Most Underrated Band

[Nimitz]

Mr. Bungle

+1

[lhrocker]

Heavens Edge, Shotgun Messiah and Spread Eagle.

[corpse-juice]

Blue oyster Cult The first three albums were killer

[markD]

hmmmm, most underrated bands....

i'd go with:

leatherwolf
wolfsbane
edguy
scorpions

i am sure there are others, but those are the ones that jump to my head first and foremost as groups that really did/do a great job but never got/get the credit they deserve.

you may be curious about my edguy and scorpions picks as being underrated, so here is my perspective...

edguy - they started as a run-of-the-mill helloween rip-off band, and they were good at it. then as they grew up an bit, they have (in my opinion) spearheaded the "new wave of hair metal" by putting out a couple un-abashed, hard rock albums that easily blend everything that was great from the '80s along with the heavier music of the '90s and the new millenium. plus, they put on a KILLER live show.

scorpions - yes, they had HUGE success in the '80s, but their work from the '70s is highly underrated, except for the accolades uli jon roth receives. that period of the scorpions' career has noticeable influences on glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, power metal, speed metal, shred...even their first album, "lonesome crow", has some great psychadelic/jazz fusion-esque jamming on it. take their first album with uli roth, "fly to the rainbow", and you have classic tunes like "speedy's coming" with crazy whammy-bar soloing that pre-dates vai by almost a decade!!! the title track from that album is a very clear precursor to euro-power metal, with its drum pattern, the harmony guitars at the intro, and the galloping bass line. move through the rest of their '70s catalog and you will find AWESOME songs that have, sadly, almost completely vanished from their fans' memories.

another reason i find them underrated is because most casual scorpions fans (the bulk of them from the '80s) don't realize that they have continued putting out good records all through the '90s and the new millenium. these records are standard scorpions fare at this point (ballads and rockers), they are quite heavy and rather impressive for a bunch of guys that have been putting out albums on a rather consistant basis since 1972.

[Usercool]

Loudness

[Predator1]

Saxon
Killer Dwarfs
Legs Diamond

[rdamaral]

+1 Savatage

[jgcable]

Underrated Guitarist - Alex Lifeson
Underrated Drummer - Sean Kinney
Underrated Bassist - Rex Brown

Yea, I agree, Alex Lifeson is very underrated. I think Mick Mars is too.

[axmann]

+1 for Saxon. What a bunch of great guys also.

[Endrik]

Trapeze

[z1n]

Helloween
Saxon
Killer Dwarfs
Leatherwolf

[javert]

MarkD, I'm with you regarding the scorps. So much more to them than Rock You Like A Hurricane. I saw them live in Hamburg last year. I'd been looking forward to seeing them live for almost 20 years.

[Buslady]

Tarot. My friend's band. Only known mostly in Europe, mainly Finland their homeland.
The US is missing out on some great stuff. 25 years, going strong.

Latest video, remake of their first #1 hit from 1986:
(the guy who looks like Ozzy, that's my friend/advisor)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD1q21dr8tw

[jesude22]

Personally I find Manilla Road to be horrendously underrated for what they are, I think they should be waaaay bigger especially with Crystal Logic, Open The Gates and The Deluge not just some cult heavy metal band.

[VitaminG]

Tarot. My friend's band. Only known mostly in Europe, mainly Finland their homeland.
The US is missing out on some great stuff. 25 years, going strong.

Latest video, remake of their first #1 hit from 1986:
(the guy who looks like Ozzy, that's my friend/advisor)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD1q21dr8tw

Tarot are great. I have a couple of their cds, as well as the recent live cd/dvd. Bill (Horns666) here turned me on to them years ago. I really dig Marco's voice & his bassplaying and have actually picked up a few other things just because of his involvement.