20 great bands from the 1990s that never got their proper due

| October 16, 2024 | 90s-alternative-rock-music | No Comments

The terms underrated or underappreciated can be subjective, especially in music and judging bands or artists that perhaps didn’t receive the right amount of praise and extensive popularity of their contemporaries. Here’s our list, in alphabetical order, of 20 bands from the 1990s who didn’t quite receive their full due.

Long recognized as the leader of the 1990s’ “riot grrrl” movement, Bikini Kill made feminist punk and hard rock cool. Thanks to anthems like “Rebel Girl,” Kathleen Hanna and Co. spoke to a generation of young women looking for their place but never seemed to generate consistent mainstream success. Though the group has not put out a studio album since 1996, its popularity resurfaced thanks to its influence on internet-sensation, all-girl teenage punk rockers The Linda Lindas.

A mix of Celtic punk rock with some pop tendencies, Black 47 was formed in New York in the late 1980s by guitarist-vocalist Larry Kirwan and former NYC policeman-turned-musician Chris Byrne. When former Dexys Midnight Runners co-founder Geoff Blythe joined, the group became a regular attraction on Manhattan’s East Side. Then, with production help from The Cars‘ Ric Ocasek, the band’s second studio release, Fire of Freedom (1993), led to some decent mainstream success, thanks to the tune “Funky Céilí.” Unabashedly political, Black 47 released almost 20 albums in various formats through 2014, but all its notable success came during the ’90s.

Rising from the ashes of late-1980s hip hop/soul group Guy, performer/producer Teddy Riley formed a new act with fellow production ace Chauncey “Black” Hannibal. Blackstreet released three of its four albums during the ’90s. Its 1994 self-titled debut featured a raw, more durable hip-hop and R&B sound than anything its members delivered prior. In 1996, Blackstreet put out Another Level, which featured the Billboard Hot 100 hit “No Diggity.” But there was much more to the act than that one single, and revisiting the Blackstreet catalog is time well spent for any hip-hop or R&B fan.

As of 2018, this Boston-based alternative rock outfit had released nine studio albums. Five came out during the 1990s and enjoyed some noteworthy success. Always considered a great live band, Buffalo Tom’s prominence spanned outside the East Coast thanks to 1993’s Big Red Letter Day, which featured two songs (“Sodajerk” and “Late at Night”) included in the short-lived but severely underrated ABC teen drama My So-Called Life, which featured Claire Danes and Jared Leto. Buffalo Tom has toured recently and is worth catching if playing at a venue nearby.

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