Overlooked Albums/Bands

[UltimateHitman]

I was sitting here going through "hair metal" band discographies, weeding out what I did and did not want to keep, and I ran into a nice little diamond in the rough that kind of took me by surprise.

Accept was a band overshadowed by AC/DC. Many people only remember one song from them, Balls To The Wall, which made them kind of a "one hit wonder".

However, as I sit and go through the discography, Accept was a band who should have had, in my opinion, a lot more notoriety than what they actually received.

Even as far back as the 1981 album "Breaker", Accept was making albums that were pretty solid from start to finish. I, personally, have never been one for the slower paced metal songs (Shake Your Heads and Neon Nights from the '82 album Restless and Wild are perfect examples) but the ones they performed were good for that type of song if you like them.

Going back to "Breaker", that album was a very surprising album as I had never heard it before but wound up enjoying damn near every song on it (save for maybe one or two). I normally don't find many albums that I can enjoy in its entirety, or close to it, but this album was just that.

The fact that it was '81 makes it even more surprising, because I'm not that big on late 70's/early 80's "transitional" metal when it still had that "feeling out" or unpolished sound to it. Regardless, It was a very welcome discovery which added just that much more to my music library.

This made me start thinking about other bands I may have overlooked that could have "diamond in the rough" albums. Which, in turn, made me think that I should start a thread and get other people's opinions and also maybe stimulate memories/discussion of similar experiences others may have had.

So what bands/albums have pleasantly surprised you as far as their overall content, or even just with a simple, single song?

 

[Alex]

I made a thread about musicians other bands and I think this ties in with this quite well.

When a musician is in another band that isn't the one he got famous in it generaly doesn't get as much fanfare which is sad when you realise the 'other' band is usually better than their main one. But anyway.

If I were to pick a band were overlooked there are a few but I'll pick two.

Beautiful Creatures

They were a sleaze band from around 2000ish. Their debut album was pretty sick and sounded like they were trying to merge, Guns N Roses, Motley Crue etc. Basically all the hair bands, and I think it worked, it was a straight up great rock album. Great guitar riffs and solos. Ironically the guitarist DJ Ashba would go and join Guns N Roses

[YOUTUBE]6BnJRwe8CGM[/YOUTUBE]


Guano Apes

They're from Germany so that might've played a part in why, but they sing in English and came out around the 90s and their sound was very nu-metalish, similar but not quite. I mean they had an attractive singer and some great hard rocking songs as well as softer sounding ones as well. I honestly find it strange they never became really well known considering Rammstein are massive and only sing in German.

[YOUTUBE]SFvCx6w_ptE[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]HyACsgDB-xw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Alex, great shout on Guano Apes

I found out about them by mistake about 10-12 years ago. I was at a Summer Open Day at The Reebok Stadium and a local radio station was giving out free cds for some reason, I went up and was given the new Guano Apes album "Don't Give Me Names". I was really into Nu-Metal at the time, and I loved it!

Sandra Nasic is a great vocalist for that type of music, her voice works really well and they rock pretty hard. My favourite track off the album was, and stil is "Big In Japan" which I believe is a cover version, but "Money And Milk" and "No Speech" were great too.

I only know one other person besides me and my brother who like the band, and he lent me their most recent album which came out this year after they reunited, and its a different style and not as good. Their earlier stuff was great though.

By the way, Guano Apes actually means "Poo Monkeys"

[YOUTUBE]Q9jJufz9RNE[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]CcXMTXjux1E[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

My Vitriol

In the early 00s, the group was at its most successful. This was largely down to their single Always Your Way which got some good rotation on the music channels as well as several plays on Zane Lowe's Sunday night show on radio. They toured with bands like Hundred Reasons and Muse when they were starting out, but also opened for bands like A Perfect Circle and Deftones, so they kept some great company.

Since 2002 they haven't done a whole hell of a lot studio wise, but they have announced a gig in London in May, so they could make a resurgence later this year.

Unfortunately I can't post videos from my iPad, but I would highly recommend giving Always Your Way a listen, as well as tracks like Grounded and The Gentle Art of Choking.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Manchester Orchestra. Their album "Mean Everything to Nothing" is one of my all-time favorites. Quite possibly my favorite. Maybe. These guys are pretty much the end-all for Indie Rock, in my opinion. I hear them a lot in more popular, recent groups like Cage the Elephant. They were a part of the Blink-182 reunion and 2011 MCR tour, but dont' really get the recognition as one of the best modern rock bands that I think they deserve.

Here is a link to the entire album, if you want to listen to it - and I suggest you do!

http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Mean+Everything+To+Nothing/3096266

"Mean Everything to Nothing" is full of straight-up rock anthems, with Andy Hull's screaming vocals. His voice is so good, and has some natural vibrato when he needs it. But it's his mix of yelling in the intense part, and softly sing in the chill parts that makes it for me. Every song has its place, but if you want to know which ones to listen to, my favorites are:
-Shake It Out
-I've Got Friends
-Everything to Nothing

 

[Johnny Q Public]

Hmm soo many bands to choose from.

A Silient Film-there single Danny Dakota and the Wishing Well is the perfect pop song, it is a throwback to early 80's new wave, and such a catchy song with the perfect hook.

Flying Colors-Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy do it again with prog rock pop goodness, go out and buy the album and listen to it repeatedly, it is amazing.

Kevin Max -Cortes D'Amor or something like that. Kevin Max of DC Talk fame, Kevin Max has a different sound from the polished alt rock of DC Talk, his solo stuff it more decidely brit pop/indie goodness, The album originally was strictly a remix project but evolved into a new direction, and boasts remixed done by PWEI, and 3K Static. On Yer Bike, is such a catchy song that is immeidately listenable.

There are more but those really stand out to me.

 

[Slice]

I always thought Strung Out should be way more known than they are.

I mean if I mention the name NOFX, people are more likely to know who they are. But Strung Out's style encompasses a wider array of influences, and when they get heavy they get way heavier. Their sound is also always awesome. All subjective of course, but still.

[YOUTUBE]7pdix9ZZdmw[/YOUTUBE]