I think the fact that we are all here indicates that to some degree, we are interested in what garners acclaim for music, and perhaps our tastes are even shaped to a degree by being here! However, I'm sure that we all have artists that we love who have managed to somehow avoid acclaim, including no bubblers!

Who are your favorite such artists, and why do you think they don't have any notable acclaim? What songs/albums would you propose deserve a glance?

For me, the artist that tops the list is...












Roxette!

They rank #24 on my list, but are derided for producing saccharine, formulaic, over-the-top pop. It may be true that they have basically 2 main types of song, we'll call them "The Look" and "Listen to Your Heart", but their catalogue contains some other nice nuggets! I just think that formulaic or not (nearly all of their songs DO feature a key change after all), they are great at what they do.

My favorite album is obviously Look Sharp!, but I also quite like Have a Nice Day, which saw them branch out a bit, to the dismay of some of their fans!

My favorite songs are:

1. "Paint"
2. "Silver Blue"
3. "Dangerous"
4. "Listen to Your Heart"
5. "Almost Unreal"

Other artists in my top 100 who meet this criteria are:

34. Janelle Monáe (although this is bound to change once the list includes 2010 albums)
38. Chromeo
67. RES
68. Berlin
87. Kano
91. Debbie Harry
94. Lene Lovich
100. Bagarre

I like the pop rock band OK Go, who are rather notable for their homemade DIY music videos that went viral several years ago. I figure the reason they don't get any acclaim is because they're a rather straight forward pop rock band without much hint of musical experimentation. Despite their lack of innovation, I still like them, and most of the reviews I've read are quite positive. While they don't have anything I'd ever consider extraordinary, they do have a rather consistent collection of upbeat pop rock singles such as "Here it Goes Again", "A Million Ways", "Invincible", and "Do What You Want". I could easily understand if someone didn't like them, but to me they're rather enjoyable. Also, they're awesome live.

this is one of my favorite acts, but I do enjoy Air Supply's sappy, dramatic love songs.

I also thoroughly enjoy Olivia Newton-John- one bubbling under entry isn't much of anything.

we should do a non acclaimed artist poll

Lush,the Primitive(their best of is flawless) the Wonderstuff (how dare you call them Waterboys wanabes) Lilys, Blonde Redhead, Trash can Sinatras, Mull Historical Society, the Long Blondes (their debut is even better than Elastica's), Curve, Mew, Shonen Knife, Soundtrack of Our Lives, All Girl Summer Fun Band, Pretty Girls Make Graves,the Beautiful South,the Duke Spirit, Apples in Stereo, Dressy Bessy (I perfer them to the Breeders and these 2 are easily the best two bands out of the Elephant 6 label. How the hell Neutral Milk Hotel got to become their biggest stars I'll never understand. I guess critics perfer self loathing lofi and happy twee)And while I'm at it most late 90s britpop bands (the Bluetones, Rialto, JJ72, Mansun, Kula Shaker, Echobelly, Stereophonics, Sleeper, Cast, Shack Embrace, Travis, Catatonia etc) Robbie Williams was a pop star from a boy band who didn't write his own songs. In America we call that Justin Timberlake but ironically he's a superstar and even Pitchfork embrasses him. I don't get why Robbie Williams is so loathed in this forum so I think him and the dissapointment of Oasis in the late 90s made the entire scene look bad. No most late 90s britpop did not sound like Oasis. That's like saying every emo band sounds like Weezer.

Game Theory, without a doubt. Scott Miller's mid-to-late-80s Bay Area indie-pop band (produced by Mitch Easter, his finest work outside of the first two R.E.M. albums) was the soundtrack to my late adolescence. The GT catalog has been out of print for years, but I made it a personal mission this year to track down CDs of their last three albums, and - to quote Charles Foster Kane - I got my candy.

What an excellent idea for a topic!

I also like Roxette! I didn't realize they don't have any entries on this site. What a pity :(


My favourite artist without any trace of acclaim on this site is...



Newsboys

They appear at #7 on my all time list, behind the Beatles, George Harrison, U2, Paul McCartney, Cat Stevens, and Pink Floyd (so if you enjoy these artists, check out the Newsboys!)

My favourite albums by the Newsboys are Going Public (1994), Take Me to Your Leader (1996), Love Liberty Disco (1999), and Thrive (2002), but if I could recommend only one LP, I would start off with Take Me to Your Leader.

My favourite songs:

"Entertaining Angels"
"Reality"
"Lost the Plot"
"Let It Rain"
"Something Beautiful"
"Beautiful Sound"
"Shine"
"It's All Who You Know"
"Million Pieces"
"Step Up to the Microphone"
"Forever Man"
"John Woo"
"Elle G."
"Take Me to Your Leader"


Some of my other favourite artists not in Acclaimed Music:

dc Talk
Jars of Clay
Barenaked Ladies
Boney M.
TobyMac
Audio Adrenaline
Styx
Michael W. Smith
Sixpence None the Richer

Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn.

Favourite albums:
Salt, Sun and Time
Further Adventures
Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws
Humans

...alas, all of them from the mid-70'es to early 80'es.

some of these have bubblers, sorry!

The Chameleons - post-punk / alt-80's - The Script of the Bridge (1983)
Electric Wizard - doom/stoner metal - Dopethrone (2000)
'Til Tuesday - new wave / '80s pop - Welcome Home (1986)

and a bunch of contemporary americana / alt-country:

Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal (2008)
The Handsome Family - The Singing Bones (2003)
Josh Rouse - 1972 (2003)
Whiskeytown - Faithless Street (1996)
Willard Grant Conspiracy - Regard the End (2003)

The Alan Parsons Project, at #22. No idea why it's not on the website; allmusic gave my favorite two albums of theirs 4.5 stars each but there are not many other reviews out there. The albums "The Turn of a Friendly Card" and especially "Eye In The Sky" are great though. I Robot is pretty good too.

Without a doubt, New Zealand's great The Verlaines.

I'll agree with the Game Theory nomination(s) wholeheartedly as well (don't forget Loud Family!).

Glad to see I'm not the only Game Theory fan here.

For your edification and, hopefully, pleasure, here are the opening and closing tracks of the band's best album, 1985's THE BIG SHOT CHRONICLES. Both songs are exactly 2:15, which is a wonderfully conducive length for listening to them repeatedly, which you're going to want to do.

Opening track: "Here It Is Tomorrow"


Closing track: "Like a Girl Jesus"

At the top of the my would have to be Imperial Teen, which Roddy Bottom formed a few years before Faith No More broke up. Made up two gay guys and two women, Imperial Teen's sound is equal parts poppy and punky. The band seamlessly and interestingly inserts a gay sensibility and subject matter into its rock sound. While the guys share the lead vocals, the girl/guy harmonies are strong, and the band members will often switch off instruments. They have released 4 strong studio albums (the best being their self-titled debut and their third, On).

Also high on my list is the jazz/cabaret singer and pianist Blossom Dearie, who I eulogized following her death last year.

I also really like Velocity Girl, a short-lived 90's indie rock band from DC who were shoegaze-influenced but more melodic, with sweet, floating soprano vocals from lead singer Sarah Shannon.

Finally, I have a huge amount of respect for, and have gotten a lot of enjoyment from, Dan Zanes. Since 2000, the former Del Fuegos frontman has been producing sterling albums aimed at children and their parents. There is a lot of good music for kids, a lot of bland music for kids, and a lot of insufferable music for kids. Zanes is the only children's artist I have heard who, by example and through great musicianship and charisma, shows kids how music can be an enriching way to connect and bond with other people and the outside world. I have talked often about how much I value artists who give expression to a sense of joy. Zanes does so purely and effortlessly.

For me it's an obvious choice, as Tom McRae should at least receive some recognition for het self-titled debut, in my opinion.

Recommended albums:
1. Tom McRae
2. Just Like Blood

Recommended songs:
1. You Cut Her Hair
2. End of the World News (Dose Me Up)
3. A Day Like Today

Go and listen.

Another option would be Boudewijn de Groot, but as both music crticism and this site are very Anglo-Saxon orientated, I'm not surprised at all.

-double-

That won't surprise nj, but my favourite artist not in AM are the german hip-hop band Puppetmastaz. I regard them as one of the major hip-hop act of the 00s, especially given the high quality of their 3 first albums and the huge variety of hip-hop subgenres they have covered. They also might be the crew with the highest number of great MCs since the Wu Tang, and they have a real talent for finding gimmicks that get stuck in your head.

top 5 songs :
Humans get all the credit
Hallucinate
We Back
Break a Bottle
The Bigger the Better

But they are german, puppets and a bit silly so I'm not surprised they are overlooked.

On the other hand, I'm much more surprised by the lack of any Electrelane album in AM, they seems quite acclaimed in France ! They took the best of Stereolab and Sonic Youth to make great music... would girls band be underrated by critics ?

my favourite song of each of their 3 (very good) albums :







Other bands I would like to see in AM for at least one of their albums are Millencolin (for Pennybridge Pioneers especially, but not only), Thrice (for Illusion of Safety mostly) and Lostprophets (for their first album only) ; but beside their few great releases they have made too much poor music to keep a good image, especiallt given that they act in music genres not highly regarded by critics.

And it also always saddens me to see that Architecture in Helsinki are no longer ranked in AM... In Case We Die is top 20 all time for me and used to be around #2900 in AM.

I also really like Velocity Girl, a short-lived 90's indie rock band from DC who were shoegaze-influenced but more melodic, with sweet, floating soprano vocals from lead singer Sarah Shannon.

I forgot about Velocity Girl. They deserve better. They formed out of the band Black Tambourine who released an acclaimed singles collection this year and they also deserve more acknowledgment. Reminds me of the one The Delta 5 released a few years back which revised their career and made them indie legends.

Matthew Good, The Tea Party, Moist.

These are 90's post-grunge bands with strictly Canadian exposure. I learned of them in the period around '98 or so when I started watching Muchmusic as an alternative to MTV. Each of them has at least one quite good album. Beautiful Midnight, Splendor Soils, and Silver respectively.

Thinking about it, it's not too surprising that almost all my favorite non-AM artists are from Texas, mostly from Houston or Austin:

Arc Angels
Ghostland Observatory
The Judy's
Robert Earl Keen
Delbert McClinton (very surprised he's not on here)
Old 97's
Charlie Sexton
Wild Moccasins

***

(Moonbeam, I saw Janelle Monae live a couple of months ago--awesome show. You're right...she won't be absent from this site for long.)

Nah! I'd say the Czech Republic does and maybe Sweeden. I forgot to mention the Gore Gore Girls who were hugly influencial on the garage revival scene of the early 00s. Also Tilly and the Wall has some really pretty and catchy songs. Fortunately it wasn't completely passed up since Nic Hartcourt named it his favorite album of the year. I guess I'll miss him on Morning Become Eclectic afterall. Was never a huge Ladytron fan but until Witching Hour. That deserves more praise.

Red House Painters have a ridiculous small amount of acclaim.

Rollercoaster is 1311 in the all-time album charts and that's it.

Return to Forever comprising: Chick Corea, Al Dimeola, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White.

Suggested songs include:
After the Cosmic Rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQzMulHaW4s

Captain Senor Mouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcWkhWbRvC0&feature=fvsr

Space Circus Part I&II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZiq4fY8uew

Dayride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gHk7FSHtpY

Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant Part I&II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3sT5Ucyw_0&feature=related

The Game Maker

The Romantic Warrior - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lObVilGPjHc

Vulcan Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxg1AoEz9p4

In my view RTF probably does not have acclaim yet because their songs tend to be a bit long-winded and aimless - lots of scales and segments thereof. I don't that it is particularly easy to access their songs either. Also, the production and fidelity are not up to today's standards, or even the top (Steely Dan) standards of the middle 1970's. If you are familiar with Stevie Wonder's "Contusion" you may want to compare it with some of the RTF tunes.

Some of the artists on this list are not nearly as outstanding as Return to Forever; but I thought I would mention them briefly anyway:

Dixie Dregs

Kenny Loggins

Fray

Barenaked Ladies

Fever Ray

Los Lonely Boys

Weird Al Yankovic

Uriah Heep

I've got to go with Styx. They've got 2 songs in my top 100, Come Sail Away and Renegade, and they've made some great albums. I was stunned they didn't make it on AM.

@ nj:
The Texas-porn thing. It's all because of the Dallas Cowboy's cheerleaders.

In No Particular Order...

Stereophonics
Trashcan Sinatras
Toad The Wet Sprocket
BoDeans
The Ocean Blue
Material Issue
Shinedown
30 Seconds To Mars
Neds Atomic Dustbin
Night Ranger
Kitchens Of Distinction
Incubus
Belinda Carlisle
Stabbing Westward
Better Than Ezra
Brand New
Dishwalla
Disturbed
Dokken
Dropkick Murphys
Face To Face
Fishbone
Gin Blossoms
God Lives Underwater
The Gufs
Hard-Fi
Honeymoon Suite
Jack Johnson
KMFDM
Lifehouse
Pop Will Eat Itself
Sevendust
Shades Apart
Shiny Toy Guns
Skid Row
Sponge
Tesla
The Used
Tonic
Velvet Revolver
Whitesnake
3 Doors Down
311
.38 Special

Don't remember ever seeing any of these. Weird thing is going through the thousands of songs comprising my iTunes. Less than 10% of it is hip-hop, but everything I have is part of AM.

Henry, Los Lonely Boys is an awesome choice! I love their self titled album. Songs like Real Emotions, Tell Me Why, Heaven and specially Nobody Else are great favorites of mine. They've appeared on both my all-time-top-artists since I've been on this site. They were one of my first discoveries when I was beginning (well, I'm still beginning) to listen to music not present on the radio stations, and today they remain among the very few bands from that time that I still enjoy.

brooklyn. first. north carolina: next.

I knew you'd come around !! I have a great place down town if you want to come for Moogfest. See Van Dyke Parks, Massive Attack, Big Boi, Panda Bear and much, much more!!!!

http://www.theorangepeel.net/calendar201010.php#mf

Great idea for a post, Moonbeam! Had to go digging into my album collection to come up with some of these, but...

Hooverphonic
My first introduction to them was "Renaissance Affair," from a Volkswagen commercial. I picked up their album BLUE WONDER POWER MILK, and there's a few stinkers, but some excellent stuff as well. I recommend "Battersea," "Club Montepulciano," "Lung," and "Magenta." And I would be remiss if I neglected to mention their biggest hit: 2Wicky, with its sublime Isaac Hayes sample.


Eastmountainsouth
I first heard the song "You Dance" on a Music Choice channel, so I went out and got the album. Again, a few stinkers on there, but quite a few excellent alterna-folk songs. I recommend "Rain Come Down," "All the Stars," "On Your Way," "Hard Times," and the aforementioned "You Dance."


Balligomingo
Very similar in sound to Hooverphonic. I remember reading somewhere that the guy behind Balligomingo was a programmer for IBM right before he went into music. It's stories like that that give me hope that there might be a future in the music industry for me. I recommend "Purify," "Lust," and "Sweet Allure."

Looking through the music on my computer, most of mine are pretty middle of the line. The Fratellis' first album is probably one of all time my favourites, and I remember seeing it doing quite well in the forum decade poll. I'd second Stereophonics, and apart from that, the odd singer/songwriter like Diane Birch or Mark Joseph. A bit tame, yes, but the odd song (like Mark Joseph's Lady Lady) has something really special to it.

I'd also throw Avi Buffalo in there if they slip under this year's acclaimed albums list, as it looks like they might do. Their album is easily my number one for 2010.

The one I can think of is El Ten Eleven, an upbeat post-rock band. Their s/t is good. Here's the first song off of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBTUAHGpQqE

I remember hearing about Velocity Girl a while back and I meant to check them out but it must have slipped my mind. I'd like to add Beat Happening http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Happening

They're a pop band from Washington State, Nirvana and the other bands from around there were pretty big fans.

I consider Doinabag the only lower point of the album, but even that can't be considered a bad or filler track. On the other hand, Whistle for the Choir, Vince the Lovable Stoner, Ole Black and Blue Eyes, Baby Fratelli and For the Girl are all a bliss.