I think just about every old-school rock fan digs UFO and Schenker is huge with guitarists, but as far as popularity with newer audiences go you're probably right... I see younger fans get into Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, AC/DC- all kinds of 70s stuff but never UFO, oddly enough
Loved Phenomenon, Lights Out and TWTWATI - thought they were the best produced. Strangers In The Night is pure magic - my favorite live album. I thought the others albums were underproduced. Schenker coming and going so much didn't help. Somewhere I read where Neil Carter talked about how Gary Moore was more organized and less wasteful in the studio and how that helped them both make more money. I think the band made a lot of mistakes over the years on the business side. But still a great band.
When Pete Way died there was a decent article written in the Guardian (main stream national newspaper for those of you in the US). It was a beautifully well written tribute but so many of the comments were from people who had never heard of him. Really sad.
If Motley Crue is the "Captain Action" of heavy metal then Guns n 'Roses is "Dr. Evil". I agree with Pete. They are on the shelf in someone's basement but not mine. Never on my playlist.
'Appetite for Destruction' is a great album, a classic. There might have been another good album in 'Use Your Illusion' if they'd cut it down from being a double release. I actually think 'Chinese Democracy' is underrated. But they didn't release anything new for more than a decade and then haven't released anything new since 'Chinese'. To me they ended as a band when Izzy Stradlin left halfway through the Use Your Illusion tour. My own list of overrated bands from a mix of rock genres are Queen, KISS, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Oasis, Blur, Pulp. You can call any of those Dr Evil if you like.
@@jimmycampbell78 Blur's Damon Albarn is a very talented musician, try his collaboration with Michael Nyman on Ravenous Soundtrack, and "Mali Music" with various Malian musicians!
@@mutant_blues Damon Albarn has done some very eclectic, varied material, you can mention Gorillaz as well. However I don't like his singing voice, and I just never really got into Blur. I do own a 'Best Of' by them but I only like a handful of songs. I actually own albums by all the bands I mentioned apart from Pulp, who I just can't stand. I don't like Jarvis Cocker's singing, his lyrics or his kind of persona which is imprinted on all his songs, its hard to explain but it does nothing for me.
@@jimmycampbell78 I almost agree about Pulp! Sometimes they sound annoying, but they didn't start as a Brit pop band. In the early 80's they were playing new wave. In 1982 they participated in a collection with the song "What do you say?" which is a gem! Unfortunately they quickly "abandoned" this sound ...
Swiss band Gotthard spring to mind for me. Very popular in their native Switzerland, but in my and some of my friends views should have been a major hard rock attraction in other markets. Steve Lee RIP was a great frontman and fantastic singer. Sweet, despite the plethora of hit singles are somewhat underrated by the album buying heavy rock crowd. Magnum could and should have been bigger, never made it in US where their brand of melodic pomp rock should have put them in a bigger league. From what Pete has said in past features, never really tried to break America. Diamond Head are another one. In my view had everything, real talent, possibly the most potentially talented band to come out of NWOBHM, but couldn't settle on a stable line up and consistent musical direction. Others include Legs Diamond, Angel, Starz and Moxy.
I agree, sweet were great, the problem was the silly campy glam songs they released that they didn't write, kind of put a lot of people off and certainly didn't help them in other countries like America. The songs they wrote themselves were hard rocking and showed what a great hard rock band they could have been but sadly most of those tracks were b-sides, I think they'd have a bigger fan base amongst rock fans had they just stuck to writing their own stuff.
@@alexjohnston8889 exactly, Pete Pardo did a great ranking the Sweet albums and that's exactly what turned me on to their "Sweet spot" (pardon the pun) albums- desolation Blvd, Wink, level headed etc.
Saga were pretty big in Europe, though. I love Saga's first 4 albums, where they sound truly unique (especially on the first 3 albums), after those they became much more commercial and generic.
Fates Warning is criminally underrated... they've been around for close to 40 years and paid their dues for them to end up touring small venues in Europe in the middle of winter (January/February), sad!
@@ScottyKirk1 listen to "Theories of Flight" from 2016, its my favorite album of 2010's... and you can check out Disconnected as well, both marvelous albums
@@ScottyKirk1 I'd recommend you listen to 'Inside Out'. That followed Parallels and was very similar in style. Got criticised for being too close in fact and likely why they then went all out prog for the following record A Pleasant Shade Of Gray... Regardless, would recommend all FW but 'Inside Out' is also essential FW and should be to your liking if you loved Parallels \m/
Helstar - metal band from Texas in the 80's. Their third and fourth albums, "A Distant Thunder" and "Nosferatu" were conceptual proggy metal that predated what would eventually come along with Dream Theatre and Symphony X.
7 billion people on the planet. BOC sold maybe 30/40 million albums. The same 3/4 million people account for these sales. I for example bought vinyl then all cd too. BOC has 3 songs played on radio. Ok maybe not underated to their fans but given how many rock fans there are out there, few of them rate BOC high enough to part with money. Yet many will board the popular music bandwagon and buy lesser albums like bon Jovi, U2 (FFS!), And other commercial crap.
April Wine didn’t hit it big in the US? But agreed about Max Webster and I find the Hip’s lack of success in the US puzzling, considering their massive popularity in Canada.
You picked one of the two bands that immediately came to mind for me. One is Kings X which you picked. The other one is Porcupine Tree. They should have been much bigger than they were. They have such a great catalog.
@@ronnienose8608 yes im well aware. Ray scatted most of the lyrics. Jake recorded almost everything one take according to Greg Chaisson. Great album nonetheless.
@@keithf_ Was fortunate enough to see Be Bop Deluxe live on the Modern Music tour. Bill Nelson made a life long impression on me that night with his other worldly guitar skills. A true 70’s guitar god on par with any of the bigger names.
Captain Beyond I never saw BBD live sadly. I often think Bill Nelson was influenced by David Bowie's stage persona. In any case, the BBD albums rank right up there with any album Bowie released. BBD a much much underrated band.
I seen Starz and Angel on the bill at EJ Thomas center right after theyre first albums came out. I thought both of these bands would be big. Nope, now I know what happened. Thanks , great show.
Kevin Turchin my family got cable TV in 1978 and there was this great Thin Lizzy concert that they played over and over. Content was thin then. It was a great show. Sweaty gritty no frills hard rockin band. I live in Philadelphia area. They reminded me a little of Grand Funk and I mean that as a compliment.
Thin lizzy is one of those bands who never actually made a bad album. There are just those who are more amazing. Prob my favourite album is vagabond of the western world.
@@ConestogaCreek "Boys Are Back in Town" got tons of airplay back then. And it was ON the "Jailbreak" album, and the title cut some, but I would not say the album as whole (or even half) got tons of play. Boston, Grand Illusion, Frampton Comes Alive, Rumors, Hotel California. THOSE albums got tons of airplay in the late 70's.
Finally some props to Kings X . They are still in my heavy rotation and it aged well. Dogman definitely is their best work. Watching these Rock and Metal UA-camrs this might be the first time of recognition and that disappoints me to no end.
This is really interesting, compelling and amazing discussion/show. This combination of Pete and Martin is truly remarkable. My favorite duo when it comes to in depth, critical music discussion.
Living Color and Faith No More come to mind. Yes they had their big hit and few successful albums, but considering how much great material they had the fact their largely remembered for one big hit makes them underrated in my opinion.
Living Colour. I think the reason they r under rated is bcs they were an all black metal band when black youth were not listening to metal and hate to say it but white metal listeners wouldn't listen to black groups unless it was motown. Under rated the Cult.
Kenneth Schultz good point. I remember a lot of people liking cult of personality and then being turned off by the more funky elements of the band. I thought the 2nd and 3rd albums Times Up and stain were fantastic. Still listen to them.
Absolutely agreed. Living Colour singer is in my top-10 list. Faith No More is also a band with strong and original identity, but seems to me that the essence to be successful in the 80's was exactly the opposite: the more you are template, the more you get money.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band for me... I felt like I was in a secret society liking them back in the 70's but the 'Roaring silence', 'Watch' and 'Angel Station' were albums that I really loved and still do.
Mountain is definitely underrated and should have been huge. They just couldn’t get out of their on way. Nantucket Sleightride is one of the best albums out there.
The leader of one of the bands I used to play is a huge Mountain fan and we used to cover Nantucket Sleighride. In fact he still occasionally pulls it out with current lineups. But he's mostly originals now. Anyway, I recently discovered family lineages that go back Nantucket and even more remarkable is that I'm a Starbuck and a Coffin (two very prominent names in the story). So, that song has special meaning to me.
joe fafara In Thin Lizzy’s case they only had themselves to blame for not breaking America. Brian Robertson gets into a bar fight just before a tour and lacerates his hand. Philip Lynott contracts hepatitis. Their US label really tried hard to make them a success but in the end just gave up on them as they were their own worst enemies. The group changes guitarists every two years or so. The lifestyles of the band members got in the way of true global success.
@@patrickcrowther9195 Sad but true. Phil was like his pal George Best uniquely gifted but hardcore & heedlessly committed to self sabotage. Lowell George, another towering talent, hurtling headlong into catastrophe...
Underrated here in the U.S but Lizzy had success everywhere else. However it broke Phil up because they were never big in America even though they were given opportunities. Lizzy later signed with Warner Brothers who turned all thier attention to a new band out of Pasadena, California named Van-something 🤔🤔
Cool show. In addition to Pete's last two, which are two of my all time favorites, here's my list: Shooting Star Warrior Soul Zebra Metal Church April Wine Helix
Riot, wow! Great twin guitar sounds. Guy Sperenza, powerful singer with a Bon Scott voice like. Fire Down Under (1981) is a fantastic album with great heavy songs. Followed by Restless Breed & Born In America with Rhett Forrester bluesy voice singer, had their very good moments too. A career that deserve more than this. Thanks Pete & Martin for your great comments about Riot.
They were pretty big actually for a few years...just couldn't sustain it. They have 4-5 gold and /or platinum albums in a row. Most bands would kill for that.
I think Riot was a great band with each singer they had! Kind of just like a guest vocalist feeling looking back after Reale... #PetePardoArmy #PetePardoNation #BigMeatPete #SplashYourSeaOfTranquilityAllOverMyFace
Great band, one of the few US bands of the time to run with the NWOBHM hordes. Saw them in the UK a few times once supporting Saxon and they gave it their best shot.
I wonder if Riot got mixed up in the shuffle next to Quiet Riot? If one would say "have you checked out Riot?...the answer might have been "The bang your head guy's??
So many to choose from here, but for me, ZEBRA is at the top of my list. They had the fastest selling album in Atlantic Records history, and that includes Led Zeppelin (who were also signed to their label). Zebra is also still together (45 years, same lineup) and currently working on a new album. Incredible!
Keith Rulong Who never broke up ? Wishbone Ash ? Big band bust-up. Only 1 of the 4 original members is still there. Loved the band in the 1970s. Much less good since then, although their latest release 'Coat of Arms' is something of a return to form.
@@keithf_ correct Wishbone Ash never broke up. 51 years and still going. Granted only 1 original member left. But so what? As long as I can go to a club and hear their music I'm happy!
Keith Rulong Yeah ... but for me ONLY the original line-up matters. Although There's The Rub and New England (with Laurie Wisefield) were fantastic albums. PS Favourite track is Throw Down The Sword, which I've always felt Andy Powell completely murders when playing live. Just my personal opinion.
King's X, hell yeah. It shouldn't be surprising that they were saddled with being a Christian band at first, considering both Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill played in Phil Keaggy's band (Phil being one of the few Christian artists known for his guitar work, especially in his 1960s/1970s band Glass Harp) and met Ty Tabor when his band opened for Keaggy, but they were never a "worship" band like Petra, Carmen, or so many of the bands that followed in their wake--even at their most overtly Christian, King's X were more interested in criticizing its history of violence against outside thinkers (Pleiades is about the execution of Galileo at the hands of the Roman Catholic Inquisition) or its current day hypocrisies (Mission, which questioned the real "mission" of preachers, televangelists in particular). Even the song about "not looking for a one night stand," Goldilox, has some added weight to it since Doug came out as gay in 1997, considering the stereotype of homosexuals being incapable of any form of monogamy (which still seems to persist despite years of fighting for the right to marriage, an institution heterosexuals take so far for granted that 50% of theirs end in divorce). And I still love the line "this is church, this is state, rock and roll amazing grace" from Wonder.
James Fetherston Weird, the lyrics even say “burned his body” as if he was, but your right. Pleiades is definitely a homage to Galileo, but they don’t specifically name him. They also make the mistake of claiming he was saying the world was spherical when he was actually putting forth the heliocentric model of the earth revolving around the sun. Maybe they were compositing multiple historical scientists into one, or maybe they were just mistaken.
So what the heck is wrong with singing about your faith - if you're a Christian, that is. Bands sing about Buddhist and Hindu concepts, and other faith/religious materials in their songs. But, shhhh if you're a Christian. For Heaven's (oops) sake, keep it under wraps or your recording will be on the scrapheap. Hypocrisy at its ugliest. Can't folks just enjoy the music and poetry? No one thinks they're going to convert you through a song. But faith is a very important aspect of life to many people, so why shouldn't they sing about it?
The band Tnt are really underrated in the 80s imo, their sound in their early albums is really heavy with a little judas priest influence before changing their sound to a more unique aor rock sound in their late 80s albums, great band and still releasing music today👍
I concur ! TNT is a great band, and Ronni Le Tekrø a shredder. IMO the one who's really underrated from TNT and seldom mentioned in any circle is Tony Harnell. Harnell's vocals are killer!
BOC and Thin Lizzy. Yeah, people know them....but they only know maybe 3 or 4 of their songs in spite of each band having lots of terrific songs. I know these 2 bands don't fit the criteria for "underrated" set forth by Pete and Martin but they're the first 2 bands that come to mind.
Blackfoot is still one of my favorite bands. Saw them twice in the 80s. Once as headliners and the other opening for Ted Nugent and Cheap Trick. By the time the 90s rolled around , they were playing in small clubs. I was glad to be able to see them so close up front but I never understood why they didn't retain coliseum status.
This was hard for me to choose, and I'm going to list these bands because they rarely play hits on Classic Rock stations. 1. Uriah Heep 2. Thin Lizzy 3. Rainbow 4. Budgie 5. Camel 6. Marillion 7. Saxon
RAINBOW WAS PRETTY BIG. MY OLDER BROTHER GOT ME INTO THEM IN HIGH SCHOOL. URIAH HEEP WAS BIG IN US UNTIL 82. THE LIVE ALBUM IS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITES. RAINBOW RISING CLASSIC! THIN LIZZY MY FAV BAND ALL VERSIONS EXCEPT JOHN SYKES WHO RUINED THUNDER & LIGHTNING. STILL A GREAT HEAVY ALBUM BUT CHINATOWN AND BLACK ROSE MY TWO FAVORITE LIZZY.
Speaking of Jim Morrison, Martin, as a fellow Canadian, I'm sure you agree that "The Tea Party" (from Windsor, Ontario, Canada) is a CRIMINALLY underrated band!!! They really need more exposure. They released insanely amazing albums throughout the 90's and 2000's!
They sure were a great band. I sent Ray manzarek a copy of their videos DVD. And the doors asked Jeff Martin to be their lead singer for the Doors of the 21st century and he turned them down.
My 3 (in no order): - "Sweet": They are hands-down one of THE most under-rated bands ever, especially their heavy stuff which, for some reason, never got any airplay. Yeah they had a handful of "pop" hits but IMO they should have been HUGE in America. They were every bit as good AND as talented as Queen, again IMO. - "Shooting Star": Another great band that no one knows existed, until they hear one of their hit songs (like like "Hollywood", "Hang On For Your Life", "Flesh and Blood", "Last Chance", etc)... then it's like, "WOW!! I remember that song... is that who made it?? I had no idea." lol - "Wishbone Ash": They influenced classic rock legends (like Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Thin Lizzy) to heavy metal giants like Metallica and Iron Maiden, to progressive rock monsters like Dream Theater... yet no one EVER talks about them (or their phenomenal music).
Literally clicked on this video with Sweet in mind. There aren't many bands you can find that go through the transformation they did in the 70's, and had great tunes with each sound (bubblegum pop, Glam rock, hard rock, progressive rock), even today most people just say Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, and Love is Like Oxygen, It's really too bad.
I agree about Sweet. My sister had their records around the house when I was a kid and I loved that band. And not just Little Willy or Fox on the Run . Deep cuts are great
@Donald Duck Nothing silly about it, actually. All 4 members of Sweet were able to both write and play their own music, and all four were legit lead singers with vocal harmonies that rivaled and influenced Queen (yes, Sweet was around first), while musically they were every bit as talented, if not more so. This article sums it up much better than I ever could: espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time
Clutch, Warrior Soul, Mindfunk, Be Bop Deluxe, The Melvins, Camel, The Stranglers, The Church, Budgie, Anathema, Antimatter, Jane, I could go on and on but got to stop it somewhere.
Jeffrey Robinson great list, especially THE CHURCH! Definetly one of the best and most prolific acts around. 26 albums into their career and a new album out soon.
AGREED. NO PLACE TO RUN ONE OF MY FAV SONGS. WILD WILLING INNOCENT. ONLY YOU CAN ROCK ME SHOULD'VE BEEN A BIG HIT SINGLE IN 78 FOR THEM. IT WASN'T. TRAGIC.
Agree with all 6 bands mentioned here...maybe a show on overrated bands now? Other underrated imo: Angel City Enuff z' Nuff Saga Coney Hatch Voivod(i.e. Gentle Giant syndrome i guess)
Angel City first U.S. album I remember...I had years ago, but it got shuffled to a used record store when I was a poor student, in the eighties. Good stuff though. Every song on that was solid.
The Angels(angel city) are my favourite Aussie band. Great albums also a live album of theirs ‘liveline’ is as good as made in Japan by deep purple. Everyone should check it out. Voivod is excellent as well.
I'm sure I'll forget some, but here's a few.. Living Colour, King's X, Badlands, Blue Murder, Saigon Kick, Warrior Soul, Dirty Looks, TNT, Extreme, and more I'm forgetting. A lot of these fall into that metal/grunge changeover bsd timing issue, while others kind of defy easy categorizstion.
@@brucefranklin6295, That's debatable. Bloody Kisses went platinum and October Rust went gold. It's not like they were a band that released numerous multiplatinum albums. I'd say their somewhat underrated.
@@ryanantler184 Well,they weren't Def Leppard or AC/DC,but they were even bigger in Europe than in the states and while they weren't superstars,they did sell millions of albums. Even now,look at their videos on UA-cam. They have multi-millions of views.Tough for me to call that underrated.
@@brucefranklin6295 Never mind bands like AC/DC or Def Leppard. Im comparing Type O Negative to their peers. Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam,Tool, STP, Smashing Pumpkins ect. Were all more successful in terms of album sales and concert attendance. Unfortunately, TON never reached that level of mainstream success.
Angel yes! as a KISS fan in 70's I loved the look style and bought all their albums. the last one Sinful was their best 'radio' friendly song with numerous hits that weren't hits! favorite album was White HOT!
Guy Speranza from RIOT was an incredible singer. Saw them in ‘81 promoting Fire Down Under, when they opened for Frank Marino & Triumph (The Power Of Rock & Roll & Allied Forces tours, respectively). Interestingly, Guy left RIOT disillusioned with the Rock & touring life, ultimately becoming a Christian. Later he moved with his family to Florida and sadly passed away in 2003 due to pancreatic cancer. Check out the excellent live recording of RIOT’s Road Racin’ on 1980’s Castle Donington: Monsters Of Rock album; also featuring great live songs by Touch, April Wine, Saxon, Scorpions & Rainbow (Graham Bonnet phase).
Atomic Rooster, loved ‘Death Walks Behind You’ saw them live. They should have been at a premiere theatre ala Rainbow or Hammersmith Odeon . They were playing a small college in the town of Rugby UK. Underrated for sure. Got to meet Vincent Crane after the show, he was very gracious and asked if we’d enjoyed the show.
A little know band formed in Ohio in 2007: Red Sun Rising, active for about maybe 13 years, then they went on a hiatus in 2020 (I believe). They released their first album in 2011:The Making Of Kings, and then dropped an amazing album in 2015: Polyester Zeal, and Thread in 2018. They also had an EP called PEEL in 2019, and that was it. 2020 hit, and one of their guitarists, Ryan Williams left (I think to settle down and have a family) and that was like the band lost who they truly were. Not sure what became of Ricky Miller, but Mike Protich, Dave McGary, and Pat Garcia went on to form a band called The Violent in 2020. RSR (Red Sun Rising) had such a good unique sound and whatever happened, they went on hiatus, and that was it. Maybe there right still be hope for RSR to reform again (I hope so), But like you said, maybe they didn't have the tools or whatever to keep going the way they were. But I totally agree!
@@Trifixion22 They are a rock band, and their sound is so unique! (In my opinion) I recommend the songs: Amnesia, The Other Side, Bliss, Veins, and Rose. They are my favorite band of all time, hands down:)
This is great stuff! Warrior Soul. Got lumped into the grudge sound, but from New York and a few years before the alt-rock thing began. Give them a go. Lost in the grudge.
I agree with Martin...I know from past episodes Pete isn't a fan...But I love King's X...no bad albums in my opinion and the album Ear Candy is sooo yummy....gave me a rock and roll cavity🤘😝
Great episode - and 10/10 to Martin for bringing on King's X. Such a fantastic, underrated band. Oh, and Riot were superb as well, especially during the Guy Speranza years.
1990's Iced Earth was as good as any metal band at that time. They were like the perfect blend of Metallica heavy and Maiden melodic. Plus Matt Barlow's vocals were just phenomenal! Shouldve broke way bigger!
Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Maybe too eclectic for some) - Amazing front man with a really solid band backing him up Derringer - Maybe could have used a top end singer but exceptional guitar work Anything with Johnny Winter
Currently blasting Johnny's "Second Winter" and oh my lord does Winter peel paint with blistering solos and golden riffs......great vocals too! He and Edgar just drip with musicality-if there are two more talented brothers in rock and roll, I haven't heard it! Great mention!
Fastest should have done so much better. First two albums are great, third was a sound track that was way better than the movie. I actually liked the movie, lol
Back in the day, I always thought Tesla was very underrated. Other mentions: Saigon Kick, Overkill, Night Ranger, Extreme. I have to admit I had forgotten about Love/Hate, will have to revisit their albums, thanks Martin. Edit: Why Do You Think They Call it Dope, I had forgotten about this song from Love/Hate, the bass is insane in this song, I think Pete will like this, same as the drums on "One More Round".
I totally agree with all your choices. King’s X is always the go to for sure on this subject. One of the bands that I always thought should have been bigger is Armored Saint. They haven’t put out a bad album ever.
Cry of Love could have been a big band if they had been around before 1993 and if the singer Kelly Holland had not got burned out by touring. 'Brother' is a wonderful album.
@@elvinposey5251 It kind of was a big album, for a debut anyway. Peace Pipe and Bad Thing got a lot of airplay and was on heavy MTV rotation. For some reason they toured for 18 months straight and Kelly Holland just had enough of it, they never recovered.
Saw Cry Of Love years ago. Should have been massive. Brother is a amazing album,but for some reason it didn't happen...Shame. Another band I would like to nominate is Thunderpussy. Soulful,sexy rock n roll,with some awesome material. Why isnt this band huge?!!!...
Shooting Star would be appreciated by any fan of the rock genre. They were so regional, quite big here in Cincinnati. I interviewed Van McClain for my college newspaper. Love them!
Ram Jam everybody knows the band for Black Betty from their first album but the second one took the band to another level its better than the debut and sadly never got recognized.
Love/Hate 'Blackout In The Red Room' is an absolute belter of an album. Saw them at the pretty tiny Borderline in London, early 90s...a raucous, sweaty, ripsnorter of a gig...remember it like it was yesterday
Always puzzled that the British band ,Thunder were not huge in the States. Terrific band. Seem them many of times over the years. Great lead singer. Maybe Grunge killed them ?
It Bites from my home county of Cumbria in the UK. Great band that just didn’t get the credit they deserved. Listen to the live album‘Thankyou and Goodnight’ to see what I mean.
Axel Rudi Pell put out more albums then I can count. Almost all are melodic with killer vocals, ripping guitars, and great song writing. Underrated is an understatement!
Another amazing underrated band was Australia’s own Radio Birdman. They had the incredible guitar work of Dennis Tek. They had hard hitting anthems like “Do the Pop” but they also did dreamy/dark style tunes in the realm of The Doors. Check out their compilation “Essential Birdman” on UA-cam.
A few bands that should have been bigger, and/or deserved more: Gentle Giant (too good for their own good), Can, Fishbone, Faith No More (they had decent success, but...), Mandrill, XTC, King's X, Queen City Kids, Sparks. I know I'm forgetting many more...
Starz. The Wildhearts. Killing Joke. Riot (Fire Down Under is THE most undervalued hard rock album ever released) Armored Saint. Extreme. King's X. Sweet. Blue Oyster Cult (criminally overlooked and misunderstood) Angel City. Cheap Trick (they are pretty big-but they should be huge!) Pentagram. The Church. UFO ( a lot of fans.....but far too many households do NOT have Strangers In The Night cued up and ready to go-my fav live album!) and lastly, Rory Gallagher, easily the most overlooked axe wizard to grace a stage.....fooookin' incredible player! Oh, and The Replacements, Big Star, Little Feat, Budgie, Trouble, Diamond Head, The Smithereens, Sloan, Raspberries, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex, Squeeze, MC5, Traffic, Roxy Music and The Kinks (have a big following-but everyone on Earth should own at least one Kinks album). Lastly, Husker Du and World Party and Stone Roses and The La's. And NRBQ!
@@Trifixion22 Thanks Nick. I hope that if even one single person discovers and becomes a fan of just one of these aforementioned bands and it brings them the same rush and happiness that I have found when checking out other peoples lists....it's a music lovers biggest high to hear something new (or old) for the first time and to be completely blown away by it! Pete and Martin (especially from his books on heavy metal) have totally increased my music collection and completely devastated my MONEY COLLECTION! Big thanks for kind comment and be well, brother.
Two similar sounding bands that I thought should have been bigger are Leatherwolf and Lizzy Borden, both heavy with catchy riffs and great vocals. Also Giant deserved to be bigger but like a lot of bands just came at the wrong time for commercial success, Last of the Runaways is a great album.
ON the Thrash Front, I would argue Death Angel and to a lesser extent Testament were underrated in that they could and I think maybe should be up their with the Big Four.
Having seen all of the Big 4 bands and a handful of other thrash bands, I couldn't agree more with Death Angel. Saw them about two years ago in a dive bar and they put on easily one of the best shows I've seen in ages. Maybe 100 people there and the majority of the audience had no idea who or what they were seeing but Death Angel played it like they were headlining Madison Square Garden. I'd been a casual fan for awhile but I never knew just how good they were until that night.
@@andypostema4269 their new stuff is really good too check it out. I saw them at a gig in S.F. where Halford headlined before the Priest reunion. Death angel and Violence stole the show.
Late in on this episode but for me Big Star, Sweet, Slade (in the US they were extremely overlooked) Moxy, April Wine, Heavens Edge, Fastway, Badlands, Tyketto, the list just goes on...
Finally a chance to watch this video of the latest Popoff and Pardo show. Great choices, gents. And many of mine are listed by other commenters but some I would list - even though some may not be the type of band for SoT listeners - would be: Manassas, (the) Raspberries and the Guess Who. And if we were just talking about bands being underrated in the US, I would include The Kinks. Looking forward to your next installment. Thanks again, Martin and Pete!
The definition of underrated band is Crack the Sky. These guys started out in the early 1970's with co-founders John Palumbo and Rick Witkowski playing the clubs and shopping around their demos. Finally getting picked up by Lifesong Records with their self-titled debut in 1975. Rolling Stone magazine reviewed it and called it the record of the year. Unfortunately, the promotions department at the label didn't properly do their job and even though DJ's around the country were spinning the album including Wolfman Jack they couldn't get copies of the album in stores so they got forgotten. In the few areas where people could buy the record they were huge, to this day. They toured around the country with all the big bands, many of them kicking them off because the fans wanted to hear more of them and not the headliners. After a turbulent 1980's with different projects happening, Rick and John got back in 1989 with From the Greenhouse and had some success. They still didn't break. Silence for most of the 1990's then they re-emerged in 1998 with a new disc. They've basically accepted their place in the industry and have managed to release nearly 20 albums over a 45 year career. They tour every year and yet no one knows who they are for the most part. They're doing a performance at Progstock on October 10th and at Rams Head in November. A couple of new songs have been released from their forthcoming album, Tribes in January. This band has been compared to Yes, Tull, Floyd and many, many others. Not one of their albums sounds like another. They are always reinventing themselves. They never repeat. They always sound fresh and new.
I agree totally. I grew up in the Baltimore area where they were huge and got lots of airplay. They definitely made some killer records. John Palumbo is a hell of a songwriter.
The Pretty Things. Heavier than The Stones during the British Invasion. Ahead of The Kinks and The Who doing concept albums/rock operas. Still made HEAVY albums till the end (check out Balboa Station) - their last record just came out, a few months after we lost Phil May.
I feel that UFO is a fairly underrated band that very few people seem to talk about despite them being fairly big back in the 70's
I think just about every old-school rock fan digs UFO and Schenker is huge with guitarists, but as far as popularity with newer audiences go you're probably right... I see younger fans get into Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, AC/DC- all kinds of 70s stuff but never UFO, oddly enough
Agree
Loved Phenomenon, Lights Out and TWTWATI - thought they were the best produced. Strangers In The Night is pure magic - my favorite live album. I thought the others albums were underproduced. Schenker coming and going so much didn't help. Somewhere I read where Neil Carter talked about how Gary Moore was more organized and less wasteful in the studio and how that helped them both make more money. I think the band made a lot of mistakes over the years on the business side. But still a great band.
Don't get me started !! lol For me, as it's Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker and Eddie Van Halen for Hard Rock, then everyone else :)
When Pete Way died there was a decent article written in the Guardian (main stream national newspaper for those of you in the US). It was a beautifully well written tribute but so many of the comments were from people who had never heard of him. Really sad.
When Martin said Guns n'Roses is probably overrated, I could see Pete was thinking 'I don't even rate them'.
If Motley Crue is the "Captain Action" of heavy metal then Guns n 'Roses is "Dr. Evil". I agree with Pete. They are on the shelf in someone's basement but not mine. Never on my playlist.
'Appetite for Destruction' is a great album, a classic. There might have been another good album in 'Use Your Illusion' if they'd cut it down from being a double release. I actually think 'Chinese Democracy' is underrated. But they didn't release anything new for more than a decade and then haven't released anything new since 'Chinese'. To me they ended as a band when Izzy Stradlin left halfway through the Use Your Illusion tour.
My own list of overrated bands from a mix of rock genres are Queen, KISS, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Oasis, Blur, Pulp. You can call any of those Dr Evil if you like.
@@jimmycampbell78 Blur's Damon Albarn is a very talented musician, try his collaboration with Michael Nyman on Ravenous Soundtrack, and "Mali Music" with various Malian musicians!
@@mutant_blues Damon Albarn has done some very eclectic, varied material, you can mention Gorillaz as well. However I don't like his singing voice, and I just never really got into Blur. I do own a 'Best Of' by them but I only like a handful of songs. I actually own albums by all the bands I mentioned apart from Pulp, who I just can't stand. I don't like Jarvis Cocker's singing, his lyrics or his kind of persona which is imprinted on all his songs, its hard to explain but it does nothing for me.
@@jimmycampbell78 I almost agree about Pulp! Sometimes they sound annoying, but they didn't start as a Brit pop band. In the early 80's they were playing new wave. In 1982 they participated in a collection with the song "What do you say?" which is a gem! Unfortunately they quickly "abandoned" this sound ...
Agreed 💯 with Kings X
Each of the three members are constantly overlooked and underrated, great records.... should have been huge.
GREAT band.
Agreed 100% man!
Flotsam and Jetsam - great riffs, vocals, hooks and layered guitar harmonies. Unique stylings. Variations in song writing.
Saw them live w No Place for Disgrace, at a great place called the Ritz in Indianapolis aka Naptown.
Van Der Graaf Generator. Absolutely love Peter Hammill. Unbelievable (and underrated) Prog band.
I think Uriah heep is well known, but very underated
Yep, people know the name but couldn't list 5 of their songs off the top of their head.
Often unfairly tagged as a 'poor man' s Deep Purple'which is very unfair.
Swiss band Gotthard spring to mind for me. Very popular in their native Switzerland, but in my and some of my friends views should have been a major hard rock attraction in other markets. Steve Lee RIP was a great frontman and fantastic singer.
Sweet, despite the plethora of hit singles are somewhat underrated by the album buying heavy rock crowd.
Magnum could and should have been bigger, never made it in US where their brand of melodic pomp rock should have put them in a bigger league. From what Pete has said in past features, never really tried to break America.
Diamond Head are another one. In my view had everything, real talent, possibly the most potentially talented band to come out of NWOBHM, but couldn't settle on a stable line up and consistent musical direction.
Others include
Legs Diamond, Angel, Starz and Moxy.
They had like 5 gold albums in the US.
@@jerryattwooll4864 All the Swiss rock space was taken by Krokus :)
I'd Put SWEET in this catagory as well! They should have been ginormous imo!
I agree, sweet were great, the problem was the silly campy glam songs they released that they didn't write, kind of put a lot of people off and certainly didn't help them in other countries like America. The songs they wrote themselves were hard rocking and showed what a great hard rock band they could have been but sadly most of those tracks were b-sides, I think they'd have a bigger fan base amongst rock fans had they just stuck to writing their own stuff.
@@alexjohnston8889 exactly, Pete Pardo did a great ranking the Sweet albums and that's exactly what turned me on to their "Sweet spot" (pardon the pun) albums- desolation Blvd, Wink, level headed etc.
I realized that when we say underrated, often we mean overlooked.
King's X and Savatage are both in my list, also:
Saga
Camel
Galactic Cowboys
Jellyfish
UFO
Magnum
In agreement with Saga. Just discovered this year and they should've been bigger.
Jellyfish!!
Saga were pretty big in Europe, though. I love Saga's first 4 albums, where they sound truly unique (especially on the first 3 albums), after those they became much more commercial and generic.
Early 80's I really thought Shooting Star would take off.Maybe a touch too Prog.
@@fredhamilton4687 Their first wave, in the U.S., came with early MTV.
Fates Warning is criminally underrated... they've been around for close to 40 years and paid their dues for them to end up touring small venues in Europe in the middle of winter (January/February), sad!
In a proper world, should be as big/bigger than Dream Theater!
Parallels and No Exit are the only ones I own and I love both to death.... What do you recommend for other essentials?
@@ScottyKirk1 A Pleasant Shade Of Gray, Disconnected, Theories of Flight,..All must haves !
@@ScottyKirk1 listen to "Theories of Flight" from 2016, its my favorite album of 2010's... and you can check out Disconnected as well, both marvelous albums
@@ScottyKirk1 I'd recommend you listen to 'Inside Out'. That followed Parallels and was very similar in style. Got criticised for being too close in fact and likely why they then went all out prog for the following record A Pleasant Shade Of Gray... Regardless, would recommend all FW but 'Inside Out' is also essential FW and should be to your liking if you loved Parallels \m/
Armored Saint and the John Bush era of Anthrax.
I'm with you there.
Helstar - metal band from Texas in the 80's. Their third and fourth albums, "A Distant Thunder" and "Nosferatu" were conceptual proggy metal that predated what would eventually come along with Dream Theatre and Symphony X.
I saw Helstar open for WASP. Killer show.
Absolutely!!! Fantastic band
I totally dig Helstar.
That guitarist could really shred, definitely underrated
Blue Oyster Cult is my choice of most underrated band.
Not under rated.
Pretty big band and still here them in the radio so how can they be underrated?
7 billion people on the planet. BOC sold maybe 30/40 million albums. The same 3/4 million people account for these sales. I for example bought vinyl then all cd too. BOC has 3 songs played on radio. Ok maybe not underated to their fans but given how many rock fans there are out there, few of them rate BOC high enough to part with money. Yet many will board the popular music bandwagon and buy lesser albums like bon Jovi, U2 (FFS!), And other commercial crap.
@@MAGNUM2F More like 25 million albums, but still a lot.
@@SpotWorksLNC but only like two or three songs are on the radio.
Being a Canadian, never understood why April Wine, Max Webster and The Tragically Hip were not a lot bigger in the U. S.
You ever heard of Gino Vannelli? He’s pretty popular in Canada, where he’s from.
@@bigsquisums Best hair in rock and roll.
@@soylentgreendip indeed. Gregg Rolie had some great hair in the 70s as well.
Saga and Prism two other underrated Canadian bands.
April Wine didn’t hit it big in the US? But agreed about Max Webster and I find the Hip’s lack of success in the US puzzling, considering their massive popularity in Canada.
Mountain, one song everyone knows. Not a lot of people know anything else.
No doubt. Love Nantucket Sleighride
GREAT BAND
There is a reason why. Bad music.
You picked one of the two bands that immediately came to mind for me. One is Kings X which you picked. The other one is Porcupine Tree. They should have been much bigger than they were. They have such a great catalog.
Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Saigon Kick...
Badlands = true stuff. And so is everything Jake does. No heavy merchandising, no big deals, but true rock.
Love that band. First album is a classic and Dusk was recorded with one take.
@@xdreampcs8554 Dusk was really just a collection of demos and ideas, hence the lack of discernable lyrics throughout. I still love it though.
@@ronnienose8608 yes im well aware. Ray scatted most of the lyrics. Jake recorded almost everything one take according to Greg Chaisson. Great album nonetheless.
Totally agree with you bro
Great show love the topic, my top three grossly underrated bands.
1- Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2- Be Bop Deluxe
3- Captain Beyond
Donald Duck Alex was the man!!!!
Steve Evans Bill Nelson such an underrated guitarist. Absolute monster player as good as any of the big names.
Steve Evans
Me too. Sunburst Finish and Modern Music are great albums ! Bill Nelson, a fantastic guitarist & songwriter.
@@keithf_ Was fortunate enough to see Be Bop Deluxe live on the Modern Music tour. Bill Nelson made a life long impression on me that night with his other worldly guitar skills. A true 70’s guitar god on par with any of the bigger names.
Captain Beyond
I never saw BBD live sadly. I often think Bill Nelson was influenced by David Bowie's stage persona. In any case, the BBD albums rank right up there with any album Bowie released. BBD a much much underrated band.
Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult are easily the most underrated hard rock bands of the 70s
UFO wants to know your location
Also Triumph and Trapeze
Dio........ ,,,
Sweet
I seen Starz and Angel on the bill at EJ Thomas center right after theyre first albums came out. I thought both of these bands would be big. Nope, now I know what happened. Thanks , great show.
This list starts with Thin Lizzy. They had a string of fantastic albums.
The Jailbreak album got tons of FM radio AirPlay at the time in the late 70s.
Mike MakesRight Not even their best album either.
Kevin Turchin my family got cable TV in 1978 and there was this great Thin Lizzy concert that they played over and over. Content was thin then. It was a great show. Sweaty gritty no frills hard rockin band. I live in Philadelphia area. They reminded me a little of Grand Funk and I mean that as a compliment.
Thin lizzy is one of those bands who never actually made a bad album. There are just those who are more amazing. Prob my favourite album is vagabond of the western world.
@@ConestogaCreek "Boys Are Back in Town" got tons of airplay back then. And it was ON the "Jailbreak" album, and the title cut some, but I would not say the album as whole (or even half) got tons of play.
Boston, Grand Illusion, Frampton Comes Alive, Rumors, Hotel California. THOSE albums got tons of airplay in the late 70's.
King's X is the ultimate underrated band. How about a ranking the albums for King's X (Sorry if you have done it already, but I did not see it)
He’s not a fan of Kings X.
Pete doesn't like their singing but I agree with you completely about Kings X.
He literally says in the video he's been asked a million times but doesn't have the interest or knowledge.
King’s X and Galactic Cowboys for a thrashier take on that sound!
Was lucky to see dUg play on the Experience Hendrix tour last year.....still sounding & playing great!!
Underrated for me:
XYZ, Y&T, Extreme, Triumph,
XYZ yeah!
Extreme!
Good choices, Extreme was pretty big in the early 90s tho.
XYZ had one of the best heaviest chainsaw guitar tones, especially on Face Down in the Gutter
Popoff hates Triumph, they were one of my favorites...Triumph loves you!
Finally some props to Kings X . They are still in my heavy rotation and it aged well. Dogman definitely is their best work. Watching these Rock and Metal UA-camrs this might be the first time of recognition and that disappoints me to no end.
The Cult I think was highly underrated. Ian Astbry's voice is amazing and their albums kick ass.
I agree with Badlands.
This is really interesting, compelling and amazing discussion/show. This combination of Pete and Martin is truly remarkable. My favorite duo when it comes to in depth, critical music discussion.
I would love to see some real discussion between Pete and Martin with two opinions. Actually that never happens on SOT.
Living Color and Faith No More come to mind. Yes they had their big hit and few successful albums, but considering how much great material they had the fact their largely remembered for one big hit makes them underrated in my opinion.
Dont forget Fishbone and Primus. These are the Funk-Rock Big 4
Living Colour. I think the reason they r under rated is bcs they were an all black metal band when black youth were not listening to metal and hate to say it but white metal listeners wouldn't listen to black groups unless it was motown. Under rated the Cult.
Kenneth Schultz good point. I remember a lot of people liking cult of personality and then being turned off by the more funky elements of the band. I thought the 2nd and 3rd albums Times Up and stain were fantastic. Still listen to them.
Absolutely agreed. Living Colour singer is in my top-10 list. Faith No More is also a band with strong and original identity, but seems to me that the essence to be successful in the 80's was exactly the opposite: the more you are template, the more you get money.
Living Colour 🤘🤘
A couple of bands I still enjoy to this day...
Zebra
Raven (fun fact: They brought Metallica on tour in 1983)
Raven, absolutely! You know they have a new album out called "Metal City"?
@@RickNBacker I didn't know this. Just checked it out. John's still got it goin' on! Definitely gonna pick it up!
Rick N Backer Great album heard it yesterday. Metal church has a new one to. Metal 🤘🏻Rules
zebra yes
@@bengalgangster Yes Zebra. I actually listen to 3.V quite a bit. Solid.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band for me... I felt like I was in a secret society liking them back in the 70's but the 'Roaring silence', 'Watch' and 'Angel Station' were albums that I really loved and still do.
🤜🤛
I agree, me too.
Mountain is definitely underrated and should have been huge. They just couldn’t get out of their on way. Nantucket Sleightride is one of the best albums out there.
The leader of one of the bands I used to play is a huge Mountain fan and we used to cover Nantucket Sleighride. In fact he still occasionally pulls it out with current lineups. But he's mostly originals now.
Anyway, I recently discovered family lineages that go back Nantucket and even more remarkable is that I'm a Starbuck and a Coffin (two very prominent names in the story). So, that song has special meaning to me.
- Tygers of Pan Tang!
They are sooo underrated
Definitely.
Great show, I could listen to you guys discuss bands and music for hours on end. Keep up the great work!
Thin Lizzy almost certainly heads the list. Trouble, like others have pointed out.
Clutch awesome band always a bit under appreciated.
Coroner!
joe fafara In Thin Lizzy’s case they only had themselves to blame for not breaking America. Brian Robertson gets into a bar fight just before a tour and lacerates his hand. Philip Lynott contracts hepatitis. Their US label really tried hard to make them a success but in the end just gave up on them as they were their own worst enemies. The group changes guitarists every two years or so. The lifestyles of the band members got in the way of true global success.
@@patrickcrowther9195 Sad but true. Phil was like his pal George Best uniquely gifted but hardcore & heedlessly committed to self sabotage. Lowell George, another towering talent, hurtling headlong into catastrophe...
Clutch awsome Neil Fallon best vocalist around today definitely underrated
Underrated here in the U.S but Lizzy had success everywhere else. However it broke Phil up because they were never big in America even though they were given opportunities. Lizzy later signed with Warner Brothers who turned all thier attention to a new band out of Pasadena, California named Van-something 🤔🤔
Cool show. In addition to Pete's last two, which are two of my all time favorites, here's my list:
Shooting Star
Warrior Soul
Zebra
Metal Church
April Wine
Helix
Riot, wow! Great twin guitar sounds. Guy Sperenza, powerful singer with a Bon Scott voice like. Fire Down Under (1981) is a fantastic album with great heavy songs. Followed by Restless Breed & Born In America with Rhett Forrester bluesy voice singer, had their very good moments too. A career that deserve more than this. Thanks Pete & Martin for your great comments about Riot.
I think Rhett had way more of a Bon Scott vibe than Guy.
Shooting Star, Marillion, Saxon, Y&T, IQ, Pendragon, Poco, Saga, Triumph, Krokus
Y&T yes! still doing it putting out great albums. Ten is my favorite album but Mean Streak is killer.
Shooting Star is extraordinary and should have been one of the biggest acts of the 80s and beyond.
The Cult, to me, should have been even bigger than they were...
They were pretty big actually for a few years...just couldn't sustain it. They have 4-5 gold and /or platinum albums in a row. Most bands would kill for that.
@Alberto Ramirez Totally agree with you!!
@@seaoftranquilityprog the Cult is awesome! Is an album ranking in the works?
@@seaoftranquilityprog just to be clear we're not talking about Blue Oyster Cult
The Cult is one of my favorite bands. Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy are gods
I think Riot was a great band with each singer they had! Kind of just like a guest vocalist feeling looking back after Reale... #PetePardoArmy #PetePardoNation #BigMeatPete #SplashYourSeaOfTranquilityAllOverMyFace
Great band, one of the few US bands of the time to run with the NWOBHM hordes. Saw them in the UK a few times once supporting Saxon and they gave it their best shot.
Forerunners of the NWoBHM and well received by that movement
I wonder if Riot got mixed up in the shuffle next to Quiet Riot? If one would say "have you checked out Riot?...the answer might have been "The bang your head guy's??
@@offtherealm5438 this was a bad thing for Riot, that success of quite Riot with their hit single Cum on feel the noise
@@laurenzgraffilpenstein8117 Yeah, shame really, in my opinion the New York Riot were the superior band.
So many to choose from here, but for me, ZEBRA is at the top of my list. They had the fastest selling album in Atlantic Records history, and that includes Led Zeppelin (who were also signed to their label). Zebra is also still together (45 years, same lineup) and currently working on a new album. Incredible!
I've always found Wishbone Ash to be one of the most underrated bands out there. Argus is a masterpiece.
Thank God they never broke up, and sre still kicking butt!
Keith Rulong
Who never broke up ? Wishbone Ash ?
Big band bust-up. Only 1 of the 4 original members is still there. Loved the band in the 1970s. Much less good since then, although their latest release 'Coat of Arms' is something of a return to form.
@@keithf_ correct Wishbone Ash never broke up. 51 years and still going. Granted only 1 original member left. But so what? As long as I can go to a club and hear their music I'm happy!
Keith Rulong
Yeah ... but for me ONLY the original line-up matters. Although There's The Rub and New England (with Laurie Wisefield) were fantastic albums.
PS Favourite track is Throw Down The Sword, which I've always felt Andy Powell completely murders when playing live. Just my personal opinion.
Too many favorites to list. As far as I'm concerned Andy Powell taught me how to play guitar.
King's X, hell yeah. It shouldn't be surprising that they were saddled with being a Christian band at first, considering both Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill played in Phil Keaggy's band (Phil being one of the few Christian artists known for his guitar work, especially in his 1960s/1970s band Glass Harp) and met Ty Tabor when his band opened for Keaggy, but they were never a "worship" band like Petra, Carmen, or so many of the bands that followed in their wake--even at their most overtly Christian, King's X were more interested in criticizing its history of violence against outside thinkers (Pleiades is about the execution of Galileo at the hands of the Roman Catholic Inquisition) or its current day hypocrisies (Mission, which questioned the real "mission" of preachers, televangelists in particular). Even the song about "not looking for a one night stand," Goldilox, has some added weight to it since Doug came out as gay in 1997, considering the stereotype of homosexuals being incapable of any form of monogamy (which still seems to persist despite years of fighting for the right to marriage, an institution heterosexuals take so far for granted that 50% of theirs end in divorce). And I still love the line "this is church, this is state, rock and roll amazing grace" from Wonder.
“ about the execution of Galileo at the hands of the Roman Catholic Inquisition”
Galileo was not executed.
James Fetherston Weird, the lyrics even say “burned his body” as if he was, but your right. Pleiades is definitely a homage to Galileo, but they don’t specifically name him. They also make the mistake of claiming he was saying the world was spherical when he was actually putting forth the heliocentric model of the earth revolving around the sun. Maybe they were compositing multiple historical scientists into one, or maybe they were just mistaken.
James Fetherston he was, of course, tried for heresy.
SO.MUCH.THIS. CRIMINALLY underrated, as a band and as individual artists...
So what the heck is wrong with singing about your faith - if you're a Christian, that is.
Bands sing about Buddhist and Hindu concepts, and other faith/religious materials in their songs. But, shhhh if you're a Christian. For Heaven's (oops) sake, keep it under wraps or your recording will be on the scrapheap. Hypocrisy at its ugliest. Can't folks just enjoy the music and poetry? No one thinks they're going to convert you through a song. But faith is a very important aspect of life to many people, so why shouldn't they sing about it?
The band Tnt are really underrated in the 80s imo, their sound in their early albums is really heavy with a little judas priest influence before changing their sound to a more unique aor rock sound in their late 80s albums, great band and still releasing music today👍
Great, great band. Knights of the New Thunder is really underrated, I don't think there's anyway that album wasn't a huge influence on power metal.
Love ‘Tell no Tales’ and ‘Intuition.’ Classic Metal.
I concur ! TNT is a great band, and Ronni Le Tekrø a shredder. IMO the one who's really underrated from TNT and seldom mentioned in any circle is Tony Harnell. Harnell's vocals are killer!
Budgie should have been top of this list. A great band with a sense of humour severely lacking in a lot of bands.
THE CHURCH..... criminally underrated!
LOVE AND MONEY as well. Both fantastic bands, with masterclass musicianship and songwriting!
Absolutely agree with The Church ...
1. Wildhearts
2. Hanoi Rocks
3. Golden Earring
The Dutch band Golden Earring wasn't really under rated as they have been huge in Europe 4 five decades and were popular for 5 yrs here twice.
HANOI ROCKS TWO STEPS ALBUM IS MY FAV SHOULD'VE MADE THEM HUGE.
STILL ONE OF MY FAV ALBUMS. JUST MADE A DVD OFF UA-cam OF THEM LIVE IN 83.
BOC and Thin Lizzy. Yeah, people know them....but they only know maybe 3 or 4 of their songs in spite of each band having lots of terrific songs. I know these 2 bands don't fit the criteria for "underrated" set forth by Pete and Martin but they're the first 2 bands that come to mind.
BOC had two platinum and 4 gold albums.
@@independenceltd. Yeah...and most people can still only name 3 or 4 of their songs.
Two of my favorite rock bands
Silverhead,Quartz,Detective totally underated
@@b2tall239Mirrors and I Love the Night are phantastic, Buck rules!!
Everyone still remembers Lynrd Skynrd (apologies for the spelling) but Blackfoot have been lost in time. Their first album is superb.
Amen! Reservations was an incredible album! If Skynyrd was the southern rock torch bearers, Blackfoot is the southern METAL king!
Blackfoot is still one of my favorite bands. Saw them twice in the 80s. Once as headliners and the other opening for Ted Nugent and Cheap Trick. By the time the 90s rolled around , they were playing in small clubs. I was glad to be able to see them so close up front but I never understood why they didn't retain coliseum status.
This was hard for me to choose, and I'm going to list these bands because they rarely play hits on Classic Rock stations.
1. Uriah Heep
2. Thin Lizzy
3. Rainbow
4. Budgie
5. Camel
6. Marillion
7. Saxon
Be bop deluxe.....check out ,axe victim. Made I.n heaven .sister seagull.
.blazing apostles...😎👍
Great acts of the 70 and early 80s heavy scene
RAINBOW WAS PRETTY BIG. MY OLDER BROTHER GOT ME INTO THEM IN HIGH SCHOOL. URIAH HEEP WAS
BIG IN US UNTIL 82. THE LIVE ALBUM IS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITES. RAINBOW RISING CLASSIC!
THIN LIZZY MY FAV BAND ALL VERSIONS EXCEPT JOHN SYKES WHO RUINED THUNDER & LIGHTNING.
STILL A GREAT HEAVY ALBUM BUT CHINATOWN AND BLACK ROSE MY TWO FAVORITE LIZZY.
@@elvinposey5251 Have you super glued the Caps Lock?
The Tubes, The Damned, The Stranglers, Sparks, Stereolab, Nick Drake, Laura Nyro, Jason Falkner.
Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster, Golden Earring, Yesterday &Today, Demon, Heavy Load, Buffalo (Australia), Picture, Flames (Greece)...
Another great show, as usual ! I have to go with Camel, Caravan, and Nektar and last but not least Hawkwind.
Cool choises
Speaking of Jim Morrison, Martin, as a fellow Canadian, I'm sure you agree that "The Tea Party" (from Windsor, Ontario, Canada) is a CRIMINALLY underrated band!!! They really need more exposure. They released insanely amazing albums throughout the 90's and 2000's!
They sure were a great band. I sent Ray manzarek a copy of their videos DVD. And the doors asked Jeff Martin to be their lead singer for the Doors of the 21st century and he turned them down.
My 3 (in no order):
- "Sweet": They are hands-down one of THE most under-rated bands ever, especially their heavy stuff which, for some reason, never got any airplay. Yeah they had a handful of "pop" hits but IMO they should have been HUGE in America. They were every bit as good AND as talented as Queen, again IMO.
- "Shooting Star": Another great band that no one knows existed, until they hear one of their hit songs (like like "Hollywood", "Hang On For Your Life", "Flesh and Blood", "Last Chance", etc)... then it's like, "WOW!! I remember that song... is that who made it?? I had no idea." lol
- "Wishbone Ash": They influenced classic rock legends (like Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Thin Lizzy) to heavy metal giants like Metallica and Iron Maiden, to progressive rock monsters like Dream Theater... yet no one EVER talks about them (or their phenomenal music).
I agree with you!!🎤🎸🎵🥁
Sweet were awesome during the mid 70s, early metal
Literally clicked on this video with Sweet in mind. There aren't many bands you can find that go through the transformation they did in the 70's, and had great tunes with each sound (bubblegum pop, Glam rock, hard rock, progressive rock), even today most people just say Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, and Love is Like Oxygen, It's really too bad.
I agree about Sweet. My sister had their records around the house when I was a kid and I loved that band. And not just Little Willy or Fox on the Run . Deep cuts are great
@Donald Duck Nothing silly about it, actually. All 4 members of Sweet were able to both write and play their own music, and all four were legit lead singers with vocal harmonies that rivaled and influenced Queen (yes, Sweet was around first), while musically they were every bit as talented, if not more so. This article sums it up much better than I ever could: espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time
Clutch, Warrior Soul, Mindfunk, Be Bop Deluxe, The Melvins, Camel, The Stranglers, The Church, Budgie, Anathema, Antimatter, Jane, I could go on and on but got to stop it somewhere.
Warrior Soul & Mindfunk were AWESOME. However, they put out too few albums, IMO. I think that may knock them off the list. Not a bad list. Good deal.
Jeffrey Robinson great list, especially THE CHURCH! Definetly one of the best and most prolific acts around. 26 albums into their career and a new album out soon.
UFO had many songs that should have been radio hits , such as Out in the Streets , Cherry , Looking Out For No. 1 , and Space Child
AGREED. NO PLACE TO RUN ONE OF MY FAV SONGS. WILD WILLING INNOCENT. ONLY YOU CAN ROCK ME
SHOULD'VE BEEN A BIG HIT SINGLE IN 78 FOR THEM. IT WASN'T. TRAGIC.
Speaking of Vanderhoof, Metal Church is a super underrated one.
Agree with all 6 bands mentioned here...maybe a show on overrated bands now? Other underrated imo:
Angel City
Enuff z' Nuff
Saga
Coney Hatch
Voivod(i.e. Gentle Giant syndrome i guess)
Enuff Z'Nuff writes great Rock songs.
Angel City first U.S. album I remember...I had years ago, but it got shuffled to a used record store when I was a poor student, in the eighties. Good stuff though. Every song on that was solid.
The Angels(angel city) are my favourite Aussie band. Great albums also a live album of theirs ‘liveline’ is as good as made in Japan by deep purple. Everyone should check it out. Voivod is excellent as well.
What is the Gentle Giant syndrome?
I'm sure I'll forget some, but here's a few..
Living Colour, King's X, Badlands, Blue Murder, Saigon Kick, Warrior Soul, Dirty Looks, TNT, Extreme, and more I'm forgetting. A lot of these fall into that metal/grunge changeover bsd timing issue, while others kind of defy easy categorizstion.
The angles face to face !!!!
THE MOST underrated album of AllTIME
4x platinum australia 1978
Face To Face
Budgie, B.O.C., Thin Lizzy, Max Webster, Riot, Jaguar, Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol.... All underrated!!!
Type O Negative, Accept, Saxon, and Fates Warning
I 💗Type O Negative
I love Type O Negative, but they sold millions of records. Can't really say underrated.
@@brucefranklin6295, That's debatable. Bloody Kisses went platinum and October Rust went gold. It's not like they were a band that released numerous multiplatinum albums. I'd say their somewhat underrated.
@@ryanantler184 Well,they weren't Def Leppard or AC/DC,but they were even bigger in Europe than in the states and while they weren't superstars,they did sell millions of albums. Even now,look at their videos on UA-cam. They have multi-millions of views.Tough for me to call that underrated.
@@brucefranklin6295 Never mind bands like AC/DC or Def Leppard. Im comparing Type O Negative to their peers. Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam,Tool, STP, Smashing Pumpkins ect. Were all more successful in terms of album sales and concert attendance. Unfortunately, TON never reached that level of mainstream success.
Angel were highly underrated
Morbid Angel?
No, 70’s prog/glam/ hard rock band Angel
@@curtharvilla958 haven't heard of them. Have you heard the Black Angels?
The Godfathers of Glam....#1 greatest band ever.
Angel yes! as a KISS fan in 70's I loved the look style and bought all their albums. the last one Sinful
was their best 'radio' friendly song with numerous hits that weren't hits! favorite album was White HOT!
Been singing the praises of Fire Down Under for almost 40 years. Just a great, kick-ass record!
Should be on every list
Guy Speranza from RIOT was an incredible singer. Saw them in ‘81 promoting Fire Down Under, when they opened for Frank Marino & Triumph (The Power Of Rock & Roll & Allied Forces tours, respectively).
Interestingly, Guy left RIOT disillusioned with the Rock & touring life, ultimately becoming a Christian.
Later he moved with his family to Florida and sadly passed away in 2003 due to pancreatic cancer.
Check out the excellent live recording of RIOT’s Road Racin’ on 1980’s Castle Donington: Monsters Of Rock album; also featuring great live songs by Touch, April Wine, Saxon, Scorpions & Rainbow (Graham Bonnet phase).
Atomic Rooster, loved ‘Death Walks Behind You’ saw them live. They should have been at a premiere theatre ala Rainbow or Hammersmith Odeon . They were playing a small college in the town of Rugby UK. Underrated for sure. Got to meet Vincent Crane after the show, he was very gracious and asked if we’d enjoyed the show.
My favorite keyboard/organ player of all time
A little know band formed in Ohio in 2007: Red Sun Rising, active for about maybe 13 years, then they went on a hiatus in 2020 (I believe). They released their first album in 2011:The Making Of Kings, and then dropped an amazing album in 2015: Polyester Zeal, and Thread in 2018. They also had an EP called PEEL in 2019, and that was it. 2020 hit, and one of their guitarists, Ryan Williams left (I think to settle down and have a family) and that was like the band lost who they truly were. Not sure what became of Ricky Miller, but Mike Protich, Dave McGary, and Pat Garcia went on to form a band called The Violent in 2020.
RSR (Red Sun Rising) had such a good unique sound and whatever happened, they went on hiatus, and that was it. Maybe there right still be hope for RSR to reform again (I hope so), But like you said, maybe they didn't have the tools or whatever to keep going the way they were.
But I totally agree!
I'll have to check them out. What do they sound like?
@@Trifixion22 They are a rock band, and their sound is so unique! (In my opinion)
I recommend the songs:
Amnesia, The Other Side, Bliss, Veins, and Rose.
They are my favorite band of all time, hands down:)
@@Trifixion22 I actually did 2 guitar covers of two of their songs that are on my channel: 'Amnesia' and 'Emotionless' are the names of the songs.
@@44madison I'll check those out too. Thanks!
@@Trifixion22 You're welcome:) And thank you! -I subscribed to you!
My three
Starz !!!!!
Angel !!!!!!
Derringer !!!!!
angel yepper like derringer zebra also
We must be brothers LOLOL!!
@@noelgoode4080 🤘😁🤓 lol!!
Love Starz!
Ha ha.... lots of bros in here. I fully agree with all 3.
This is great stuff! Warrior Soul. Got lumped into the grudge sound, but from New York and a few years before the alt-rock thing began. Give them a go. Lost in the grudge.
Interesting that where you were WS were considered alongside grunge. Nice perspective.
I agree with Martin...I know from past episodes Pete isn't a fan...But I love King's X...no bad albums in my opinion and the album Ear Candy is sooo yummy....gave me a rock and roll cavity🤘😝
Great episode - and 10/10 to Martin for bringing on King's X. Such a fantastic, underrated band. Oh, and Riot were superb as well, especially during the Guy Speranza years.
Thin Lizzy, Iced Earth and Savatage is top of my list.
1990's Iced Earth was as good as any metal band at that time. They were like the perfect blend of Metallica heavy and Maiden melodic. Plus Matt Barlow's vocals were just phenomenal! Shouldve broke way bigger!
Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Maybe too eclectic for some) - Amazing front man with a really solid band backing him up
Derringer - Maybe could have used a top end singer but exceptional guitar work
Anything with Johnny Winter
Currently blasting Johnny's "Second Winter" and oh my lord does Winter peel paint with blistering solos and golden riffs......great vocals too! He and Edgar just drip with musicality-if there are two more talented brothers in rock and roll, I haven't heard it! Great mention!
As already mentioned : Be Bop Deluxe for sure
These guys should have been bigger :
Max Webster
Little Feat
Los Lobos
Max Webster were huge in Canada. They filled arenas. Maybe too quirky for the rest of the world.
Riot, Savatage, Fastway, Cry of Love to name a few underrated bands.
Fastest should have done so much better. First two albums are great, third was a sound track that was way better than the movie. I actually liked the movie, lol
Good call with Fastway!
Cry of Love still one of my fav bands. Loved those guys. saw them a few times live.
Back in the day, I always thought Tesla was very underrated. Other mentions: Saigon Kick, Overkill, Night Ranger, Extreme. I have to admit I had forgotten about Love/Hate, will have to revisit their albums, thanks Martin.
Edit: Why Do You Think They Call it Dope, I had forgotten about this song from Love/Hate, the bass is insane in this song, I think Pete will like this, same as the drums on "One More Round".
I totally agree with all your choices. King’s X is always the go to for sure on this subject. One of the bands that I always thought should have been bigger is Armored Saint. They haven’t put out a bad album ever.
Cry of Love could have been a big band if they had been around before 1993 and if the singer Kelly Holland had not got burned out by touring. 'Brother' is a wonderful album.
I LOVE THAT ALBUM. SAW THEM LIVE A FEW TIMES. SHOULD'VE BEEN A BIG ALBUM FOR THEM. CLASSIC.
@@elvinposey5251 It kind of was a big album, for a debut anyway. Peace Pipe and Bad Thing got a lot of airplay and was on heavy MTV rotation. For some reason they toured for 18 months straight and Kelly Holland just had enough of it, they never recovered.
Saw Cry Of Love years ago.
Should have been massive.
Brother is a amazing album,but for some reason it didn't happen...Shame.
Another band I would like to nominate is Thunderpussy.
Soulful,sexy rock n roll,with some awesome material.
Why isnt this band huge?!!!...
Riot
Angel
Shooting Star
Zebra
Holland
Malice
TT Quick
Blackfoot
Great call on Malice. I really dig License to Kill.
@@joint2joint2k 👍 RIP Mick Zane. I saw them at this show, opening for Nazareth ua-cam.com/video/fSOZ2SDUknw/v-deo.html
Shooting Star is on my list, too.
Angel and Blackfoot certainly brother. Shooting star are one of the best bands on the planet too. how about BOC, Magnum, Y&T?
Shooting Star would be appreciated by any fan of the rock genre. They were so regional, quite big here in Cincinnati. I interviewed Van McClain for my college newspaper. Love them!
Ram Jam everybody knows the band for Black Betty from their first album but the second one took the band to another level its better than the debut and sadly never got recognized.
Ram Jam merits an episode of their own.
Second that.
Thank you Pete for these vids! These with Martin Popoff are my faves as I'm a fan of Martin's opinions and views. Great job!
Love/Hate 'Blackout In The Red Room' is an absolute belter of an album. Saw them at the pretty tiny Borderline in London, early 90s...a raucous, sweaty, ripsnorter of a gig...remember it like it was yesterday
Always puzzled that the British band ,Thunder were not huge in the States. Terrific band. Seem them many of times over the years. Great lead singer. Maybe Grunge killed them ?
Suggestion for rant: lineup changes that had the biggest impact for better or worse
It Bites from my home county of Cumbria in the UK. Great band that just didn’t get the credit they deserved. Listen to the live album‘Thankyou and Goodnight’ to see what I mean.
Thin Lizzy, Savatage and Iced Earth the 3 with the highest quality discographies of underrated bands IMO
We have same taste lol
Axel Rudi Pell put out more albums then I can count. Almost all are melodic with killer vocals, ripping guitars, and great song writing. Underrated is an understatement!
Totally agree...Masquerade Ball what a song.
Another amazing underrated band was Australia’s own Radio Birdman. They had the incredible guitar work of Dennis Tek. They had hard hitting anthems like “Do the Pop” but they also did dreamy/dark style tunes in the realm of The Doors. Check out their compilation “Essential Birdman” on UA-cam.
Great frontman in Rob Younger, too. He also shined in The New Christs.
Gunther 8544 Yes, another awesome band!
High Number Amazon has a doc on them just a great band
John Robinson Really? Cool, I will check that out. Thank you.
great band.. as influenced by BOC as the The Stooges and the MC5
I like a little drop of Kings X myself, although over her in England I've always thought of them as Kings Cross.
I always wondered about that especially with their Christian aspect I.e. Jesus’s crucifix. Perhaps I am looking too deep.
A few bands that should have been bigger, and/or deserved more: Gentle Giant (too good for their own good), Can, Fishbone, Faith No More (they had decent success, but...), Mandrill, XTC, King's X, Queen City Kids, Sparks.
I know I'm forgetting many more...
Can is good. Fishbone has a Hollywood house they throw some wild parties at, at least they used to....
Mandrill was great, also, little known, Rasputin`s Stash.
MANDRILL!!!! 🤜🤛
Starz. The Wildhearts. Killing Joke. Riot (Fire Down Under is THE most undervalued hard rock album ever released) Armored Saint. Extreme. King's X. Sweet. Blue Oyster Cult (criminally overlooked and misunderstood) Angel City. Cheap Trick (they are pretty big-but they should be huge!) Pentagram. The Church. UFO ( a lot of fans.....but far too many households do NOT have Strangers In The Night cued up and ready to go-my fav live album!) and lastly, Rory Gallagher, easily the most overlooked axe wizard to grace a stage.....fooookin' incredible player! Oh, and The Replacements, Big Star, Little Feat, Budgie, Trouble, Diamond Head, The Smithereens, Sloan, Raspberries, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex, Squeeze, MC5, Traffic, Roxy Music and The Kinks (have a big following-but everyone on Earth should own at least one Kinks album). Lastly, Husker Du and World Party and Stone Roses and The La's. And NRBQ!
Fantastic list!
@@Trifixion22 Thanks Nick. I hope that if even one single person discovers and becomes a fan of just one of these aforementioned bands and it brings them the same rush and happiness that I have found when checking out other peoples lists....it's a music lovers biggest high to hear something new (or old) for the first time and to be completely blown away by it! Pete and Martin (especially from his books on heavy metal) have totally increased my music collection and completely devastated my MONEY COLLECTION! Big thanks for kind comment and be well, brother.
Two similar sounding bands that I thought should have been bigger are Leatherwolf and Lizzy Borden, both heavy with catchy riffs and great vocals. Also Giant deserved to be bigger but like a lot of bands just came at the wrong time for commercial success, Last of the Runaways is a great album.
ON the Thrash Front, I would argue Death Angel and to a lesser extent Testament were underrated in that they could and I think maybe should be up their with the Big Four.
Having seen all of the Big 4 bands and a handful of other thrash bands, I couldn't agree more with Death Angel. Saw them about two years ago in a dive bar and they put on easily one of the best shows I've seen in ages. Maybe 100 people there and the majority of the audience had no idea who or what they were seeing but Death Angel played it like they were headlining Madison Square Garden. I'd been a casual fan for awhile but I never knew just how good they were until that night.
@@andypostema4269 their new stuff is really good too check it out. I saw them at a gig in S.F. where Halford headlined before the Priest reunion. Death angel and Violence stole the show.
Two of my favorite, UFO and Y&T, both underrated. Not here but in general.
Late in on this episode but for me Big Star, Sweet, Slade (in the US they were extremely overlooked) Moxy, April Wine, Heavens Edge, Fastway, Badlands, Tyketto, the list just goes on...
Sweet, Slade, April Wine, and TRULY Fastway!!!! I saw them open for AC/DC and honestly David King's voice is up there with RJD.
Finally a chance to watch this video of the latest Popoff and Pardo show. Great choices, gents. And many of mine are listed by other commenters but some I would list - even though some may not be the type of band for SoT listeners - would be: Manassas, (the) Raspberries and the Guess Who. And if we were just talking about bands being underrated in the US, I would include The Kinks. Looking forward to your next installment. Thanks again, Martin and Pete!
The definition of underrated band is Crack the Sky. These guys started out in the early 1970's with co-founders John Palumbo and Rick Witkowski playing the clubs and shopping around their demos.
Finally getting picked up by Lifesong Records with their self-titled debut in 1975. Rolling Stone magazine reviewed it and called it the record of the year. Unfortunately, the promotions department at the label didn't properly do their job and even though DJ's around the country were spinning the album including Wolfman Jack they couldn't get copies of the album in stores so they got forgotten. In the few areas where people could buy the record they were huge, to this day.
They toured around the country with all the big bands, many of them kicking them off because the fans wanted to hear more of them and not the headliners.
After a turbulent 1980's with different projects happening, Rick and John got back in 1989 with From the Greenhouse and had some success. They still didn't break.
Silence for most of the 1990's then they re-emerged in 1998 with a new disc. They've basically accepted their place in the industry and have managed to release nearly 20 albums over a 45 year career. They tour every year and yet no one knows who they are for the most part.
They're doing a performance at Progstock on October 10th and at Rams Head in November. A couple of new songs have been released from their forthcoming album, Tribes in January.
This band has been compared to Yes, Tull, Floyd and many, many others. Not one of their albums sounds like another. They are always reinventing themselves. They never repeat. They always sound fresh and new.
I agree totally. I grew up in the Baltimore area where they were huge and got lots of airplay. They definitely made some killer records. John Palumbo is a hell of a songwriter.
The Angels(Angel city), The Stranglers are two of the most under rated bands ever. The Angels should have been as big as ac/dc.
Riot and savatage
Great picks.
YES.
Warrior Soul; massively underrated.
Yes Yes Yes 👌
Love Warrior Soul. Definitely way way underrated.
The Pretty Things. Heavier than The Stones during the British Invasion. Ahead of The Kinks and The Who doing concept albums/rock operas. Still made HEAVY albums till the end (check out Balboa Station) - their last record just came out, a few months after we lost Phil May.
Awesome show, here’s my top 3:
1) Earth, Wind, & Fire
2) David Sancious & Tone
3) Caldera
Warrior Soul!! Nothing comes even close!
Those first 3 albums are killer. I often describe them as the NYC version of Jane's Addiction, which gives them that slightly harder edge.
@@kitoyobeni1 Their last album was great!!
Love Warrior Soul! But they were probably too political to get too big.