underappreciated bands

[Diabolik]

What bands do you think deserve more mention or publicity because they have been active for so long but people tend to over look them for flavor of the month type bands. It seems some people get scared off when a band has a big discography. Sure there will be a few clunkers here and there in it but what bands do you think people should hear?

I would have to say first....RIOT. This band has changed so many times through the years and decades. You can pull out 3 different disc and they will sound completly different but mostly solid all the way.




from my favorite but diverse disc.....so many of the songs sound different from each other on this one.

 

[Jasonic]

Sorry man, but you knew this was going to be my first reply:


Tons of other bands, but I think you are looking for bands with depth in their discography which would eliminate a lot of the ones I have on my mind.

 

[Diabolik]

Sorry man, but you knew this was going to be my first reply:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWvQVln9fAU

Tons of other bands, but I think you are looking for bands with depth in their discography which would eliminate a lot of the ones I have on my mind.

both Riot and Manilla Road are very much overlooked. I think people get turned off when they see 80's band they never heard of out of the norm like the Bay Area Thrash stuff or the Big 4.

 

[Jasonic]

Yeah there are a lot of Metal Blade bands which could be mentioned as well, but I suppose being on Metal Blade gave them some exposure that other bands never received.

RIOT is a band I need to explore more for sure.

 

[modernwizardry]

 

[nomisofsiman]

While they have had reasonable success in Europe, I have to go with Saxon. I always find it interesting how they weren't able to get as popular as Priest or Maiden, especially since I find a lot of their material to be more accessible. Here's my favorite of theirs:



The second band that comes to mind is Grave Digger. I know the vocals aren't for everyone, but to me they are one of the most consistent power metal bands period. They also are a top 5 bucket list band for me.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-x_uBB-KIE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-x_uBB-KIE[/ame]

 

[Vegetaman]

For me, I think Dream Evil should be bigger. Dragonslayer, Evilized, and United are flat out fantastic. Other than that... Maybe Metal Church? I agree with Grave Digger, too.

 

[Diabolik]

For me, I think Dream Evil should be bigger. Dragonslayer, Evilized, and United are flat out fantastic. Other than that... Maybe Metal Church? I agree with Grave Digger, too.

Metal Church after Howe was plain generic and terrible.

 

[Vegetaman]

Metal Church after Howe was plain generic and terrible.

Oh. Well, I only own the first four Metal Church albums and the Dynamo 1991 DVD... So I guess I never noticed.

 

[MetalSpice]

I saw Metal Church open for WASP a few years back...2006 or 2005, maybe?
Anyway, I enjoyed them.

 

[MetalSpice]

I'm not really sure how to answer this.
It's Monday, it's early and I'm not awake yet, so maybe I shouldn't be posting anything at this time, but oh well. Lol.

By "underappreciated", do you mean they never sold out arenas and made millions? Or just not recognized as mainstream? (When mainstream included Metal)? Or popular within the Underground? Or bands that made it big or somewhat big (meaning they have a following of select Metalheads), but never received respect from, say, a Metal snob?
I don't know....it's hard to answer this because what one might consider "underappreciated", another might consider not worthy of being appreciated at all. (see Bob's response in the above post re: Metal Church). Or they might think that particular band already gets enough recognition.
What I am trying to get out of my ramblings is, it's hard for me to call a band I enjoy "underappreciated", because most of the good bands are underappreciated to begin with....at least in the States.

Perhaps at a future Powerfest, you should hand out surveys with your list of underappreciated bands and see how many of the attendees have heard of the above mentioned and if they have, rate that band between 1 and 5. I guess it would depend on the demographic, age group, gender, etc etc. of those taking the survey. It might be a good experiment.

 

[Jasonic]

To me it means bands who have worked hard, consistently recorded and gigged, but never reached the same status of recognition as their peers. I don't think it even has to do with whether or not they were on a major.

Saxon for example. Great band, but how can they be underappreciated? They have never done extensive US touring, so they could NEVER be compared to Maiden or Priest's popularity.

 

[MetalSpice]

Then there is the bands that extensively tour and have put out album after album but will never play a venue bigger than Reggies or Bottom Lounge. Yet, in Europe the will sell out stadiums and get on the roster of Wacken, Bang Your Head and every other European Open Air Festival.