Most of the 90s bands, although I think there were so many that the hype never settled on those not called Blur, Oasis, Suede, Pulp or Manics.
I miss that variety though, where there were 15 or so bands that had a few hits each. I don't think we have that anymore, partly because Top of The Pops is gone. Solo indie acts seem to be more prominent now as well (although that's perhaps my memory).
In terms of British bands I would say The Hoosiers, The Feeling and Scouting for Girls
None of those bands were critically acclaimed. The Feeling a little bit maybe.
The other two were generally reviled and rightly so.
Simple Minds were extremely critically acclaimed at the start of the 80's but nowadays after album after album of chestbeating sub U2 tosh are seen as a bit of a joke.
I loved Cast and Shed Seven
What about The Bluetones , Mansun (not the marilyn one) and Ash
I have the soul II soul album in a tub under my bed
Is it just me or is there never much mention of Erasure or Curiosity killed the cat?
None of those bands were critically acclaimed. The Feeling a little bit maybe.
The other two were generally reviled and rightly so.
Simple Minds were extremely critically acclaimed at the start of the 80's but nowadays after album after album of chestbeating sub U2 tosh are seen as a bit of a joke.
But they where big/successful at the time..As far as I'm aware Simple Minds are just the guys that sang the theme to Breakfast Club so it depends on your age
But they where big/successful at the time..As far as I'm aware Simple Minds are just the guys that sang the theme to Breakfast Club so it depends on your age
Big/successful isn't the same as being critically acclaimed as per the thread title.
Simple Minds were extremely critically acclaimed at the start of the 80's but nowadays after album after album of chestbeating sub U2 tosh are seen as a bit of a joke.
As far as I'm aware Simple Minds are just the guys that sang the theme to Breakfast Club so it depends on your age
This is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. I too only really noticed Simple Minds circa "Don't You Forget About Me", but in recent years I've realised that they'd been critically favoured, and much more new wave / synthpop oriented in their early days.
"Don't You Forget About Me" (admittedly a great song) and "Alive and Kicking" were probably their commercial peak, but also arguably the start of their critical downfall. By the mid-90s, the NME (or was it Melody Maker) was taking the p**s out of their latest stadium-rocker. 80s-style bombastically sincere stadium rock was at its nadir at that point. Their early work was pretty much overshadowed for most people (including myself).
U2 themselves were clever enough to shift to a more dance-influenced, experimental and "ironic" style at the start of the decade that kept them going until the 80s had faded enough for non-ironic rock to be acceptable again (i.e. "Beautiful Day").
As for early Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) is pretty good- seems to straddle their synthpop and stadium tendencies, whereas Promised You a Miracle sounds even less like the latter, almost more like the funk-influenced synthpop the pre-"True" Spandau Ballet were doing at the time.
Guns N Roses. It's now a case of Axl Rose and friends, it's a shame as Appitite had so many great songs on it. They're Las Vegas headliners nowadays but mainly forgotten.
The Corrs were great in the late 90's but again faded into oblivion.
Blink 182, Sum 41 and Good Charlotte were all quite successful when I was growing up and these now seem to be forgotten.
I wouldn't say Blink 182 were forgotten at all. I think the individual members have pursued other projects at times (very successfully with Tom DeLonge and Angels and Airwaves) but they all keep coming back to Blink 182.
Guns N Roses. It's now a case of Axl Rose and friends, it's a shame as Appitite had so many great songs on it. They're Las Vegas headliners nowadays but mainly forgotten.
The Corrs were great in the late 90's but again faded into oblivion.
I don't feel that the Corrs were ever critically acclaimed.
In that case Suede and Cast come to mind - Suede for being hugely hyped and acclaimed back in 1993 as the poster faces of a new British rock scene but today it's Oasis and Blur who get all the praise instead. Suede seem to be remembered more for their later Coming Up era tracks ('Trash', 'Beautiful Ones' etc) rather than the early Animal Nitrate era material today.
Yes, nice example- I remember Suede as being the favoured and critically-acclaimed band at the time too, but they were definitely overshadowed by Blur and Oasis' later success.
Cast had a ton of top-10 hits throughout the same decade, none of which seem played or remembered at all today. They just seemed to be popular for sounding the same as everyone else at the time instead of actually being groundbreaking.
Spot on.
Were Cast ever that critically popular though? I know the lead singer used to be in The La's (who *were* much hyped by some critics at the end of the 80s), but Cast always struck me as mediocre, run-of-the-mill indie/britpop fodder.
Mind you, I read a forum post recently talking about them as if they *were* one of those "important" bands. Never got that impression myself!
Speaking of The La's, everyone remembers "There She Goes" as a hit (albeit after it was reissued), but I never got what the big deal was meant to be. I suspect it was as much the contrast with the prevailing mainstream sound in the late 80s, but I thought it was boring. Still, they seem to be cited as an influence by quite a few bands, even if the public remembers them as one-hit-wonders.
Well, going from the same website source (RateYourMusic), how about Mariah Carey?
(Hopefully I won't be shot down for that one!)
Honestly, I don't know much about her. I think that in itself is kinda noteworthy, because she seems (at least in the US) to have been really, really on top of her game in the 90s, everything she touched turned to gold, etc etc.
She is an interesting one as she is a talented singer, had some pretty big hits and stayed relevant for a very long time (in pop terms). I think its because she changed her sound quite a bit to stay with the times, and when you look back, its not a solid set of albums. People tend to like one era over another, its quite jarring if you listen to her output from start to finish (most recent).
Guns N Roses. It's now a case of Axl Rose and friends, it's a shame as Appitite had so many great songs on it. They're Las Vegas headliners nowadays but mainly forgotten.
The Corrs were great in the late 90's but again faded into oblivion.
I'm not sure about Guns n' Roses, as you still hear quite a lot of people talking favourably today about their heyday-era albums.
Obviously the present day band has much less credibility, since everyone knows it's little more than a solo project for the bloated, self-indulgent Axl Rose- who got the rights to the name- and whoever he chooses to work with this week. (No other "Appetite for Destruction" era members remain. Apparently the keyboard player who joined for "Use Your Illusion" is still in, but that's your lot.)
Still, this doesn't seem to have reflected badly on their earlier work.
As for The Corrs... commercially successful in their day, and nothing wrong with that, but even at the time I don't think anyone was viewing them as anything more important or influential than that.
NME/Melody Maker hypes I've read about: Birdland, A, Marion (actually really good compared to the other shite here, but came along at the absolute wrong time), Menswe@r, Strangelove, Gay Dad, Terris, Gomez
NME hypes I experienced myself: Milburn, Joe Jean and the Jingjangwhatever it was, Brother, Glasvegas, Trash Fashion
There were a lot of bands and songwriters that Rolling Stone obsessed about in the 1970s like the Doobie Brothers, Marc Benno, Three Dog Night (who?), and James Taylor... while residually shitting on Led Zeppelin, CSNY, Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell, Kraftwerk and Black Sabbath.
NME/Melody Maker hypes I've read about: Birdland, A, Marion (actually really good compared to the other shite here), Menswe@r, Strangelove, Gay Dad, Terris, Gomez, Fischerspooner
NME hypes I experienced myself: Milburn, Joe Jean and the Jingjangwhatever it was, Brother, Glasvegas, Trash Fashion
There were a lot of bands and songwriters that Rolling Stone obsessed about in the 1970s like the Doobie Brothers, Marc Benno, Three Dog Night (who?), and James Taylor... while residually shitting on Led Zeppelin, CSNY, Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell, Kraftwerk and Black Sabbath.
BIB
Good call! I remember all those and the whole Shoe Gazing thing: Moose, Lush, Slow dive etc. Also Curve were indie darlings at that time too.
How about Ash, as another one? I seem to remember Ash were very hyped for a short while and then quickly faded.
Perhaps also Scissor Sisters? Hype seemed to be big behind them for their first album and they were touted as genre-breaking, unclassifiable music style etc, but that seemed to tail off too. (although I know they've had their own solo projects - Ana doing some British TV presenting etc)
Radiohead. Regarded by many as the best band of the last 20 years and having the best album of the 90's and 00's but they dropped off big time. There not as well known and popular as some people make them out to be.
Maybe Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes. I know both can still score top 10 albums, but the early promise that surrounded them faded pretty quickly.
Thirteen Senses - I remember some critics hyped them as a band who would rival Coldplay
White Lies - There was quite a bit of buzz about them back in 2009 but it quickly petered out
The Coral
Kula Shaker
Starsailor
Feeder
The Sundays
Heart - They lost a lot of their acclaim and respect when they entered their Capitol phase in the mid-1980s
I'd agree with most of your suggestions though whilst The Strokes's last two albums have taken a slight change in direction they are both fabulous . I'm still living in hope that Thirteen Senses will make it big !
JJ72. Liked by pretty much all the critics, hyped as the next big thing, a few successful singles, two critically acclaimed albums, the foundations laid for a long career. Then it just stopped, now it's like "who?
For those in that camp, Irish band along the same lines as earlier Muse.
Once interviewed JJ72. Good set of lads (and a WOMAN!)
Not too keen on their stuff though. Didn't tell them to their face. Just slagged them off behind a laptop in true 21st century style
JJ72. Liked by pretty much all the critics, hyped as the next big thing, a few successful singles, two critically acclaimed albums, the foundations laid for a long career. Then it just stopped, now it's like "who?
For those in that camp, Irish band along the same lines as earlier Muse.
I saw them at V festival. Muse played right after them.
Blink 182, Sum 41 and Good Charlotte were all quite successful when I was growing up and these now seem to be forgotten.
Blink 182, forgotten?
Do you mean aside from their constant inclusion in lists of best-ever punk/pop-punk/rock albums/singles/bands, and the stream of articles this year about the 15th anniversary of Enema Of The State and their (second) triumphant headline slot at Reading and Leeds just two weeks ago?
Blink 182, Sum 41 and Good Charlotte were all quite successful when I was growing up and these now seem to be forgotten.
Blink 182 headlined Reading/Leeds festival only 2 weeks ago.
Sum 41 on the other hand had to take a break due to Deryck Whibley's alcoholism. He was hospitalized due to it earlier this year and could easily have died.
Good Charlotte aren't so relevant anymore, but Joel Madden is a coach on The Voice Australia, so he's doing already at least.
Ash had the bizarre idea of not releasing albums any more. Just loads (26 in a year) of singles snuck out without fanfare.
Lots of that A-Z project stuff was actually really good too. I remember "Dare To Dream" especially, which would have surely been a family successful comeback single if it wasn't released in such an odd way. Since that they've been completely silent.
Ash were a very good band though, last remember them being highish profile back when they released 'Starcrossed'
I'll add another - Ocean Colour Scene. Who unbelievably are still out there releasing increasingly sh*t albums.
Comments
I miss that variety though, where there were 15 or so bands that had a few hits each. I don't think we have that anymore, partly because Top of The Pops is gone. Solo indie acts seem to be more prominent now as well (although that's perhaps my memory).
None of those bands were critically acclaimed. The Feeling a little bit maybe.
The other two were generally reviled and rightly so.
Simple Minds were extremely critically acclaimed at the start of the 80's but nowadays after album after album of chestbeating sub U2 tosh are seen as a bit of a joke.
What about The Bluetones , Mansun (not the marilyn one) and Ash
I have the soul II soul album in a tub under my bed
Is it just me or is there never much mention of Erasure or Curiosity killed the cat?
But they where big/successful at the time..As far as I'm aware Simple Minds are just the guys that sang the theme to Breakfast Club so it depends on your age
Big/successful isn't the same as being critically acclaimed as per the thread title.
This is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. I too only really noticed Simple Minds circa "Don't You Forget About Me", but in recent years I've realised that they'd been critically favoured, and much more new wave / synthpop oriented in their early days.
"Don't You Forget About Me" (admittedly a great song) and "Alive and Kicking" were probably their commercial peak, but also arguably the start of their critical downfall. By the mid-90s, the NME (or was it Melody Maker) was taking the p**s out of their latest stadium-rocker. 80s-style bombastically sincere stadium rock was at its nadir at that point. Their early work was pretty much overshadowed for most people (including myself).
U2 themselves were clever enough to shift to a more dance-influenced, experimental and "ironic" style at the start of the decade that kept them going until the 80s had faded enough for non-ironic rock to be acceptable again (i.e. "Beautiful Day").
As for early Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) is pretty good- seems to straddle their synthpop and stadium tendencies, whereas Promised You a Miracle sounds even less like the latter, almost more like the funk-influenced synthpop the pre-"True" Spandau Ballet were doing at the time.
The Corrs were great in the late 90's but again faded into oblivion.
I wouldn't say Blink 182 were forgotten at all. I think the individual members have pursued other projects at times (very successfully with Tom DeLonge and Angels and Airwaves) but they all keep coming back to Blink 182.
I don't feel that the Corrs were ever critically acclaimed.
Yes, nice example- I remember Suede as being the favoured and critically-acclaimed band at the time too, but they were definitely overshadowed by Blur and Oasis' later success.
Spot on.
Were Cast ever that critically popular though? I know the lead singer used to be in The La's (who *were* much hyped by some critics at the end of the 80s), but Cast always struck me as mediocre, run-of-the-mill indie/britpop fodder.
Mind you, I read a forum post recently talking about them as if they *were* one of those "important" bands. Never got that impression myself!
Speaking of The La's, everyone remembers "There She Goes" as a hit (albeit after it was reissued), but I never got what the big deal was meant to be. I suspect it was as much the contrast with the prevailing mainstream sound in the late 80s, but I thought it was boring. Still, they seem to be cited as an influence by quite a few bands, even if the public remembers them as one-hit-wonders.
She is an interesting one as she is a talented singer, had some pretty big hits and stayed relevant for a very long time (in pop terms). I think its because she changed her sound quite a bit to stay with the times, and when you look back, its not a solid set of albums. People tend to like one era over another, its quite jarring if you listen to her output from start to finish (most recent).
I'm not sure about Guns n' Roses, as you still hear quite a lot of people talking favourably today about their heyday-era albums.
Obviously the present day band has much less credibility, since everyone knows it's little more than a solo project for the bloated, self-indulgent Axl Rose- who got the rights to the name- and whoever he chooses to work with this week. (No other "Appetite for Destruction" era members remain. Apparently the keyboard player who joined for "Use Your Illusion" is still in, but that's your lot.)
Still, this doesn't seem to have reflected badly on their earlier work.
As for The Corrs... commercially successful in their day, and nothing wrong with that, but even at the time I don't think anyone was viewing them as anything more important or influential than that.
NME hypes I experienced myself: Milburn, Joe Jean and the Jingjangwhatever it was, Brother, Glasvegas, Trash Fashion
There were a lot of bands and songwriters that Rolling Stone obsessed about in the 1970s like the Doobie Brothers, Marc Benno, Three Dog Night (who?), and James Taylor... while residually shitting on Led Zeppelin, CSNY, Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell, Kraftwerk and Black Sabbath.
BIB
Good call! I remember all those and the whole Shoe Gazing thing: Moose, Lush, Slow dive etc. Also Curve were indie darlings at that time too.
Seemed to be getting somewhere, but were ultimately killed off by the Amy Winehouse cover of Valerie
Perhaps also Scissor Sisters? Hype seemed to be big behind them for their first album and they were touted as genre-breaking, unclassifiable music style etc, but that seemed to tail off too. (although I know they've had their own solo projects - Ana doing some British TV presenting etc)
They were always well received by critics.
What's happened to them?
I'd agree with most of your suggestions though whilst The Strokes's last two albums have taken a slight change in direction they are both fabulous . I'm still living in hope that Thirteen Senses will make it big !
Once interviewed JJ72. Good set of lads (and a WOMAN!)
Not too keen on their stuff though. Didn't tell them to their face. Just slagged them off behind a laptop in true 21st century style
I saw them at V festival. Muse played right after them.
Ash had the bizarre idea of not releasing albums any more. Just loads (26 in a year) of singles snuck out without fanfare.
Blink 182, forgotten?
Do you mean aside from their constant inclusion in lists of best-ever punk/pop-punk/rock albums/singles/bands, and the stream of articles this year about the 15th anniversary of Enema Of The State and their (second) triumphant headline slot at Reading and Leeds just two weeks ago?
Blink 182 headlined Reading/Leeds festival only 2 weeks ago.
Sum 41 on the other hand had to take a break due to Deryck Whibley's alcoholism. He was hospitalized due to it earlier this year and could easily have died.
Good Charlotte aren't so relevant anymore, but Joel Madden is a coach on The Voice Australia, so he's doing already at least.
Lots of that A-Z project stuff was actually really good too. I remember "Dare To Dream" especially, which would have surely been a family successful comeback single if it wasn't released in such an odd way. Since that they've been completely silent.
Ash were a very good band though, last remember them being highish profile back when they released 'Starcrossed'
I'll add another - Ocean Colour Scene. Who unbelievably are still out there releasing increasingly sh*t albums.