Surely everyone has a band or artist (or bands or artists) that they loved and thought had every chance of obliterating their competition and reigning as a major musical force for many years, if not decades, only to have them disappear off the face of the map overnight. I have a few, but in the interests of brevity, I'll focus on one, since they've really began to re-occupy my attentions recently, and that's Jesus Jones. This techno-rock fusion band of the late '80s/early '90s released three back-to-back powerhouse releases (admittedly only one of which was a chart success) without (IMO) a single bad track. They were just a blast of an electronic and acoustic merger that I don't feel any other band has handled as adeptly. Frankly, in 1992-1993, I thought the musical landscape would now belong to them and then, just like that *snap*, their 3rd album, PERVERSE, tanked and they disappeared for four long years before eking out under the radar the extremely lackluster (but humourously titled in light of suffering fans like myself) ALREADY. Again several years passed before we received the similarly unnoticed (though, I hear, improved--I don't own them yet) LONDON and CULTURE VULTURE EP. At this point, though they're still in the game, Jesus Jones is a musical non-entity to all but its most fervent fans. I find this criminal because, at least in light of those first three albums, this group had, and hopefully still has, the talent and uniqueness to be a true musical force with which to be reckoned and it saddens me that they likely will never get a second chance to return to the level of mass recognition and appreciation they enjoyed back in the days of "Right Here, Right Now"...

Anyone one else have any great bands cut down from their rightful place reigning the charts they care to lament?

P.S.: If I focused on rap, rather than rock, my vote would easily go to Public Enemy; oh Chuck D., where are you when we need you most???

If I understand the thread correctly:

The Stone Roses

Their debut is one of the greatest albums of all time, subsequent singles like "One Love and "Fools Gold" were fantastic, then they wait years to release a mediocre follow-up album and then break up.

The thread title says it all--you understood it correctly.

Slint: one great, incredibly influential album and done (I think they reformed recently, though). Bands like Franz Ferdinand and Interpol owe these guys a lot and yet noone's heard of them.

Mission of Burma: wrote the rules on how to be a loud indie guitar band in the early eighties, also recently reformed and now getting their props.

Black Sheep: released one classic "Native Tongues" rap album... where are they now?

The La's: the definitive basket-case band. Their (sole album) debut basically started modern Brit pop and remains the genre's best album (IMO).

Swervedriver: three great albums (Raise, Mezcalhead, Ejector Seat Reservation) one good one (99th Dream) and no respect from anyone. Mezcalhead is simply one of the best albums of the ninties (it's also very accessible and catchy) and very few people bought it.

...etc.

Black Sheep was great.

That's what I was going to say. The self-titled is an incredible debut album. Second coming is flawed, but to quote Shawn of the Dead, "I liked it."

Men At Work.








Stop laughing at me.
















I mean it.













Honest.

Men at Work, yes! Awesome pick, and I agree completely...I thought CARGO was actually a better album than BUSINESS AS USUAL but, bewilderingly, it ushered in their exit...

soul coughing

Slint's a great band! I thought they had two releases, though: "Tweez" and "Spiderland".

Anyway, I'll nominate Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine.

Failure



One of my favorite albums (and bands) of all time, yet practically no one has heard of them.

The New Radicals.

Anyone ever hear Thermadore? They had a single great album (Monkey on Rico) and that was it, as far as I know.

For Squirrels. But that won't happen, they got into an accident after a show (I think their CD Release party) and the singer was killed ) But the band lives/lived as Subrosa, but for a short time only.

I'd love to see XTC enjoy some sort of commercial success, especially since I think their past 3 albums have been some of their best work...not something you can often say for a band that's been around as long as they have.

As far as short-lived bands go, my number one choice would be Jellyfish, who disbanded over a decade ago, yet I still listen to their two albums on a weekly basis, and the 4-disc Fan Club box set is in heavy rotation too. I play that dog.'s last two albums (I've yet to pick up their eponymous debut) extremely frequently too, and I wish they would've put out another CD or two. Would've liked to hear more from Tuscadero or The Rondelles too.

They're probably too old to come back but a fantastic and under appreciated band was Manassas.

I couldn't agree more. It probably is my favorite album.

Eve 6. They were so good. Atleast I got to see them live before they broke up. I think the lead singer Max Collins has a solo career going now, but I still havent heard all that much about it.

The Verve Pipe

Nada Surf.

Dakota Moon - they had harmony, soul, and I just found the music to be very good start to finish. They put out 2 CDs, but never got the commercial success they deserved.

Good thing is - you see a lot of "classic" bands getting back together (Living Colour is one example), so I hold out hope the Dakota Moon can somehow reunite and make music again.

Joy Division and XTC are good picks...the rest are too obscure for my knowledge base, but it makes for interesting reading...

What genre is Failure?

Boston's late, great, Big Dipper. Contemporaries of the mid-to-late 80's Boston indie scene: Pixies, Lemonheads, Bosstones, etc...) Awesome live. I must have seen them 20 times.

i found a great article about them here. Broke up after major-label debut.

I'm not getting the XTC thing. They made 12 albums and the last one was 2000. I don't believe they are broken up so....I'm not getting how they fit? They still have a large following, myself included.

...or their predecesors, The Embarrassment. I saw Big Dipper open for Fugazi once in the early ninties. Excellent show. Big Dipper's "Heavens" is a terrific, unsung album.