Wonder why no one else noticed

What albums/artists come to mind that you feel were inexplicably unsuccessful?

I'm not talking about (necessarily) brilliant artists who were ignored by radio, MTV and the blinkered mainstream public. I'm thinking more of albums that you honestly felt would and should appeal to a wide audience, and that surprised you by sinking with little or no trace.

(I'm sure this thread has appeared here before.)

Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic

At a time (2003) when everybody i knew seemed to be fellating The White Stripes, Strokes any other clone band, etc, people completely missed this brilliant album, literally all killer no filler, comes in under 30 mins, blasts through amazingly energetic pop songs not heard since Cheap Trick, Only Ones, Buzzcocks et al, one of the first albums i recommend to anyone, and one of my favourite of the decade, these guys are sadly missed, also have a best of/ singles comp out aswell.

X

PITCHFORK,

Thanks for the heads up on the Exploding Hearts. I missed them somehow and just downloaded Guitar Romantic off ITunes based on your post and am grooving to it now. You had me at Cheap Trick.

This is why I read this board everyday. Thanks a ton!!!

matthew ryan has been putting out great music for about 10 years now.
he is not even on a major label anymore. im not even sure if trouser press people even heard of him.
he is kind of hard to pigeohole. people considered him to be in the alt country category others consider him a new springsteen. his latest cd has a sound that wouldnt be out of place with new order or blue nile.
for my money one of the best songwriters ever.

Auteurs - New Wave

Released just before Britpop broke (1993), and Oasis, Blur and Pulp came to prominence, this album has just as smart songwriting as Damon or Jarvis could produce, and never strays into complacent tunes. A case of poor timing probably, and i think that "Definitely Maybe" came along and gave everybody the kick in the head they were looking for, and this gem got lost in the mess

this sounds like a hit

dig this girls

[uk.youtube.com]

> this sounds like a hit
>


not on planet earth.

ramones - "poison heart"

i remember the first time i heard it on the radio, and thinking out loud, "this is the one".

wrong again

I have the exact same feelings about the Exploding Hearts. Guitar Romantic IS the Album of the decade.

sneetches

The Exploding Hearts were brilliant - in my top 5 for the decade so far for sure (then again "Is This It" is my number 1 so it's been a retro decade for me in general). Loved them right off the bat with the pre-album single ("Making Teenage Faces" - which was a blast).

That "Shattered" cd that compiles their non-LP tracks (including "Making Teenage Faces") makes a great companion piece to "Guitar Romantic".

My pick for this thread would be the La's. Still one of my fave albums ever - it should have sold over a billion copies and had 7 number 1 hit singles while ushering in a pop revolution. The music buying public, in their infinite wisdom chose Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer and Paula Abdul that year.

No wonder I have anger issues.



Post Edited (08-30-07 12:24)

> The Exploding Hearts were brilliant - in my top 5 for the
> decade so far for sure (then again "Is This It" is my number 1
> so it's been a retro decade for me in general). Loved them
> right off the bat with the pre-album single ("Making Teenage
> Faces" - which was a blast).
>
> That "Shattered" cd that compiles their non-LP tracks
> (including "Making Teenage Faces") makes a great companion
> piece to "Guitar Romantic".
>


comparing the nice boys (they sound like nice boys, zzzzz) and king louie's memphis treet (not a nice boy), i'm thinking the ex-hearts probably didn't have another good album in them anyway.

if the king was a little cuter (or more precisely, a bunch less ugly), i'd wonder why he hasn't become a star, though.



Post Edited (08-30-07 15:56)

I felt the same way about "Poison Heart," as well as The La's.

Much respect to Paganizer, but although I love X, they never struck me as "why-isn't-this-a-hit" material. I was one of those who felt that, when X tried harder to break (i.e., when they parted ways with Manzarek), their excitement factor was diluted.

Exploding Hearts, Matthew Ryan and Sneetches definitely are on my must-check-out list. Big ups to Jothoma's statement! Great suggestions, as always, from the august participants on this board.

As for me (one of the less august ones), well, I was surprised that the solo debut by the former Band songwriter, Robbie Robertson, didn't get more notice and move more units.

That album, I thought, had a lot going for it: solid songwriting, impassioned performances that seemed perfect for rock radio at the time, a few attention-getting guests (Peter Gabriel, U2, Maria McKee, Bodeans), and production by Daniel Lanois, who had been on a roll (commercially, at least) with recent productions for U2 and Gabriel. Yet it seemed to sink with little or no trace. Today it's one of Geffen's budget items.

>
> That album, I thought, had a lot going for it: solid
> songwriting, impassioned performances that seemed perfect for
> rock radio at the time, a few attention-getting guests (Peter
> Gabriel, U2, Maria McKee, Bodean


wasn't until just recently i learned that the old black woman doing that "somewhere down the lazy river" line was sammy bodean (aka little black sam-bo)...

oooooops



Post Edited (08-30-07 19:36)

Regarding the Sneetches - check out "Slow" and "1985-1991", with the former just edging out the latter.

Oooh my, Satch-mo!

cheater slicks

> cheater slicks



[trouserpress.com]

that's my point!!!

michael baker wrote:

> that's my point!!!


i was listening to whiskey in the car a few days ago and am listening to side one of walk into the sea right this very second (might be record of the year) but i've never heard a cheater slicks song that sounded like a "hit".

"At a time (2003) when everybody i knew seemed to be fellating The White Stripes, Strokes any other clone band, etc, people completely missed this brilliant album"

We didn't ...

[www.trouserpress.com]

Denzil (it's a band, but the lead singer is, in fact, named Denzil) - PUB

This is about 15 years old. It was on Giant (Warner Bros.). Sank without a trace.

[profile.myspace.com]

Of more recent vintage, there's this guy named Kenna (http://www.kennakenna.com/) whose debut came out a few years ago. He seems like what I think pop music is these days...? His second release has been pushed back a number of times, but it seems like it will come out.

And finally, I've always been dumb enough to believe each new Marah release will be the breakthrough.

Many thanks to Pitchfork and everyone else who endorsed the Exploding Hearts. I picked up a copy of Guitar Romantic on my way to work today, and oh my goodness yes, this is a terrific CD! Wish I could get off work before midnight, because the store had a copy of Shattered in the rack as well. Sad to think the band is gone already.

The Nice Boys have a new 7" out Very Mary. I don't have a record player so I'll have to wait til a comp comes out. Listen to Very Mary here-

[www.myspace.com]

I love the Nice Boys even though they aren't at the level of the Hearts (more 20/20 less Ramones). Still one of the best around nowadays.

>
> I love the Nice Boys even though they aren't at the level of
> the Hearts (more 20/20 less Ramones).


tried king louie and the loose diamonds yet?

nice boys are more like a less ballsy cretones. might sound good backing linda ronstadt on her next new wave album, but of little use otherwise.

It's unfathomable to me that "Head On" by the Jesus and Mary Chain was never #1 on the US pop charts - what the hell more could anyone ever ask for in a pop song? I'm assuming that the band's name hurt it in this country.

Other shoulda been #1 (or at least rop 10) singles:

"Way Down Now" - World Party
"Goodnight Moon" - Shivaree
"Open Your Heart" - Lavender Diamond (guess there's still hope for that one...)
"Here's Where the Story Ends" - the Sundays

I have yet to meet anyone who didn't love any of those songs once they had the opportunity to actually hear them, but few people (at least in the US) ever got the chance to hear them on the radio.

>
> Other shoulda been #1 (or at least rop 10) singles:


manic street preachers - "ocean spray"
comateens - "late night city"
something happens - "hello hello hello hello hello"
ari shine - "a force of one"
so cow - "moon geun young"
pelle carlberg - "pampolona"
fad gadget - "ricky's hand"
dead child - "never bet the devil your head"


> "Open Your Heart" - Lavender Diamond (guess there's still hope


is that the single? shoulda been "my shadow is a monday"...

> I'm not talking about (necessarily) brilliant artists who were
> ignored by radio, MTV and the blinkered mainstream public.

Lush
X

Was The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps album any sort of hit in the US?
The Brit rock media made a massive deal out of it when it came out and then just about everyone seemed to lose interest.
Like a lot of British bands, they were Britain's biggest band for about a minute (hello Secret Affair, Cast, Echobelly and any band unfortunatley lumped into the 'New Wave Of New Wave' category in the early to mid '90s).

Both Lazarus and Barney (and Me) got very modest airplay on corporate "alternative" radio at the time. No one (but me) seemed to be interested. If they wanted to record a hit record, they should have made an effort to sound more like Candlebox, which was all over the airwaves at roughly the same time. Thank goodness the Boos did not sound like Candlebox.



Post Edited (09-06-07 08:17)

Aitch wrote:

> Was The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps album any sort of hit in the
> US?

Safe to say they're about obscure as it gets over here though that was a
shoegaze classic, wudnit?
Wake Up! was a brass attempt at pop hits but just weird enough to merit repeat listenings (too weird for the market here).
Can't say I ever heard their name uttered through any American media outlet at all, nor much in print.