Keeping it simple on this post- a list of my Top 15 favorite bands that have formed since 2000. Not ranked in any special way.
Before I kick off this final installment of “Under The Radar”, I wanted to point out something regarding my thought process with these bands that I didn’t state in the previous two posts: I purposefully chose artists that had no more than three releases and also single out artists whose releases are generally hard to find. Some of these have been rereleased over the years and some are now out of print. It might be hard tracking some of these down but they are certainly well worth your money if the price is right!
Soooo… on we go!
In the years post-Whitesnake, John Sykes was snapped up by Geffen Records and put together a powerhouse trio in drum king Carmine Appice (ex-Rod Stewart, Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy, etc) and fretless bassmeister Tony Franklin (ex-The Firm). The debut self titled disc was chock full of atmospheric goodies, led by intro single “Valley Of The Kings” and other strong cuts like “Riot”, “Blue Murder”, “Black Hearted Woman” and songs reminiscent of his Thin Lizzy years (check out “Billy” for its Lynott-esque lyric) and his time in Whitesnake (“Jelly Roll”). Production is solid and features Bob Rock at the helm before he turned his talents to Metallica’s self titled disc a couple of years later. Disc #2, Nothing But Trouble, has its own heavy moments but the songwriting isn’t quite as solid as their debut (also, both Appice and Franklin no longer appear) and the massive bottom end provided by Rock is missing as Sykes produced this effort. If you like great guitarwork, heavy blues based songs, kick ass rhythm section, and fantastic vocals from Sykes definitely pick these up if you can find them. Sykes retired the Blue Murder name in the mid-90s and is technically a solo act now.
Cry of Love was a really cool band that put out a couple of great records in the early 90’s, Brother and Diamonds and Debris. Unfortunately, their style of 70s blues rock stuck out like a sore thumb with their debut disc coming at the tail end of the hair metal era and at the onset of grunge. That said, both discs feature outstanding guitar work from Audley Freed who at times mixes Hendrix/Trower tonalities similar to someone like Marc Ford in the Black Crowes (ironically, Freed replaced Ford for a period with that same band). Brother features the pipes of Kelly Holland, sounding a bit like a modern day Paul Rodgers in soulfulness and delivery crossed with a hint of Bubba Keith from “Nicole” era Point Blank. Unfortunately Holland was fired from the band, who then recruited former Lynch Mob singer Robert Mason, a great singer himself with his own unique soulful\melodic delivery for second disc Diamonds and Debris. Both discs are very, very good with tons of highlights that are hard to pick out. If you dig Hendrix, Trower, Free, Bad Company, Black Crowes, Steve Ray Vaughan, this is for you.
In one of my first “Under The Radar” posts I wrote glowingly about Badlands’ debut disc, so if you read that (please check it out if you haven’t) you’ll get a lot about the strengths of the band. Fortunately, discs #2 and #3 are equally strong in their own right- the lineup remains the same but Eric Singer is out (on his way to Alice Cooper and KISS) and on the way in is new sticksman Jeff Martin. Voodoo Highway adds even more depth, mixing up heavy rock cuts similar to the debut like “Soul Stealer”, “Heaven’s Train”, and “Silver Horses” with acoustic touches varying between the dusty slide blues of “Voodoo Highway” and smoothly strummed intro to “Show Me The Way”. Throw in the swagger of “Three Day Funk” and “Whiskey Dust” into the mix and you’ve got an eclectic mix from all colors of the spectrum. However…as the commercial says, “but that’s not all!” “In A Dream” is an absolute gem with singer Ray Gillen taking us all to church, sending shivers down the spine with an absolute knockout of a performance (how this guy isn’t a legend I’ve got no idea). Unfortunately band squabbles (partly due to the record company finagling) led to the demise of Badlands, which is a shame of such immense proportions considering Ray Gillen’s passing just a few years later. Fortunately for us Badlands fans there was one posthumously released disc in Dusk, tunes culled from demos they were putting together for a third disc before being dropped from their Atlantic recording contract. Outside from the truly outstanding songs, there are a couple of things that stand out about this disc: 1) most of it is cut live in the studio, all in one take; and 2) Ray Gillen is making up 50% of his lyrics on the spot (check out the Wiki entry on “Dusk” and read the Jeff Martin comments). Run out and find these discs NOW and in the meantime go out to YouTube and do a “badlands live” search and soak up the goodness from Jake E Lee, Greg Chaisson, Ray Gillen, and Eric SInger/Jeff Martin. You can thank me later.
Man, how about this winter? March and it’s snowing everywhere from Texas up to the northeast. Crazy…
“Say Goodbye”, Cheap Trick Cheap Trick (1997)
A damn fine one here and a great example of how Trick can weave a Beatlesque melody into something fresh and new. Lead throat Robin Zander in absolutely fine form, subtle guitar mastery from Rick Nielsen, cool McCartneyesque bassline from Tom Petersson, and in the pocket Ringoisms from Bun E Carlos make this a winner and a tune that shoulda been a hit! Yeah, a bit laid back for you rockers but CT has always been more than just “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender”, plus this has a little more meat on the bones than “The Flame”. Definitely one of my fave latter day Cheap Trick tunes.
“Pay The Man”, David Lindley El Rayo-X
Frequent Jackson Browne sideman David Lindley put out a couple of fine albums in the early ’80s full of totally eclectic stuff. “Pay The Man” is a perfect example of his eclecticism with its reggafied beat and what sounds like a piccolo or other wind instrument carrying a beautiful melody throughout the song. Great keyboard work on this one too on top of the subtle rhythmic backbeat. Oh man… I’m thinking of the beach and warmer weather listening to this one!
“I’d Rather Be (Blind, Crippled, & Crazy)”, Doyle Bramhall Fitchburg Street
My first exposure to Doyle Bramhall was perusing the credits on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood LP and noticing that “D. Bramhall” wrote or co-wrote a few of the cuts, eventually carrying on their writing partnership until SRV’s untimely death. Flash forward many years and I found this CD, which is quite cool in its laid back bluesy/soul vibe akin to Delbert McClinton. This song is a great example, with awesome interplay between horns, groovy organ, swinging guitar, and sweet background vocals. I’d read that Stevie Ray considered Bramhall a vocal influence and you can definitely hear it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn9ZocwS48g
“Money To Burn”, Psycho Motel State Of Mind
So… whatever happened to Adrian Smith during his “leave of absence” from Iron Maiden? Well, outside of ASAP good ol’ H put out a couple of albums with Psycho Motel, both very cool and probably hard to find these days. At any rate, “Money To Burn” kicks off with a simple pattern with a brief snippet of “Unchained”-ish phaser on the guitar that pops up here and there throughout the song. This is a great, grooving rock tune, fairly simple in structure but quite effective across the board- think of it as a modern day take on a Sabbatherian riff. Dig the Schenkerisms when the lead pops up too!
“Get Back To The Country”, Marty Stuart Tempted
Tempted is a great Marty album and one I’d highly recommend if you are interested in his more rockabilly-esque side; however, this cut is a Neil Young cover and probably the most country song on the disc (it’s that danged fiddle and mandolin, I tells ya… not that there’s anything wrong with that). Typically, Marty does rock it up quite a bit and does a knockout mandolin AND guitar solo to boot. Visions of a barn dance going through my head…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXYpa7Fmdk
“Have You Ever Seen The Rain”, Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle Vol. 1
John Fogarty, American treasure that he is, has written many a fine tune and this one certainly ranks up with the best of them. “Rain” is an example of his more subtle side and that’s not knocking anything one iota- simply strummed, passionate vocal, great bass/drum work, and beautiful organ make this a winner. Outside of that, I’ve got some favorite parts to this song: I love the descending lines played by the piano that you catch throughout and how the bass plays its own descending part throughout the chorus. Just awesome. And listen how the drum groove changes during the song, especially towards the end as Doug Clifford moves from hi hat to crash cymbal. Even more awesome.
“Phallic Tractor”, Racer X Live At The Whiskey: Snowball of Doom
Short, sweet, slightly weird, and awesomely titled (well, wouldn’t call it quite sweet) is “Phallic Tractor”, kicking off with a Scott Travis drum groove before Pablo Gilberto kicks into a groove and then sends things to weirdo zone midway through. This ain’t quite a song either, more of an instrumental interlude or exercise in freakiness that those with insane talents like the cats in Racer X have. Probably more of an example of “let’s see if you can do this shred exercise, and keep up on the drums while you are at it”!
“Livin’ Thing”, Electric Light Orchestra Essential
Like Cheap Trick, ELO takes a spin on the Beatles and puts an almost discofied (don’t hate on me with that term) spin on it with orchestration and strings mixed with spaghetti westernisms (dig the intro violin and brief mariachi horn that pops up) on “Livin’ Thing”. Yeah, this is technically pre-disco with those strings but Jeff Lynne can get away with it with his great melodies and layered vocals. Throw in cool percussion effects during the chorus (do I detect a hint of cowbell under that tambourine?) and you’ve got one of the better ELO cuts. And why am I writing in parenthesis?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2d45tOgBl0
“Dancing On Your Grave”, Motorhead Another Perfect Day (Bonus Disc)
My first exposure to Motorhead (outside of reading Hit Parader back in the day) was a video for “One Track Mind” on MTV, which is funny considering that A) that tune is quite a departure from the Motorhead classics, and B) Another Perfect Day is a bit of an oddball record for the band as Brian Robertson had replaced Fast Eddie Clarke and brought a bit more melody to the guitar department, with “Dancing On Your Grave” here being a fine example. A bit different from the warts (pun intended) and all approach from the classics of yore, but this album has gained many fans over the years and this tune has popped up in the setlists frequently since the late 90’s. Robbo soon to be gone with Philthy Animal shortly thereafter.
“Now And Then”, The Kinks UK Jive
Kinks fans are a unique bunch as The Kinks have always been a unique band, straggling that line between rock classics and more laid back efforts such as “Now And Then”. As always, Ray Davies has a way with a lyric especially when he waxes poetically about “mighty corporations and politicians” ruling the land today vs the simple ways of the past before we all became discontent. It’s funny, as an adult I can understand the sentiment of the lyrics but as a kid I was definitely drawn to “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night”. Either way, Ray Davies is a fantastic songwriter.
Favorite cut of the week… I gotta go with “Say Goodbye” but “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” is a close second with “Dancing On Your Grave” not far behind.
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