[Closed] Bands who should have been massive, but weren't

Supergrass should of been bigger than Oasis

D.A.D. had the world at their feet and said sod it and went back to Denmark

Jet Bronx & the Forbidden - Because that stupid single that I bought on red vinyl way back when would have been worth a fortune now.....

Thunder
Little Angels

Grunge was rubbish. Rock lives.

Symposium

Foster and Allen

The Bronx, Portishead, Flying Lotus (still could be I suppose but doubt that is his intention).

Earthtone9.

Ad infinitum.

Seeing as it's STW:

[niche]

Chavez

One good record (Gone Glimmering, though it does start with Nailed to the Blank Spot/Break Up Your Band, which must be one of the all time opening pairings); one tremendous one (Ride the Fader); less than an hour and a quarter of music.

What on earth is going on in that video, GOK. Reformed a few years ago with promises of more, but nothing seems to have come of that

[/niche]

Andy

(I have met one other person who owns either and who wasn't lent them by me first; I know more people who own a copy of [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_(album) ]Gary Young's Hospital[/url] to give you an idea of how niche...)

[i]Edit:

Portishead

Are you serious? Everyone and their dog owned a copy of Dummy when I was at university[/i]

The Fall.
Contortion Company.

Saxon. Paw. Winterville.

slamming grunge seems harsh Flash, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam are surely two of the 90's best?!

This is true, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were/are very good indeed. Sadly, however, the arrival of grunge did for a number of very talented rock bands.

Magnum
Thunder

Rock on!

Flash, you should give Winterville a whirl. You'll love it, damn shame they split, The Union aren't quite as good. As an aside, I think Grunge got rid of the bloated excesses of hair metal and all the poor quality lipstick rock of the late 80's.

Add Cinderella to the list, superb.

Mega City Four
Ride
Sparklehorse

Agree that Supergrass should have been WAY bigger than they were.

The Twang were on the way to big things but seemed to be dropped by the mainstream radio stations, a shame as they are an excellent live band

Sona Fariq

erm?! MIDLAKE! trials of van occupanther is an amazing album

(I have met one other person who owns either and who wasn't lent them by me first; I know more people who own a copy of Gary Young's Hospital to give you an idea of how niche...)

Thirteen senses, stadium filling sounds but probably now filling in benefit forms. I await to be corrected though, it's just that I haven't heard of them since.

As a huge Fall fan, it would be a bit odd if they'd made it commercially.

The Baron Knights.

Scrolling through my iPod, Liverpool is over-represented

Will seek out some Winterville. The Union are good, but just sound like they're trying to be Thunder! Check out some of The Answer's work for some excellent new rock.

As a huge Fall fan, it would be a bit odd if they'd made it commercially.

Oh, and can I add to this - the Moody Blues. Brilliant.

***Proposes new thread title*****

Bands that I like, but are actually shit?

Supergrass should of been bigger than Oasis

St Winifred's School Choir should have been bigger than Oasis.

Thunder
Little Angels

Seeing both of those next month. Get in.

I'll add Gun to the list.

Sparklehorse were rather held back by Linkous' drinking, and the fact he died before the band could really take advantage of greater interest in more indy/alt. rock acts that 6Music are bringing forward. Shame, they were a great band.
Tiger should have been massive, and Dark Star as well, their album 20:20 Sound is fabulous.
Oh, and Curve, too, superb band, great live, but again, held back by radio networks that had no idea about playing their style of music. If something like 6Music had existed back then, I think a lot of bands would have been much more successful. I mean 6Music played Opeth this afternoon, a band who I was aware of but never heard. Fantastic track, I Shazamed it and downloaded it when I got home.

CaptainFlashheart - Member
Why? Could it be because, if they were successful and other people liked them, they wouldn't be niche enough for you? Other people liking your music? Well, now that would instantly render it utterly rubbish, wouldn't it?

If you say so 🙄

Do you know or like the Fall?

As a huge Fall fan, it would be a bit odd if they'd made it commercially.

if they were successful and other people liked them, they wouldn't be niche enough for you? Other people liking your music? Well, now that would instantly render it utterly rubbish, wouldn't it?

spchantler, yes, Midlake (were?) Are very good but possibly the wrong side of marmite (i loved them btw).

Maybe Black Keys should be bigger than they are?

Airbourne Toxic Event still going but just not getting that break!

The Twang!!!!! annoying band to watch!

CaptainFlashheart - Member
Why? Could it be because, if they were successful and other people liked them, they wouldn't be niche enough for you? Other people liking your music? Well, now that would instantly render it utterly rubbish, wouldn't it?
If you say so

Do you know or like the Fall?

The Farmers Boys.
The The.
Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Associates.
Buzzcocks.

I think that Janelle Monae is one of the best performers alive today, I'd like to see her make it a lot bigger than she is. Her recorded stuff doesn't even come close to her live sound though.

I have them and Gary Young's (who I once had a conversation with at a Pavement gig, I say conversation in the loosest sense..) Hospital is an appalling record

It is unlistenable. I bought my copy (for sheer novelty value) in a second hand record shop in Wellington, along with For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Two Nuns And A Pack Mule, both of which are cracking, and were then unavailable in the UK.

Andy

What djglover sed.

djglover gave me a LOL

spchantler - are you saying Flash is drunk?

if they were successful and other people liked them, they wouldn't be niche enough for you? Other people liking your music? Well, now that would instantly render it utterly rubbish, wouldn't it?

No but when a band has been underground(ish) for so long, it's a bit weird to go all REM or Pulp, probably for them as much as the original fans.

One True Voice

spchantler, yes, Midlake (were?) Are very good but possibly the wrong side of marmite (i loved them btw).

CaptainFlashheart - Member
Why? Could it be because, if they were successful and other people liked them, they wouldn't be niche enough for you? Other people liking your music? Well, now that would instantly render it utterly rubbish, wouldn't it?

He said it would be odd, not rubbish!

I can't quite imagine a world where the Fall would be genuinely popular, but it would be an interesting world to see and I think I would like it.

XTC should have been massive

The Seers

Brizzle band from the late '80's - amazing live (I must have seen them 30+ times) but sadly it never really translated to vinyl / plastic so they never really broke through.

The Answer. CFH, they should be huge! Am a massive fan... 'why'd you change your mind' is simply the best, live!

spchantler, yes, Midlake (were?) Are very good but possibly the wrong side of marmite (i loved them btw).

seen them 3 times and met them, brilliant live. also lau, by far the best live band i've ever seen, only just on jools yet been going for nearly 10 years. 3 blokes making enough noise for 10, catch them if you can.

Thank you. Will look them up. Always on the lookout for new music.

For certain people here:

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binners - Shack HMS Fable is a brilliant album. I must dig it out - haven't listened to it in ages.

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Countzero's graph is very accurate, I put it down to people seeking out new exciting bands at the beginning of their career who are hungry for it, for me Oasis' best album is the first & the only one I'd listen to, as more people get into them they get lazy due to success & people who don't seek out new & exciting bands get into their music because it's easier to access..

br />
in an ideal world you would see a video by The Sound. Easily robbed of their place in history by U2.
Just how do you post a video?

+1 for Magnum

Countzero's graph is very accurate, I put it down to people seeking out new exciting bands at the beginning of their career who are hungry for it, for me Oasis' best album is the first & the only one I'd listen to, as more people get into them they get lazy due to success & people who don't seek out new & exciting bands get into their music because it's easier to access..

But that is not true for every band. Some start ok and become progressively better before decline (RHCP / Green Day For example) ans then musical taste plays a big part too.

The Charlatans are a better band than they seem to get credit for.

For me that graphic needs another circle entitled Music I Like That No one Else Likes.

But then I've paid money to listen to the noise of 100 metronomes slowing down. And [i]enjoyed[/i] it 😕

I still think that the Stone Roses should have been massive with a capital M, but they are pretty popular so not sure if they qualify.

My vote goes to Yo La Tengo, two decades of fine albums and still flying under the radar.

Air Traffic. One good album and they split.

My vote goes to Yo La Tengo, two decades of fine albums and still flying under the radar.

[url= http://www.yolatengo.com/ ]New record out in Jan[/url] - ooooh! Thought it had been a while...

Agreed Sandwich - I heard they went out of control.

Marion - sleep was a superb track - Alas, it was never to be. Have reformed and are doing ok

Gun
Little Angels
Jagged Edge
Kingdom Come
No Sweat

PWEI

Paw

Hell is for Heroes

Gotta include A - saw them live at Newquay years ago and they were fantastic.

Five in the morning:

No. 1:

Fashion

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How the **** do you embed a video on this site?

Kill II This deserved more recognition than they got, but their label threw all their money behind The Lostprophets instead. 🙁

Bregante- went to see the Chameleons at the Ruby Lounge about this time last year. They were superb! When they did Swamp Thing the place went mental! 🙂

For me Doves, but to be honest I'm glad they never became mainstream.

King Prawn-awesome band. Dominant View is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Not a band, but should have been huge.

The.Blue.Nile.

Cage the elephant:

Basement:

Stimpy +1

They were the first band I saw live and it's still my best gig (not just because we were in Kerrang), they were absaloutely fantastic live, I ended up seeing them 4times and they never disappointed, but they never quite made it!

I bought A vs monkey kong about 12 years ago, but it's still in the car and gets played fairly regularly.

Stereolab

Good shout anagallis. Captain Beefheart are great. Really distinct sound.

+1 for Symposium and Rival Schools. Used for glue is an ace track.

Some awesome bands mentioned on here:

Paw should have been massive - 'Death To Traitors' remains one of my favourite albums of all time. "Hope I die tonight" is a song which just sends shivers down my spine.

D:A:D's "helpyourselfish" should have sold millions - not a dull moment.

Kill 2 This wrote some phenomenal songs but sadly Mark Mynett was impossible to work with - sacked his entire band. Twice. Usually took 90% of gig payments himself and expected the rest of them to live on fresh air. Great guitarist & songwriter but a bit of a git generally.

Devin Townsend should be better known than he is - if Coldplay has released 'Ih-Ah' (unrepresentative of his usual output) the world would be sick to hearing it by now

Fashion, they where years ahead of their time.