Most albums released before band becomes 'known by the causal listener/radio'

NIMAN

I have been a fan of The Black Keys for quite a few years, and my car would have all their CDs playing on a regular basis.

I always wondered why they weren't more 'popular' or radio-played?

'El Camino' got the usual excellent reviews, but seems to have cracked the radio over here this time. But its their 7th album release:eek:

Is there any other bands you can think of who have released so much material before becoming mainstream and well known?

johnnykilo

Modest Mouse had about 6 albums too before Good News for People who like Bad News broke over here with the song Float on.

Same with The Flaming Lips, they had either 7 or 9 albums (depending on when you want to say they became popular)

Pulp is the last one that springs to mind, they had about 3 or 4 albums before they became really well known

NIMAN

Float ON - pure genius. Must admit, that was the 1st I had ever heard of Modest Mouse.

Father Damo

A hilarious arguement I have seen on the hip hop forum the odd time is that Black Eyed Peas used to be good and sold their souls to the dollar when they hit the mainstream 9 odd years ago.

Granted, they have been active and making albums for 20 odd years.

But they were ALWAYS sh1te. They were just sh1te rappers, (sh1te west coast rappers at a time when LA was putting out some of the finest hip hop ever made) who worked out they could be successful sh1te pop stars if they finely tuned their sound and got a couple of big names to feature on their crap.

mike65

I'd say the longest overnight success is "ZZ Top" outside the USA market - first album 1971 first international success 1983/4 with Eliminator (8th album)

Jimmy Iovine

Father Damo wrote: »

A hilarious arguement I have seen on the hip hop forum the odd time is that Black Eyed Peas used to be good and sold their souls to the dollar when they hit the mainstream 9 odd years ago.

Granted, they have been active and making albums for 20 odd years.

But they were ALWAYS sh1te. They were just sh1te rappers, (sh1te west coast rappers at a time when LA was putting out some of the finest hip hop ever made) who worked out they could be successful sh1te pop stars if they finely tuned their sound and got a couple of big names to feature on their crap.

That claim is made a lot in hip hop. It's generally made by people who were fans of the artist's original work and who hated when that artist changed their style to appeal to the consumer. I'm not defending BEP by the way, I've never been a fan.

If Curren$y ever makes it then he'll be very high up on the list, almost as high as he is every day from the weed he smokes.

Since 2004 he has released 19 mixtapes and 5 studio albums, 2 independent albums and one collab album. He has another 2 mixtapes on the way this year as well.

His work ethic is ridiculous. He has released 8 albums since 2009, and 2 of them have come in the last 5 months. Compare that to other artists who spend years finishing up their albums. And before anyone mentions quality over quantity, his albums and mixtapes are all amazing. "Pilot Talk" and "Pilot Talk II", released 5 months apart as well, are both unbelievable albums.

I really hope he makes it. He is a far better rapper than Wiz Khalifa but he's lacking that "Black and Yellow" anthem needed to hit the big time.

Rothko

Kings Of Leon. They were already kinda popular before their 4th album, Only By The Night but it was that album that made them really big.

Also, I'd say the same about the Flaming Lips as they made their breakthrough with the Soft Bulletin and that's their 9th album.

rcaz

She Don't Use Jelly was on Transmission From The Satellite Heart, which was their sixth album...

Rothko

rcaz wrote: »

She Don't Use Jelly was on Transmission From The Satellite Heart, which was their sixth album...

Ah yeah, I forgot that it was kind of a hit at the time. However, I don't think it was until The Soft Bulletin that they really became popular.

Hannibal

Suas11 wrote: »

Kings Of Leon. They were already kinda popular before their 4th album, Only By The Night but it was that album that made them really big.

Also, I'd say the same about the Flaming Lips as they made their breakthrough with the Soft Bulletin and that's their 9th album.

Nah I don't agree with that, they were well known from their first and second albums. Their fourth and fifth albums weren't upto the standard of their first three

Rothko

Dotsey wrote: »

Nah I don't agree with that, they were well known from their first and second albums. Their fourth and fifth albums weren't upto the standard of their first three

I'd completely agree with that. It's just that they did seem to become even more popular after Only By The Night

Prettyblack

Biffy Clyro had a good few albums out before they hit the mainstream.

Snow Patrol had a few as well.

From the point of view of mainstream success, Pink Floyd had a load of albums out before Dark Side Of The Moon - 6 or 7? OK they were known, but they were an "underground" band and weren't played on the radio and weren't a household name until that album.

Sonic Youth had released a good few albums before going major in 1992, which is probably when a lot of people first heard them. But then you could say they were never mainstream even at that!

Rothko

Prettyblack wrote: »

From the point of view of mainstream success, Pink Floyd had a load of albums out before Dark Side Of The Moon - 6 or 7? OK they were known, but they were an "underground" band and weren't played on the radio and weren't a household name until that album.

Yeah, Dark Side Of The Moon was the one that made them a household name worldwide. Although, they did appear on Top Of The Pops in 1967 (performing See Emily Play, if I'm not mistaken) so they did have some level of success before that.

Also, I don't think Elbow became popular until The Seldom Seen Kid which was the fourth album they released.

seachto7

The National

Sigur Ros