12 votes

What artists are very talented/make great music but are sadly overlooked?

What artists that you know of were written off as one hit wonders or drifted into obscurity, despite them having great music and being talented musicians? I'd like to Nominate Better Than Ezra for this title. They're really only best known for Good off of the album Deluxe, but that whole album gives off a road trippy vibe that I haven't been able to find elsewhere. Also Barenaked Ladies, despite their goofy reputation, are great musicians and have a great vocalist. Conventioneers and The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel are both really good songs.

18 comments

  1. [6]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. Heichou
      Link Parent
      All three of those are fine! Just really any band that deserved more limelight but was never given any beyond the small amount they had

      All three of those are fine! Just really any band that deserved more limelight but was never given any beyond the small amount they had

      1 vote
    2. [4]
      lars
      Link Parent
      Sounds like either or.

      What artists that you know of were written off as one hit wonders or drifted into obscurity, despite them having great music and being talented musicians?

      Sounds like either or.

      1. [4]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [3]
          lars
          Link Parent
          I don't follwow you? Kat asked OP for clarification on what they were asking for. I then said it sounded like both things kat had listed. We were talking about what OP might have meant by their...

          I don't follwow you? Kat asked OP for clarification on what they were asking for. I then said it sounded like both things kat had listed. We were talking about what OP might have meant by their question. Not discussing the topic itself.

          1. [3]
            Comment deleted by author
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            1. [2]
              lars
              Link Parent
              But I didn't even touch on that one way or another. So it's safe to assume that my comment had nothing to do with it. Counter to what? I didn't give an example of anything. Because it wasn't...

              It sounded to me like you didn't believe that there could be a one-hit wonder band that was still writing great music after their one-hit.

              But I didn't even touch on that one way or another. So it's safe to assume that my comment had nothing to do with it.

              I was providing a counter-example to show that great music and talented musicians aren't necessarily tied to popular success.

              Counter to what? I didn't give an example of anything.

              Your comment didn't really have a whole lot to work from.

              Because it wasn't discussing the topic. See my other comment for that. Stop reading into everything and looking for things. Open your mind. Take things for what they are.

              1. alopex
                Link Parent
                Woah, that was kind of a hostile response imo. I understand in your original comment you were responding to Kat and telling them that the OP sounded like they wanted either or (I think) but Free...

                Woah, that was kind of a hostile response imo. I understand in your original comment you were responding to Kat and telling them that the OP sounded like they wanted either or (I think) but Free Lunch just misunderstood your (sparsley worded) response. I don't think it necessitated a bullet pointed list of how they were wrong.

                1 vote
  2. [5]
    SaintOfIllusion
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    Any and every death metal/deathcore band. It's an underground genre filled to the brim with talented musicians and vocalists. These guys are condemned to live show-to-show just to last the tour...

    Any and every death metal/deathcore band. It's an underground genre filled to the brim with talented musicians and vocalists. These guys are condemned to live show-to-show just to last the tour and hope to sell some merch & gain some fans along the way.

    A lot of people write off the music as noise but overlook how hard it actually is to produce. It's not four chords like mainstream pop and they definitely don't have professional songwriters behind them. Go to a metal show or check some out online and watch how hard each member is working up there. THAT is talent overlooked.

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      emalee
      Link Parent
      I'm not a huge fan of metal, but one of my close friends is. Got any recs for some underrated deathcore/death metal bands?

      I'm not a huge fan of metal, but one of my close friends is. Got any recs for some underrated deathcore/death metal bands?

      2 votes
      1. SaintOfIllusion
        Link Parent
        Sorry for delayed reply; I haven't logged in here for some time. Some tech-death bands that really take musicianship to the next level and are sorely overlooked are Archspire and Soreption. A...

        Sorry for delayed reply; I haven't logged in here for some time. Some tech-death bands that really take musicianship to the next level and are sorely overlooked are Archspire and Soreption. A couple deathcore bands to check out that I'd consider up-and-coming: Shadow of Intent, Angelmaker, Spite, and Aversions Crown. Straight-up death metal bands I don't see mentioned often: Necrophagist (listen to the solos!) and Suffocation.

    2. [2]
      Akir
      Link Parent
      That describes metal in general. Actually I would go so far as to say that it describes any goyod music that isn't highly marketed pop. The big problem with metal, IMHO, is that it is too attached...

      That describes metal in general. Actually I would go so far as to say that it describes any goyod music that isn't highly marketed pop.

      The big problem with metal, IMHO, is that it is too attached to the aesthetics of the genre. Just like the soft sounds and fake vinyl noise inserted into vaporwave songs push away potential listeners, so does overdriven guitars and depressing scratchy vocals for metal. Over reliance on aesthetics is a big problem with "genre music" as a whole.

      Nightwish is probably the perfect example of my arguements at work. Their music has changed dramatically with the vocalists they have chosen to work with and as a result have a larger fanbase than many other metal bands.

      1 vote
      1. crdpa
        Link Parent
        But with these changes, it pushes away metalheads. I'm all in for more straightforward mainstream metal when done right, but a lot of bands lose their essence. One that is doing right is Amorphis....

        But with these changes, it pushes away metalheads.

        I'm all in for more straightforward mainstream metal when done right, but a lot of bands lose their essence.

        One that is doing right is Amorphis. Listen to their last album Queen of Time.

  3. Staross
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    Bobb Trimble, this song is somewhat known (other bands have made covers) but my favorite is the first one.

    Bobb Trimble, this song is somewhat known (other bands have made covers) but my favorite is the first one.

  4. 39hp
    (edited )
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    Tupperware Remix Party is criminally underrated.

    Tupperware Remix Party is criminally underrated.

  5. lars
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    Probably OKGO. The Lonely Forest, but pretty sure lead singer started something new. Now Now recently just came back without Jess Abbot. She has her own band, Tancred, now. It's suddenly hip to...

    Probably OKGO. The Lonely Forest, but pretty sure lead singer started something new. Now Now recently just came back without Jess Abbot. She has her own band, Tancred, now. It's suddenly hip to like Gillian Welch
    I feel like she got fairly overlooked for a while.

  6. JuniperMonkeys
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    Alela Diane's reasonably popular in France/Benelux, but not so much in the US. She's a folk singer from California, who might have gotten overshadowed as the more unique (and more talented,...

    Alela Diane's reasonably popular in France/Benelux, but not so much in the US. She's a folk singer from California, who might have gotten overshadowed as the more unique (and more talented, honestly) Joanna Newsom came up at the same time, from the same place. Pretty good if you're into that sort of thing. I particularly like her cover of Townes Van Zandt's "Like a Summer Thursday".

    Another one I like is Iftin, a '70s and '80s Somali funk group. Apparently very popular at the time, but... yeah. Found a few years back on this website, but it looks like more details have surfaced since then!

  7. cryptowillem
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    This may sound ridiculous, especially to a Canadian, but the Tragically Hip certainly didn't attain the success outside of Canada that I believe they could have. They had some mild success on...

    This may sound ridiculous, especially to a Canadian, but the Tragically Hip certainly didn't attain the success outside of Canada that I believe they could have. They had some mild success on college radio, and they were on SNL back in 1994, but they never achieved the same level of success and fervor that they did in Canada. Of course, that could have been part of the reason they were so popular in Canada, because we felt like we had something nobody else knew about.