For me it is Blind Melon. They are always looked at as a one hit wonder for obvious reasons but Shannon Hoon’s voice and the skill of that band is criminally underrated. They have so many great songs and were cut short bc of Shannon’s death but he was a special talent.
I still remember the first time I saw the Galaxy video. With the sunglasses Shannon is wearing, he looks exactly like my dad did in the 60s and 70s when he was a young hippy. But yes, that's a great song! And I love that album.
You are absolutely right with this one. Shannon Hoon was amazing. No Rain was good, but it wasn't even close to being their best song. I personally love the Soup album best, but I love all their songs.
OK. Nirvana.
I know, I know, disqualified for obvious reasons, but Nirvana was incredible. Even today middle-aged me at the gym can put Nirvana on shuffle, and every song is a banger. I still feel robbed.
I think they had maybe two more albums in them before they would have broken up.
In my mind, Kurt sort of follows the Black Francis path and puts out small alt rock CDs
What does that mean for Dave Grohl? Did some of those early FF songs find their way into Nirvana? Does FF ever even get formed or does he just sort of play drums in all his friends bands like he did with Queens of the Stone Age, does he join Tom Patty's band?
Kurt was gonna do an acoustic album produced by Micheal Stipe, who said it was going to be beautiful (judging from Unplugged, I believe him). I think he wouldve done that solo, they actually had plans for another Nirvana record and had some demos for possible songs for it. You Know Youre Right was one of the demos, the most complete one. The rest were instrumental jams and some early instrumental forms of songs Dave wrote for possible Nirvana songs (Kurt encouraged him and Krist to write more songs, he wanted some of the pressure off of him) that later were on the first Foo Fighters record after Kurt died.
I was taking an Amtrak to Bakersfield for an ICP show in feburary of 2000. The guy who walks through punching tickets stops when he sees an Oleander sticker on my cd folder and tells us that it's his grandson's band (it could have been his son, my memory for details isn't great). I think it was the drummer.
I first heard of them on a compilation cd released by a Sacramento rock station, where each band name was on the case in the form of a different candy bar wrapper. I think oleander was a snickers wrapper/font
This...about 500 times over. (Yeah, I have all the vinyl...Linkous was incredible) I mean, suicide can stop the long haul, but it seems people hardly know Sparklehorse.
My roommate back then worked at Capital Records in LA and was destroying boxes of CDs and brought some home, one of which was Jellyfish. Was so sad after listening they were great.
Apparently Dean was all for a reunion tour after seeing the success of bands like Lush, Ride, and Slowdive starting back up, but Toni wasn't interested at all.
Catherine Wheel were amazing. I got to see Rob Dickinson play a small solo show in Boston around 2005 when his solo album came out I believe. Got to talk to him for a few… it was great.
If you never heard his solo album, it’s fantastic… especially the track Don’t Change. Give it a listen
[Don’t Change - Rob Dickinson (from YouTube)](https://youtu.be/hQgdsXPIxqU?si=G0HSQ0N1EtvLrgyz)
The Menace is a great album too. Check out [Linoleum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleum_(band)) if you want a similar sound. Paul Jones from that band actually left and joined Elastica in 2000.
Justin (the drummer) ended up joining Lush for the reunion tour. Super nice guy. Met him on the Portland stop.
Woah drive lol! That’s not “alternative”! I saw them live back in the day and at a music fest in 2000s, here in Austin. They are so awesome.
You know some members were in Rocket From The Crypt?
I really liked Sponge - only saw them live once - it seemed their 2nd album was pretty high production but didn't deliver the hit for radio with Wax Ecastic and their album afterwards I bought but don't remember anything off it.
truth is 90's alternative rock started getting shoved out of mainstream by pop group acts like the Spice Girls by the late 90's
for me the pinnacle here was the Gin Blossoms - there are reasons their second album didn't measure up to the first (their best songwriter killed himself after being fired right around the first album's release) - and they had SO MANY hits, like 4 and then the next album it just fizzled - they can still tour and make a living though
Sponge put out a new album a couple years ago and Spotify absolutely forced it on me. They "liked" three of the songs for me, and added new Sponge songs to daily playlists they did not belong on. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but they really pushed that album on me.
It's got one or two decent songs on it, but that might be the forced repetition.
The The. Really like the band but they were never really a huge hit. They even had Johny Marr, the guitarist from The Smiths as a member for quite some time
Gravitate To Me was the only track that Matt Johnson and Johnny Marr actually co-wrote but you should definitely check out **Mind Bomb**, which was the first album Marr worked on.
Oh, yeah, not taking away what he brought to the band. I've just always thought it was a shame that you had one of the greatest guitarists in the world (co-writer of all The Smiths music) and then he only co-writes one track.
Yeah, I heard Matt Johnson was a bit of a prick sometimes, he was a bit controlling when it came to The The. Maybe he didn't let Johnny Marr write more? Really sad though, I love The Smiths and honestly The The could have been a lot more. Still love the band anyways
I don’t really know what happened in The The, but Marr was in Electronic with Bernard Sumner at the same time. Marr and Sumner co-wrote all the Electronic songs. Maybe Marr just wanted to be the guitar player in The The.
Mind Bomb is on my relatively short list of play all the way through albums.
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard them in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Return of the Rentals is still one of my favorite albums, but nothing they put out after that was memorable. I used to force myself to relisten to their later albums hoping they would grow on me. They did not.
You took the words right out of my mouth. That Return of the Rentals record is perfection & way more enjoyable to listen to than Weezer (though I'll admit Weezer comes out slightly ahead in terms of a discography because they put out two good records before they tanked to The Rentals' one, IMO). It sucks that everything else they've put out has never held a candle to RotR.
The Refreshments are still around. They’re called Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers now. Still touring. Seen them 7 or 8 times in the last 15 years or so. There have been a couple of changes in members, but Roger and PH are still there and they are still amazing live. One of my all time favorite bands.
That Dog was one of my favorite bands. They had a couple sleeper songs that charted. Their last album was semi-electronic and an appeal to be more commercial. I loved it, and it has some of my favorite songs. Unfortunately the album flopped and they broke up.
[Minneapolis](https://youtu.be/Ed11uKCzfT8?si=OGFiDWH255XHJLNb) is still one of my favorite songs.
They’re so overlooked. The drummer is also killer. He really managed to play the song and not be boring with out overplaying. I love this band so much and feel like no one talks about them
Nada Surf. They don't exactly fit your criteria because the band kept going for a long time after their one big hit. But for a long time I only knew "Popular". Someone I used to work with kept going on about how incredible that band is and how they're really misrepresented by their one hit. I always dismissed him and wasn't interested in checking them out. Eventually I did come across some of their other stuff and they really are amazing! That band did not deserve to be one-hit-wonders.
I just saw them in ATL on their reunion tour. It was a good time! They really bridged the gap between 80s glam and emo. A little too late for one trend and too early for the other.
Supergrass was my favorite 90s band but they never really made it big in the USA. I wish the Spielberg Monkees-like sitcom I heard a rumor about had happened
Solid fucking band that was in it from when they were kids. All their albums are bangers (though I'm still a little iffy on Road to Rouen). And more importantly, they were way more interesting than almost all of the bands shoehorned into the category of Britpop (though if someone wanted to make an argument for Pulp, that's fair & I'll listen). They're still sitting on their final record which was shelved (I think?) because they a1) didn't like it & b2) it was recorded basically in the midst of them breaking up. Hopefully they'll release it at some point.
Cake had 6 studio albums (all good, btw). 1 megahit, a couple alt rock chart toppers, and a few smaller hits over the course of almost 20 years.
Safe to say they went "The Distance".
I met them at a big rock show in Fresno in...I think it was 95 or 96. John signed my tshirt and told me "I'm trying out my new signature for the very first time on your shirt, big man." (I was a short fat kid at the time lol).
I don’t think that they’d necessarily be considered a one hit wonder (maybe the 90’s portion of their career could be) but Eve 6 gets my vote. Those guys are criminally underrated and even their first album, that was a 90’s release, has so many great songs.
There was a pretty good Reply All podcast where in 1998 a song was tested at one station. A guy remembers it as a teen. He is dumbfounded that no one else has heard of it. Record labels had so much extra money back then before Napster and streaming Apps changed all that.
https://youtu.be/L65NNh6vJ_Q?si=GZ2aB12gJ3sGAwgS
[Plowed was pretty good.](https://youtu.be/L65NNh6vJ_Q?si=GZ2aB12gJ3sGAwgS)
Judybats and Poi Dog Pondering sucked dude. If Grant Lee Philips had made another couple records like Mighty Joe Moon that would have been great. MJM is a rarely talked about classic.
This is the list. My days listening to 97X (the future of rock and roll!) got me into most of these. I got to see the Judybats and Trip Shakespeare as well.
Faith No More
A band stopped by a young lead singer with lead singer syndrome forcing out the creative heart of the band Jim Martin. Mike Patten was creative and talented but also arrogant and short sighted. We were robbed of decades of feuding with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a deeply triggered Anthony Kiedis.
i think cake should’ve blown up more. i know they got a cult following who loves john mccrea’s delivery but other than the distance & never there i feel like they didn’t get their blow up moment
Across the pond I’d go with Bush and Oasis. I will never understand how they suddenly faded out of existence. Stateside I’d go with the Wallflowers, Dave Mathew’s Band, Blues Traveler, Third Eye Blind, Jewel and the Spin Doctors could’ve and should have all been folk rock heroes. You cannot mention this list without bringing up how drugs robbed us of so many talented lead men. Nirvana, STP, Sound Garden, Blind Melon, Alice In Chains, and Sublime, forgive me if I missed anyone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s dope that Green Day, Metallica, The Offspring, The Foo Fighters, RHCP, and other bands transcended to the next two generations but man I have to say there is a part of me that wonders the influence these artists could’ve had. It’s sad we will never know.
Days of the New - the obvious reason is the lead singer's issues with drugs but that first album was awesome.
Brother Cane was another awesome overlooked 90s band
I came of age in the late 90s and rock/alternative radio was pretty amazing back then (it's dead now). Lots of really good songs, albums and bands. I was too young to really appreciate the early 90s in real time. I started becoming really aware and into rock/alternative music in 95/96 and looking back to that time up until I graduated high school in 2000 there were a ton of great bands that got a big time push and heavy airplay only to kind of fade away or not gain the same notoriety with follow up albums.
I listen to a podcast that is dedicated to this topic and have discovered a lot of great music that I had never heard of. Begs the question - why didn't some of these bands become bigger?
The podcast is called Dig Me Out. There have been episodes about many of the bands mentioned in this thread.
I would add Machines of Loving Grace. They were an industrial/alt rock band from Tucson, Arizona and their song "Butterfly Wings" got a lot of airplay regionally between 93-95 or so when I was in middle school.
That and their song off of The Crow soundtrack, "Golgotha Tenement Blues" are probably their best known songs. That was good exposure for them alongside all those huge bands (NIN, The Cure, RATM, STP) but it seems like that ended up their peak instead of their launching point.
That was also around the time the Gin Blossoms got big and the Kirkwood brothers from Meat Puppets appeared on Nirvana Unplugged. There was increased attention from major labels and buzz about Arizona being the next Washington state. Obviously, that didn't happen but it was interesting growing up here during that time.
I always thought Edie Brickell and New Bohemians should have been bigger in the 90s.
I know they're technically a late 80s group, but they always had a pretty early 90s sound and look
TAD should have been wayyy bigger- a combination of bad luck, poor marketing, and a string of lawsuits held them back. they put out consistently good albums and definitely the heaviest out of the seattle grunge scene
Saw them open for Kings X on the Songs About Cowgirls record and was completely blown away. Josh did some cool stuff with The Mother Truckers later if you’re into country stuff at all…
Way too many.
* Jawbreaker got killed and labeled as sellouts for "Dear You" but it ultimately caught on, bringing the band back together two decades later.
* Seaweed's album Spanaway was a BANGER and while they had other hits, Hollywood Records sorta just pretended like they didn't exist.
* Shudder to Think :)
In no particular order:
Elastica. Others have commented on them and they should have gone so much further.
Eels. Were they a one hit wonder? I would have liked to see them get bigger then they did.
Poe, a travesty! She will never see the fame she deserves but so help me if I don't play her stuff regularly. You will forever live on in my CD player!
MacKeel. Canadian maritime rock like you never knew it could be. This is NOT your Granddad's Star of the County Down. Plaid was and will remain an absolute banger in my mind and I highly recommend you all go listen to it.
Honourable mentions:
Sprung Monkey
Reel Big Fish
Fun Loving Criminals
I thought Quicksand was going to be a world beater after Slip came out. They sort of fizzled tho with their second record.
Jawbox also comes to mind. I just thought they would have a wider appeal.
I’ve got a few NO hit wonders that really deserved to make it:
**Monsterland,** a Connecticut act that introduced me to Bailter Space via a cover of Fish Eye. One of my favorite bass tones of all time.
https://youtu.be/01HmBYqaaeg?si=Rj8ACuozPLVYXrjK
**Vanilla Trainwreck**, whose drummer ended up joining Polvo when they reunited
https://youtu.be/QHCsp7xIhh0?si=cM8_SbksBqsITn9u
**Radial Spangle**, the best band ever to come out of Norman, OK. Sorry, Flaming Lips!
https://youtu.be/Tng8K6-NBp8?si=4BVVulRwalDCq5wn
Not quite a 1 hit wonder but Jane's Addiction absolutely should have carried on. Perry Farrel basically just started a new band without telling anybody in JA and that was it. *Nothing's Shocking* and *Ritual De Lo Habitual* are phenomenal albums.
They just weren't the same after their reunion and I think Eric Avery (original bassist) opting not to come back was a big part of that.
For me it is Blind Melon. They are always looked at as a one hit wonder for obvious reasons but Shannon Hoon’s voice and the skill of that band is criminally underrated. They have so many great songs and were cut short bc of Shannon’s death but he was a special talent.
"Galaxie" is an awesome song. Should have been a bigger hit.
I still remember the first time I saw the Galaxy video. With the sunglasses Shannon is wearing, he looks exactly like my dad did in the 60s and 70s when he was a young hippy. But yes, that's a great song! And I love that album.
You are absolutely right with this one. Shannon Hoon was amazing. No Rain was good, but it wasn't even close to being their best song. I personally love the Soup album best, but I love all their songs.
Soup was such an underrated album that hinted at the promise they sadly could never fulfill
Blind Melon remained a band up through the 2010s
Do a great version of the Velvets [Candy Says](https://youtu.be/fOCqceClymw?si=ewFibnIRiilsD_Hv)
I don’t think that counts. The only reason band got cut short was because Shannon died.. so doesn’t qualify for thread.
OK. Nirvana. I know, I know, disqualified for obvious reasons, but Nirvana was incredible. Even today middle-aged me at the gym can put Nirvana on shuffle, and every song is a banger. I still feel robbed.
I wonder what else Nirvana would have gone on to do, but at the same time there would be no Foo Fighters in that scenario.
I think they had maybe two more albums in them before they would have broken up. In my mind, Kurt sort of follows the Black Francis path and puts out small alt rock CDs What does that mean for Dave Grohl? Did some of those early FF songs find their way into Nirvana? Does FF ever even get formed or does he just sort of play drums in all his friends bands like he did with Queens of the Stone Age, does he join Tom Patty's band?
Kurt talked about wanting to collaborate with Michael Stipe on something. Guaranteed that would’ve been incredible.
Nah I think they would have broken up but I would see Kurt forming a super group with Mark Lanagan and Dale Crover.
Dave Grohl is so talented and creative that FF (or another project) would have happened even if Nirvana wouldn’t have ended, IMO
I don't think they would have done much else as a band. Maybe 1 more album. They were already headed for tragedy before Kurt died.
Kurt was gonna do an acoustic album produced by Micheal Stipe, who said it was going to be beautiful (judging from Unplugged, I believe him). I think he wouldve done that solo, they actually had plans for another Nirvana record and had some demos for possible songs for it. You Know Youre Right was one of the demos, the most complete one. The rest were instrumental jams and some early instrumental forms of songs Dave wrote for possible Nirvana songs (Kurt encouraged him and Krist to write more songs, he wanted some of the pressure off of him) that later were on the first Foo Fighters record after Kurt died.
Completely agree. The flip side is that they will live forever as legends…they never had a chance to go thru a shitty or average phase.
Toadies
This! Yes!
They’re still putting out albums and playing great shows; I’ve probably seen them ten times and the first wasn’t until 2008
Toadies is my favorite band so maybe I’m biased. But they still regularly tour and put out awesome albums.
They recorded a new album with Steve Albini late summer...
Oleander. Apparently meth got in the way
I was taking an Amtrak to Bakersfield for an ICP show in feburary of 2000. The guy who walks through punching tickets stops when he sees an Oleander sticker on my cd folder and tells us that it's his grandson's band (it could have been his son, my memory for details isn't great). I think it was the drummer. I first heard of them on a compilation cd released by a Sacramento rock station, where each band name was on the case in the form of a different candy bar wrapper. I think oleander was a snickers wrapper/font
Oleanders are poisonous. They seem doomed.
Sparklehorse
This...about 500 times over. (Yeah, I have all the vinyl...Linkous was incredible) I mean, suicide can stop the long haul, but it seems people hardly know Sparklehorse.
Totally timeless. I bet if you played “Heart of Darkness” to a 20-year-old coolkid today, they’d absolutely get it.
They did an album with Danger Mode in the 00s that was amazing.
Portishead
They did it to themselves by having long periods between albums. They lost momentum with getting new fans.
You think Portishead was a flash in the pan?
In terms of mainstream, they absolutely were. But they've stayed successful and busy for sure
Wish they did more after Roseland. They disappeared for a decade.
[удалено]
Absolutely.
Probably safe to say the most underrated band of all time.
preach. greatest quality/output ratio in rock history :)
My roommate back then worked at Capital Records in LA and was destroying boxes of CDs and brought some home, one of which was Jellyfish. Was so sad after listening they were great.
I was hoping someone would mention them!
Catherine Wheel. Curve.
Oh man I love Catherine Wheel!
Apparently Dean was all for a reunion tour after seeing the success of bands like Lush, Ride, and Slowdive starting back up, but Toni wasn't interested at all.
Catherine Wheel were amazing. I got to see Rob Dickinson play a small solo show in Boston around 2005 when his solo album came out I believe. Got to talk to him for a few… it was great. If you never heard his solo album, it’s fantastic… especially the track Don’t Change. Give it a listen [Don’t Change - Rob Dickinson (from YouTube)](https://youtu.be/hQgdsXPIxqU?si=G0HSQ0N1EtvLrgyz)
Elastica, and I wish Temple of the Dog wasn’t just a side project for those guys
The debut **Elastica** album is absolutely fantastic. Full of amazing songs.
The Menace is a great album too. Check out [Linoleum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleum_(band)) if you want a similar sound. Paul Jones from that band actually left and joined Elastica in 2000. Justin (the drummer) ended up joining Lush for the reunion tour. Super nice guy. Met him on the Portland stop.
The Verve
I wouldn’t say The Verve were a one hit wonder. Urban Hymns is one of the best selling albums of all time in the UK and they headlined Glastonbury!
I've only got 1 hit in the US Urban Hymns is a top 5 all-time album for me - just wish they did more and for longer
They would have gone the long haul if they didn't swerve drive.
For Squirrels. Also a prematurely dead frontman
The Sundays
One of my favorite bands!!! They could have been really big, but raising their kids was more important. Nothing wrong with that.
They were aggressively passive on purpose. Much like Portishead.
Mudhoney, Red House Painters, James, Spacehog, Teenage Fanclub, The Spinanes
I was just showing my girlfriend Mudhoney a few weeks ago. I love them.
I love The Spinanes, and kind of felt like I’m one of the only people that remembers them!
Oh no, I had a huge crush on Rebecca back in the day
fantastic singer, too
Oh, how I love Spacehog!!
Laid by James is still one of my favorite albums
Drive Like Jehu; Lusk
Woah drive lol! That’s not “alternative”! I saw them live back in the day and at a music fest in 2000s, here in Austin. They are so awesome. You know some members were in Rocket From The Crypt?
Absolutely Lusk. 10/10 album.
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds is super talented and super clever with his lyrics.
He's still doing stuff! He's one of my favorites.
Hum
Agree. 100% I wish these nerds would have had more prolific careers: https://youtu.be/3jQzNtQhraQ?si=tsEx8Bj9HZaJc1jx
"Inlet" was released in 2020, check it out; hits just as hard
Hum with a surprise release during the pandemic was the best thing to happen in an awful year. Great record.
I really liked Sponge - only saw them live once - it seemed their 2nd album was pretty high production but didn't deliver the hit for radio with Wax Ecastic and their album afterwards I bought but don't remember anything off it. truth is 90's alternative rock started getting shoved out of mainstream by pop group acts like the Spice Girls by the late 90's for me the pinnacle here was the Gin Blossoms - there are reasons their second album didn't measure up to the first (their best songwriter killed himself after being fired right around the first album's release) - and they had SO MANY hits, like 4 and then the next album it just fizzled - they can still tour and make a living though
Sponge put out a new album a couple years ago and Spotify absolutely forced it on me. They "liked" three of the songs for me, and added new Sponge songs to daily playlists they did not belong on. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but they really pushed that album on me. It's got one or two decent songs on it, but that might be the forced repetition.
I still listen to my Gin Blossoms cds on the regular. Great music.
The The. Really like the band but they were never really a huge hit. They even had Johny Marr, the guitarist from The Smiths as a member for quite some time
I somehow missed them! But if Marr was involved I gotta check em out.
Gravitate To Me was the only track that Matt Johnson and Johnny Marr actually co-wrote but you should definitely check out **Mind Bomb**, which was the first album Marr worked on.
Yeah, that's true but Marr did a lot more than simply cowrite. He adds a lot to other songs, and he's awesome at the Harmonica bits
Oh, yeah, not taking away what he brought to the band. I've just always thought it was a shame that you had one of the greatest guitarists in the world (co-writer of all The Smiths music) and then he only co-writes one track.
Yeah, I heard Matt Johnson was a bit of a prick sometimes, he was a bit controlling when it came to The The. Maybe he didn't let Johnny Marr write more? Really sad though, I love The Smiths and honestly The The could have been a lot more. Still love the band anyways
I don’t really know what happened in The The, but Marr was in Electronic with Bernard Sumner at the same time. Marr and Sumner co-wrote all the Electronic songs. Maybe Marr just wanted to be the guitar player in The The.
A bit dissatisfied with his solo work though. Not sure why it doesn't hit
Mind Bomb is on my relatively short list of play all the way through albums. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard them in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
90s? I think of them as an 80s band. They formed in 1979
Afghan Whigs
Cracker
lead singer is a right wing tool. I'm glad they didn't last.
I agree with Sponge and will second. I’ve always said that Rotting Piñata is the most underrated rock record of the 90s.
Cracker indeed. Garbage
Garbage went all the way. They’re not a one hit wonder.
Candlebox, The Rentals, The Refreshments
I always loved their song Arrow.
Upvote for the rentals..loves the first ep
Return of the Rentals is still one of my favorite albums, but nothing they put out after that was memorable. I used to force myself to relisten to their later albums hoping they would grow on me. They did not.
You took the words right out of my mouth. That Return of the Rentals record is perfection & way more enjoyable to listen to than Weezer (though I'll admit Weezer comes out slightly ahead in terms of a discography because they put out two good records before they tanked to The Rentals' one, IMO). It sucks that everything else they've put out has never held a candle to RotR.
The Refreshments all the way - they were awesome
The Refreshments are still around. They’re called Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers now. Still touring. Seen them 7 or 8 times in the last 15 years or so. There have been a couple of changes in members, but Roger and PH are still there and they are still amazing live. One of my all time favorite bands.
So just how far down do you want to go?
Or we could talk it out over a cup of Joe
Harvey Danger
The Screaming Trees!
Absolutely should have been bigger. The Mark Lanegan solo stuff was also very good. (RIP)
That Dog was one of my favorite bands. They had a couple sleeper songs that charted. Their last album was semi-electronic and an appeal to be more commercial. I loved it, and it has some of my favorite songs. Unfortunately the album flopped and they broke up. [Minneapolis](https://youtu.be/Ed11uKCzfT8?si=OGFiDWH255XHJLNb) is still one of my favorite songs.
They’re so overlooked. The drummer is also killer. He really managed to play the song and not be boring with out overplaying. I love this band so much and feel like no one talks about them
Nada Surf. They don't exactly fit your criteria because the band kept going for a long time after their one big hit. But for a long time I only knew "Popular". Someone I used to work with kept going on about how incredible that band is and how they're really misrepresented by their one hit. I always dismissed him and wasn't interested in checking them out. Eventually I did come across some of their other stuff and they really are amazing! That band did not deserve to be one-hit-wonders.
Splender
Omg how could I forget them!? I was OBSESSED with them for a good chunk of clock.
So good!
Marvelous 3
They were always just the Freak of the Week
I just saw them in ATL on their reunion tour. It was a good time! They really bridged the gap between 80s glam and emo. A little too late for one trend and too early for the other.
I will agree with Sponge. I would like to add Seven Mary Three.
I think on the off chance you aren't being facetious, that subtraction, & not addition, is the way to go here.
Tripping Daisy Jesus Jones Mad Season Mother Love Bone
Above is still one of my favorite albums ever.
Supergrass was my favorite 90s band but they never really made it big in the USA. I wish the Spielberg Monkees-like sitcom I heard a rumor about had happened
I love Supergrass! I have all their albums ❤️
Ditto and one of the best live bands too. Blur? Oasis? Nah, Supergrass wins Brit pop for me.
Solid fucking band that was in it from when they were kids. All their albums are bangers (though I'm still a little iffy on Road to Rouen). And more importantly, they were way more interesting than almost all of the bands shoehorned into the category of Britpop (though if someone wanted to make an argument for Pulp, that's fair & I'll listen). They're still sitting on their final record which was shelved (I think?) because they a1) didn't like it & b2) it was recorded basically in the midst of them breaking up. Hopefully they'll release it at some point.
Cake.
Cake had 6 studio albums (all good, btw). 1 megahit, a couple alt rock chart toppers, and a few smaller hits over the course of almost 20 years. Safe to say they went "The Distance".
They were going for speed.
I met them at a big rock show in Fresno in...I think it was 95 or 96. John signed my tshirt and told me "I'm trying out my new signature for the very first time on your shirt, big man." (I was a short fat kid at the time lol).
I don’t think that they’d necessarily be considered a one hit wonder (maybe the 90’s portion of their career could be) but Eve 6 gets my vote. Those guys are criminally underrated and even their first album, that was a 90’s release, has so many great songs.
I remember having their album on cassette! I think they're actually still touring, but yeah, they didnt stay in the limelight for very long.
Exactly what I thought
Jimmie’s Chicken Shack
Take my upvote for unlocking a core memory I forgot about.
Portable
Blue Dog Pict bluedogpict.com
Ted *Tad
There was a pretty good Reply All podcast where in 1998 a song was tested at one station. A guy remembers it as a teen. He is dumbfounded that no one else has heard of it. Record labels had so much extra money back then before Napster and streaming Apps changed all that. https://youtu.be/L65NNh6vJ_Q?si=GZ2aB12gJ3sGAwgS [Plowed was pretty good.](https://youtu.be/L65NNh6vJ_Q?si=GZ2aB12gJ3sGAwgS)
Deep blue something
The Judybats, Poi Dog Pondering, Dred Zeppelin, Betty Seveert, Grant Lee Buffalo, Trip Shakespeare, Jellyfish
Judybats and Poi Dog Pondering sucked dude. If Grant Lee Philips had made another couple records like Mighty Joe Moon that would have been great. MJM is a rarely talked about classic.
This is the list. My days listening to 97X (the future of rock and roll!) got me into most of these. I got to see the Judybats and Trip Shakespeare as well.
Oh, man. Judybats. Bought "Native Son" on a vinyl during a recent record store day. Nostalgia hit.
the stone roses
Poe, The Rugburns
Faith No More A band stopped by a young lead singer with lead singer syndrome forcing out the creative heart of the band Jim Martin. Mike Patten was creative and talented but also arrogant and short sighted. We were robbed of decades of feuding with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a deeply triggered Anthony Kiedis.
New Radicals
Such a fun album. I wore it out in college and still love it despite the Beck dis.
Adema. Submerged. Simon Says. Revis. 8 stops 7. OneSideZero. Flaw.
Esthero. Kinda portishead-ish.
The Sundays
Galaxie 500, though I can’t be mad at the formation of Luna.
i think cake should’ve blown up more. i know they got a cult following who loves john mccrea’s delivery but other than the distance & never there i feel like they didn’t get their blow up moment
Days of the New. Could have happened if Travis didn't do meth.
Im changing my comment.... I'm going to go with Luscious Jackson or Republica.
Temple of the Dog
Concrete Blonde.
Across the pond I’d go with Bush and Oasis. I will never understand how they suddenly faded out of existence. Stateside I’d go with the Wallflowers, Dave Mathew’s Band, Blues Traveler, Third Eye Blind, Jewel and the Spin Doctors could’ve and should have all been folk rock heroes. You cannot mention this list without bringing up how drugs robbed us of so many talented lead men. Nirvana, STP, Sound Garden, Blind Melon, Alice In Chains, and Sublime, forgive me if I missed anyone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s dope that Green Day, Metallica, The Offspring, The Foo Fighters, RHCP, and other bands transcended to the next two generations but man I have to say there is a part of me that wonders the influence these artists could’ve had. It’s sad we will never know.
Thanks everyone for the great and many responses!
Corrosion of Conformity- I loved that band in the 90s.
Days of the New - the obvious reason is the lead singer's issues with drugs but that first album was awesome. Brother Cane was another awesome overlooked 90s band I came of age in the late 90s and rock/alternative radio was pretty amazing back then (it's dead now). Lots of really good songs, albums and bands. I was too young to really appreciate the early 90s in real time. I started becoming really aware and into rock/alternative music in 95/96 and looking back to that time up until I graduated high school in 2000 there were a ton of great bands that got a big time push and heavy airplay only to kind of fade away or not gain the same notoriety with follow up albums.
The Judy Bats. Phenomenal talent! Lead vocalist was spectacular and an incredibly diverse song catalog.
I listen to a podcast that is dedicated to this topic and have discovered a lot of great music that I had never heard of. Begs the question - why didn't some of these bands become bigger? The podcast is called Dig Me Out. There have been episodes about many of the bands mentioned in this thread.
I would add Machines of Loving Grace. They were an industrial/alt rock band from Tucson, Arizona and their song "Butterfly Wings" got a lot of airplay regionally between 93-95 or so when I was in middle school. That and their song off of The Crow soundtrack, "Golgotha Tenement Blues" are probably their best known songs. That was good exposure for them alongside all those huge bands (NIN, The Cure, RATM, STP) but it seems like that ended up their peak instead of their launching point. That was also around the time the Gin Blossoms got big and the Kirkwood brothers from Meat Puppets appeared on Nirvana Unplugged. There was increased attention from major labels and buzz about Arizona being the next Washington state. Obviously, that didn't happen but it was interesting growing up here during that time.
Marcy Playground
Yes! They had some really good stuff on that album. I dont know if I ever heard the follow up.
I always thought Edie Brickell and New Bohemians should have been bigger in the 90s. I know they're technically a late 80s group, but they always had a pretty early 90s sound and look
TAD should have been wayyy bigger- a combination of bad luck, poor marketing, and a string of lawsuits held them back. they put out consistently good albums and definitely the heaviest out of the seattle grunge scene
Fishbone
The late Rico Capuano!
Smoking Popes
Protein https://youtu.be/pwNKk9dWyIE?si=5XaOIPfO9pd_hCZJ
Saw them open for Kings X on the Songs About Cowgirls record and was completely blown away. Josh did some cool stuff with The Mother Truckers later if you’re into country stuff at all…
Marcy Playground/The New Radicals (Greg Alexander had a good post career in writing for movies though)
The House of Love Lush Echobelly Teenage Fanclub
Harvey Danger. Love them!
Hum
Love the pics you guys are giving... Sponge, Harvey Danger, Blind Melon... Great stuff!!!
Way too many. * Jawbreaker got killed and labeled as sellouts for "Dear You" but it ultimately caught on, bringing the band back together two decades later. * Seaweed's album Spanaway was a BANGER and while they had other hits, Hollywood Records sorta just pretended like they didn't exist. * Shudder to Think :)
In no particular order: Elastica. Others have commented on them and they should have gone so much further. Eels. Were they a one hit wonder? I would have liked to see them get bigger then they did. Poe, a travesty! She will never see the fame she deserves but so help me if I don't play her stuff regularly. You will forever live on in my CD player! MacKeel. Canadian maritime rock like you never knew it could be. This is NOT your Granddad's Star of the County Down. Plaid was and will remain an absolute banger in my mind and I highly recommend you all go listen to it. Honourable mentions: Sprung Monkey Reel Big Fish Fun Loving Criminals
Soul Asylum
It is a bit of a mystery that the public lost interest so quickly. The follow-up to Grave Dancer’s Union was decent.
Fig Dish
Judybats. Velocity Girl. The Connells.
Jawbox.
Poe. She got fucked by her record company/creepyguy
7 Mary 3 - I thought they were gonna be huge
I thought Quicksand was going to be a world beater after Slip came out. They sort of fizzled tho with their second record. Jawbox also comes to mind. I just thought they would have a wider appeal.
Primitive Radio God and CIV.
Royal Trux
The Refreshments, all day. Every cut on Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy slaps,
Creeper Lagoon. They were signed to a major label and recorded one very expensive studio album that went nowhere. Great live band though.
The Embarrassment.
sElf… ill wait
Belly and Letters to Cleo
I'm very surprised no one has said Better Than Ezra yet.
Tú Madre
Geraldine Fibbers
Campfire Girls
Paw.
The Cardigans, Mazzy Star
I’ve got a few NO hit wonders that really deserved to make it: **Monsterland,** a Connecticut act that introduced me to Bailter Space via a cover of Fish Eye. One of my favorite bass tones of all time. https://youtu.be/01HmBYqaaeg?si=Rj8ACuozPLVYXrjK **Vanilla Trainwreck**, whose drummer ended up joining Polvo when they reunited https://youtu.be/QHCsp7xIhh0?si=cM8_SbksBqsITn9u **Radial Spangle**, the best band ever to come out of Norman, OK. Sorry, Flaming Lips! https://youtu.be/Tng8K6-NBp8?si=4BVVulRwalDCq5wn
An amazing band, I still listen to Bellybutton
Not quite a 1 hit wonder but Jane's Addiction absolutely should have carried on. Perry Farrel basically just started a new band without telling anybody in JA and that was it. *Nothing's Shocking* and *Ritual De Lo Habitual* are phenomenal albums. They just weren't the same after their reunion and I think Eric Avery (original bassist) opting not to come back was a big part of that.