Bands You Think Should Have Been More Successful Than They Were

General Music Discussion
#1

I think Kingdom Come should have been a hugely successful band. I don’t know why they never made it bigger than they did. They had a great Led Zeppelin vibe which is NOT easy to do! I especially liked the lead singer.

Speaking of great lead singers, another band I think should have made it bigger is Steelheart. I LOVE their first album. “She’s Gone Lady)” is an absolute masterpiece and "Angel Eyes (Never Let You Go) should have been a much bigger hit on the radio. They had a lot more than just two good songs on that album though. I loved songs like “Like Never Before” and “Shiela Likes Tequila.” They had a fun party vibe in those last two songs I named and the first two songs I named were great songs to have playing when you were with a girl you wanted to get to know better.

For people who haven’t heard them and have no idea just how great their lead singer was, here’s my favorite Steelheart song - it just takes me back to 1992 in Tampa at a strip club hanging out with my favorite dancer:

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#2

Steelheart! The singer Miljenko Matijevic was really something else. Sadly the accident he suffered from during one of their shows quite ended their career before they could really make it big.

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#3

I’m gonna nominate two current bands that I think lack some of the popularity they deserve.

Katatonia, they are kind of popular in Europe but I don’t think they’ve ever been given their due in the states. It’s a shame. They are on the more melodic side of metal so they would be an obvious choice for play on US hard rock/metal stations yet not many people know about them. Their singer Jonas Renske is one of the most underrated lyricists ever IMO. His lyrics just ooze depression and solitude. The Great Cold Distance is an absolute masterpiece album in my opinion. The albums Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Viva Emptiness, and The Great Cold Distance are the band’s high point IMO. The following albums have featured a slightly softer sound and more progressive elements.

Within Temptation’s lack of popularity in the US has always surprised me given how much American hard rock stations love Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life.” WT is much more symphonic than Evanescence. They keyboards/orchestra lead the songs much more than the guitar work. Their earliest sound had the “beauty and the beast” approach with a melodic female mezzo-soprano/soprano singer and a male growler/screamer. They quickly adopted a more melodic approach with vocals being solely performed by frontwoman Sharon den Adel. Their second album Mother Earth, which is their best in my opinion, has a folkier celtic sound. This is a continuing theme with each album having its own unique sound. Their most recent albums, The Unforgiving and Hydra have a much less gothic sound than the middle era albums, featuring more guitar leads. The songwriting remains top notch. Great live band as well.

Honorable mentions
Paradise Lost
Anathema
My Dying Bride
Epica
Nightwish
Agalloch
Woods of Ypres

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#4

King’s X for definite. They have some many great songs, especially in their early days, and those vocal harmonies are lush, plus Ty recorded what I consider to be the greatest ever solid state amp tone ever.

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#5

Incredible band. Seen them live a few times, and they’re always great. I absolutely love his tones on the “Gretchen…”, and “Faith, Hope, Love” records. His sound seemed to change drastically on “Dogman”, and, to me, never quite returned to it’s former glory. That said, they are brilliant.

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#6

Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush

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#7

Off the top of my head, Stonegard

I won’t just link the entire album in here, but do check “Rescue” as well.

I don’t think many bands have so successfully combined extremely heavy riffing and such strong vocal melodies.

#8

I love Dogman! Ty’s Mesa Boogie rig sounded huge!

#9

I loved the songs on Dogman, but have always wondered what they’d sound like with his “Faith…” era tone. They are such a unique sounding group, and I always felt that Ty’s early sound was another thing that set them apart from most bands during that time.

Your avatar also reminded me how hugely underrated Chris Poland is! Like Ty, another guy who was totally unique during a time when way too many players were sounding like each other.

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#10

Yeah man, Chris Poland is just incredible. It’s a shame he never really got a big break outside of Megadeth. His Jan Hammer influenced lead playing and synth like tone on Peace Sells is amazing!

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#11

I wish someone would tab out all the leads on "I Ain’t Superstitious"

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#12

I’ve admittedly aleways had a soft spot for fairly generic hard rock, but I think this rules - great riff (the chorus, the interplay between the bass and guitar in the intro), great hook, cool breakdown, great vocal, and I guess while I think of this as “generic,” the rhythm of the chorus riff is pretty non-obvious for 4/4 hard rock.

Guitarist and drummer were in Forbidden prior to this, which is certainly a bit of a departure, lol.

#13

I discovered Kamelot last year. Really great Euro Melodic metal style band.

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#14

“March of Mephisto” is possibly the most epic thing I’ve ever heard. “Waaaiiiiling your sooorow is ooooonly my waaaay… to coooomfort youuuuu…”

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