Criminally underrated or under the radar bands!

Boomerang
http://www.myspace.com/boomerangmetal

Their latest album is a 9+ out of 10. Just great, great material for any and all melodic/powermetal fans.

Nostradameus

http://www.myspace.com/nostradameus

I never hear anyone talk about these guys. They have their own (in my opinion) unique take on the powermetal world. The vocals especially I find unique.

I have others, but this is a start.

There was a band called Boomerang that released an album in '71 too.

Ultra-A great Southern Rock band from the mid-70's. Very heavy,technical Southern Rock.
Description: (from another site)
Awesome 70s hard rock band from Texas with smokin' dual lead guitars sounding like a mix of ZZ Top, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.




Details:
Classic Texas-style, foot stomping, bad-ass hard rock from one of the founders of the legendary Texas psych/rock group, HOMER. 16 explosive twin lead-guitar filled cuts all digitally-remastered from the mid-70's master recordings! Guitarist Galen Niles tears up the fretboard! Return to the days of classic hard rock done the way it was meant to be!! Don't miss it!!

- "this is sun-kissed heavy Southern rock, the twin guitars of Galen Niles and Larry McGuffin (you can't make names like that up!) wrestling and racing like alcofuelled bikers at a truckstop diner where Thin Lizzy and Blackfoot are on permanent jukebox repeat." - Terrorizer Magazine (UK)

- "Try to imagine if you can Wishbone Ash with two Ted Nugents on lead guitars ! Fantastic !" - Freak Emporium


- "If you like awesome '70's hard rock with dual lead guitars, throaty vocals and killer production, this one is for you.." - Chaos Realm




Point Blank-Another Southern Rock outfit from the 70's, they went a little too poppy in the 80's for my taste but their debut was great.

Captain Beyond-One of my all-time fave bands, Rod Evans was never better than on their first two albums. Exit Evans enter Willy Daffern for their third release which had its moments but not a good as the first two. Their S/T debut is one of the greatest albums IMO and Sufficiently Breathless has one of the greatest "love songs" ever IMO with "Starglow Energy".

Montrose-A great band from the early 70's featuring guitar great Ronnie MOntrose and Sammy Hagar (vox) on the first two albums. Their S/T debut is one of the greatest debuts IMO, check it out and also their Warner Bros. Presents...Montrose! album.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Nostradameus

http://www.myspace.com/nostradameus

I never hear anyone talk about these guys. They have their own (in my opinion) unique take on the powermetal world. The vocals especially I find unique.

I own 3 of their albums, and have seen them live. Even got to meet members of the band. When I listen to them, I like what I hear. But I forget them as soon as the CD player stops. Pretty mediocre band I'd say.

Actually the first 2 Point Blanks are killer.

Stillwater another southern rock band from the 70's is underated.

Blue Steel also from the 70's and southern is as well.

Tucky Buzzard good stuff as well yup 70's but not southern!

Wargod50

Overthrow (criminally underrated Canadian technical thrash band).

Hey Akeldama your not wrong about Ultra.........great band that should be included in the "Canon" of classic 70's Hard Rock.

Here's another one who should be included.........Buffalo. Imagine a sound somewhere between Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Creedence! Smashes anything from '73 and '74.........well except for the Sabs.........

Wolf should be way more known. Might have a lot of early Maiden influence but so what? They are awesome.

Other bands that were known but I think should have been huge.

Armored Saint
Riot
Leatherwolf
Omen

Nuclear Assault never gets their proper due.

Ill second Buffalo, Volcanic Rock is a great album

Not a band, but Steve Hackett is WAYYYYY underrated.

akeldama wrote:

Montrose-A great band from the early 70's featuring guitar great Ronnie MOntrose and Sammy Hagar (vox) on the first two albums. Their S/T debut is one of the greatest debuts IMO, check it out and also their Warner Bros. Presents...Montrose! album.

I agree 100 percent. The first Montrose is classic and IMO Sammy Hagar's best performance ever. I owned this album on eight track (yes, I said eight track), then on vinyl, and now on CD. A hard rock/metal collection is not complete without it.

rattpoison wrote:

Hey Akeldama your not wrong about Ultra.........great band that should be included in the "Canon" of classic 70's Hard Rock.

Here's another one who should be included.........Buffalo. Imagine a sound somewhere between Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Creedence! Smashes anything from '73 and '74.........well except for the Sabs.........

Yep, Buffalo is underrated as well as the aforementioned Tucky Buzzard and a band called Dust from the 70's.

Half of the stuff in my collection is probably considered underrated or under the radar... haha. The first ones that come to mind are Bad Biscut, Raven, and Warrior Soul.

The saddest thing about Warrior Soul to me is that they could have easily been transitioned into that whole Lollapalooza scene without changing much. I knew a lot of alt-rock people who couldn't stand metal but were alright with Warrior Soul being played.

I think Onslaught's In Search Of Sanity and Running Wild's Black Hand Inn are the two most criminally underrated classics in metal.

Annihilator would be my criminally underrated band.

Pitiful Reign and Hexen would be current bands I think are too far under the radar and don't get enough hype.

jstate wrote:

The saddest thing about Warrior Soul to me is that they could have easily been transitioned into that whole Lollapalooza scene without changing much. I knew a lot of alt-rock people who couldn't stand metal but were alright with Warrior Soul being played.

Agreed...Warrior Soul would've been perfect for a Lollapalooza tour. For whatever reason, they never got that kind of break. They were part of the lineup for a Lollapalooza-clone tour called "Gathering of the Tribes" in '91 or so along with Public Enemy, Gang of Four, and a couple of other bands (I want to say King's X was one but I'm not 100 percent sure) but it ended up getting cancelled after only a few dates.

King's X is STILL criminally underrated...

Fat Freddy wrote:

jstate wrote:

The saddest thing about Warrior Soul to me is that they could have easily been transitioned into that whole Lollapalooza scene without changing much. I knew a lot of alt-rock people who couldn't stand metal but were alright with Warrior Soul being played.

Agreed...Warrior Soul would've been perfect for a Lollapalooza tour. For whatever reason, they never got that kind of break. They were part of the lineup for a Lollapalooza-clone tour called "Gathering of the Tribes" in '91 or so along with Public Enemy, Gang of Four, and a couple of other bands (I want to say King's X was one but I'm not 100 percent sure) but it ended up getting cancelled after only a few dates.

Sadly, it was probably more of an image thing with Warrior Soul. Even though musically and lyrically they were miles apart from the 80's scene, the long hair rocker look of the band didn't jive with the alt-rock look of Lollapalooza.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Sadly, it was probably more of an image thing with Warrior Soul. Even though musically and lyrically they were miles apart from the 80's scene, the long hair rocker look of the band didn't jive with the alt-rock look of Lollapalooza.

Most likely, but if you ask Kory Clarke I'm sure he'll tell you it was all because of Axl Rose "pressuring" David Geffen into not supporting Warrior Soul because he viewed them as a threat to Guns N Roses popularity.

Of course, Kory Clarke probably also wears a tin foil hat when he watches TV to block the secret messages from the aliens that are in cahoots with the Republican Party.

Seriously, I love the guy but he's a Froot Loop.

detuned wrote:

King's X is STILL criminally underrated...

The most obvious choice. Although, those "in the know" are really all that matter. The world will ALWAYS take fluff over substance. Most Americans being sheep, fluff is what they understand.

Unknown [to the masses]:
Madam X
Krank
DayGlo Abortions
Chyld [PA]
Rostok Vampires
Ourtage [Japan]

Under-rated:
Slave Raider [unique sound/look/stage show]
Impaler [Dismissed by many punks and metallers as just being "too different". If they would just play the tunes and forget about the stage show, I think both sides would agree on their greatness!]
Tigertailz [One of the most rowdy, crazy, and insanely fun bands of all time. Their music is completely unique, their diligence to the scene totally overlooked - they should be much better known worldwide.]

Under-Appreciated:
Agent Steel [NO reason this band should not be mentioned in the same breath as all the "greats". They deserve it more than most that ARE mentioned]
Rob Rock [Being one the TOP metal singers in history, this guy does not get enough credit - period!]
Death Angel [for what they did at the age they did it at!]
Mat Sinner [Sure the guy has fallen out of music favor with my tastes the last decade. But there is no reason that when individual visionaries are discussed, such as Jeff Waters, Blackie Lawless, David T Chastain, or Ken Tamplin, that the name of Mat Sinner does not come up every time.]

Evergrey is underrated.

UNCLE SAXON wrote:

Death Angel [for what they did at the age they did it at!]

Second that! They were a bunch of TEENAGERS when they recorded that beast known as The Ultra-Violence!!

Another vote for Death Angel and Mat Sinner. I love what both have done recently also.

Place of Skulls

The mention of Ultra and Point Blank gives me a chance to freshen up my list of underplayed (if not under-rated) classic guitar rock (blues, southern, or boogie). These should appeal to fans of Foghat, ZZ Top, Molly Hatchet, Bad Co., Trower, Wishbone Ash, etc. Quite a bit of guitar here.

1. Hustler- Play Loud
2. Rory Gallagher- Top Priority
3. Hydra- Land of Money
4. Hot Tuna- Hopkorv (or Yellow Fever)
5. Roky Erickson- Evil One
6. Epitaph- Outside The Law
7. Agnes Strange- Strange Flavour
8. Jo Jo Gunne- Bite Down Hard (or s/t)
9. Copperhead (John Cippolina)
10. Brownsville Station- Motor City Connection

also the NWOBHM band Vardis, who was kind of an 80's tribute to mid-70's bands but a great one.

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

UNCLE SAXON wrote:

Death Angel [for what they did at the age they did it at!]

Second that! They were a bunch of TEENAGERS when they recorded that beast known as The Ultra-Violence!!

yeah their drummer was like in 8th grade...that is so rad to me!

I'll say a fairly underated crossover band that deserved more attention would be Attitude Adjustment. I love that band....I love crossover!

I'd like to mention Devastation as a thrash band that never got their proper due, unfortunately.