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The terms underrated or underappreciated can be subjective, especially in music and judging bands or artists that perhaps didn’t receive the right amount of praise and extensive popularity of their contemporaries. Here’s our list, in alphabetical order, of 20 bands from the 1990s who didn’t quite receive their full due.
“Rebel Girl,” Kathleen Hanna and Co. spoke to a generation of young women looking for their place but never seemed to generate consistent mainstream success. Though the group has not put out a studio album since 1996, its popularity resurfaced thanks to its influence on internet-sensation, all-girl teenage punk rockers The Linda Lindas.
The Cars‘ Ric Ocasek, the band’s second studio release, Fire of Freedom (1993), led to some decent mainstream success, thanks to the tune “Funky Céilí.” Unabashedly political, Black 47 released almost 20 albums in various formats through 2014, but all its notable success came during the ’90s.
Sodajerk” and “Late at Night”) included in the short-lived but severely underrated ABC teen drama My So-Called Life, which featured Claire Danes and Jared Leto. Buffalo Tom has toured recently and is worth catching if playing at a venue nearby.
The Distance,” from 1996’s Fashion Nugget, but the band is far from a one-hit-wonder. Perhaps there just wasn’t enough mainstream interest to sustain notable success. Cake kept going into the 2000s and is still making music in the present.
Doowutchyalike“ was the band’s first hit in late 1989 and early 1990? Or that the Underground, heavily steeped in a soul and funk background, had four albums during the 1990s chart within the top 30 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart? Well, now you know.
Radiation Vibe” and “Red Dragon Tattoo.” The latter featured on the brilliantly underappreciated conceptual Utopia Parkway (1999) album. Sadly, Emmy and Grammy Award winner Schlesinger, who also wrote the theme song to the Tom Hanks-directed That Thing You Do! (1996), passed away from COVID-19 complications in April 2020.
self-titled 1995 debut considered underrated? Garbage, which put out an equally stellar follow-up Version 2.0 (1998), followed the path of other innovative and creative alternative bands and got caught in the changing tide of the 2000s music scene. Fronted by the magnificent Shirley Mansion and featuring some of alternative music’s most respected musicians, songwriters, and producers in Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig, Garbage — also appreciated by fans of electronica and industrial music — should have been one of the biggest bands in the world. Like, Smashing Pumpkins-type popular.
“I Want You to Want Me,” and performed its own tune “Come On.”
Summer Girls,” which hit No. 3 on the Hot 100 and had guys wanting to date girls who wore clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch. The truth is, this Massachusetts-based trio, which worked with New Kids on the Block’s Danny Wood for its self-titled 1999 debut album, had more of a hip-hop sound than straight boy band bubble-gum pop that dominated the decade. Sadly, LFO made just one more album in 2001. Members Rich Cronin and Devin Lima died from cancer in 2010 and 2018, respectively.
Time’s Up (1990) and Stain (1993), though, by that time, grunge and hip-hop dominated the mainstream, and the band was forced to succeed in relative obscurity. After years apart, singer Corey Glover and guitarist Vernon Reid got the band back together, and they remain a must-see live act.
Naked Eye” from 1996.
never enjoyed a serious mainstream hit. That said, the Melvins were a major influence on such bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Tool, and Mr. Bungle/Faith No More.
Big Mouth,” “Lucky Guy,” and “Funny Face.” Sadly, Shattuck passed in 2019 at age 56 due to complications from ALS.
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” also from the group’s 1991 self-titled second album? Naughty By Nature scored its second top-10 hit with “Hip Hop Hooray” from 1993, then won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album for 1995’s shrewdly sensational Poverty’s Paradise long after the group fell out of the mainstream rotation.
…And Out Come the Wolves (1994), and Life Won’t Wait (1998) rounded out the band’s ’90s contribution with some of the greatest, raw, power-punk music from the movement. While Rancid had moments of prominence during the decade, it didn’t reach the popularity level of Green Day or even No Doubt. Dropkick Murphys, however, are just one of many bands influenced by Rancid.
“Nearly Lost You” from 1992’s Sweet Oblivion. Internal issues kept the group from maintaining any lasting success. Sadly, highly respected lead singer Mark Lanegan passed away in February 2022 at age 57.
Misery” and “Just Like Anyone”), and the rest of the 1990s are pretty undervalued. As recently as 2020, Dave Pirner and Co. were putting out new material and still actively touring.
Lucky Man” are two of singer/songwriter Richard Ashcroft’s most personal works. And it should not be discarded how the band’s off-stage dysfunction played into its stellar collection of music. Often stuck in the shadows of Oasis, The Verve was well-renowned in its native England but never enjoyed extensive success in the United States.
Undeniably alternative, there are elements of funk, metal, punk, and even some soul and country. Gene and Dean Ween (a.k.a. Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, respectively) and Co. were consistently among the most creative and ingenious groups during the 1990s and 2000s. Not to mention the Ween’s allegiance to Boognish, the Demon God, that has pretty much fueled the band throughout its existence. The cult-like following of fans is impressive for a group that never received consistent mainstream notoriety beyond the 120 Minutes crowd.
Jeff Mezydlo has written about sports and entertainment online and for print for more than 25 years. He grew up in the far south suburbs of Chicago, 20 minutes from the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Ind. He’s also the proud father of 11-year-old Matthew, aka “Bobby Bruin,” mascot of St. Robert Bellarmine School in Chicago. You can follow Jeff at @jeffm401.
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