Some people would say my entire CD collection is obscure!
Hmm, here are a couple by bands that have likely not been heard of here...
Demolition Pit---
13 Lessons in Aggression
Many moons ago on Stratoforum, there was a topic made to name 5 albums that changed your music life forever. I listed this album as one of them. Named after a Pantera bootleg, this was the only album released by the speed-metal band from Orange County, California. At the time of its release, grunge was at its height and bands such as these were not very much in favor in American music. Not to mention in this album, their Pantera and Sepultura influences were more than clear, making it a brush-off from most people as just another rip-off of these bands. To me, it was an indication of all they might have become. To this day, songs like "Control", "Walk With the Dead", "Fight", and "Crashing Down" are just what I need to get my blood pumping in just the right way, or something to listen to when you're in a pissed off mood.
Phantom Blue---
Built to Perform
This is another CD that I listed in the topic on Stratoforum I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Phantom Blue was another band from the Los Angeles area, and they were an all-female metal band. They were really ahead of their time, which would probably explain why they never acheived mainstream success. While they may not have been outward groundbreakers, they made it possible for all the female-fronted metal bands of today to exist a little easier, as they tread ground seldom ever walked upon before. They wrote brutally honest songs about the feminine point of view, which wasn't always as rosy and pretty as it's sometimes made out to be. They wrote about wanting to get laid while being on your period, they wrote about sleeping with guys who weren't exactly blessed in the anatomy department, they wrote about women who fought back in abusive relationships. They made other albums and are still around to this day, but this is the only album I have ever been able to find of theirs in all the years I've been a fan (this album was released in '94 under the Geffen label). Supposedly they had a moderate amount of success in Europe during their heyday, but I suppose only people who around my age (mid/late-20s) and older might remember them.
Ed Marrow & Mike Willis---
From the Heart
Another act from Southern California (I can't help it, this is my hometown!), they are a progressive jazz duo that takes you from one sound to the next in every song. Brilliant harmonies, and a singer who sings! Their sound is really hard to put a label on, because they run the gamut from progressive jazz to more rock-oriented sounds, and are currently working on a classical epic of over 20 minutes (this, Ed Marrow says, he knew a listener like me could appreciate, as we are always discussing our mutual love for epic music)! Maybe it's not the thing for most of the metalheads here but I love all kinds of music, so this album is perfect for me.
Here are a couple others that I have more extensive collections of, so I will just list them by name and not album titles.
Dalbello
You look at the name and say you've never heard of her, but I can bet bottom dollar that whoever is reading this, at some point in your life you have heard the music of this Canadian songstress somewhere. Her music has been covered by two different bands, she has helped write music for countless artists and bands, and has done many side projects with even more musicians. Yet in the near-three decades she has been in the music business, she has released a total of five of her own albums, two of which were released under her real name, Lisa DalBello. If you're a Queensryche fan, you have likely heard their cover of her song "Gonna Get Close to You". If you're a fan of Heart, they covered two of her songs---"Black on Black" and "Wait for an Answer". If you're a fan of Rush, then most likely you picked up guitarist Alex Lifeson's solo project that he released in the mid-'90s, and heard her unique voice on the song "Start Today". Not a fan of any of these bands? Then you still may have heard her voice, singing backup vocals on the early '90s hit song "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles. If you live in Canada, maybe you heard her song advertised in Ford commercials several years back? Or maybe when she wrote music for the 2001 Winter Olympics? She is one of those musicians that is everywhere, yet no one would know who she is if you stood next to her in a grocery store. Her own music is few and far between---it has been nearly 10 years since her last album---but she is always writing music for someone, somewhere in the world. The name is obscure, but in many ways, the music is not.
Psychotic Waltz
In their own words, they are described as "progressive hippie metal", and I can really not disagree with this description. This band from San Diego had a distinction of not only a unique sound, but being the first (and likely, only band, to this day) to have a member of the band in a wheelchair. They also experienced much success in Europe during the '90s when they were making music, but never seemed to find that same success in their homeland. They opened for Dream Theater in the mid-'90s and their name can be found in the thank-you section of the
Awake album. The band broke up in '96, but the shattered parts still live on in different ways and different places. Singer Buddy Lackey returned to his real name, Devon Graves, to front the band Deadsoul Tribe. Guitarist Dan Rock releases solo projects to this day, which can be found in the metal music store owned by drummer Norm Leggio (which I might add, is one of the most kick-ass stores not only in San Diego, but possibly the world!). If you are lucky enough to find any of their albums, hold on and don't let go! All of them are masterpieces, but
Into the Everflow and
Mosquito are the fan favorites.
Sudra Kaye
You may have seen this name mentioned before in the "now playing" thread, as I am always listening to the music of this talented dear friend of mine. The quintessential musician, Sudra does not need record contracts or music videos to prove his talent. While his music is mostly based in rock, he can surprise you with a folk number or a Middle-Eastern style song at the drop of a hat. He is known to take well-beloved songs of his, tear them apart and make them completely new, yet leave enough of it there to be the endearing song it always was. Some time ago Sudra hoped to work with the band Evanescence to do some songwriting. I don't know if anything ever became of that, but let me say that Evanescence is committing career suicide by not grabbing up this diamond in the rough! (Let me also say that if they committed career suicide, I would not cry at the funeral in the least!) He has had many bands over the years, his voice has been compared to Maynard James Keenan of Tool, but he always remains true to his vision. Unlike many musicians, he does not let mainstream music tell him what to write---but rather, he lets mainstream music find a place within his own music. Sudra has nicknamed me "the president of my fan club", and I am deeply touched by that; but in all honesty, even if Sudra was not my friend, if I had known only his music, I would still feel the same way. I have so much respect for musicians who "walk to their own song" (to paraphrase Strato), and he is definitely one of those. I am always looking forward to what he will do next.
Anyway, your turn.
