t make them underrated – it makes them as well-known as other bands of the genre. Everyone I know who’s remotely interested in indie or punk knows who they are. A band is only underrated when the people who should know who they are don’t know it. I wouldn’t really call Tom Waits, Wilco, Alice in Chains, Warren Zevon etc. underrated, for that reason.
That being said, I’ll second Can and add Plastic People of the Universe, The United States of America and Love. omg hot hot underrated action!!!
I’m gonna have to go with Prong. They pretty much set the stage for all of this nu-metal bs that’s so popular these days. Except they did it better and a hell of a lot more creatively. Tommy victor could unleash an anger and fury on himself and the world that everyone can relate to, unlike the current crop who write anthems of hate for teenage boys who don’t even know why they’re angry at everyone and everything.
Also, Bad Brains were colossally underrated. They almost single-handedly created another sub-genre of music: hardcore. Another band that somebody already mentioned (Sublime) desperately wanted to be like the Bad Brains with their mix of reggae and punk. Besides, how many other bands had thier singer record a song over the phone while he was locked up in jail? They, like Prong, have influenced almost every band that set forth on the course that they first sailed.
I’m just waiting for someone to come along and prove you wrong.
If we’re talking live bands the greatest one with the least recognition is Cowboy Mouth, without a doubt. Half rock and roll, half old-time revival. If you don’t come out of a CM show knowing you’re better than when you went in you went paying attention.
AHHH!, a prog fan, now I can put up my list:
Can (too cool for words)
Gong (trippy beyond description)
FM (Canada, ELO on light phsycadelics)
Hawkwind (ELO on light downers)
Synergy (Larry Fast rocks HARD!)
unclviny (who might be the worlds biggest King Crimson fan)
Hmm, for some strange reason I completely agree… go figure:rolleyes:
My Generation (ouch) keeps getting stretchier: Mott the Hoople and the Jim Carroll Band.
–Alan Q
Kayak (a Dutch symphonic rock band). Most. Underrated. Ever.
Wasn’t it Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life?