B5Erik

There are a lot of bands who never hit it big who should have, but I think these guys were criminally overlooked by radio in the late 80's...

Jake E. Lee, Ray Gillen (R.I.P.), Eric Singer (and later, Jeff Martin), Greg Chaisson -

Badlands
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(The audio's just a little too "hot" on this one and it clips just a little - but it's a great song...)
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They released 3 albums - Badlands (Great album), Voodoo Highway (Brilliant album), and the posthumous Dusk (Very Good album). They managed to combine 70's Blues Rock with 80's tasteful Melodic Metal and some strong Funk influences to come up with a great style that is unmistakeable.

Jake E. Lee is a brilliant guitar player who makes it look so damned easy, Eric Singer is one of the best, Greg Chaisson is solid as hell on bass, and Ray Gillen - DAMN! What a voice!

These guys should have been a platinum selling band.

Giantrobo

I remember them mostly because i was a huge Jake Lee fan back then. To be honest, their music didn't really stand out all that much so it's not hard to figure out why they didn't become a bigger deal. Just my 2 cents.

EdTheRipper

I liked Dreams in the Dark but never got around to getting the cds.

B5Erik

The thing about Badlands is that musically they were a 70's band with 80's sensibilities. They were stripped down and raw sonically, but flawless musicians who played with great feeling. And Ray Gillen was an amazing vocalist with a soulful Hard Rock delivery somewhere between Robert Plant and Paul Rogers.

Their first album, Badlands was absolutely great - very Zeppelin meets Jake era Ozzy with some Bad Company and just a little Black Sabbath thrown in, but the second album, Voodoo Highway, was absolutely brilliant in combining those influences with 70's funk and even more southern blues than the first album. Not a single track on Voodoo Highway is less than great. But the record company didn't push it very hard and it died on the charts. Ironically, the local Rock station in San Diego actually started playing one of the tracks on a regular rotation A YEAR after the album came out. (They played it once by request and the floodgates of calls came in - prompting them to add it to their regular playlist - too little, too late, though.)

But Badlands still has a loyal following to this day - relatively small, but VERY fervent.

nodeerforamonth

Three come to my mind immediately.

The Wildhearts (well they're not big in the States)

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the Supersuckers

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The Hellacopters

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