Groups you wish you heard more from
 

Inspired by the under appreciated thread; I thought that groups that you wish you heard more from deserved some love in a thread.

They would be groups that faded away for one reason or another (breakup, death, etc...) which you would have liked to hear more from as they never had a chance to really take off.

Off the top of my head...

Ben Folds Five would be the biggie for me. I think fans were mixed on their final album, but it's one of my fave albums of all time. I think they'd really matured as a band, and then... gone.

Tora Tora

Hair band that came out in the late 80s. Their first album, Surprise Attack, is one of my all-time favorites. Not a bad song on there, including the excellent ballad below. Their second album went nowhere (although it too was very good) and they fizzled out. Too bad.

also DAG a funk band mostly known for their excellent single "Sweet Little Lass" but their debut album, Righteous is excellent. They released a 2nd album, Apartment 635 - which I've only been able to find a couple of tracks for. After that, they broke up due to creative differences. Too bad.

and, of course, Rage Against the Machine.
although the post-breakup efforts of all the individuals involved hasn't exactly inspired confidence.

Kansas
Candlebox
Guns N Roses

There are a bunch of experimential quasi-hard rock/metal bands from the early 90s who got little/no label support once the grunge wave hit that I wish could have stayed active for a few more albums.

The main one that immediately springs to mind is Follow For Now, kind of a less polished, more 70s-influenced version of Living Colour. David Ryan Harris, the main songwriter/singer for the band, remains a favorite artist of mine, even though he's ventured into the "nu-soul" arena for the past 15 years. He was the producer/guitarist for Dionne Farris' big album in the mid-90s, then released a criminally underrated solo album before geting back into hard rock with the bassist from the Black Crowes in Brand New Immortals - which, of course, got no label support - so he's been solo ever since and tours in John Mayer's backing band.

There is supposedly a second album that was recorded but never released, but DRH either hasn't, won't, or can't release it. It remains at the top of my wish list of demos/unreleased albums I know of.

There's very little on YT of these guys, which is surprising since they had 2 MTV videos, neither of which I can find, but here are a couple of album cuts - one a cover of Public Enemy's Channel Zero:

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I miss Tangerine Dream...

Seven Mary Three (I think they did more stuff after American Standard, but it just wasn't the same)

The Beatles (I think there best stuff was 66-70, and I would have loved to have seen where they went after Let It Be).

Isis :(

New Radicals
Candlebox

Abba and Milli Vanilli.

Candlebox, really? Two of you?

That band represented everything bad about grunge to me - they were in that second or third wave of grunge bands to hit, an obvious cash grab by the record companies looking to cash in on the latest fad, similar to some of the third-rate hair metal bands that killed the genre in 89/90. My lasting memory of Candlebox was seeing them open for Living Colour in 93 or 94 and listening to the singer constantly bitch/whine about the mosh pit that would form during their choruses (all of their songs were essentially the same - laid back verses, swelling to a heavy chorus, then subsiding again). He came off as such as asshole that night.

And anyway, I don't really think they count for this thread, because they released an album a couple of years ago and are touring, I think.

living colour is a band i would have liked to hear more from....

They have been reunited for a number of years and released 2 albums, I think. The one I know of is several years old and featured a cover of Back In Black (dumb) and a really weird song about 9/11.

And they really never came close to their old stuff. I debate in my head if Muzz Skillings leaving the band wasn't the thing that in the end killed off the band. Yes, they put out critically acclaimed albums after he left, but the stuff was far less accessible.

EDIT: And I have the album for GTR and DAG's first one. I really wish both hang around longer. eastmountiansouth is another one album wonder band. The female part of the duo took time off to have a kid and the guy basically didn't want her back after she was ready to come back again.

I liked Stained quite a bit, but I am partial to the heavier sound and harsher tone to the lyrics. Time's Up is clearly the best album of theirs, though. Vivid has not held up well at all, IMO - I just pulled it out about a month ago, and a lot of it has a Fresh Prince of Bel Air corniness/80s feel to it. Anything they've done since they got back together is obviously inferior, but that's the case with nearly every band that reunites.

My Bloody Valentine

yep, pretty much all of this. Stained was pretty good, but when you go back now I think all three of their "good" albums have some very uneven spots that weren't so apparent back then

Nice pick.

I would say At The Drive-In, but they might have gone as far as they could go. It's just hard to say after finishing their career together with an album as great at Relationship of Command.

LCD Soundsystem is at the same place for me; going out at the peak of their career.

just found the "back in black"... really bad....

Great Thread EF. My first candidate is English Beat, brought to you by Greed. LEad SInger Dave Wakling took the other singer with him and formed General Public so they wouldn't have to divide the money by 6. The two guitarists went off and formed Fine YOung Cannibals which had bigger hits actually. But when they were together they made great things like this:

Baker Gurvitz Army -- Ginger Baker and the Gurvitz brothers... good, heavy bluesy rock. Three albums in three years.


10CC -- four albums from '72 to '76, then split, with 2 of the 4 originals continuing under the same name. But the original 4 together had great collaborations, like this one:

Positioned as the next big thing back around '83, Zebra continued to gig but faded out of the national scene pretty quickly. Pity, the first album was awfully good & they're still together 30+ years later playing the clubs & inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame last year.

Joy Division for the win.

Oh, and can I make an entry like pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Brothers?

Awesome choices!
To counter your GInger Baker, I give you the Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood/Ginger Baker supergroup Blind Faith




And here's my own favorite from 10CC! Wuss rock doesn't get any better than this.

Neutral Milk Hotel. Amazing final album.

Men At Work. Favorite early 80s band for sure. Only made 3 albums.



Here's the creepy scrubs episode :)

Zebra. Now's there's a band I have not heard of in a looooong time.

Steely Dan.

Jellyfish. Two albums, both genius, then poof. Done.

Yeah, Jellyfish is an obvious one. Funny, on another board a guy is just discovering them, and the Jelly-L mailing list is kinda waking up from a slumber and transitioning to FB, so I'm reliving a bit of when I first discovered them (which was 6 years after they broke up).

On a related note, even if JF never got back together, I would have loved to hear more from Imperial Drag or The Grays, a couple of pst-JF bands started by ex-members.

Blind Melon (original with Hoon) - Their first album is very good with several songs I listen to a lot. Very mellow type of grunge band, and I'm still a big fan of No Rain.

James King and the Lone Wolves



Saw them live a few times in the early 80s, mainly in bars or as a support band. They had one album that was difficult to get a hold of as the release was severely limited, were just about to get noticed when they vanished. One of them (the guitarist, I think) was sent to prison for assault and the band fell apart. They always had a hint of violence, at one concert they downed instruments and attacked the crowd for heckling.

The only one of them to go onto fame was an early drummer, Craig Ferguson. Not sure if I ever saw the band when he was in it.

Kyuss. If you aren't familiar with them, and like Queens of the Stone Age, you have to check them out (QOTSA frontman Josh Homme was the guitarist for Kyuss). Great stuff and one of my favorite bands nobody seems to have heard of.

thought of another one today:
Propellerheads

awesome debut album and then...crickets.

White Trash had a really good sound, kind of like a funky Ugly Kid Joe, just came along at the wrong time.

The Normals. Three albums and they were done. Andy, lead singer, has gone on to do solo work, be a member of Caedmon's Call for a bit, and help others out. Some of the other members have gone on to play with others as well, but they were just an amazing band that ended far too early.

I second this one. I saw them twice in Orlando when they played a small club in the 90's and they were great. Their first three albums are all very good. Glad to see they got some recognition in Louisiana for their work.

A Perfect Circle

Faith No More

The Postal Service. Only one CD, and probably never a second. Damnit.

A Perfect Circle is touring this summer, but I'm not sure if they're releasing new stuff.

I was curious what Tapeworm would of sounded like.

Vacant aka Passive was awesome.
Potions (Puscifer) was decent.

Wow, that is news to me. I can't imagine they'd be doing a tour without doing new stuff a some point. Great news.

The Backsliders and Big Blue Hearts are two groups that put out excellent records in the late 90's and then disappeared. BBH put out a new album a few years ago but it just wasn't the same and i'm pretty sure they're done for good.

Also kind of wish Milla Jovovich had done more. Bobby Cryner was effin amazing but got caught up in the whole bastardization of country back in the 90's.

They're doing new music, but they haven't decided whether to record any of it, is what I read.