mjscarousal said:

Bands like WAR, Kool in the Gang, The Jacksons(when they left Motown), even Sly and the family Stone, Mint Condition, most of those old school funk/R&B bands are very underrated. They never get accolades or acknowledgement for their contributions and impact on music. They are often overlooked, that's what it means to be underrated. [Edited 8/9/17 2:45am]

Besides Sly and The Jacksons (once they left Motown) i haven't listened to the other bands, but you are right about your point. Black acts as a whole are very underrated.

2045RadicalMattZ said:

214 said:

Sly and The Family Stone is criminally underrated, here in Mexico nobody knows who the hell they are. Funkadelic is quite underrated. Both of them are underrated outside USA.

Another one great band is Pixies, just with Doolittle album, they should have gained their place in music history.

PIXIES???...... great googly moogly!

... they're like the most overrated thing ever. Doolittle isnt even that special. But...opinion is opinion....

What doi you mean by special? for me Purple Rain is nothing special but a very good album.

DaveT said:

Coldplay are incredibly popular but the seem to get unfairly bashed by "serious" music fans ... they've written some of the best pop melodies of the last 15 years and are an amazing live band. They don't get the credit they deserve in my humble opinion ... underrated.

CynicKill said:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers!

I know they're one of the worlds most popular bands, but they don't get the respect they deserve.

They don't get respect as a rock band.

They don't get respect as a funk band.

Every time you listen to RHCP you get this vivid picture of their version of California. It's seedy, lost, a little too warm, a little too much hanging out and doing drugs. They've done more promoting this version of California than anybody I know.

And the songs. It's hard to pick out a bad song from this group.

...and tidal waves couldn't save the world from Californication!

I say...........FISHBONE!!!! Moreso than the RHCP!!!!

MickyDolenz said:

robertgeorge said:

I like the previous poster who mentioned Duran Duran. They have a depth and a quality and an artistry but they get treated like one hit wonders, one direction with synths.

I would mention Raphael Saadiq.
Early Suede (the London Suede)
The Left Bank
The Teardrop Explodes (who are often forgotten)
Any of the decent Prince proteges do not get the love or appreciation they deserve.
For what they have done George Clinton and P Funk, Eddie Hazel, Bootsy, Bernie Worrel......
Slug and Murs are some talented cats.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry any rock 'n' roll innovators who were short on later period hits.
Herbie Hancock should be called a genius more.
As should Donny Hathaway who is (was) amazing.
Meshell Ndegeocello should have had more respect, though I still have to google how to spell her name.
Fiona Apple's first album was fire.
Tori Amos went from incredible to not that credible, but deserves some mo credit.
I always thing LL Cool J did some cool stuff despite being marginalized below other contemporaries.

Junie Morrison had some next level talent.

I could continue.....

Since when are solo acts a band?

Yawn, the same time this became a senate hearing. It may take a lot of lateral thinking and mental calisthenics to figure out what I did. I will help, I simply read too fast and stupidly answered in terms of artists instead of bands per se. A fairly common error, but you know, pedants got to pedant.

[Edited 8/9/17 23:37pm]

Farfunknugin said:

Crowded House - Beatleque harmonies + Neil Finn is a genius dating all the way back to Split Enz. Just play One Step Ahead, I Got You or Message to my Girl if you need proof.

Neil Finns solo work alone is head & shoulders above most .

[Edited 8/9/17 12:50pm]

Agreed, a wondrous and exceptional talent.

robertgeorge said:

Farfunknugin said:

Crowded House - Beatleque harmonies + Neil Finn is a genius dating all the way back to Split Enz. Just play One Step Ahead, I Got You or Message to my Girl if you need proof.

Neil Finns solo work alone is head & shoulders above most .

[Edited 8/9/17 12:50pm]

Agreed, a wondrous and exceptional talent.

I use to work with this guy who was a proper fat, arrogant, lazy pr*ck. His fave band was Crowded House and he was always banging on about how they were the best ... he also fancied himself as a singer (he wasn't!) so would wander round the office attemtping to sing their hits. Totally ruined the band for me ... the b*rstard!!

The RHCP may be overshadowed a bit by the "more serious" Grunge acts of their day, but I don't see them being underrated. They're one of the most acclaimed bands of their generation.

Love RHCP, but I dont think they are underrated. Lots of people love him and every album is a success

IMO, Living Colour is a very underrated band. They dont please the metal fans, the funk fans, the pop fans, the indie fans. They are in their own league. Very much like Prince in a way.

The Most Underrated Band Of All Time Is... impossibly subjective and unquantifiable.

DaveT said:

robertgeorge said:

Agreed, a wondrous and exceptional talent.

I use to work with this guy who was a proper fat, arrogant, lazy pr*ck. His fave band was Crowded House and he was always banging on about how they were the best ... he also fancied himself as a singer (he wasn't!) so would wander round the office attemtping to sing their hits. Totally ruined the band for me ... the b*rstard!!

This was streamed last nite in New Zealand where he's recording a new album live, really amazing version of Fours Seasons In One day & the new music sounds really promising. I watched it live here in California after midnight & now replaying it. He's doing one more session live next Friday. Check it out

- https://www.youtube.com/w...XFnWk8VRA4

THE most underrated band of all time is Slave...

With what I have seen thus far, I would definitely agree with Parliament, Sly and Crowded House.

I would also throw "The Band" into the mix. Their first three albums are flawless. "Live at the Academy" with Allen Touissant writing the horn charts is one of the best live albums ever, without question. I wish they could have kicked the drugs and stuck together. The limited discography definitely hurts their case.

RJOrion said:

how are parliament and sly underrated???...they are both universally praised acts...ive never seen anything but almost unanimous love and accolades and praise for p-funk or sly & the family stone

Amongst the people that know them, sure. And round these parts, certainly.



I work in a company of about 20 people. I'd wager a month's salary that no one in my company knows anything about them behond the two or three huge chart hits.


And I highly doubt that my company doesn't represent the modern day demographic of music listeners...

[Edited 8/12/17 11:58am]

The Black Crowes, Felt, Everything But the Girl

2045RadicalMattZ said:

BEE GEES (*believe me, they've got some great rock ish shit before doing disco)

Once Barry's gone you'll see them crawl up the lists. Only idiots deny the Gibb brothers their songwriting smarts.
Their so-called "disco" songs (R&B/funk) are some of the most enduring tunes of modern times. That stuff ain't going away.

spacedolphin said:

The Black Crowes, Felt, Everything But the Girl

That's a great sentence. I hope that Tracy Thorn was very happy with the result.