Mosher

They have a great drummer, and Colin Hay's vocals are fantastic. And he's a massively underrated writer. His solo albums are very good.

Yeah, but close enough. If we include New Zealand then it's tougher for me. 70's Split Enz were bizarre, but wonderful. Not taking anything away from what they did after Neil Finn joined his older brother, but Tim Finn and Phil Judd were weird in a way I really love. I'd still vote for the Oils, though.

I need to check out Angel City and Cold Chisel, I don't know either of them. I think you'd like some of the ones I added, Goose. Edit: Weird that I don't know the Angels. I like them a lot, thanks for broadening the picture! And based on what I heard you'd definitely like some of the ones I mentioned. Just listened to a bit of Cold Chisel as well. A bit of old and a bit of new. I like the singer a lot. Definitely more win here. Thanks!

Radio Birdman Alchemist Rose Tattoo Beasts of Bourbon The Saints The Scientists X (not the California punks, the Aussie garage) Hunters and Collectors Lime Spiders All deserve attention for sure My favorite band as an adolescent was Men At Work, but Midnight Oil is one of my all time favorite bands right now. This was easy. Australia has produced exceptional talent.

Split Enz are from New Zealand

I've heard so much good about him as a person, and certainly that's more important, but the man is not a good actor. He's not an adequate actor. He's bad. My second oldest thinks he is a good actor, for some reason, probably because she also liked the Wick movies, and she liked the Matrix. I also liked the Matrix. But he's still not a good actor.

hell, that album has become popular to dislike among younger music brats... I've been ridiculed for defending sgt pepper, master of puppets, hendrix, the stones, KISS, nevermind, appetite, others. some people my age think that if you like an album your dad owns, you're not really a music fan. My 3 youngest kids all love music I loved, and music that predates me, and even old music I'm not into. A by product of growing up in a house that played all kinds of music old and new constantly their entire lives. They all have favorite artists none of their friends have heard of. I think a lover of music has room to respect and enjoy the music of any generation.

The Gulf counts as part of the ocean/sea in my view. I vote it counts.

Okinawa, by the ocean.

I had the same first thoughts. But as soon as someone posted Priest and someone else explained that it meant prog or metal I voted. The OP didn't return to clarify that I noticed, so I just followed the trend. Since they were asking for bands to check out, the OP can filter out the bands that don't can't if there are any.

Oh man. If they count as obscure then definitely grab anything. Dave Thomas is scary creative. Rocket From the Tombs as well, maybe not as weird but you can see it if you look.

I will go with melon, easily. Admittedly too much melon and I'd be sick of it, though. Cucumber is simply the better choice, according to the experts. I guess melon would be my guilty pleasure, but I tell my doctor I prefer cucumber.

In fairness Segue, a discussion on whether a gender filter is at play when judging the quality and importance of an artist is relevant. Obviously one can dislike Beyonce and Adele and have that be unrelated to gender, but nevertheless there's no question that the playing field isn't level. Be passionate! Just remember that some people come by their opinions honestly, too.

if nothing else you gave me a flashback to my prince vs Michael poll. i love the psychotic passion, lol Mick Cucumber or Melon? Just answer the question. :)

Very tough. Can't do an honest five, but I'll try. I won't name Rush since being on this forum means their inclusion wouldn't be helpful to you. Nor will I name any of the ones you already named, for the same reason. I'll be very liberal with what counts, a lot of these I'd file differently, but I'm trying to catch the right feel. I'll miss several for certain. Jethro Tull System of a Down Alchemist Tengger Cavalry Corrosion of Conformity With these filing in and out of that five as the days change: Death Angel Anthrax Bolt Thrower Living Colour Clutch Mastodon Sepultura Suicidal Tendencies Soundgarden Ministry

Neither are artists I have much interest in, but I listened to Lemonade and I do get it. It really is very good at what it is. That album has been widely respected by an awful lot of people who have nothing to gain by admitting it's a good album. Patterson Hood of Drive By Truckers, for instance. Now, another person's opinion about her music is completely irrelevant to whether it should be liked, I don't name drop to prove it's a good album. My point is that it isn't just people jumping on the wagon. Beyonce's fans aren't going to run out and buy the DBT's latest (although they should, it's stellar). This album did things better than most albums do. I'm still not going to buy it, but I respect it. I respect Adele as well. But I see Mick's point. Something about her show is too much for me and not what I want. But she's doing her job- entertaining the hell out of people. Can't please everyone, but she's doing her job. In a way I see visual artists, even those with sound, as different than musicians, so I don't think they're much more comparable than painting is to music. A person might be all about one medium and not interested in the other. Sure, they like a nice painting, but they haven't, aren't, and won't buy a painting in their lifetime.

How obscure is obscure? Follow For Now were a really cool band around 1990 or so. Big in the Atlanta scene, and managed to cut an album on a big label. The label of course decided that they didn't like the creative drumming and had replaced him with a machine, and the album doesn't reflect what they had, but nevertheless- check out Follow For Now's funk/punk/metal stylings one their only album. Split Enz in the early/mid seventies were very odd and very cool. Way before they were New Wave, before Neil joined after Phil left. Mental Notes and Second Thoughts. Cool stuff. Anything by the Woodbox Gang. If you like Slim Cessna and Munly, you'll like the Woodbox Gang. Xmal Deutschland. Siouxsie filtered through the German music scene of the same era. Anything by Admiral James T. Swiss rock and roller that I am a huge fan of. Bring Me the Head of Gordon Sumner, Dark Side of the Moon Boots are good starts. Death, self titled. The Detroit garage proto-punks, not the metal band. Incredibly good, for fans of the Stooges, MC5, Rocket From the Tombs, etc. Absynthe Minded, out of Belgium. Self-titled. Very cool. Beangrowers out of Malta. Also cool. Belly of Paris- new stuff from Bahrain. Baroque rock. Black Box Revelation- Belgium again, newer garage rock. Deus Ex Machina - metal prog sci fi from Singapore. Are Tengger Cavalry still obscure? - Mongolian style folk metal from China (now based in New York?) and extremely good. Man Man, Six Demon Bag. Weird stuff and really cool. I like weirdos like Beefheart, the Butthole Surfers, Residents. These guys are weird.

Well, Budgie, naturally. Super creative, so influential, and somewhat forgotten. At least over here. No one's mentioned Joy Formidable yet. Not that they're in the running, but still. They're pretty good.

Damn straight it was. I loved this so much.

Nektar is a good question. They definitely deserve to be mentioned either way. Yea because they were mostly in England their whole career, but they formed in Germany, are the members German? Not all. Founded by a couple of English guys who lived in Germany. edit: Just looked it up. Apparently all the original members were English.

I like them all. Not sure Primus is funky, regardless of Claypool's expertise. I think Patton's talent is unassailable, and out of all his bands I think there's gotta be something for most people somewhere. Chili's were far better early on, I feel they copied themselves an awful lot later on. In fairness I haven't listened to their later albums, the hits that sound like their previous hit made me lose interest. Could be my fault, maybe they're as creative as ever overall. Rage I love because I'm such a lefty, and Morello is such an interesting guitar player. So favorite? Probably Primus. Apparently this will be quite unpopular in here.

Nektar is a good question. They definitely deserve to be mentioned either way.

Let's see, this will be tough. My favorites are among these: Xmal Deutschland Mad Sin Blind Guardian Leaves' Eyes KMFDM Scorpions Kraftwerk Amon Duul II A5 With the winners being: Xmal Deutschland Mad Sin Scorpions Scorpions are a funny band for me. Not generally my thing, but for whatever reason I've always loved them. Xmal is my favorite easy, unless I'm in a Psycho mood, then it's Mad Sin. When Blind Guardian are good they're so very good, but sometimes they just aren't my thing. Same with Leaves' Eyes, KMFDM, and Amon Duul. Kraftwerk are probably the most important to the bands that followed but not a contender for top three I think. And I love what little I've heard from A5, but that's like 6 or 7 songs so I can't pick them.

I like Nirvana. I was never a huge fan but I do own two albums and I do listen. The Pixies are deservedly acclaimed for their monster influence on music, and I'm certain Kurt would also vote Pixies here. But even as much as they are great, and they are, a lot of fans overlook their misses. Not everything was great. But a song like 'Tame', Monkey Gone to Heaven, or Debaser- that's good stuff.

My daughter's a huge fan of Korpiklaani, the never serious folk metal heroes. Whispered plays folk metal with a heavy Japanese influence unlike most Finnish folk metal acts (Ensiferum, Finntroll) Terveet Kädet create some very cool hard core. Babylon Whores play a different kind of death. And of course Apocalyptica for the Cello metalheads. I know I said I won't do solo artists- but I have to give a HUGE shout out to Mirel Wagner. She's an absolute genius. Just her and her guitar, and deeply haunting lyrics. Genius I tell ya. Seriously, go listen to Mirel.