Raja, The Great
2010-11-28 16:56:34 UTC
This is MY list...
These artists do not have many albums which are highly rated by
critics in general... the fans of the sub-genre they belong in also do
not rate them that high (they are usually in second tier).
1. Moody Blues - Not considered as a bad band, but not considered a
great band either. True, they never wrote an album which was
consistent from end to end. But all their albums from Days Of Future
Passed to Seventh Sojourn have at least 2-3 great memorable songs.
They were the king of melodies. I like their albums Days of Future
Passed, In Search Of The Lost Chord, On The Threshold Of A Dream, To
Our Children's Children's Children very much. I would not call any of
them as masterpieces though.
Possible Reason - They never fit into any rock sub genre. They could
considered as a third tier psychedelic band and a second tier prog
band. But honestly they were neither. They were a weird mix of both
missed with symphonic rock tendencies. And they were too lush to be
considered even rock! They have their own cult, but that cult is not a
sub genre cult. VDGG have their own cult, but it part of progressive
rock cult and they are considered on of premier prog bands. But Moody
Blues somehow slipped under the cracks.
2. Pink Floyd (before The Dark Side Of The Moon) - Okay, Piper has
gone on to be considered as one of the greatest pyschedelic records of
all time and Meddle has some respect. But what about the albums after
that and before Meddle? No one seems to talk about A Saucerful Of
Secrets, More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and Obscured by Clouds.
Pink Floyd were at their most experimental in those albums and
frequently in avant-garde mode.
Possible Reason - Pink Floyd at their most experimental were really
experimental and quite different to what they later become of. The
band themselves does not promote the ASOS to AHM and OBC period at
all. Most Pink Floyd "fans" do not even seem to know the period before
The Dark Side very well. Also the period starting Dark Side has been
commercially very successful and the ones before that has been a
commercial flop (even Piper) relatively. I am kind of shocked Gilmour
and Waters do not seem to promote their early era at all. Waters does
all this Dark Side and The Wall tour (and he does play songs from
WYWH, Animals and The Final Cut) but completely ignores the early era.
Gilmour does 1 or 2 Syd songs once in a while, but has never given
full fledged attention to the earlier era.
3. The Troggs - These guys have several great songs. And they are
considered as garage rock icons from the UK. But their albums continue
to be underrated and overall as artists they do not feature on any
lists.
Possible Reason - Their style of raw rock n roll songs was in sharp
contrast to the psychedelic leanings of the British and American bands
starting 1966. Their debut album was released in 1966. It was too rock
n roll for that year, perhaps?
4. Fleetwood Mac (early) - Peter Green era was quite awesome. They
made several great songs, though they did not really have a consistent
album
Reason - The Nicks era was quite polished and hardly had any blues
influences. The Peter Green era was pure blues rock. Not a lot of
people even know that Black Magic Woman is not a Santana song, but a
Fleetwood Mac song
5. Canned Heat - Great authentic blues rock (unlike the blasphemous
likes of Led Zeppelin). So many great songs, but just like early
Fleetwood Mac, never wrote a consistent album.
Possible Reason - Too authentic perhaps? They never seem to get out of
blues rock.
6. Free - Great blues based hard rock. Many great songs. And their
albums are critically acclaimed but they are still not considered
among the greatest rock bands.
Possible Reason - Commercially not that successful. And probably not
as edgy as Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. And also didn't last long
enough to make a huge impact.
7. The Zombies - Wrote the best melodies of the 60s really (even
better than The Beatles).
Possible Reason - They were still doing the harmonic melodies in the
late 60s. The likes of Beatles had moved on to more experimental
territory. Their style became outdated during the late 60s.
8. Thin Lizzy - Some people consider them to the best hard rock band
of the late 70s... but it is only some of them. Their live album Live
And Dangerous is considered on of the best live albums of all time.
But they don't seem to get the attention other hard rock and heavy
metal bands of the 70s get.
Possible Reason - Irish? Neither British nor American. And they never
commercially broke through in the US.
9. UFO - These days only known for their live album - Strangers in The
Night. Another hard rock that has slipped below the radar.
Possible Reason - Lack of commercial success as compared to the likes
of Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and AC/DC who were ruling the hard rock
world in the mid to late 70s.
10. Hawkwind - Decent amount of respect in the prog rock community,
but still not considered premier prog or premier rock band.
Like UFO and Thin Lizzy, did make one of the greatest live albums of
all time in Space Ritual.
Possible Reason - Never broke through in the US. At times too
electronic.
Honorable Mentions
----------------------------
Status Quo (no success in the US)
Wishbone Ash (no success)
Humble Pie (no success)
Uriah Heep (respect among prog metal fans, but not as much as say
Rush)
Whitesnake (no one knows they were a blues based hard rock band in the
70s)
Slade (too glam to be taken seriously?)
Rainbow (too nerdy for a hard rock band?)
These artists do not have many albums which are highly rated by
critics in general... the fans of the sub-genre they belong in also do
not rate them that high (they are usually in second tier).
1. Moody Blues - Not considered as a bad band, but not considered a
great band either. True, they never wrote an album which was
consistent from end to end. But all their albums from Days Of Future
Passed to Seventh Sojourn have at least 2-3 great memorable songs.
They were the king of melodies. I like their albums Days of Future
Passed, In Search Of The Lost Chord, On The Threshold Of A Dream, To
Our Children's Children's Children very much. I would not call any of
them as masterpieces though.
Possible Reason - They never fit into any rock sub genre. They could
considered as a third tier psychedelic band and a second tier prog
band. But honestly they were neither. They were a weird mix of both
missed with symphonic rock tendencies. And they were too lush to be
considered even rock! They have their own cult, but that cult is not a
sub genre cult. VDGG have their own cult, but it part of progressive
rock cult and they are considered on of premier prog bands. But Moody
Blues somehow slipped under the cracks.
2. Pink Floyd (before The Dark Side Of The Moon) - Okay, Piper has
gone on to be considered as one of the greatest pyschedelic records of
all time and Meddle has some respect. But what about the albums after
that and before Meddle? No one seems to talk about A Saucerful Of
Secrets, More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and Obscured by Clouds.
Pink Floyd were at their most experimental in those albums and
frequently in avant-garde mode.
Possible Reason - Pink Floyd at their most experimental were really
experimental and quite different to what they later become of. The
band themselves does not promote the ASOS to AHM and OBC period at
all. Most Pink Floyd "fans" do not even seem to know the period before
The Dark Side very well. Also the period starting Dark Side has been
commercially very successful and the ones before that has been a
commercial flop (even Piper) relatively. I am kind of shocked Gilmour
and Waters do not seem to promote their early era at all. Waters does
all this Dark Side and The Wall tour (and he does play songs from
WYWH, Animals and The Final Cut) but completely ignores the early era.
Gilmour does 1 or 2 Syd songs once in a while, but has never given
full fledged attention to the earlier era.
3. The Troggs - These guys have several great songs. And they are
considered as garage rock icons from the UK. But their albums continue
to be underrated and overall as artists they do not feature on any
lists.
Possible Reason - Their style of raw rock n roll songs was in sharp
contrast to the psychedelic leanings of the British and American bands
starting 1966. Their debut album was released in 1966. It was too rock
n roll for that year, perhaps?
4. Fleetwood Mac (early) - Peter Green era was quite awesome. They
made several great songs, though they did not really have a consistent
album
Reason - The Nicks era was quite polished and hardly had any blues
influences. The Peter Green era was pure blues rock. Not a lot of
people even know that Black Magic Woman is not a Santana song, but a
Fleetwood Mac song
5. Canned Heat - Great authentic blues rock (unlike the blasphemous
likes of Led Zeppelin). So many great songs, but just like early
Fleetwood Mac, never wrote a consistent album.
Possible Reason - Too authentic perhaps? They never seem to get out of
blues rock.
6. Free - Great blues based hard rock. Many great songs. And their
albums are critically acclaimed but they are still not considered
among the greatest rock bands.
Possible Reason - Commercially not that successful. And probably not
as edgy as Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. And also didn't last long
enough to make a huge impact.
7. The Zombies - Wrote the best melodies of the 60s really (even
better than The Beatles).
Possible Reason - They were still doing the harmonic melodies in the
late 60s. The likes of Beatles had moved on to more experimental
territory. Their style became outdated during the late 60s.
8. Thin Lizzy - Some people consider them to the best hard rock band
of the late 70s... but it is only some of them. Their live album Live
And Dangerous is considered on of the best live albums of all time.
But they don't seem to get the attention other hard rock and heavy
metal bands of the 70s get.
Possible Reason - Irish? Neither British nor American. And they never
commercially broke through in the US.
9. UFO - These days only known for their live album - Strangers in The
Night. Another hard rock that has slipped below the radar.
Possible Reason - Lack of commercial success as compared to the likes
of Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and AC/DC who were ruling the hard rock
world in the mid to late 70s.
10. Hawkwind - Decent amount of respect in the prog rock community,
but still not considered premier prog or premier rock band.
Like UFO and Thin Lizzy, did make one of the greatest live albums of
all time in Space Ritual.
Possible Reason - Never broke through in the US. At times too
electronic.
Honorable Mentions
----------------------------
Status Quo (no success in the US)
Wishbone Ash (no success)
Humble Pie (no success)
Uriah Heep (respect among prog metal fans, but not as much as say
Rush)
Whitesnake (no one knows they were a blues based hard rock band in the
70s)
Slade (too glam to be taken seriously?)
Rainbow (too nerdy for a hard rock band?)