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Greatest lost Bands that deserved better

ChefKen

ChefKen

Guest
Aug 30, 2014
2,203
1,887
NW CT
#1
I have two picks to get this started. I am 47 and have listened to Prog and classic rock for 36 years. I love jazz and fusion as well and always gravitated towards virtuoso musicians. My first pick is Rise Robots Rise from the early 90s. Of the 800 albums I own the two Rise Robot Rise albums might be my favorites. I read a review 15 years ago that said ( paraphrasing) " If Jimmy Hendrix was alive and making music today this might be it". I call it Prog Funk. It was many elements including rap. Amazing arrangements and insane vocals and production Norman Loder on bass). Very intense. Start with any track. Every song is great and the music unique.




Second one is a guitar player. Before you flame me listen to this guy play. Link Chamberland. Best guitarist you never heard. RIP.
 
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#3
If you're talking about underrated bands that not many people knew about, I know a couple of bands that I think deserves recognition(mostly metal bands). here's my list of underrated bands that many people should know.

Alcoholizer: great thrash metal band with an awesome name.
Acid bath: sludge metal band who writes gothic and strange titled songs. wish youtube still has their songs(other than the live clips).
Exhorder: a thrash metal band that sounds similar to pantera and has great tunes.
Opprobrium(originally known as incubus): this thrash metal band is the real incubus. not that pop rock band.

I found these bands on youtube and I enjoy listening to their tunes. sometimes it's fun to discover new bands on youtube, facebook, and reverbnation. I'm always open to check out new bands. and if their music sounds awesome, I will support them and let people know about them.
 
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#7
Automatic Man

This band only produced two albums with two different lineups in 1976 and 1977. They had one single called My Pearl. Automatic Man was a band of very good players that never really took off.

This initial lineup on the first album consisted of
  • Pat Thrall - Guitar, vocals (before he joined The Pat Travers Band, Asia, and others)
  • Todd Cochran - Keyboards, vocals (he went onto many other projects)
  • Doni Harvey - Bass guitar, vocals
  • Michael Shrieve - Drums (after he left Santana)

 
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#8
wintremute said:
King's X. They always seemed on the cusp of greatness.
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Agreed, but they have done pretty well for themselves. 14 albums since 1988, and they continue to tour with a pretty good following. I wouldn't consider them "lost". :cool:

Follow For Now, on the other hand, suffered from a (false) comparison to Living Colour. But they were much funkier, IMO. Only one album from this great Atlanta band.
 
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#10
ChefKen said:
Rise Robots Rise
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Yes! I have both of those albums and it amazes me even today how unique they were. And Fima Ephron played some killer bass on the 2nd album Spawn... In fact, I think I'll go have a listen to Spawn right now :)

wintremute said:
King's X. They always seemed on the cusp of greatness.
Click to expand...
I like Dug Pinnick a lot, but probably more for his vocals than his bass playing... And I'll throw a couple more bands on that pile :

24-7 Spyz [Dug Pinnick even sang a few tracks on the album Heavy Metal Soul By The Pound (a.k.a. "6")]
WrathChild America - goofy name, but these guys were killer musicians right before grunge took over!
Critters Buggin' - I'm a HUGE fan of Brad Houser and Matt Chamberlain (Ok, I'm not really a huge anything. But...)
Blind Melon - Hands down, i think they had the absolute best guitar duo in my lifetime. Yes they had one hit song, which is a shame because that song sucked. But their debut album was brilliant. They just never recovered from their singer's death...
 
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#11
shorty4life said:
Yes! I have both of those albums and it amazes me even today how unique they were. And Fima Ephron played some killer bass on the 2nd album Spawn... In fact, I think I'll go have a listen to Spawn right now :)


I like Dug Pinnick a lot, but probably more for his vocals than his bass playing... And I'll throw a couple more bands on that pile :

24-7 Spyz [Dug Pinnick even sang a few tracks on the album Heavy Metal Soul By The Pound (a.k.a. "6")]
WrathChild America - goofy name, but these guys were killer musicians right before grunge took over!
Critters Buggin' - I'm a HUGE fan of Brad Houser and Matt Chamberlain (Ok, I'm not really a huge anything. But...)
Blind Melon - Hands down, i think they had the absolute best guitar duo in my lifetime. Yes they had one hit song, which is a shame because that song sucked. But their debut album was brilliant. They just never recovered from their singer's death...
Click to expand...


I have been getting RRR noticed since the 90s. Spawn is equally awesome. Honestly the best stuff out there. I have seen live clips and reviews and they dont totally pull it off but how could they?
 
#12
MonetBass said:
Follow For Now, on the other hand, suffered from a (false) comparison to Living Colour. But they were much funkier, IMO. Only one album from this great Atlanta band.
Click to expand...


"If I promised you sunshine and gave you acid rain..." Fantastic band, great energy in small bars. Opened for them once in Huntsville, Alabama. Stonedest-looking mofos I ever met, too, and I've met some serious (and been) stoners... Funny that their cover of She Watch Channel Zero was their biggest crowd pleaser.
 
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#16
shorty4life said:
Yes! I have both of those albums and it amazes me even today how unique they were. And Fima Ephron played some killer bass on the 2nd album Spawn... In fact, I think I'll go have a listen to Spawn right now :)
Click to expand...
Fima Ephron?
How about Screaming Headless Torsos? Still around (sans Fima) but never really got beyond underground/cult status...which was probably OK by them(?).

One of my (still) favourite '70s Hard Rock bands-
Captain Beyond.
Not sure of their internal politics but that debut album is like Sabbath with a brain.
:)
 
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#17
JimK said:
Cool, but...wow, from that tune alone? Definitely Living Colour wannabes.
For the Funk, I'll stick with early Living Colour, thank you.
:)
Click to expand...
Their debut (and only) album is very diverse - check out this one for some old-school funk:


Then there's some punk/trash:


Check it out if you get a chance. If you like Living Colour, you'll dig these guys.
 
#18
JimK said:
Cool, but...wow, from that tune alone? Definitely Living Colour wannabes.
For the Funk, I'll stick with early Living Colour, thank you.
:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, you need to check the whole album. Aside from being all Black guys, the two bands are not very similar. Frankly, I wouldn't go to either of them for funk. Energetic rock with a beat, yes, but not true funk.
 
#19
Grotus was pretty amazing in the mid 90's. Although they were using a lot of electronics in addition to playing the typical guitar/bass/drum conbo. Check out their album "Slow Motion Apocolypse". I believe it's available on iTunes es now... The singer (Lars Fox) did go on to do vocal correction / engineering for some MAJOR artists...

Another one was sElf. The first album "Subliminal Plastic Motives" should have been huge but I think he (Matt Mahaffey) had other plans, as each release moved further away from the mainstream. And the album "Gizmodgery" (performed completely on toy instruments) was equally brilliant although much darker. He later contributed music for Shrek. I think he may have been signed to the film studio for soundtrack work...

Another brilliant collaboration of Matt Mahaffey's was the one-off album by Wired All Wrong, entitled "Break Out The Battle Tapes". It was just him and Jeff Torzo from God Lives Underwater.
 
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