What bands 'should' have been bigger?

[epom]

I’m going to say Ash. Rocky enough to be considered rock, but light enough and catchy enough for the radio. Absolutely stupendous live.
I appreciate they aren’t that small or unheard of, but....

[gazza285]

Gompo said:

It's very 90s in terms of a mixture of electronics with 'rock' guitars, but considering it was released early 1993 it's fairly original for its time; the Wikipedia entry suggests it's the first album recorded entirely on computer excluding the vocals.

I always thought that Utah Saints were first band to achieve that.

[Gompo]

gazza285 said:

Gompo said:

It's very 90s in terms of a mixture of electronics with 'rock' guitars, but considering it was released early 1993 it's fairly original for its time; the Wikipedia entry suggests it's the first album recorded entirely on computer excluding the vocals.

I always thought that Utah Saints were first band to achieve that.

Good shout.

Utah Saints' debut came out after Perverse and while I don't know the context, perhaps the Utah Saints album was the first made purely of samples? I nearly mentioned Utah Saints in this thread though, their debut seems incredibly overlooked; again I am perhaps bias to things around this period but there's so many ground-breaking albums from 1985-1995. Things didn't go too well for the Utahs after the debut sadly, not helped by an issue with their (unreleased) second album.

[SaintsPaul]

PurpleTurtle said:

Frightened Rabbit.

Scott Hutchison was a brilliant songwriter alas unable to shake off his mental health issues, culminating in his suicide as foretold on ‘Floating In The Forth’ on their magnificent Midnight Organ Fight album.

I saw Frightened Rabbit at a small intimate gig in Southampton a few years back and they were brilliant. Shame he couldn't deal with his mental health issues.

[gazza285]

Gompo said:

gazza285 said:

Gompo said:

It's very 90s in terms of a mixture of electronics with 'rock' guitars, but considering it was released early 1993 it's fairly original for its time; the Wikipedia entry suggests it's the first album recorded entirely on computer excluding the vocals.

I always thought that Utah Saints were first band to achieve that.

Good shout.

Utah Saints' debut came out after Perverse and while I don't know the context, perhaps the Utah Saints album was the first made purely of samples? I nearly mentioned Utah Saints in this thread though, their debut seems incredibly overlooked; again I am perhaps bias to things around this period but there's so many ground-breaking albums from 1985-1995. Things didn't go too well for the Utahs after the debut sadly, not helped by an issue with their (unreleased) second album.

The UK release was after Perverse, but the US release was in late 1992, so it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.

It was an interesting time, I was working as a live sound engineer at the time, when the systems were still massive, and multicore cables ran everything between incredibly heavy mixing desks and amplifiers. Digitisation and switch mode power supplies have certainly made transportation and rigging much easier.

[Leicester Loyal]

bern said:

Milburn.

Sheffield band, around just before the Arctic Monkeys came on the scene. Very similar music. AM went stratospheric and Milburn just sort of petered out. Joe Carnell kept going doing Christmas gigs at local venues, i went to the first one at The Greystones pub, ended up filling the O2 academy a few years later and then they reunited on stage at the end of one of the Christmas gigs, that was incredible!. Did a big gig at the Don Valley Bowl released another album but appear to have gone quiet again.

Great band, who I prefer to the Arctic Monkeys, especially considering they disappeared up their own arse with the last album.

Their debut album Well Well Well was class.

[Hub]

Iamnotkloot said:

tuscaneer said:

Iamnotkloot said:

The slow readers club

‘You opened up my heart’ amongst many excellent tracks.

Thanks for the Leaves and Kerbdog recommendations! Some great tracks....

really like that slow readers club.... very rooted in new wave... in a good way!...

this track is superb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt20_t6moBg

Yep, good song that.

Loving ‘Sally’ by Kerbdog - nice and fresh (even though it’s old, if you know what I mean).

Interesting thread and giving me some music I’ve not heard before.

There are quite a few underrated British rock bands from that period - Hundred Reasons, Reuben etc but Kerbdog seem to pre-date them and weren't really on my radar.

I really liked Vex Red too. They had more of a 'nu-metal' influence (a genre I was never a fan of), but for some reason I absolutely loved their one and only album.... great vocals (though they have recently returned with a new EP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX6UQMYFBMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aby6oEYkPsg

[motorizer]

popeyewhite said:

Johnnytheboy said:

heisthegaffer said:

Johnnytheboy said:

Kyuss - too niche I guess

Started listening to them today. Brilliant. I'm a massive fan of Down and I can hear similarities between them.

I'm sure you don't need it explaining, but they are effectively Queens of the Stone Age mark 1.

One of those 'album bands' if you know what I mean, and such an earthshaking guitar sound.

Try these two obscure tracks from a funny little EP that came out as they split and QOTSA formed. Absolute crackers, particularly the first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JK3E0m1eTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-B_1wqQNH0

Fatso Forgotso's good. Demon Cleaner is more their stoner-desert rock style I feel though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o8Qqfu1pwQ

Parts of Kyuss now exist as Vista Chino.

I actually prefer Brant Bjork's solo stuff to anything else from the Kyuss family....

So I'm going to nominate him for this thread.

Also going back in time.... Ten Years After, along with UFO and Budgie who've alrwady been mentioned.

[popeyewhite]

motorizer said:

popeyewhite said:

Johnnytheboy said:

heisthegaffer said:

Johnnytheboy said:

Kyuss - too niche I guess

Started listening to them today. Brilliant. I'm a massive fan of Down and I can hear similarities between them.

I'm sure you don't need it explaining, but they are effectively Queens of the Stone Age mark 1.

One of those 'album bands' if you know what I mean, and such an earthshaking guitar sound.

Try these two obscure tracks from a funny little EP that came out as they split and QOTSA formed. Absolute crackers, particularly the first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JK3E0m1eTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-B_1wqQNH0

Fatso Forgotso's good. Demon Cleaner is more their stoner-desert rock style I feel though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o8Qqfu1pwQ

Parts of Kyuss now exist as Vista Chino.

I actually prefer Brant Bjork's solo stuff to anything else from the Kyuss family....

So I'm going to nominate him for this thread.

Also going back in time.... Ten Years After, along with UFO and Budgie who've alrwady been mentioned.

This may be going against popular opinion but although I personally quite like Budgie I don't think Budgie stood any chance of being bigger. A very niche heavy rock (mostly) band and almost totally non-commercial, as a support act going back decades I've seen them more than a few times and to be honest though they were OK I wouldn't have gone to one of their gigs if they were the headline. Sorry Budgie fans. Currently listening to In The Grip of a Tyrefitter's Hand oddly enough.

[The Don of Croy]

Lone Star.

The Welsh rock band, not the US outfit. Somewhere on the web there’s a piece detailing their imminent breakthrough being derailed by punk. Label loses interest, momentum lost, back to the day job...

But there remains some great tunes, a rather nice cover of the Beatles ‘She Said’, and the fab fashions of the period.

[tuscaneer]

Gompo said:

Worth giving the Perverse album by Jesus Jones a go if you never have. For me there's a handful of strand out tracks; but I've heard the full thing so many times I enjoy it all.

Jesus Jones - Tongue Tied

Jesus Jones - Your Crusade

Great album closer..:

Jesus Jones - Idiot Stare

It's very 90s in terms of a mixture of electronics with 'rock' guitars, but considering it was released early 1993 it's fairly original for its time; the Wikipedia entry suggests it's the first album recorded entirely on computer excluding the vocals.

really like those actually!... i had always thought doubt was their debut.. didn't realise it was their second until just now!

[bern]

Leicester Loyal said:

bern said:

Milburn.

Sheffield band, around just before the Arctic Monkeys came on the scene. Very similar music. AM went stratospheric and Milburn just sort of petered out. Joe Carnell kept going doing Christmas gigs at local venues, i went to the first one at The Greystones pub, ended up filling the O2 academy a few years later and then they reunited on stage at the end of one of the Christmas gigs, that was incredible!. Did a big gig at the Don Valley Bowl released another album but appear to have gone quiet again.

Great band, who I prefer to the Arctic Monkeys, especially considering they disappeared up their own arse with the last album.

Their debut album Well Well Well was class.

I have a mate who did a very silly thing and got locked up for quite a while in a French prison. My wife’s first letter to him was just the lyrics of Well Well Well written on a piece of paper, nothing else!

Listen to the lyrics and imagine being sat in prison reading them!!

He is a very good friend and he took it well!

[robemcdonald]

Boy hits car
The rifles
Maximo Park

There are too many great bands that never get a mention.

[davey68]

Some good shouts on here. Kyuss I really like (try Fu Manchu if you like stoner/desert rock). Monster Magnet another stoner band that never really made it big. Diamond head were really good (saw them Brum odeon in 1984) - never really understood why the other NWOBHM era bands made it big but they didn't. I always liked the Smashing Pumpkins (well their earlier stuff at least) and although they were pretty big in the US they never really pushed on. Black Crowes similar.

[Honk]

The Don of Croy said:

Lone Star.

The Welsh rock band, not the US outfit. Somewhere on the web there’s a piece detailing their imminent breakthrough being derailed by punk. Label loses interest, momentum lost, back to the day job...

But there remains some great tunes, a rather nice cover of the Beatles ‘She Said’, and the fab fashions of the period.

Good call....and connections to UFO/many other bands
.

[marcosgt]

popeyewhite said:

UFO

No idea why they didn't make it bigger (though for a short time in the late 70s they were massive), though I suspect it was something to do with American tastes... .

Timing maybe? Punk swept away lots of good bands along with plenty of dross (I can't think of anything by UFO though, so not sure where I'd place them on that scale).

Just read the whole thread and have to agree that Magazine was a good shout.

M

Edited by marcosgt on Friday 21st August 14:31

[Driver101]

SaintsPaul said:

PurpleTurtle said:

Frightened Rabbit.

Scott Hutchison was a brilliant songwriter alas unable to shake off his mental health issues, culminating in his suicide as foretold on ‘Floating In The Forth’ on their magnificent Midnight Organ Fight album.

I saw Frightened Rabbit at a small intimate gig in Southampton a few years back and they were brilliant. Shame he couldn't deal with his mental health issues.

A massively underrated band.

Scott was a great guy.

I still remember the day and reading the comments about the last sighting of him was nearby the forth bridge. We all knew what was coming.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Longpigs, The Sun Is Often Out was one of my favourite albums of the 90s.

[gazza285]

CNN or XC-NN, great tunes from Tim Bricheno after being removed from All About Eve, and Dave Tomlinson has a great voice. Had a few minor hits but never fulfilled their potential.

They then formed Tin Star, who also had a few hits before fizzling out.

Edited by gazza285 on Sunday 23 August 20:33

[AdeTuono]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Longpigs, The Sun Is Often Out was one of my favourite albums of the 90s.

At least Richard Hawley went on to become more successful. Not generally my C of T, but we saw him on tour last year and he was phenomenally good. Probably in my Top 10 gigs...