TOP 5 most UNDERRATED classic rock bands of all-time

[JumpInTheFire]

Hello fellas


This topic is simple,
We all know that Sold Music != Good Music
and that just because some band may be killer doesn't mean they will sell the most records and become the most famous


So name your top 5 CLASSIC ROCK UNDERRATED bands of all-time
doesn't have to be in order, just list em

and to make things more clear,
by "underrated" i mean that they as a general consensus in their "hayday" were not given the amount of coverage or respect that they deserved/should have been given OR they were given coverage, respect, etc for all the wrong reasons or too much specific focus was on certain material, etc

Please remember, in their "hayday" because as time has gone on some of those at the time underrated bands have since then been given full acknowledgement




My quick list:


1. Molly Hatchet
2. Deep Purple (NOT smoke on the water. They have soo much good material, yet the mainstream of course is brainwashed with only a couple select songs)
3. Pink Floyd (OLD albums... not after they started becoming more "rock" oriented, i'm talking about when they themselves still considered their music to be solely jazz, experimental jazz, etc)
4. Thin Lizzy (no, not "boys are back in town" or the couple others that made it on the radio)
5. Jethro Tull

[billandgitana]

Being from the Hair Band Era, there were so many bands that just didnt get the mainstream attention. Alot of great bands fell to the wayside lost forever. Some of these bands were pretty good and had some great material....
But now to the underrated bands
Alice Cooper during the late 80's n 90's
Lita Ford
Tuff.....lost out because thay were compared to posion
Whitesnake...took a radio friendly release to put them in the limelight
and my #1 under appreciated and often underrated band ....DOKKEN...they has so many great songs and it seemed as mainstream USA only got the ballads, and missed out on a ton of great music...

[Wayward_Son]

in my opinion
1. Queen, they were doing O.K, but really were a much better band than most know of (they did have more good songs than we will rock you and we are the champions) .
2. Heart, really a great band, but deserved more than what they got, and needless to say the 80's bit them pretty hard and didn't help.
3. Rush, ok everyone here should know how great the trio is and also should know they deserved much more credit than they got/get.
4. Thin Lizzy, when i ask someone today if they know anything from thin lizzy they eigher say "who?" or "boys are back in town", kinda sad seeing how they had some great stuff to offer.
5. Deep Purple, it seems that besides a few select songs no one really knows deep purple, and that is a shame, they had it all, great playing, their OWN sound, and good songs, and yet never the respect they deserved.

[JumpInTheFire]

^ i agree with you, as well as rush

although they had some coverage, it was no where near how great they are

[littledreamer87]

Deep Purple
Allan Holdsworth - I had never heard of him until I delved into the guitar playing world
Queensryche
Starfleet Project - featuring Brian May and Eddie VH
Heart

[shannon33]

My top five underated classic bands are, Nazareth, Montrose, Quiet Riot-with Randy Rhodes, Whitesnake-1970's era, & FogHat.

[ArizonaBlues]

Grand Funk Railroad, power trio - every critic hated them. They had 10 platinum albums in a row for Capitol records. They were the first rock band after the Beatles to sell out Shea stadium and did it faster than the Beatles did. Led Zepplin kicked them off their tour as an opening act because they kept blowing them off the stage. The only stuff you ever hear on the radio is We're an American Band, Footstompin' Music or Closer to Home. And the band is not in the rock and roll hall of fame (if that even matters) and probably never will be.

Frank Marino and Mahagony Rush, power trio. Even other established guitar players never heard of him. He was shredding back in the day before shredding was even a guitar adjective.

Budgie, power trio - A cross between Black Sabbath and Rush. Even less peole have heard of Budgie than have heard of Frank Marino, but ask the members of Metallica what they think of Budgie and you'll get an earful. In fact, they've covered a few Budgie tunes, Breadfan and Crash Course in Brain Surger to name two.

Screaming Headliess Torsos. Ok, I'd like to say hello to at least one other guitar player on this forum who has heard of guitar genius Dave Fiuczynski and the Screaming Headless Torsos.

Fates Warning. When it comes to the progressive rock genre, you can find lots of places where Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Fates Warning are lumped together. In fact, I saw all of them together on a tour a few years ago, but of the three, Fates Warning gets very little in terms of publicity or otherwise. Good stuff, Maynard.

[JumpInTheFire]

queensyrche and fates warning are definitely good choices

[bluesman6885]

QUEEN- Too many people are too familiar with their radio friendly stuff. If you listen to their albums that spanned the 70's; You can clearly see that they had a hand in the birth and development of metal. I really think that their progressive/glam era (1973-77) was their finest for heavy, and creative music. I could write forever about this group...When it comes to English Rock, you don't get any better than them, IMHO.

PROCOL HARUM- Yet another fine English rock band whose career is seen today as a one hit wonder with "Whiter Shade of Pale." These guys also made kick ass progressive and classically influenced rock. They were at their peak when Robin Trower was with them.

THE BAND- Really great music, IMO...the best band, aside from Rush; That has Canadian musicians (4 out of the original 5 members were Canadian). These guys went from dive bars and honky tonks, to stadiums and arenas. Great renaissance musicians. Its a shame Robbie turned out the way he did.

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE- These guys really were like the best kept secret in San Fransisco. The big acts known while they were "active" were Big Brother & Holding Company, The Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane...dare I say it; But I believe, that Quicksilver Messenger Service was better than those groups. Way better. The only person that was in this group that lasted after the band dissolved was Nicki Hopkins. Who did studio work for everyone...most notably the Stones ("Sympathy for the Devil").

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL- One of the great country rock bands. They never made anything less than a solid album. What a cryin' shame they got screwed by Fantasy Records, and had to subsequently leave. I think they would've stuck around into at least the early/mid 80's.

[JumpInTheFire]

oh yes, must of course add


Frank Zappa

made GREAT music, ranging from Avant-Garde to Classic Rock

[ArizonaBlues]

Originally Posted by JumpInTheFire

Frank Zappa

made GREAT music, ranging from Avant-Garde to Classic Rock

Amen, brother, Frank Zappa is a good one.

[bluesman6885]

Definitely...you can't forget about Frank. I never really thought of him as being a classic rocker though; only because he's got such a vast repertoire of music, I personally can't really put a label on him. Frank Zappa w/o question is one of the must underrated and unappreciated musicians of all time.

[Dryseeker]

Though I dont know if these bands would qualify as "Classic Bands" here you go

Extreme-Nuno-need I say more? Though they scored big with "More than words" they had a lot of stuff that never got any exposure that was awesome

Queensryche-Just a great band

Mr Big-Billy Sheehan-Paul Gilbert-Eric Martin is a superb vocalist

Winger-Its too bad Beavis and Butthead destroyed them, Reb Beach is a God

Triumph-Rik Emmet is a great singer/songwriter/guitarist

The Dixie Dregs-Steve Morse and equally talented bandmates

[jasonthebuc]

Y&t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rockbloc]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBlues

Budgie, power trio - A cross between Black Sabbath and Rush. Even less peole have heard of Budgie than have heard of Frank Marino, but ask the members of Metallica what they think of Budgie and you'll get an earful. In fact, they've covered a few Budgie tunes, Breadfan and Crash Course in Brain Surger to name two.

Have to agree here, I know the members of Budgie, I saw them a few months ago here in Wales. I have played on the same bill in the 70's as them. Breadfan is a classic song.

Another underated band are Wishbone Ash, been around since early 70's. Another band I go to see a few times a year. They have split there line up now, but I go to see Andy Powells Wishbone Ash, not Martin Turner line ups.