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What's your favourite under-rated group?


Myhamish

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What's your favourite under-rated group or band?

Instead of being famous and remembered, their music

is like a candle being hidden under a bushel basket. Sixties,

seventies, eighties, nineties, now - rock, jazz, blues, folk or

whatever - who should be playing Superbowl half time shows next?

My pick is 'The Collectors' from Vancouver, Canada -

a late sixties band that recorded two albums for Warner Brothers then

morphed into Chilliwack who became the Canadian house band until 'Blue

Rodeo' came along.

The Collectors were great experimenters utilizing

five part harmony (Lydia Purple), Gregorian chants (What Love Suite)

and sax solos second only to Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side'.

Apparently, Bill Henderson, one of the original Collectors is still

touring around somewhere.

So what's your pick?

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What's your favourite under-rated group or band?

Oh, I can name plenty...

For starters:

  • Sonata Arctica
  • Stratovarius
  • Kamelot - these guys are incredible live - could easily bury the likes of Rolling Stones in shear talent and musicianship
  • Vanden Plas
  • Nightwish

And I can go on and on....

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No contest: Crack the Sky. Really big in the Mid-Atlantic in the 1970's and early 1980's. Why they weren't more successful eludes me to this day. They're still extant, and play in the DC/Baltimore area occasionally (www.crackthesky.com). Everyone who likes intelligent (albeit dark) R&R, excellent musicianship, and unusual to downright bizarre time signatures and rhythms ows it to him/herself to own their first, eponymous album. It was re-released on CD with bonus tracks a few years back, and may still be available.

Another hyper-popular group in the mid-Atlantic in those days was Little Feat. I mention them for completeness, and they were fabulous, but they're not really so under-rated IMO.

Not a group, but another performer whose lack of breakaway success always baffled me is Patty Larkin (www.pattylarkin.com) Tremenous songwriter and guitarist. Start with her live, solo acoustic album, a gogo (sort of a 'greatest hits, live' -- if she had any hits). Brilliant entertainer.

Bonus points for the mention of Tonio K. I remember that Steve Simels thought his Life in the Foodchain was Western Man's single most brilliant achievement! :-)

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What's your favourite under-rated group or band?

Oh, I can name plenty...

For starters:

Sonata Arctica

Stratovarius

Kamelot - these guys are incredible live - could easily bury the likes of Rolling Stones in shear talent and musicianship

Vanden Plas

Nightwish

And I can go on and on....

I agree with Skonopa on his views about Kamelot, I've become a diehard fan. Saw them recently and got to meet 2 members outside the venue at a coffee shop after the show. Had a great time. And I'll add a couple more to his list :

Ayreon

Gamma Ray

Shadows Fall

Therion

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I know they get air play but because of their style, I don't think they get as much attention as they could, and that band is 311. Somehow they can mix up rock, rap, fun and regge (sp?). And somehow it just all comes together. The stuff you hear on the radio does not really portray what I'm describing, it's mostly the stuff on their CDs you don't hear.

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