Five bands you feel are underrated and why...

Alex, I totally agree with you! KELDIAN - RULETH THE POWER METAL WORLD!!!



And Phoenix, you are so correct to mention Riot! HECK YAH!!! "The Flight of the Warriooooorrr!!!"



And here's one that bears mention as well:

ultmetal wrote:

TheDoctor'sScarf wrote:

1. Blue Oyster Cult - Words cannot even begin to describe how it irks my peehole when most documentaries I watch and books I read leave this incredible and highly influential band out of the evolution of the genre. They did so many things that helped shape metal as it is today, from the lyrical content to having a guitar hero (to me, Buck Dharma is the most underrated guitar player ever), and also, the whole idea of being a "faceless band."

Great choice and excellent explanation. I agree. They also played a HUGE role in the evolution of the heavy metal stage show. Even Kiss owes some of their stage show to BOC, as they were the big "competition" back in the day. Kiss started out opening for BOC, though years later the roles were reversed.

However BOC did see a lot of success, hit singles, platinum records, gold records, huge concert draw, a decade of recording on major labels, etc.

Forgot the stage show. Would have been a real treat to have seen BOC with Kiss back in the day!

I never did get into BOC back in the day. But after all the hype I read about them on this board and others, I finally caved to the pressure and bought a greatest hits album. It's good. I like it. But it's nothing breath-taking IMO.

I love Blue Oyster Cult and IMO, for a band who scored a number of gold and platinum albums they are still overlooked IMO in the history of metal genre, great lyrics, and hell of a guitartist Buck Dhrama.

manny wrote:

I love Blue Oyster Cult and IMO, for a band who scored a number of gold and platinum albums they are still overlooked IMO in the history of metal genre, great lyrics, and hell of a guitartist Buck Dhrama.

That's cause hordes of people throw them out with the whole "it's not heavy metal, it's just hard rock argument". However, even those who do acknowledge the 70's bands that created heavy metal, BOC seems to be a forgotten gem.

Whoever picked Armored Saint above, good choice as well. At one time, they were touring with Metallica as the opening band and when they played in LA, Metallica let AS headline because they were so much more popular there. It's weird that they didn't really take off in the rest of the country.

ultmetal wrote:

manny wrote:

I love Blue Oyster Cult and IMO, for a band who scored a number of gold and platinum albums they are still overlooked IMO in the history of metal genre, great lyrics, and hell of a guitartist Buck Dhrama.

That's cause hordes of people throw them out with the whole "it's not heavy metal, it's just hard rock argument". However, even those who do acknowledge the 70's bands that created heavy metal, BOC seems to be a forgotten gem.

Whoever picked Armored Saint above, good choice as well. At one time, they were touring with Metallica as the opening band and when they played in LA, Metallica let AS headline because they were so much more popular there. It's weird that they didn't really take off in the rest of the country.

Armored Saint could never capture the power of their live performance on record. It's too bad really because they were an excellent band.

manny wrote:

I love Blue Oyster Cult and IMO, for a band who scored a number of gold and platinum albums they are still overlooked IMO in the history of metal genre, great lyrics, and hell of a guitartist Buck Dhrama.

Yup, and the Bouchard bros., Allen Lanier, and Eric Bloom are all criminally underrated at what they do as well.

It's funny that most folks seem to know them for their three hit singles, but have never actually heard an entire album.

Blue Oyster Cult are great! And I agree, it really puzzles me why they aren't much more highly regarded. As mentioned earlier I guess it's the history revisionism... "it's hard rock, not metal." Whatever, they were a pretty heavy and forward thinking band for their time and so I would consider them heavy metal in the same way Sabbath, Priest, Purple, etc were metal in the '70s.

Five metal bands I think are underrated...

Riot
I agree with everyone who's mentioned them. It's really pretty baffling why they aren't more well known. If Fire Down Under didn't push them to the forefront (easily on par with most of what was coming out of the NWOBHM at that time), then Thundersteel REALLY should have (it was practically Painkiller two years early!). Why they languish in obscurity is truly one of metal's greatest mysteries.

Blitzkrieg
Best known for having their signature song covered by Metallica. This band has some very good songs and albums, though, and they were pretty heavy for their time with a great singer in Brian Ross. I'd also like to mention Satan and their amazing Court in the Act LP which also featured Brian Ross on vocals. That album came out in 1983 and it could have shacked up with Kill 'Em All pretty cozily.

Budgie
A great band that had some heavy riffs to match Black Sabbath and Judas Priest in the '70s. Kind of like a combination of Black Sabbath and Rush. Their songs have been covered by Iron Maiden ("I Can't See My Feelings"), Metallica ("Crash Course in Brain Surgery" and "Breadfan"), Van Halen ("In for the Kill") and Soundgarden ("Homicidal Suicidal") and quite a bit of their early work laid the groundwork for the NWOBHM, yet they remain pretty obscure.

Iron Angel
Great early German speed-metal that approached thrash-metal intensity at times. Hellish Crossfire is a pretty insane album for 1985 even when compared to stuff like Walls of Jericho, Endless Pain and Bonded by Blood. Their name occasionally gets dropped here and there but they never went further than "cult" status it seems.

Blaze Bayley
Ok, I know some (most?) are probably booing at the mere mention of the name. Scoff if you want but I think Blaze is a great singer and songwriter. Ironically, his stint with Iron Maiden probably did more harm to his career because he's never lived down the negative press in spite of putting out some great albums since leaving Maiden over a decade ago. His last two especially, The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror, were both favorites of mine. I'd like to see him finally get his due some day because the man has worked his backside off for over two decades for little recognition.

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

I feel like I should mention Overkill and Metal Church, too. Maybe not that obscure because I'm sure most thrashers know them well enough, but Overkill always seemed to me to be a band that was just off the radar, while Metal Church never got a real break. Either or both of them could have / should have been bigger. Both bands have, at times, put out better albums than "The Big Four" in my opinion, and yet they always seemed to get glossed over.

arachnoplasma wrote:

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

Don't forget "Action", "Hellraiser" and "Fox on th Run".

BTW, Don't recognize your name, so welcome to the HoM.

ultmetal wrote:

arachnoplasma wrote:

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

Don't forget "Action", "Hellraiser" and "Fox on th Run".

BTW, Don't recognize your name, so welcome to the HoM.

The Sweet definitley are huge influence, the number of the bands that covered their songs in the 80's, Krokus, Def Leppard, Black and Blue and others I can't think of.

The Sweet had a lot to do with it, I concur.

The non-believers need only to listen to "Sweet F.A.," "Into the Night," and the ones Ult mentioned.

Also agreed with arachno with his (or her) picks as well.

manny wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

arachnoplasma wrote:

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

Don't forget "Action", "Hellraiser" and "Fox on th Run".

BTW, Don't recognize your name, so welcome to the HoM.

The Sweet definitley are huge influence, the number of the bands that covered their songs in the 80's, Krokus, Def Leppard, Black and Blue and others I can't think of.

...Girlschool, Raven, Ace Frehley, Nuclear Assault, Saxon, Stryper...I think Joan Jett...that's all that comes to mind but there were more.

ultmetal wrote:

manny wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

arachnoplasma wrote:

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

Don't forget "Action", "Hellraiser" and "Fox on th Run".

BTW, Don't recognize your name, so welcome to the HoM.

The Sweet definitley are huge influence, the number of the bands that covered their songs in the 80's, Krokus, Def Leppard, Black and Blue and others I can't think of.

...Girlschool, Raven, Ace Frehley, Nuclear Assault, Saxon, Stryper...I think Joan Jett...that's all that comes to mind but there were more.

Damn that is very diverse group of bands that covered their tunes!

ultmetal wrote:

arachnoplasma wrote:

This probably doesn't fit in the metal category exactly, but I really think Sweet are criminally underrated. Unfortunately most people tend to think of them as a "teen" band because of the two or three hits ("Ballroom Blitz", "Little Willy" and maybe "Love is Like Oxygen"), completely ignoring tracks like "Set Me Free," "No You Don't," "AC/DC," "Teenage Rampage", etc etc. Even David Bowie and Queen both cited Sweet as an inspiration, and bands like Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard have covered their songs.

Don't forget "Action", "Hellraiser" and "Fox on th Run".

BTW, Don't recognize your name, so welcome to the HoM.

Yeah, I could easily go on for quite a while about how many great songs they had. I think they influenced a wide range of artists, most definitely, glam, rock, punk, metal, etc. "Set Me Free" alone, from 1974, is practically an early speed-metal song.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm a long time lurker out of the shadows.

Forgot about "Set Me Free," it's one of my favorites from them.

Good call on Iron Angel. One of those bands where I paid too much for their two discs and still feel I got a bargain based on how great they are. I may be alone in this feeling but I actually like Winds Of War better than Hellish Crossfire.

5 seems to be to small of a list... maybe.

Souljourners - fantastic prog metal that is pretty unique, with intelligent lyrics.

Theocracy - Hooks, melody, harmonies, variety, in short a prog-power feast for the ears.

Saving Grace - Brutal Metalcore from down under. The drummer cannot be denied as the driving force behind this band.

Craving Theo - Not sure how to classify a these guys, I have seen the modern rock, alternative and nu-metal. Whatever, they are just good late 90's hard rock/metal.

LoveWar - Fantastic slab of metal with hooks and melodies. Sadly, only one album.

jettafiend wrote:

5 seems to be to small of a list... maybe.

Souljourners - fantastic prog metal that is pretty unique, with intelligent lyrics.

Theocracy - Hooks, melody, harmonies, variety, in short a prog-power feast for the ears.

Saving Grace - Brutal Metalcore from down under. The drummer cannot be denied as the driving force behind this band.

Craving Theo - Not sure how to classify a these guys, I have seen the modern rock, alternative and nu-metal. Whatever, they are just good late 90's hard rock/metal.

LoveWar - Fantastic slab of metal with hooks and melodies. Sadly, only one album.

Souljourners are excellent! Welcome to the board btw!

manny wrote:

I love Blue Oyster Cult and IMO, for a band who scored a number of gold and platinum albums they are still overlooked IMO in the history of metal genre, great lyrics, and hell of a guitartist Buck Dhrama.

Excellent choice manny, they'd be my # 1 pick.

I might need to delve a bit deeper into BOC territory it sounds like ...

Metallic Blaze wrote:

I might need to delve a bit deeper into BOC territory it sounds like ...

Indeed you should. I'd start with their black and white era if I were you:

Blue Oyster Cult, Tyranny And Mutation, Secret Treaties

Chronologically is the best way to move through their catalog really.

My favorite is Cultasaurus Erectus

OK, time to throw my five picks up in here...

Warrior Soul - you all know what a fanboy I am for this band (the 12+ page "Warrior Soul Thread" here on this board is testament to that fact) so I'm not gonna run it into the ground any further. I just think they rule and they never got a fair shake. Nuff said.

Love/Hate - Their debut BLACKOUT IN THE RED ROOM is still one of my fave early 90s records. These guys were like GnR's nastier, marijuana-hazed little brothers.

Jag Panzer - These guys unfortunately announced their split recently, and that totally bites, cuz they were awesome. Despite a string of great records, they never seemed to garner much mass appeal outside of the "tr00 arcane steele ehehehehehehe" crowd.

Scatterbrain - These guys were like Faith No More with a juvenile sense of humor. Their HERE COMES TROUBLE disc is essential, unfortunately they never caught on and sputtered out after two additional releases.

Ugly Kid Joe - Go ahead, laugh, but these guys were a damn good band. Unfortunately having the one-hit wonder "I Hate Everything About You" became the albatross around their collective neck, nobody took them seriously after that record. I have said it before, I'll say it again, check out their MENACE TO SOBRIETY album (1995) for some seriously heavy, surprisingly slammin' tunes!!

Warrior Soul RULES!!!

ultmetal wrote:

My favorite is Cultasaurus Erectus

For anyone delving into BOC beyond the "hits" , I'd recommend starting with Spectres followed by Agents Of Fortune, then Mirrors. If you like those then seek out Imaginos and Fire Of Unknown Origin. If you acquire all those, by then you're hooked and just buy up the whole damn catalog.