The Most Underrated Artists in Rock Music     Everyone has someone they think is overlooked in some way, and really, that's what music criticism is all about. Sure, we review the "best music" and the "necessary bands", but in our heart, we just want you to like our favorites and SEE why we like them. Its a selfish game, but we all play it. Every now and then when I am in the mood I will add to this page, and as the years go by, it may evolve into something else. Read on then if you care for the ramblings of a mad man........ 9/07 - New additions: Lisa Germano Blur Blur is underrated because they are better than they get credit for. Are they Brit Pop? No, they are way beyond that. The best bands always do what Blur does: when they are put into a "genre", they exceed its limits. They started off average I admit, but they climbed by leaps and bounds through Modern Life is Rubbish, Parklife, and The Great Escape, a great trilogy of albums. Parklife on it's own is one of the best pure pop albums ever made. Even better they didn't stop there - Blur encompassed all rock music into a unique combination of futurism and hard rock, fusing Pixies with Beatles and coming out with sometimes as great results. None of this would have happened though had the band not been so talented, and Blur were always one to defy the trends by encompassing all styles of music into one (and doing it well). They've slowed down quite a bit in the 00's, but even their later albums have strong points like "Tender" and "Battery in Your Leg" that sound like nothing else but still have that Damon Alburn/Graham Coxon feeling. The Butthole Surfers No matter what they were thinking in the 1990's, The Butthole Surfers records of the 80's cannot be touched. Truly in a league of their own in terms of oddness, their first two records Psychic Powerless...Another Man's Sac and Rembrant Pussyhorse, along with the surrounding EP's, established the band as supreme psychedelic masters. Guitarist Paul Leary went one step beyond Hendrix into utter madness, but playing just as well. They often get labeled as being a joke band and they do have a clownish sense of demented humor, but when the music quality matched the jokes, the band was capable of great work. It helps that every member of the band can play the hell out of their instruments too, and that they have a unique set up (two drummers that stand up when they play? Oh yes). Lisa Germano   The best singer/songwriter who has ever made albums. I'll be very surprised if that quote ever changes. Germano made 5 albums in the 1990's after touring with musicians (such as Melloncamp, Indigo Girls, Simple Minds, etc) in the 1980's and later outdid every singer/songwriter who has come before (including Dylan, Springteen, Young, Morrison, whoever else). And she did it with five records! 91's On the Way Down from Moon Palace is a haunting journey that combines blues music, folk, pop, and classical in a very pleasing manner. 93's Happiness is more of the "alternative rock" style, but flawlessly executed into a demented mess of melodies. 94's Geek the Girl sums up what it is like to be a woman in 12 folk songs, while also touching on destroying the music industry because it is backwards and corrupt (indeed it is); it's the most gut wrenching but probably also the best. 96' Except from a Love Circus takes the extremes from all of these albums and softens them out, and so it comes across more like a "conscious" effort but is still as solid as the rest. 98's Slide is the most abstract one, with ballads that seem friendly but take a while to absorb. In all of these records, Germano inverts song structures, makes the lead instrument a violin, has a bunch of instrumentals, and talks like a real person. The fact that she is so accessible makes you wonder why more people don't flock to her, but her music makes life worth living. In the 2000's, she doesn't make money with music so she works at a book store to get health insurance, and makes little gems of albums every now and then. The Gun Club There is not a more overlooked band then this one. Some of the craziest punk rockers of any time, but also very old fashioned and indebted to the blues, this is a band to go back and seek out. If all they did was their first three year output - Fire of Love, Miami, Death Party EP - they would still be among the best band's ever. Good music is hard to actually find outside of obvious 60's bands sometimes, but what disturbed me upon hearing The Gun Club is "why have I never even heard these guys mentioned in the reviews I read about?" There is no nice answer for that, but if you are not talking about band's like the Gun Club, rethink you're life because they should be a part of any music collection. Loud, fast, vulgar rock music at its most insane and meaningful, the next logical step in Rolling Stones - Stooges - Clash - ?. One of the few bands that matter over almost any other. Love These guys, in a way, were the best band of the 60's. Love didn't ask for commercial success, they just played it like it is. They were pop, but weird and distorted. They we're far beyond the blues but didn't sound that far removed form rock tradition. They were the first interracial band, which is not really that significant. You'd think with a name like "Love" they would have more fans, I'll say that. The thing is, their 4 albums in the 60's are pretty much perfect. You can make a best of Love, Da Capo, Forever Changes, and Four Sail, but there is no point because all are great, consistent records. Love is pure pop at it's best; Da Capo is stylistically all over the place (and had the first full LP side long track in the great "Revolution"); Forever Changes is the best album the 60's produced in my opinion; Four Sail is all three of those mixed into one with interesting results. Arthur Lee was the main songwriter and his guitar playing, lyrical skills, and musical genius made the band what it is. Rumor was he was a bit of a tyrant, oh well! If he was he obviously knew what he was doing since their records turned out so well. In this underrated band there is the underrated songwriter, Bryan Maclean, who added gems like "Softly to Me", "Old Man", "Alone Again Or", and the classic "Andmoreagain" which is one of the most beautiful songs ever made. Ask any musician worth their salt and they'll probably say they like Love. Ask bands as varied as Yo La Tengo, Calexico, and The Damned, who have all covered the band. Ask The Rolling Stones whose "She's a Rainbow" was inspired by Love's "She Comes in Colors". True test: Nowadays, Love are more known then they we're back in the 60's, and isn't that what the best music does? Low Low are one of those bands that created their own universe to exist in, and what an expansive world it is. Low is the band that can do anything with nothing, they have minimalism down to a science: a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist, all who hardly play any notes. Most of their songs are at very slow tempos and the vocal harmonies are often held out for a very long time. Sound exciting?!? Well, after hearing Galaxie 500, who are also known for their mellow atmospheres, I had to check out their "followers". Low are very different though, truly one of the greatest bands to ever walk the Earth. Four of their albums: I Could Live in Hope, Long Division, Things We Lost in the Fire, and Trust rank among the greatest of rock music. Low can be harrowing, hopeful, scary, sorrowful, and above all beautiful. They would want my paragraph about them to be short and let the music speak for itself. Oh by the way, "Fear" is my favorite song of all time. Morphine Morphine are easy to write about, there's is a music of action and power. I am actually bewildered that they are not more popular, they are very easy to like even when experimental. They decided to go the other way when creating rock music, a line up of Bari Sax, Bass, and Drums. I don't really care if they use 4 tubas as long as the music is good, but what is impressive about Morphine is that they are always entertaining. This is party music for sure, songs like "Super Sex", "Sheila", and "Honey White" will get any one excited and "Candy", "All Your Way", and "Take Me With You When You Go", will calm you back down. They have created some very creative works in rock music's boundaries, constantly showing ways that music will never get boring. Morphine is a great name but in a way it only describes part of the band's personality - they are soothing and chill you out, while always being fashionable, but they also rock your face off on many occasions. You won't go wrong with any of their 5 albums, but their debut Good is the best in my opinion. Get ready to have a new favorite band, for once a band does not sound like anything you have ever heard! Sponge Everyone has that band that only they see the "genius" in and for me it has always been Sponge, a mid 90's "grunge" left over. I don't see them that way, that is just how they are often portrayed. The first album, Rotting Pinnate, is not that good though it does contain "Plowed" one of my favorite 90's rock tracks. Wax Ecstatic is much better, displaying a band that was very diverse and underrated in its own right. The next album however, New Pop Sunday, is just about my favorite pop album ever and no one ever sees why. Despite the obvious influences (Stone Temple Pilots, Bowie, T Rex, Aerosmith), this is just an album that gets everything right to me. "Polyanna", "Lucky", "When You're on Fire Baby, Roll", and "Live Here Without You" are as good as music gets! For a band to turn it's influences into something completely different is hard for a band to do and when I first heard Sponge I then looked up their influences and said, "Oh, I guess I can see that yeah". It wasn't obvious to me this band had any influences, I just loved (most) of their music. I see that the band has reformed as of late, I stopped collecting after NPS, but I probably should check out this later incarnation. Vinnie Dombrowski's lyrics have never appeared to "serious" or "heavy" to me, except for the fact that they changed my life and made me love rock n' roll at an early age. Do yourself a favor and go pick up New Pop Sunday, it's probably in your nearest record store's used bin. Sugar Underrated because they are the second to Husker Du in terms of timeline, or overlooked because they have a sound that not people might not like on first listen? Why is there a Sugar album in every freakin' used been on the damn planet? I don't understand how one of the best pop bands of all time got put into the used section in any case. Sugar are Bob Mould's second band, with David Barbe playing the hell out of the bass (you know, they guy who produces all the Drive by Truckers albums!) and Malcom Travis being one of the great hard rock drummers. One of the few bands that can pull off beautiful ballads ("I Can't Believe What You are Saying"), gut wrenching eye-openers ("The Slim", "Explode and Make Up"), pure power pop ("Helpless", "Company", "Gee Angel"), and distorted hard rock ("Judas Cradle", "Fortune Teller", "Gift"). Sometimes they do all of these in the same song ("What You Wanted to Be"), but the thing is, Sugar is accessible and a great band. All they needed is that one "push" and they would have been remembered as one of the greats, but somehow they got lost among the sands of time. Next time I go into a used record store, I'll be sure to grab the nearest Sugar cd and educate those around me, if they want it or not. "Oh, you ever heard of this band Sugar?" Then throw it at them and run. Tragically Hip Anyone familiar with this site knows I love the Tragically Hip. They are probably my biggest influence in my own writing and are criminally underrated in America for some reason. The reason why is probably easier then you think: they don't advertise needlessly and are not sell outs at heart. I am not going to list bands that do that (though I thought about it) I am just going to tell you why I like the Hip. When I was getting into music, I saw a video for "Courage" on Canada's Much Music channel, followed by a video of "Music @ Work". I enjoyed both and thought about checking out this pompous looking band. I went out and bought Fully Completely (learning how to spell the latter word in the title) and thought it sounded like R.E.M. and had bad production, so I put it away for while. However, something made me listen to it again and again and those lyrics sucked me in. Gordon Downie is still my favorite lyricist to this day because he did something I never thought possible: he made me like story based songs. All I knew was country music for story songs, and Downie taught me you could tell a story and make it interesting with music that accompanies it (plus his stories were unconventional). I'm honestly more surprised that the band is so successful in Canada than that they are not popular in America, they are a pretty unique band for such a following. But hey, they got me and they'll get to you!!!!!!! Well maybe, as for myself I choose to model my personal band and music after them probably more than any other rock band out there, which counts for something right? The Undertones One of the most common misconceptions in all of rock music is that if you have heard of The Undertones, you think they are a "singles" band like so many other late 70's punk offspring (if any of them should be viewed like that in the first place). Truth be told, The Undertones made some of the greatest pop albums ever, and each one of them is perfect in its own way. The Undertones is pop-punk through and through, but like nothing you've ever heard and each song has jerky catchy melodies that are never tedious; Hypnotised is one of the most solid power pop records, up there with Radio City, Revolver, & Electric Version; Positive Touch is the experimental record and often defies pop conventions, but in ways you have never dared to dream; the often forgotten Sin of Pride has a bit of soul and 80's production to it, but also some of the best melodies, not to mention harmonies, you will ever hear. The O' Neill Brothers are among the most under appreciated songwriters of all time. -more to come soon