Eeyore

Hum.

zak52

Cool band. I believe their drummer came from my pick Poster Children.

Andalusia

Great thread

The Kinks - Usually thought of (if thought of at all) as a second-tier British Invasion band, though they were around just as long as the Beatles and Stones and actually made an impact before The Who. Really, to think of them as the ones who wrote "You Really Got Me" and "Lola" would be missing out on a whole catalog full o' gems. I'd recommend "Face to Face" and "Arthur" (or even a greatest hits) to see what they're all about. I can't rave about Ray Davies enough!

The Jam - They were right there with the Sex Pistols, Clash, and the Damned as some of the first British punk bands. But The Jam were never really punk (aside from some early tunes) and Paul Weller turnd out to be the best songwriter (besides Elvis Costello) to come out of that era. I strongly suggest anyone curious to check out "All Mod Cons" and "Sound Affects" (or, again, a greatest hits). As for me, I'm such a big fan that I got the box set that's got every one of their songs. Can't say enough about this great band....

Monica Clinton

Another vote for Dream Theater.

Yancey

While neither band has that strong a presence in the U.S., Weller and Davies might as well be gods in the U.K. I'm a huge fan of both bands, but it's just on this side of the pond that they don't get their due from the public at large. I doubt you'd find many music journos to disagree with you though.

Gdrlv

This is exactly who I thought of when I saw this thread.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about music and mentioned that I thought the Kinks were the most underrated and underappreciated of the so-called "British Invasion" bands. She started laughing. Unfortunately, most people only think of the Kinks as the band that sang "Lola", "You Really Got Me" and (unfortunately) "All Day and All of the Night".

ziggy

This may seem absurd but:

Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Bob Marley is one of the greatest and most influential musicians I know of, yet anytime I see one of those top 100 of all time lists, Marley is never on it, or if he is he's only listed in the 50's or 60's of the 100.

Numanoid

As the "Great-grandfathers of Electronica"? Seriously, although Kraftwerk were a great influence on many artists (including Numan, Bowie, Ultravox, etc.), it took Gary Numan's hits "Are 'Friends' Electric" and "Cars" to bring the whole synthesizer sound to the mainstream. Before that, synths were either regarded as being weird German music (Kraftwerk), or noodlings in prog-rock bands such as Yes, ELO, ELP, Floyd, etc. (the distinguishing feature being that these bands used some synths as a background instrument - Numan composed entire songs on the synth and brought it out to the front of the stage, so to speak). Within a year after Numan hit, the charts were inundated with synth acts.

LoggJAw

ZAO

atlantamoi

Good call on the Kinks. In my early teens in the '70's the Kinks were on the radio just as much as Zep, Who, Stones and Beatles.
I automatically concluded they were up there with these other bands. It's weird to think that now they are almost ignored in comparison. That's an injustice. I mean, you can draw a direct line from the Kinks to Blur, etc. I really love their music.

I never thought of the Jam as underrated, but I think that is another good choice. I guess here in the States at least. Most of their songs dealt with British life (like the Kinks) so I guess that's a good reason they didn't become bigger. I really miss this kind of music!! I'm not fond of all of Weller's solo material, but I think "Wildwood" was a highlight in the 90's.

Mordred

Funny I just saw Kings X open for Dream Theater and Joe Satriani saturday night. Friends, that was one hell of a show (though the T-Shirt prices were a ridiculous $32!!!). See it by any means possible.

Anyways, I'd agree with Kings X being underrated (tho i'm not a huge fan or anything) but I'm not sure I'd include Dream Theater. Anybody who knows anything about Progressive Rock/Metal or just Metal in general knows who Dream Theater is and loves them. The fact that they get no airplay doesn't mean they're underrated, they've got tons of fans and their albums sell very well without radio/MTV support. They have a niche market though and they're the kings of it, whether the general public has heard of them or not. I don't know who the number one Hurdy-Gurdy player in the world is, but that doesn't mean he's underrated

If I wanted an underrated progressive metal band I'd list Symphony X. They aren't Dream Theater, but they deserve to at least be selling somewhere in their neighborhood.

Mordred

Lateralus

Seems like there are a lot of hidden gems here, I may have to check some of these out.

subbacultcha

Yup, the Kinks and the Jam are only under-appreciated over here, but unfortunately they are. But Creed sells, so it doesn't surprise me that Davies & Weller don't get their due....as a collective whole, American music taste is beyond sub-par (at least those who BUY records).

Hmmmm...... I'll go with another Brit Band......

Elastica.

But also, talking of specific records, The Dandy Warhols/Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia is the most underrated piece in years.

B.A.

Polvo (one of the premier indie bands of the '90s)

Badly Drawn Boy (I know he hasn't been around for too long, but he is terribly underrated)

thumbs up to those who previously mentioned the Poster Children and Hum

Andalusia

I'll second Elastica. Their first album didn't have a weak track on it. And in an album full of highlights, "Stutter" just took the cake. And have you ever seen the video? Friggin' brilliant, with every edit right on the beat.

But their second album was just plain ignored. What happened? Oh yeah, that type of music has fallen out of favor with the general public. A shame too, 'cause "The Menace" was a really great album. And didn't Justine break Elastica up? Hopefully she'll resurface with another band (with Donna Matthews).

BenFolds

Coldplay

jkcarter

[SOAPBOX]
Being a former bass player I've gotta put in my 2 cents about this and mention Larry Graham. LG almost single handed invented slap bass, without his late 60s work with Sly & The Family Stone there would be no Funk, Disco, Parliment, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rap Metal on & on. You name it.

Anytime any electric bass player in any style of music slaps or pops a bass string (Which even Geddy was doing a little of in the 80s) they owe that lick to Larry Graham. Now thats influence. It's a shame this guy is not only underrated but mostly unknown to younger bass players who use his style daily and are not even aware of it.

I won't even get started about the greatest Bass Player of them all Jaco Pastorius.
[/SOAPBOX]

The above statement is my humble opinion only, yours may vary.
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Mazinger

Three Dog Night

and also another pick for Dream Theater.

missglitz

BBMak may not be THE most underrated artist of all time, but they certainly are underrated. Unfortunately, they have always been lumped in with boybands such as Backstreet Boys, NSync, and O-Town. It certainly isn't right that this happens because BBMak write, produce, and play their own instruments, and they've been doing it from the very start.

I haven't heard harmonies as good as BBMak's in ages. If you haven't listened to their CD, or seen them live, I really suggest you do. Their new CD, Into Your Head, is fantastic, definitely more of a rock sound. Go check it out on August 27th.

Andalusia

Larry Graham is the man on bass. With Sly or with his own Central Station. Another underrated (and very unknown) bass player is James Jamerson. He's on almost every Motown classic you hear on the radio. "You Can't Hurry Love" is genius!

Captain Harlock

For me the one band that is vastly underated is Cheap Trick . Alot of people over look them but their first 4 albums, especially Heaven Tonight, are probably some of the best that were released in the 70's.

Rypro 525

i might try it out but all three together do sound like the boy bands together.

subbacultcha

mmmmm........Donna Matthews.......

I forgot about Jesus & Marychain. Everything is brilliant.

grunter

Yes . . . but . . .

Larry Graham is also almost single-handedly responsible for killing Prince's career. Before LG, Prince was a creative free spirit - brilliantly mashing out the funk grooves and sprinkling them with equal parts divinity and sexuality. Post LG, Prince became an "effed-up," "straight-laced" even by straight-laced people's standards, religious lap-dog, who no longer swears onstage (thereby negating nearly 1/2 of his early career output), who spouts incomprehensible religious fantasies at every appearance, and who won't be seen in public without LG being an arms-length away. Now Prince plays virtually nothing but flute-tinged "lite jazz," eschews his early hit-heavy catalog and was completely brainwashed by LG's Jehovah's Witness dogma (making Michael Jackson's recent charges of racism against Sony look positively sane and grounded).

In short, Larry Graham is evil.

Prince very much needs to divorce himself from LG's influence.

Like yesterday.

Yancey

If I had to choose, I would pick Larry Graham-era Family Stone over pre-LG Prince any day.