My wife turned me on to Gustavo Cerati. He's from Argentina and used to be in Soda Stereo. The guy's last two solo albums were excellent alt-electronic-pop-rock. Singing in Spanish sure doesn't help, but at least his efforts aren't ignored in Latin countries.

Porcupine Tree

The Jam. Barely made a dent in the US. :(

I've just discovered two swedish bands that kick some serious indie ass, The Leslies and Acid House Kings.

Agreed. And Paul Weller should be a major artist on this side of the pond right now.

Considering how many bands out of NYC have made a career of being essentially Jam cover bands (I'm looking at you Rapture, Walkmen, French Kicks, Radio 4 et al), I think they have made it big.

In other news, my awful typo in this thread's title is bugging the hell out of me.

Definitely. Weller's last album, Illumination was amazing (not including last years Studio 150, his covers album). With a little bit of promotion it could have done good. Lack of promotion seems to be a common reason for most foreign bands not doing well in the US. Agreed about the Jam also, a lot of bands have the Jam to thank for helping to shape their sound.

The Tragically Hip

I don't think that the U.S. music industry (from record companies, to radio, to the ticket consortiums) want non-American artists to be successful over here, especially over the last five years or so.

apparently, I'm told, they're HUGE in Australia.

Matthew Good should also be big in the US, but he's specifically chosen not to cater to their version of the "music business". *shrug* works for me.

I always thought some of those bands were more like Gang of Four cover bands. It is odd how little the Jam made inroads in the U.S. All the more reason I was shocked the first time I heard Midnight Oil on top 40 radio.
Their lyrics are about as localized as the Jam and maybe even a weirder band.

At least for a brief time, it was easy to capitalize on Pete Garrett's physical characteristics, I guess. Also, I don't really think The Jam (or Weller) much cared to become popular in the US, while Midnight Oil might possibly have been interested in doing so.

I agree, those bands mentioned above sound more like Gang of Four than The Jam. It's probably no surprise to anyone that I've long been a huge fan of both bands.

This is the most ridiculous statement I've read on the 'net all week.

The US music industry is about ONE thing: MONEY. They want whatever artist to sell as much as they can so they can make money off them.

Didn't the Darkness just get a huge deal?

who?... ;) I thought their fifteen minutes were up.

I blame corporate radio, with directors of programming that couldn't find or impart good music if they were forcefed it (long live satellite radio).

Rory Gallagher

one of the best guitar players ever ,huge in his native country Ireland and most of europe .Unfortunately he died a while back never really making much of a dent in the US.

Definitely THE DISSOCIATIVES- I've been listening to their album tonight and it is amazing. They're brilliant. Also, Silverchair, who are just as amazing.

New band to bring into this thread: The UK's The Go! Team.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...dom/goteam.jpg

Just listened to their debut album and I dug it a lot.

MUSE !!! - uk band
LOST PROPHETS - uk band
Asian KungFu Generation - japanese band

Dream Theater. Yes, they are somewhat big, but they should be led zeppelin/U2 big.

EDIT: Just noticed the word "foreign" in the title. Was just thinking of bands big elsewhere who are ignored in america.

No kidding, they have quite an impressive catalog for a band known stateside for only one song. In fact, alot of their material is even better than the first album.

After they've had a single attached to Spider-man 2, their popularity stateside is growing. Not as big as they should be, but at least people are finding out about them.

Muse, how can a band that good and not sell records in the states?

What the hell?

(30 second clips from the first two songs from their "best of" album):

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v31028

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v31028

Ah, much more my style:

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v40210

My personal Spanish language bands are the Spanish bands Jarabe de Palo and Estopa. Jarabe de Palo is a modern rock band with, in my opinion, a 70's era sound:

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v10207

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v10207

My personal favorite CD of theirs is "Depende".

As for Estopa, they have a gypsy sound to them, my favorite recording by them is their self-titled CD.

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v10804

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v10804

Another Spanish Band that should have done well here is "la Oreja de Van Gogh" (a pop band from Spain, the CD I like of theirs is "El Viaje de Copperpot"):

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v11127

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/wm2/muz...asx?obj=v11127

here in DC, the most recent 9:30 show sold out the day the tickets went on sale... that in my opinion says to me that they have a pretty large stateside fanbase.

Essentially an all-star death metal side project that refuses to tour or divulge their identities (they go by aliases and wear disguises for publicity photos), Brujeria is led by Fear Factory members Dino Cazares (guitar) and Raymond Herrera (drums) and includes various members from Faith No More (Mike Patton), Down by Law, and Napalm Death, among others. Despite their unconventional career thus far, Brujeria has built a large fan base within the metal underground, issuing such albums as 1993's Matando Gueros, 1995's Raza Odiada, 2000's mini album Marijuana and Brujerizmo, and in 2001, the compilation Mextremist: Greatest Hits. Nick Barker (Dimmy Borgir, COF) plays drums on the two most recent albums.