Re: ROLLING STONE TOP 25 UNDERAPPRECIATED ARTISTS

[www.rollingstone.com]

Yeah, I saw that list. For people who don't want to click:

1. Tom Waits
2. The Replacements
3. Cheap Trick
4. Sonic Youth
5. Warren Zevon
6. Big Star
7. The Pharcyde
8. Roxy Music
9. Talking Heads
10. Bob Seger
11. Fugazi
13. The Cramps
14. The New York Dolls
15. The Band
16. The Cars
17. Pogues
18. Alice Cooper
19. Dinosaur Jr
20. Sleater-Kinney
21. Husker Du
22. Devo
23. Wilco
24. Tom Petty
25. Ween

I'm just curious as to what the definition of underappreciated is? Because I think that Wilco is quite possibly the single most OVERappreciated band going right now. Not that they're a bad band by any stretch - they're damn good. But geez, get one album rejected by your label and pull off the neat trick of getting released it by a sister label to the one that rejected it and suddenly you've got documentaries and biographies being released about you and your leader is declared one of the top 30 living songwriters by a major magazine, clocking in higher than Ray Davies and Pete Townshend. I think Wilco are getting the living shit appreciated out of them right at the moment.

Now Son Volt - there's a band that's underappreciated.

Others who should be shown more love than what they ever seem to get:

The Adverts
Grant Lee Phillips
Luscious Jackson
The Dream Warriors (made "Soul Bossa Nova" cool way before Austin Powers glommed onto it)
Tobin Sprout
the Church
Cowboys International
Tears for Fears
Joe Jackson
Afrika Bambaata
the Rosebuds
Ofra Haza
Laura Cantrell
Joy Zipper
Mott the Hoople
Rank and File
Joseph Arthur
Love Tractor



Post Edited (05-02-07 22:34)

That's an interesting way of looking at it. We've had Guilty Pleasures discussions a few times here that probably actually covers that. But I'll throw out a few names of popular mainstreamers that I would say deserve to be taken more seriously by the sorts of people who lurk on the TP board.

Pink
John Mellencamp
Poco
Kylie Minogue (the decade is 3/4 over and "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is still the finest single of the double-oughts.)
Springsteen, Green Day and U2 get bashed on this board way out of proportion to any of their sins. Heck, so does Pearl Jam. And this is one of the few places Nirvana could be called underappreciated.

> Kylie Minogue (the decade is 3/4 over and "Can't Get You Out of
> My Head" is still the finest single of the double-oughts.)
>

has something going for it, but it's not the song:

[youtube.com]


on the otherhand, this has everything:

[youtube.com]



Post Edited (05-03-07 16:20)

I heartily concur with Jackson, Arthur, the Church and Mott. They've all had some success, but not nearly in line with their talent, at least in my opinion. Then again, they're all eccentrics, and eccentricity rarely breeds mass success.

My own personal list (in no particular order):

The Music Lovers
Porcupine Tree
Otis Taylor
The Clientele
Doug Powell
Dave Alvin
Trashcan Sinatras
Motorhead (I know, they're huge in Germany, but still...)
Jeff Dahl
Dave Kusworth
Nikki Sudden
Marillion (post-Fish, that is)
The Dogs D'amour
The Beasts of Bourbon
You Am I
The Compulsions
Tiger Mountain
black tape for a blue girl
Unto Ashes
Femi Kuti
The Bevis Frond
The Green Pajamas
Masters of Reality
The Triffids (though there's been some love lately on this board)
China Drum
Snatches of Pink
The Black Halos
The BellRays
The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
David Torn
Steve Tibbetts
Isis
The Saints

And that's not even counting the metal bands from the last few years that I think deserve attention outside of headbanger circles.

Holy crap, was I geeking out. I apologize for the length. I'll be surprised if anyone actually goes through all that...

if we are compiling a trouser press underappreciated list we would have to reverse the process and not pick anybody like the replacements or any band that is obscure cause we all appreciate them.
matter of fact we all prob have a few extreme mainstream artists we appreciate. example iras apreciation for bryan adams.
i pick nobody

here are certain aspects about some mainstream artists that might be underapprecaited.

springsteen- he might not be page,clapton or beck or richard thomson on guitar but his solos have a intenisity and rock. kind of like neil young.
listen to the live versions of prove it all night , beacuse the night and countless other songs.
prince- also as a guitarist . he should put out a rock n roll album. i know he wouldnt be classified as classic rock but it would be cool to hear little red corvette on classic rock .
john mellencamp- check out a few of his cds whenever we wanted,big daddy and human wheels. those cds didnt sell that well and the singles were prob the weakest tracks on them. his less popular songs are better then his anthemic songs. get past jack n diane hes got some good tunes
bob seger- early stuff from his band the last herd 60s garage rock from the motor city with a heavy soul influence. his earlier stuff also was extremely soulful. although he is more known for like a rock.

Somehow I like Bob Seger's inclusion on that list. Not that I listen to him.

It's really a list of critics darlings accept him and Cooper.

Of course several are my faves.

Eighteen of the "Underappreciated Twenty-five" are on my iPod.

Bob Seger? Classic-rock radio can't let his songs go. Same for The Cars.

Tom Petty? Last time he toured, he sold out three nights at Red Rocks, in nothin' flat.

On the other hand, I've listened to Alice Cooper's radio show on my late-night drive a couple times, and it's boring as hell.

I agree about Seger and Petty. They've sold zillions of records and concert tickets. How are they unappreciated?

And while they've never sold in huge numbers, Waits and Paul Westerberg are two of the most respected artists in the business, not just by Trouser Press. How are they unappreciated?

And, like breno says, for a band that doesn't go platinum, Wilco sure has a high profile. I wouldn't call that unappreciated either.

But what do we expect? Rolling Stone hasn't been in touch with anything in a decade at least.

> prince- also as a guitarist . he should put out a rock n roll album.
> i know he wouldnt be classified as classic rock but it would be cool
> to hear little red corvette on classic rock .

Actually, I'd love to see Prince record a solo performance for MTV Unplugged. Every time I've seen him, a solo set has been a part of the show. Last time (2004), he performed by himself with an acoustic guitar for about 35 minutes. Songs included "Strange Relationship," "Raspberry Beret" and oh yes, "Little Red Corvette."

If you've never seen Prince perform live, take my word for it: an Unplugged show by him would be a triumph deluxe.

I always say the Only Ones are the most underrated and under appreciated band even by people who know of them, since well if you play them today they sound better than almost anything else from their era, and they always get reduced to their one "hit". Same thing applies to the La's. And I've never met anyone who actively dislikes either band.

I love Tom Waits and all but he's not underappreciated, he's beloved and legendary.

mike rep
paul roland
johnny dowd
martin newell
swamp dogg
pink reason
michael yonkers
deep freeze mice
demon's claws
wayward souls
sun dial
otto's chemical lounge
fevers
funseekers
times new viking
certain general
a frames
les rita mitsouko
charlie burton
charlie pickett
caetano veloso
greg ashley
outlaw con bandana
david s ware
gorch fock
green
godfathers
smegma
sun city girls
wreckless eric
unnatural helpers
tiger by the tail
early hours
goodnight loving
acid reflux

I can't tell if my love of Oasis indicates (to myself) if they should be categorized as under-rated or guilty pleasure. I do know that Don't Believe the Truth was one of the best of 2005. Indie/Alternative, no, Popular Rock, yes (surely you've noticed that all guitar rock is classified as alternative in Wikipedia and elsewhere). Relative to the success of their last few LPs on the world scale they are underappreciated in the U.S. - where they are something of a guilty pleasure.



Post Edited (05-07-07 18:06)

Bill Laswell
Vic Chesnutt
Ed Kuepper
Mick Harvey
King Tubby

> I can't tell if my love of Oasis indicates (to myself) if they should be
> categorized as under-rated or guilty pleasure.

Why you'd feel guilty for loving Oasis is beyond me. I'm a huge Oasis fan myself. In fact, I've gotten more protracted enjoyment out of listening to Oasis than any other band to emerge in the '90s.

Oasis inspire alot of hate but it's usually misguided from people who just find them obnoxious and want their Rock stars to be nice guys committed to saving the trees or something (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it shouldn't be confused with judging their records, shows, etc.).

Their first 2 records and the singles from that 94-95 period are pretty terrific - Noel Gallagher just had the songs pouring out of him back then (The Masterplan doesn't even cover all of the non-LP great stuff they had!).

"Definitely Maybe" is one of the great records of all time for my money, and would top my list for the 90s. Post-"Morning Glory" I'd have said they were on the decline until DBTT which was a very good record just when I had counted them out.

Still, even their weakest albums always have some great tracks on them. I could list 20+ songs that would have been worthy to make their recent compilation and were left off, plus they have genuine Rock star swagger in an era where that is almost dead, and they give hilarious interviews.........what's not to like?



Post Edited (05-09-07 20:11)

I love Oasis too and agree with Mats84 analysis. Between the first three albums Noel Gallager wrote so many good songs that each single was really an essential EP in and of itself. You had the album single plus three more non-LP songs that rivaled what was on the albums and many tracks surpassed them. I am still waiting for a box set of their singles to collect them all as the Masterplan is far to skimpy.

Their last album is a comeback of sorts and they seemed to have lost their focus before now. This album has great songs and is a great listen from beginning to end.

One sign of trouble though. Oasis performed at the Brit awards this year as they received the Achievment award. Liam Gallager's voice sounds completely shot. The rest of the band played very well but Liam was an embarrassment. Maybe time for Noel to step up and take over the vocals.

Personally, I thought Heathen Chemistry was a great album.

I had to laugh when Oasis toured on a double-bill with The Black Crowes in 2003. At first I thought it was a mismatched bill ... but that was because I'm just not that big a fan of the Crowes. Thinking about it further, though, the bands do have a lot in common.

Both bands are fronted by a pair of brothers, on lead guitar and lead vocals, who are known for their conflicts and fisticuffs with each other. Both bands have seen a complete turnover in musicians, apart from the aforementioned pair of brothers. Both wear their musical influences and their heritage on their sleeve — actually, more like a big overcoat. And both have used their national flag as a backdrop on occasion (the Stars & Bars, in the Crowes' case).

who opened?

it varied from town to town
in Denver Oasis went on first
excellent show (still have a copy)
i had an open mind when the Crows started, but just a few songs in I couldn't take it anymore (and had an access pass to go elsewhere)
More descriptively (to above comments), no one in my seating area was the least bit interested in this "unknown" opening band. Maybe they were bigger in other markets (though Denver is quite progressive, musically, particularly for its size).

I received the Oasis comp Stop the Clocks for Chrimble this past year & it has been a bit of a pleasant surprise. I especially enjoy "The Importance of Being Idle", which is a bit of a cop from the Kinks' "Dead End Street" (as is the accompanying video). To me, the songs doesn't sound too Beatlely.

Lisa Germano