Every online list of underrated bands is chalk full of random indie-rockers you've never heard of. Some are good and deserve more recognition, some are awful and a reflection of the writer's poor taste, and some are Pavement.
This list isn't like that.
Actually, just about every band/artist on this list has been commercially successful to some degree. Some have even been critically lauded, to a point. Some, however, fell out of our popular consciousness before putting out their best work, others are derided unfairily, and others have fantastic bodies of work hidden behind silly radio singles. Basically, here are 8 artists that don't get enough credit. Some are my personal favorites, but I am approaching the writing of this article from an objective point of view. I'm going to be talking about why these artists are artistically talented, not why I love them. Maybe, after reading this, you'll consider giving them another look?
8. Jimmy Eat World
This Mesa, Arizona quartet is often labeled as "emo," which strikes me as slightly random and not at all fitting. Most of their music is depressing as hell, or at least tries to be, but it's all alternative pop/rock music.
Jimmy Eat World does get a lot of credit for their sophomore album, Clarity, which is often hailed as one of the best albums of the 90's, and deservedly so (if you ask me, the only album ever released that comes close to Clarity is U2's The Joshua Tree). Subsequent releases have, for the most part, been reviewed well and the band later had a smash hit with "The Middle" off of Bleed American, which earned Platinum certification from the RIAA and is their most successful album commercially. Since then, it's been all minor hits and they've scarcely expanded on their loyal fanbase.
The two albums following Clarity, the aforementioned Bleed American and Futures, are both fantastic albums in their own rights. Since then, the band has put out Chase This Light and the recently-released Invented. Nobody can say the band isn't well-respected in the rock world, but from a commercial standpoint, they may as well not exist. Their knack for writing catchy melodies, combined with Jim Adkins's earnest and wistful singing, helps to make their songs appeal to a wide audience (when people actually listen to them) and they take their own music just seriously enough not to look like jackasses, or appear too somber. Each one of their albums is solid all the way through, and I would encourage any music fans to dig a bit deeper (especially with Jimmy Eat World's trifecta of great albums: Clarity, Bleed American, and Futures).
The All-American Rejects, from Stillwater, Oklahoma (where?) have the opposite problem of Jimmy Eat World. They sell well, but it's hard to find a music critic or serious music fan that takes them seriously. Best I've seen is "for a pop/punk emo band, they write decent songs."
Now, this isn't fair. Their eponymous first album was, well, decent. It had some good songs on it, some songs that were simply alright, and some songs that were utterly forgettable. Lead singer Tyson Ritter whined a lot, and the song's lyrics sometimes came off as if they were written by high schoolers (which, surprise surprise, they were). Then, in 2005, the band released Move Along on an unsuspecting populace. The album sold two million copies and had three big hit singles. The album itself, however, received mediocre-at-best reviews.
AAR changed it up even more with their third album, 2008's When the World Comes Down, which featured a bit more experimentation but was, at its heart, a pop album. Still, mediocre reviews.
The thing about AAR is that from an artistic standpoint, they leave most of their peers in the dust. Unlike bands like Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, and Simple Plan (bands that every website I've been on say are the same genre as AAR), The Rejects generally attempt to create indivisible albums with artistic merit. Their unarguable ability to write catchy pop tunes is an inherent ability, I would argue, but even that is misleading. Although they may be called emo, or pop/punk, their music has more in common with the rock of the 70's and 80's (although infused with modern sensibilities) than 90's alt-rock. Their individual songs, if you look past Howard Benson's production, are textured and well thought-out, and feature excellent musicianship. And on their last two albums, their lyrics have greatly matured and are among the best in the music industry right now, in an era when lyrics matter less and less. Here's a hint: even if it seems like it, not all their songs are about breakups.
Look, I'm not saying they're revolutionizing rock music or should be put up with the Beatles in music's greatest polls. I'm saying that they write solid albums, songs that are deceptively good, and even if you don't like their music, their ambition is worth respecting.
I realize that thus far, this list seems like a bunch of random pop/rock acts, but hear me out. I believe that both Jimmy Eat World and the All-American Rejects are better than Yellowcard, but Yellowcard is more underrated. Since Ocean Avenue (the song), they've been all but forgotten on the radio. They recently released what was supposed to be their comeback album, When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes, but it failed to have a true hit single, good album though it was.
Yellowcard does get good reviews for the most part, but once again, it's a relative, "good-for-their-style" type deal. They write very good albums (Lights and Sounds is a fantastic concept album, although occasionally overblown, and Paper Walls is nothing short of magnificent) and each of them is chalk full of catchy, hard-rocking, and multi-layered songs. Again, they don't break boundaries or reinvent themselves with every album, but are content with writing good songs and playing to their fans. That's commendable.
Part of it is the violin. Permanent violinist Sean Mackin adds a layer to their music lost in similar bands (or bands that try to be similar), and believe me, I've seen the guy live, and he's incredible. The band also experiments somewhat with country music, and they do it well. In addition, Ryan Key is a highly underrated singer (check out videos of them playing acoustically if you don't believe me) even if you don't personally enjoy his voice. One thing they do get credit for is their drummer; Longineu Parsons III is one of the best drummers in rock music today. While they probably will never release a Sgt. Pepper's, Yellowcard writes good music that has matured noticeably over the years, and should be given a chance. I personally recommend Paper Walls.
Wait, don't go. Let me explain.
I know you probably don't like Sk8r Boi, or Girlfriend, or Complicated. And you probably also don't care about any of Avril's other songs. That's fine. A lot of Avril's songs annoy me as well ("What the Hell" is a travesty of music, and half of her third album, The Best Damn Thing, makes me want to punt puppies into the ocean).
But Avril's first two albums are both fantastic albums. Many people absolutely refused to take her seriously right off the bat, because they believe that she claimed to be "punk," and clearly, her music isn't punk. But aside from Sk8r Boi (Jesus, just typing that is painful), Let Go, her first album, contains a collection of well-written, thoughtful songs with surprisingly good lyrics. It also rocks harder than you'd think, and the songs manage to be distinct while still maintaining a cohesive sound.
Avril's second album, Under My Skin, is probably where I'm most biased, because it's one of my all-time favorite albums. She teamed up with fellow Canadian Raine Maida (see Our Lady Peace below) and his wife, along with a couple other producers, to create a darker, edgier, and better record than she's released since. Every song (with the possible exception of "He Wasn't") is serious, and some of them ("Forgotten," "Together,") are heavy, hard rockers. Avril is unarguably a fantastic singer from a technical perspective, but when she allows herself to really wail over the harder songs, she's actually pretty cool, too, not just some annoying pop star. She still showed off the sensitive side from her first album, but more artistically, on songs such as "How Does it Feel," and "Fall to Pieces."
She lost a bit of direction with the aforementioned third album, which was half a great album ("Runaway," "Keep Holding On," "Hot," "When You're Gone") and half terrible ("I Can Do Better," "Everything Back But You," the title track). She incorporated more of the pop-punk influences that the record label originally thrusted on her, partly influenced by her husband, Deryck Whibley of Sum-41 (thank God they're divorced now). Anyways, it wasn't a good album.
Her fourth album, Goodbye Lullaby, was an unsuccessful attempt to get back to what made her so good in the first place. It's not exactly a "bad" album, technically, but it's so "meh" that I can't call it good. It features the more stripped-down, sensitive acoustic style of her first album, but without any real rockers (or hooks). Avril needs to find some sort of a balance, but as I've said, her first two albums are brilliant, and she does know how to write a good pop song when she feels like it. I'm afraid that her best days are already behind her, but she deserves more recognition for her first two albums.
4. The Spin Doctors
The Spin Doctors are an NYC jam band (technically) that got famous in the early 90's for their hit, "Two Princes." You know Two Princes. "If you want to call me baby, just go ahead now." Yeah, that one.
Now, I usually hate jam bands. They're indulgent, overblown, and kind of silly. The Spin Doctors may be silly, but as someone once told me, "There are jam bands, and then there are bands that know how to jam." The Spin Doctors are the latter.
The Spin Doctors might have been very enduring, if not for the fact that Nirvana happened and everybody forgot about their kind of music. They wrote catchy, fun jam-rock songs stuffed with pop hooks and amazing guitar work (Erick Schenkman is one of the all-time underrated guitarists). There just wasn't a big market for that type of music, however, and the band unfortunately didn't have any secret weapons after "Two Princes."
Their second album, Turn it Upside Down, released in 1994, was even better than their chart-smashing debut. It managed to go platinum, but did not have a hit single and for some reason wasn't reviewed terribly well. The songs on it, however, form a cohesive whole while being fun and lighthearted. It was much funkier than their first album, and contained some different influences (try "Cleopatra's Cat," it's unlike anything you've ever heard). Schenkman eventually left the band, and without him, subsequent releases are unimportant. He eventually rejoined and the band put out another fine album, 2005's Nice Talking to Me. They've been on-and-off since then, recently releasing a 20th anniversary edition of their debut, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, and corresponding tour. Their first two albums are a great listen if you like funky, catchy rock and roll.
3. Our Lady Peace
Now, this one is criminal.
Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace started off in the early 90's with Naveed. They had two sort-of American hits in the early 90's with "Clumsy" and "Superman's Dead," which add together to form one hit, and that was about it for American audiences. They remained popular in Canada, which is like saying that your band is popular in your hometown. It's nice for you, but nobody really cares.
Our Lady Peace put out two utterly fantastic, experimental albums with Happiness...is Not a Fish You Can Catch and Spiritual Machines. They then switched guitarists from Mike Turner to American Steve Mazur, and switched producers from Arnold Lanni to Bob Rock. You can see where this is going. Their next album, Gravity, spawned a couple of hit singles (even down south) and was commercially successful, but long-time fans bemoaned the band "selling out." This ignores the fact that Gravity is a solid collection of ten rock songs, and a good album in its own right.
The band lost its way a bit with the next album, Healthy in Paranoid Times, but quickly rebounded with 2009's Burn Burn, which showed off the band's songwriting skills sans producer or record label. They've lost a bit of their experimental edge from the early days, but they still rock hard, and have just released a single called "Heavyweight" that promises their best album in years for 2012. Check out "Heavyweight" here and give the band's past releases a good listen. I honestly think they have something for just about anybody to like, and the two albums I mentioned, Happiness and Spiritual Machines, have undeniable artistic merit.
2. Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson the band got a lot of flak in the 90's for the antics of lead singer and principle songwriter Brian Hugh Warner, known as Marilyn Manson for a reason. He'd do extreme things on stage and in interviews to be as shocking as possible, and for a while, it got his band a lot of attention. Then, people got tired of it, and he hasn't made much of a splash in the music world in a while.
That's not really fair. I totally understand if you think Warner is an attention whore (actually, that's exactly what he set out to be) but you need to separate the man from the music. He constantly reinvents his band's image and their overall sound, incorporating so many different influences that no two albums sound alike. It might seem like the music was just a front for him to act ludicrous, but actually it's the opposite. The "shock" was just his shtick so that he could continue to make "rock." When the media stopped caring and blaming him for Columbine, he cooled off on the shock stuff and focused on making music, and has made some very good records since then, like The Golden Age of Grotesque (my personal favorite). You may not like the style of music or Warner's distorted vocals, but he tries hard enough, and has the musical and songwriting chops, to deserve a lot more respect than he gets. In addition, if you've ever seen him in an interview, you know he's a polite, intelligent, kind, and articulate man. Not at all the godless hedonist the media wants you to believe.
1. Creed
Creed got really famous in the late 90's and early 2000's for their catchy modern rock music, then because of lead singer Scott Stapp's idiocy, became the subject of ridicule and parody. The music was largely ignored as people made fun of Stapp and only listened to the radio singles. They are seen as the precursor to Nickelback, in terms of how much people make fun of them.
Creed broke up, then reunited in 2009 for the album Full Circle. It did rather well considering all the hate they get, but didn't come close to matching their earlier success (1999's Human Clay is one of the 100 bestselling albums of all time in the US). Scott Stapp has gotten his life under control, and acts much less goofy and pretentious than he did back then.
Again, it's a case of separating the man from the music. I'm the first to admit Stapp was a huge tool back in Creed's heyday, showing up drunk onstage, forgetting the words, and getting in pissing contests with other bands (even if he was justified and it was Fred Durst). But Creed's first two albums showcased some of the best hard rock music ever put out.
Two things set Creed apart from the first-wave post-grunge movement. The first and easiest to identify is guitarist Mark Tremonti, and I'm not alone in this. His later work with Alter Bridge has gotten him critical praise, being identified by Guitar World Magazine as "Guitarist of the Year" for something like three years in a row. He blends insane guitar solos with melodic riffs and chord progressions to create a fusion of rock and metal that's iconic of his style. This is evident in Creed as well, although there aren't too many guitar solos in Creed songs before Full Circle. If you look past their singles, Creed is much heavier than they let on, and they know how to write a solid album all the way through (Human Clay is wonderful to listen to all the way through; "Higher" and "With Arms Wide Open" are hardly the centerpieces, or climaxes, of it). Tremonti's minimalist guitar style which always serves the song and is never overblown, deserves credit off the bat.
The second thing that sets Creed apart is that unlike their peers (Staind, Disturbed) there is no angst. Their songs might be overly-emotional and earnest, but they're happy being a post-grunge band and writing those types of songs. Stapp or no Stapp, the music itself is delivered without pretension.
And hey, I can understand if you don't like Stapp's vocal style (although it really isn't anything like Eddie Vedder's if you actually listen to the two side-by-side). But there's no denying that back in the day, he was a fantastic singer. Cigarettes have killed the man's voice a bit, but he could hold notes forever back in the late 90's, and his catchy, pop melodies infused with hard rock are a big part of what made the band popular.
I'm not here arguing that Creed is the best band ever. But they do get a lot of shit from people because of A. Scott Stapp's personal life, which shouldn't matter at all when evaluating the band, and B. bullshit musical criticisms that ignore the band's real style. They've gotten even heavier with Full Circle and incorporated more influences, and it's possible their best days are still ahead of them (from a musical creativity standpoint). You don't have to like them, but dismissing them is wrong when they are by far the best band in their genre.
So, who among these bands do you agree/disagree with? Is there anyone you're gonna give another listen to?
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