Bands We Liked Better the More Commercial Their Sound Got (w/Martin Popoff)

[@MetalJesusRocks]

It would have to be Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac for me. Both bands had those early albums that I just can’t get into but it’s the more accessible popular albums that came later that I think are absolutely great.

[@davidl570]

Rumours. 'Nuff said.

[@gergonikk]

Exactly. Fleetwood Mac with Buckingham & Nicks is a perfect example of this for me.

[@spideyman2099]

Metal Jesus! I kinda like the early Pink Floyd stuff, in a certain state of mind it's pretty great haha.

[@deicidedave]

Pink floyd's first albums are really good, definitely takes multiple listens but will grow on you.

[@philipalbanese]

I totally agree with Fleetwood Mac…Floyd’s earlier stuff is definitely more obscure and takes more effort to get into, but there’s some incredible stuff on “Atom Heart Mother” and the soundtrack for “More”. I’d say starting with “Meddle” or “Obscured By Clouds” is a good entry point for their “commercial” music - Good choices though :)

[@SH-ud8wd]

Bob Dylan's transformation from the King of Folk to an electrified Rock Star.

[@Jake-pw7rj]

Great choice. Or the transformation of Peter Gabriel era Genesis to the Phil Collins era Genesis.

[@cymro6537]

48:25 "An *English* version of a challenge to Guns'an'Roses" ??!!! The Manic Street Preachers are fiercely and proudly *WELSH* !! As am I 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🤘😎🤘 *Edit* : Allegedly, the band had its name after the singer,James Dean Bradfield who was busking on a street in Cardiff was asked by a homeless man, 'So ,are you a *manic Street Preacher* ?"

[@Nark212]

I love Husker Du and kudos to Martin for introducing them to the channel. Agree about the weird production especially on Candy Apple Grey which could do with a remix. Saw Pete’s eyes glaze over lol

[@drummer78]

Bob Mould’s band Sugar and their first album “Copper Blue” is that Husker Du sound at its most melodic and full of pop hooks.

[@sspbrazil]

Great album.

[@chriswoosley1697]

it sure is ,...great great choice

[@treff9226]

Bob is the man! What a mega talent! As if Husker DU wasn't enough, then he forms Sugar and adds more melody while still buzzsaw riffing through every tune! Then his solo output is jam packed with killer albums, Bob trying out all kinds of different styles, but remaining a master of melodic, tight, concise material that always delivers the sonic candy! Love Bob Mould and everything he stands for - he is treasure for us hardcore music fans. Dig your post- thanks, Treff

[@danielvysocky2716]

Copper Blue is the most underrated album of the 90's

[@metalmykof7865]

Agreed. The EP Beaster, as well. A great extension of Copper Blue.

[@BlackMoore82]

I love all aspects of Thin Lizzy. Their early Blues material, melodic playing, and hard rock stuff. "Vagabonds of the Western World" is when they started coming into their own though. Eric Bell and Gary Moore also happen to be my favorite Lizzy guitarist's so...

[@TheMafrand]

This is easy for me. I like the commercial Pink Floyd more than the obscure.

[@tonyslupe3828]

Hooosker Doo. Nebraska has "Huskers"

[@captainbeyond7469]

My pick is Journey. You have the first three fusion/hard rock albums. And then Steve Perry comes along and they rule the charts for years to come.

[@atmaweapon2803]

The more I listen to the Eric Bell (and Night Life, for that matter) period, the more I find stuff to like. Lots of excellent early power trio rockers ("The Rocker," "Look What the Wind Blew In," "Return of the Farmer's Son", "Baby Face," "Ray Gun," "Things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm"), and a lot of amazing rarities ("Black Boys on the Corner," "Sitamoia," "Call the Police", "Gonna Creep Up on You"). Even from the start, I feel like Phil's voice really carries the tunes.

[@stevecrescini2081]

Elton John comes to mind as I liked his first few albums and once he went more pop with Honky Chateau, Don’t Shoot Me, GYBR, Captain Fantastic, Rock of the Westies I enjoyed them more until I got older and realized how great those early albums (Tumbleweed, Madman, S/T) were.

[@tubetea]

Yep, Tumbleweed is my absolute favorite by Elton, I love Captain Fantastic next.

[@ronnorry1592]

Love the Manics Martin and every era. I've been with them from the first album and I enjoy how each album can be different from the one before. Hey Pete, according to Simon Price's book Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers) one story has the band's name coming from a man who said to James Dean Bradfield: "What are you, boyo, some kind of manic street preacher?" when he was busking on the street.

[@martinrussell6174]

Great show, as usual. Wishing you much success with Fallfest! Looking forward to hearing all about it down the line.

[@hauskahirvi]

A couple that come to mind for me - Alice Cooper (Band) > The first two albums are somewhat hit and miss but then later they hit their mark. - Anathema > I discovered this band later on and I like their later music vs the earlier stuff. - Styx > Early albums are good but a mix bag, (but not a bad bag and I prefer the prog elements) but they starting hitting their mark in the mid to late 70s.

[@godetonter4764]

Bands like REO speedwagon actually had albums where the Pop hits were the Hardest Rock songs. Styx hits were generally their Heaviest songs. Toto - Hold the Line sounded like a Power ballad by a Heavy Metal band, but that was the Hardest Rock song from the Toto album

[@lordofthemound3890]

R.E.M. Not so much for a change in style-they were always pop-y and melodic-but rather for a change in how they were recorded. Vocals became more clear, and the sound on the guitar and especially the drums became much bigger. Life’s Rich Pageant was the tipping point.

[@michaelcross9557]

You're bang-on about where to draw the line with REM albums breaking through! RLP broke it for them. Document only sealed the deal :)

[@srobbins1973]

Good discussion gentlemen I'll be checking out those Grateful Dead albums Martin mentioned

[@DarkAnubis]

Damn I wish I could’ve made it to SOT fest. I’ll definitely plan in advance next time around. I’d love to meet you guys 🎸🔥

[@purpletemple1]

How about the Bee Gees? Love when they went hyper-commercial and went full-on Disco just before and with Saturday Night Fever. They always had a "commercial" sound, although they were also folk-proggy at a certain point, but the late 70's was the peak of their stardom wouldn't you say? Cheers.

[@davidl570]

Loved 'em too when that happened---and Spirits Having Flown is easily the best album of their career!

[@timsmith9953]

@@davidl570 I'm pretty sure I was the only one who picked that as one of my most played albums from HS years?!!

[@dawnpatrol700]

Listen to early songs like " the Lord" or " Kilburn Towers" doesn't even sound like the same band that went disco less than 10 years later

[@jasonyoung4179]

The first band that came to my mind was The Cure. Even though they were never massively commercial, their mid 80's-early 90's albums were in my opinion their most commercial and their best. I'm not a huge Cure fan, but I really enjoyed those albums from that time period, because even though they were still undeniably The Cure with the dark moodiness, and depressive lyrics, they seemed to have a more upbeat tone, and an urge to sound more commercial.

[@kgrant67]

My vote here is for carcass. The earliest albums were pretty insane grind core. However, they mainstreamed with Heartwork. While I respect the early albums, I find myself listening to the later stuff more. The new album is awesome!

[@Jermeister12]

That's how I feel Kyle😀

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

I considered mentioning Morbid Angel for the same reason. I'm not impressed by how extreme they were in the beginning. They were phenomenal songwriters by the mid-90's and it's still a truckload of heaviness, just more elaborate and listenable...

[@srobbins1973]

Good choice gotta love Carcass's newer stuff, Surgical Steel is a masterpiece

[@jimmycampbell78]

Gabriel, I do like Altars of Madness- its not so extreme ‘death’ to me, to my ears it is actually quite thrashy.

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

@@jimmycampbell78 Domination was one of my favorite death metal albums as a teenager and the first one I heard.. That to me sounded like the "next step" after thrash, so to speak. Altars of Madness is pure chaos. Maybe it's cool to know a human can play that fast, but I don't think it needed a whole sub-genre... When I hear stuff like Domination I can't shake the feeling that early death metal was put together in five minutes randomly

[@jcollins1305]

I could listen to you two all day! Great stuff as always. Two that come to mind, Styx and Genesis. Two bands that were light years away from what they became later. As far as Thin Lizzy, you hit the nail on the head Pete. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. What a shame they aren’t more well known.

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

1. Scorpions (I prefer the Matthias era that I've known since I was a kid, even though I like the 70's albums. I like some of Uli's experimentation, but I don't think every track is necessarily genius, especially when it's something like Born to Touch Your Feelings. A hit ballad like Still Loving You on the other hand, is much better to me and fits the same category. I think 80's Scorpions gets tagged as dumbed down sometimes and I disagree.) 2. Journey (To me it isn't even debatable, they were better in the 80's. I couldn't hum two melodies off the early records.) 3. Pretty Maids (This relatively obscure Danish band found their synth-driven sound in the 80's and it's really cool. The first record is ok but kinda generic.) 4. White Lion (The debut slays, but I'm madly in love with Pride and Big Game, which are more radio-friendly.) 5. Red Hot Chili Peppers (It took nostalgia for this band to grow on me, but I can only enjoy mid- 90's to mid 2000's stuff, which is when they were huge.) 6. Pink Floyd (Not the biggest fan to begin with, but their early records do nothing for me. It's really their overplayed stuff that's good to me.) 7. UFO (I wouldn't say they ever got too commercial, but certainly more palatable than their first two albums, where they were unsuccessfully proggy and psychedelic. I also really like albums such as Misdemeanor, to many people's surprise. 8. Cinderella (The glammy debut Night Songs is by far my favorite and after a few years I was even a little disappointed when I revisited Heartbreak Station. Those specific tones and riffs are something I crave and I can only get them on the most commercial album.) 9. Loudness (There's obscenely heavy and shreddy material from this band. For whatever reason though, I ALWAYS reach for Thunder in the East and Dragon whereas everything else I might have heard only once or twice.) 10. Judas Priest (This one only kind of fits the topic. I like the sophistication of the 70's about as much as I like the intensity of the 80's. Now- the 70's material is epic, but if we're being honest, I think I NEED some of their 80's stuff for them to be a favorite band, otherwise they'd fall a few positions. This one is complicated because my favorite albums are maybe three from each era, but if I had to sit and try to remember which ones I played the most throughout my life, it would be the 80's records.) *Note: There are a lot of albums deemed too commercial especially in the 80's, that I have a high threshold of tolerance for. I don't always buy into the sell-out thing. It really depends on what sound works better with whom. I really enjoy the black album and Load for example, they just don't fit into the discussion because I think Ride the Lightning and Master are insanely good. I do however, unashamedly prefer both over Kill em All, which might be controversial.

[@MetalPersonJ]

This is a fascinating premise. Looking forward to it.

[@richardarchbold4721]

Martin: Thanks for the shout out for the Manics. I came to the band with Send In The Tigers and have gone backwards and forwards and love most all of it. For anyone who wants to give the band a try, the "singles collection" entitled National Treasures is a great entry to the catalog. I would argue that you need albums as well, but a great intro. And as to Steve Miller Band, I am a fan of the early albums, particularly Sailor, but also really appreciate the albums up to Fly Like An Eagle, but tuned out after that one.

[@daveycretin664]

Manic Street Preachers ~ Everything Must Go is a friggin’ incredible CD! Right on, Mr. Popoff!! l worked at a Lawng Eyelind Noo Yawk record store when that album came out and l played the $#!¥ out of it. Definitely my favorite release by MSP. Another sterling show gentleman. Have a terrific time at SOT Fall Fest this weekend… cheers! ~8^ )

[@jimquinn5316]

A great show this morning Pete and Martin bringing back sweet memories

[@theartofhavoc5467]

Didn't know that "Hüsker Dü" was actually a Swedish board game. You live & you learn from Mr Martin Popoff! ✌️

[@robertschobesberger6300]

actually i think it is danish

[@SwanShadow]

Journey and Fleetwood Mac were the two bands I thought of first when I saw the topic. I agree with Martin on the Grateful Dead -- I can only tolerate the Dead when they're doing tight, concise songs and not the jammy, noodly stuff. I also agree with Pete on ELO. One that surprises me, but that honestly reflects my preferences when it comes to this band: Whitesnake.

[@alexandercaviedes2559]

I thought of those two as well. Journey became less prog and Mac became less bluesy, and it works for me.

[@SamQuentin]

The first two bands I thought of as well. Mac is interesting because the Peter Green era is pretty good, but the Welch era is dull except for a few songs (“Hypnotized” might be one of the best songs done under the FM name) and then Buckingham/Nicks come in and there next several albums have all of the classics they are generally know for and it’s better musically.

[@SamQuentin]

My favorite era of Whitesnake is the recent era. Good to be Bad, Flesh and Blood and Forevermore are killer albums.

[@matthewkieswetter4376]

Some of my favourites: Swans, Foetus, Cop Shoot Cop (though I'm using a broad definition of "commercial" here). Ooh, and yeah, Rush. Really not into prog, but there are elements in the '80s+ stuff that I like. I realize this is heresy to most.

[@colinrgage]

I've never heard anything sound as good on a pub jukebox as everything must go

[@NigelSmith66]

Really interesting show. So glad Martin mentioned Manic Street Preachers. While I know they've always been very popular in the UK and Europe, I believe they never made it really big in North America. By the way, if you find the band name a bit strange, just refer to them as The Manics - that's what we do over here. Hardcore fans prefer the Richie era, citing The Holy Bible as their definitive album. But like for Martin, it all started for me with Everything Must Go. Their 2021 release, The Ultra Vivid Lament, is a fantastic album. Even more amazing when it's their 14th studio cut, way past the point where many good bands are in terminal decline.

[@theartofhavoc5467]

On certain days, I tend to rate "The Everlasting" as the best fuckin' song ever written.

[@NigelSmith66]

@@theartofhavoc5467 The Everlasting is my second favourite Manics song after A Design For Life.

[@theartofhavoc5467]

Here's my MSP Top 5 (results may vary): 01 The Everlasting 02 Born A Girl 03 (The obvious) Motorcycle Emptiness 04 A Design For Life 05 My Sullen Welsh Heart

[@kevinthetruckdriver353]

A few bands with their transition album: Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac) Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon) Genesis (...And Then There Were Three...) The Oak Ridge Boys (

[@dennismeans7350]

Greetings from Thailand. Hope your fall fest goes well Pete

[@NelsonMontana1234]

What is often the case is not an intentional attempt at being commercial -- because that rarely works. Many bands get commercial attention simply because they became better song writers. That was the case with RUSH for sure. Iron Maiden exploded when the song writing got better. Same with YES -- and then when YES went intentionally commercial. they continued their success, but artistically, they went downhill.

[@wolf1977]

Genesis is a case of the opposite where the songwriting improves tremendously (and very quickly) from the first album to the third but the result isn't exactly 'commercial'

[@NelsonMontana1234]

@@wolf1977 Well, they became more commercially successful, so...it is. My point is that gaining acceptance doesn't necessarily mean being blander and less intricate. Sometimes it's a matter of being more melodic and more polished.

[@TheChadTI]

Agree on Thin Lizzy, I rarely pull up the early ones.

[@philipalbanese]

Great show once again - Looking forward to the “flip side show”: Bands that were better before they went commercial…which is a much easier topic (LOL)

[@jmacallar]

Just ordered a MSP best of cd….some great tunes! Great conversation lads….great examples of bands gone commercial….

[@Arutha_Con_Doin]

Hmm, a couple of bands for me in this one: Styx, Deep Purple, Depeche Mode, R.E.M., U2, Pink Floyd

[@stephanerichard6267]

I liked Prince Kajuku from the early UFO albums. :)

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

I think Silver Bird is excellent, but in general I agree with the Schenker era basically incinerating those first two albums

[@Realbillball]

"Husker du?" was a Norwegian nostalgic hit parade TV-show for the elderly in the 70's and partly the 80's. It translates literally "Do you remember?" It's pronounced "hoosker doo" or "who scare dew".

[@NapoleanThePug]

Love any talk on here about the Manics, even if Pete kinda zones out. Haha. Futurology is wonderful, as is Postcards from a Young Man. Funny, I never thought of James' vocal phrasings as being the result of too many words crammed into a small space. I just thought that was an odd thing he does that kinda makes him unique. It does make the lyrics hard to decipher at times, because you aren't expecting him to accent the wrong syllable.

[@brianpirie5490]

Great shout for husker du..new day rising is a classic...sugar's first is excellent too.

[@steveclark8538]

Thanks guys great show as always

[@RickNBacker]

This was a tough one. The only example I can think of is The Clash. I have no use for the first two garage punk albums. London Calling and Sandinista turned things aound.

[@franciskocher200]

I don't like these bands more when They went more commercial but still like them very much: KISS,BLACKFOOT,38 Special,Metallica,Scorpions,Nazareth,Slayer.

[@michaelcross9557]

Great episode guys! So much to chew on. I love just about anything Jeff Lynne has ever touched, but for whatever reason I'm always drawn to that freaky-assed second ELO album. The two "Jeff's Boogies" (From the Sun to the World and IN Old England Town) are phenomenal, and Kuiama is a CRACKER, and one of a handful of Jeff's early anti-war songs (see also Boy Blue!). Jeff didn't shy away from a LOT of heavy social commentary in his early writing before becoming a pop star. I miss lines like "ten thousands pounds of waste throb then eject, look out space, we're gonna change this plaaace."

[@herrdwabash]

Definitely Lou Reed for me. I love esoteric and experimental music, but Lou Reed's really weird albums don't really do it for me. "Transformer" is such a classic, by far my favorite of his albums. Lou Reed was an excellent songwriter, both with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist.

[@erikdolnack2737]

Thank Bowie and Mick Ronson for that.

[@filipdzero8739]

This is tough, because there's not many bands I listen to that I genuinely think got better the more their sound became commercial, but I'd say: - Avenged Sevenfold (post-Waking the Fallen) - Pink Floyd (70s>60s) - Katatonia (overall, I do love BMD) - Carcass (when they ditched goregrind) - Blind Guardian (if moving away from Speed Metal counts as commercial)

[@drterylene]

Love the trifecta of XTC, ELO, and the Manic Street Preachers. Please keep talking about Everything Must Go. Too few people are familiar with that masterpiece. Not a weak track to be found. I've been listening to it since it first came out and it's still exciting and fresh. I remember seeing it listed on a few year-end top 10s at the time and thought I'd give it a try, having no idea about the band or what they sounded like. The gamble was worth every penny.

[@manuelper]

MSP continues to be one of the most consistent bands of the last severage decades. Their last album was fantastic.

[@timopaakkonen6462]

A good show - as always with you two!

[@sdrandazzo]

Very interesting discussion Pete and Martin... bands who appealed to us more as their sound got more commercial? ... This is a very difficult one for me to answer because I have always gravitated towards progressive and progressive fusion bands. I would say that back in the 70s when I heard the AOR hits from bands like Led Zeppelin, the Kinks, etc. that was the first time that I was exposed to their music and that prompted me to buy their vinyl records, cassettes and 8-track tapes and discover their deeper cuts (non-commercial songs). It would be interesting to do an opposite view of you idea with bands that we liked better the more less commercial their sound got ... Van der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, etc. Regards, Sal.

[@bryankafka2952]

This could be very interesting to watch, but some which come to my mind prior are: 1) If you go back as far as the British Invasion, I would say that the Kinks, Stones, Beatles, etc got better as they moved away from the early releases 2) Journey pre to post Steve Perry 3) A band like Opeth once they lessened the growly vocals 4) Pink Floyd, while the pre Meddle material is good most would prefer the more commercial period of Dark Side going forward 5) Maybe a little controversial but I prefer Rush in the Permanent Waves to Power Windows "commercial" era over the previous of 2112, Hemispheres, and Farewell to Kings (although I do like all of those albums quite a bit)

[@simond1574]

Regarding the Beatles: Are the later albums really more commercial? I think they are better produced and have refined songwriting. But the early Beatles with "Help" or "Hard days Night" is as commercial as it could get at that time. And all the wild experimenting later on wasn't really commercial in my eyes.

[@bryankafka2952]

I went even earlier where there were less originals, etc. and still very good albums. You are right, The Beatles were always commercial and was going in the more refined, greater sound aspect. But you cant go wrong with any Beatles album

[@wolf1977]

@@simond1574 I think you can largely say the same of The Beach Boys. Started as a cover band (as most bands do) & played very commercial surfing/car-based tunes that were very popular. Then comes Pet Sounds (& Smiley Smile), influenced by Rubber Soul, which then influences Sgt Pepper's. They totally got away from surfing & cars by the early 70's - I love that period. Sunflower/Surf's Up/Holland/Carl and the Passions So Tough. Surf's Up isn't a surfing album, the title was ironic. Some of the songs on these records are to me some of their best: "Long Promised Road", "Feel Flows", "Don't Go Near The Water", "Funky Pretty", "Sail On Sailor", "Till I Die", "This Old World", "It's About Time", "This Old World", "All I Wanna Do", "Cool Cool Water"

[@simond1574]

@@bryankafka2952 Yes, you are right. And my favourite is most likely one of their more commercial ones: Magical Mystery Tour. And the Stones were also very into R&B and cvers before they turned into hit machines. From that perspective you are absolutely right.

[@simond1574]

@@wolf1977 Yes, I know those BB albums. They are all great and very different to each other. I would add "Hold on dear brother", "California Saga" or "Darling". They definitely went away from their Hit single commercial phase to a more artistic one. Unfortunately in the radio today they are reduced to their surf songs and maybe Good vibrations.

[@glennsmusicchannel]

If it weren't for a 5-6 hour drive I'd definitely be there tomorrow. Have a great day guys.

[@redihip]

How about an episode of Bands We Liked Less when They Sold Out

[@greengrass1072]

Good one. If you’re familiar with them, Our Lady Peace comes to mind for me. The album Spiritual Machines was a masterpiece to me, then they get rid of their founding guitarist and go pop rock with Gravity. Been downhill ever since.

[@toddhill7483]

Precisely the theme I was also thinking about.

[@SteveHughesOfficial]

Rush - easy pick - P Waves to Presto easily my fave rush….a controversial view on SOT P J Harvey - stories from the city / sea - her most commercial Kiss - not a big fan but love Unmasked - pure blasphemy to SOT and Kiss fans alike ( burn him ) Metallica - I like the black album far more than - And Justice for all - In fact I think the black album would have been a natural progression from MOPuppets. ( burn him again ) from Load onward though….I can’t do it…I try every couple of years to see if I’m just going with the crowd. But NO it’s a travesty. Great show as usual - love Martin bringing non SOT bands to the show……I still hate the Clash though….have a great time at the SOT fest. 🎉

[@petertaylorson5783]

Definitely with you as regards Rush and Polly Harvey.

[@giles7662]

Metallica, Lizzy, ELO, UFO, The Tubes and Genesis (1978 - 1983).

[@danielwolski873]

I hope you can post at least a short clip with you and Martin together.

[@Danimal77]

See you guys on Saturday at The Chance!

[@carlsalazar4490]

Have fun😊

[@stephenbrown4211]

Fleetwood Mac Pink Floyd Someone mentioned Queen. Yes I am also an ‘80’s Queen fan. I know America hates them because of the Hard Life video but Kind of Magic and The Miracle albums are really good.

[@markkavanagh7377]

I thought it was the I Want To Break Free video that turned the USA against Queen. They couldn't handle the boys in drag and didn't get the Corination Street reference.

[@Jermeister12]

Not me 😀.QUEEN is my favorite band😀😀😀😀

[@stephenbrown4211]

@@markkavanagh7377 😣 you are correct. Typed in a hurry. Of course we Brits know they were only parodying a British soap

[@maciejkowalski2759]

I never understood why America didn't mind so many artists looking feminine in both 70's and 80's, including David Bowie who dressed in drag in his videos way before Queen did, but when Queen did one video in drag AS A JOKE (otherwise being a much more masculine looking AND sounding band in the 80's than they were in the 70's), it killed them in America.

[@wolf1977]

Yeah later Floyd for me for sure, the early stuff is just too weird/experimental for me

[@MackeyWilliams]

Classic Pete growl when he says "JAILBREAK: during his Thin Lizzy segment. Well done.

[@tonyhonour665]

Another great episode, guys. I may have missed it but have you done the reverse of this on one? I may be a dinosaur but more often than not I prefer the early music.

[@quaid667]

ELO's Time and Secret Messages are two albums i seem to play alot these days. Time is very New Wave and Secret Messages sounds very different and i think Jeff Lynne was smoking a lot of weed at that time because this was recorded in Holland and sounds very laid back for an ELO album. They are generally bombastic from start to finish.

[@sabinoabdala5685]

The band that became the most commercial and I loved is Fleetwood Mac. From radical bluesmen to a pop band with charming themes and varied voices from 1975. Tusk is Masterful. REM would also be another band that when it became commercial in the 90s I liked it more than in the 80s.

[@wolf1977]

I love their 'mid-period' with Bob Welch & Christine McVie, especially Future Games through Heroes Are Hard To Find. I think Mystery To Me is pretty much perfect. Pop but not too poppy, Welch & McVie (her "Just Crazy Love" to me is as good as any of the later pop hits) trade lead vocals, good strong song writing, memorable songs, Welch's great guitars...Can't stand REM though

[@christopherharris3229]

@@wolf1977 yes the middle era Mac is the best 👌

[@TheMafrand]

I follow you. Personally I like almost all FM eras but hasn't listened much to the blues albums. One of my favorite albums from them is Tango in the night. Safe to say that album sounds way more commercial than the Peter Green albums 🙂

[@wolf1977]

@@TheMafrand I have a bunch of early Mac, a really hard core blues/blues rock band initially fueled by Green's guitar. Fleetwood Mac in Chicago from '69 is them jamming with famous blues guys like Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon at Chess Records in Chicago. If you like blues that's a good album. Men Of The World: The Early Years is a good compilation & Madison Blues is a fantastic live set, also Live At The Boston Tea Party. Before The Beginning - 1968-1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions is more for hard core fans. The culmination of that blues lineup was Then Play On & by then you can hear the sound & feel changing to something more rock oriented & less hard blues. I'd say that early FM were along very similar lines as early Ten Years After but not quite at the same level

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

'Husker Du' is Norwegian for 'Do you remember'.

[@ykmgeedee]

Love the Grateful Dead talk. Agree with Martin about having 2 commercial eras. Very good points by Pete about Garcia periodically changing guitars.

[@philipalbanese]

I love the Grateful Dead - saw them live many times, in all their configurations, from 1979 till now - - so Im especially partial to their live recordings…but if Im going to listen to their studio albums I still reach for “ Workingman’s Dead”, “American Beauty”, “Wake of the Flood”, “Blues for Allah”, and “Terrapin Station”…All their 70’s releases, which I consider to be their greatest era :)

[@ykmgeedee]

@@philipalbanese Hey now! I also like From the Mars Hotel. 99% of my listening is to live. '79 & early 80's quality gigs!

[@philipalbanese]

@@ykmgeedee yes- that’s a great album also :) I’m partial to their 1972 & 1977 live shows, but they have many, many examples of killer shows thru out their illustrious career !

[@leedean9633]

That Husker Du trebly production on the early albums was allegedly inspired by the mix on the MC5's "Back in the USA," which was a mistake the producer couldn't fix.

[@wernermoritz882]

Wow, that‘s interesting. Weird album I did not like even though I love the style they are trying here.

[@dwainworoniuk1852]

My picks would be the Young Gods and Treponem Pal. Possible topic : bands we go to, not for the music but for the show. Gwar is can't miss live that I don't know a single song

[@janpoelkamp4229]

I think of Go2 as XTC’s ‘cusp’ album. It’s a huge improvement over White Music and where it really starts for me.

[@drterylene]

Yeah...Go2 is sort of a contrarian pick and I've come to like it a lot more over the years. I actually listen to it quite a bit now. The difference was that they thought on White Music that an album was recorded by the band going into a studio, hitting record and just running through the song like a live show. On Go2 they had more time and Andy learned how to make an album and "craft" an album in the studio. As a result, the songs are stronger, more interesting, and closer to the XTC we would come to know and love than almost anything on White Music. If you're going to point to a turning point in the XTC catalogue, I usually point to "Are You Receiving Me?"

[@garyjoyce2160]

The “ Steely DAN of THRASH albums “👍💯

[@gwts1171]

The first thing that came to mind for me is The Residents. It makes sense that my favorite album of theirs is called "The Commercial Album".

[@roberthardin2133]

excellent record. imagine being in San Francisco at the time of the release and hearing these 1 minute songs as actual commercials-which is what the band did. they bought commercial time and stuck those songs in

[@Kellerwerks]

Manic Street Preachers have been my favorite band since 1995. Their name is just fine, and I will arm wrestle you both, at the same time, to make my point...

[@SWEETFA24]

Matthew Sweet . He got great with the Girlfriend album and the next 2 albums.

[@wolf1977]

I liked Tomorrow's Daughter & 100% Fun a lot. Girlfriend is definitely his best

[@ZackAttackP1]

Pete, have you done a video of "Bands That You Liked Less as Their Sound Became More Commercial" or a video similar to this topic?

[@roberthardin2133]

you could easily ignore Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, but then they released Surrealistic Pillow. that's when they really took off. I also like Saga's 2 most commercial records Worlds Apart and Heads or Tails. a lot of fans cried 'SELL OUT!" when Sonic Youth signed to Geffen and put out Goo, but I think Goo is an excellent record.

[@ChromeDestiny]

It's like Takes Off and Grace's live and studio work with The Great Society was like a bike with the training wheels still on and then on Pillow they remove those and start proper bike riding.

[@sizzlechest69]

I would suggest that Behaviour and Wildest Dreams are Saga's 2 most commercial records in terms of artistic approach, both of which are...not so good. But the two you list are indeed their most commercially successful.

[@impalaman9707]

The reason I like early UFO is precisely BECAUSE they sound like raw, garage rock! Their early stuff has character!

[@mintyfresh4987]

Maybe Martin could pick me up? I'd love to go!!! Good luck Pete and all involved with Fallfest.

[@ianmacdonald7987]

Interesting for me as ELO and Wings were my gateway to rock/metal👍🏻

[@michaelcross9557]

Well, at least the ELO drummist was metal AF!

[@itkojecockot]

The Flaming Lips...... the early stuff from the 80's just wasn't IT yet...... then they signed with Warner Bros. and became one of the best of their genre

[@trowerz]

Off-topic question please. Pete, have you ever done a video on unknown albums or overlooked? I’m sure you have. Thanks, Mark

[@stephennorris2524]

Glad to see The MSP getting a mention, great band.

[@stevehajas6500]

Awesome picks, agree with the choices, especially great Martin picked the Manic Street Preachers although I do like the first album as well, came out when my oldest daughter was born 1990. Is Martin going to the upcoming Manics show in Toronto?

[@waverlyking6045]

I was never really a fan of Voivod during their early punk/metal phase when they sounded like a combination of Venom, Motörhead and Discharge. However, I love everything they did when they were signed to MCA.

[@robcarrier1969]

I can see that, I like both... but I can see why they appeal to totally different people

[@waverlyking6045]

@@robcarrier1969 Their early stuff just doesn’t work for me but it’s great that others like it. I hate the taste of raw onions but I know lots of awesome people (my mother included) who love them. It’s sort of like that.

[@robcarrier1969]

@@waverlyking6045 Haha... I mean, yeah War & Pain is rough as hell, so I get it.

[@vincentschicchi4647]

I’d put Journey there the early Gregg R was great but when Steve joined. They hit pop stardom and some really great stuff

[@jasonbrooker6975]

Can't believe you said The Manics are English. They're Welsh!

[@angelomicciche3044]

Fleetwood Mac and, perhaps controversially, Rainbow. I used to think post-1975 Queen, but I have great love of the early albums.

[@davek6949]

Definitely agree with 38 Special, Thin Lizzy, the Grateful Dead, and the Steve Miller Band.

[@davidgray2075]

The Manic Street Preachers are Welsh, not "English". I appreciate that "English" is used as a synonym for British, but to a Scottish person, it's like calling someone from Canada "Californian"!

[@Intermentor]

I actually like Wishbone Ash AOR album "Raw to the bone", I think most Wishbone Ash fans will hate me now haha. I like Katatonia, Sentenced and Anathema even more when they was going away from extreme metal, to reach out to people than probably not into metal in a big way. Same with Ulver when they was going from black metal to electronical music (if we can call that commercial?)

[@magnuswettermark8293]

No hate. I am a wishbone ash fanatic and has follow the band since 1972. Love all their albums and Raw to the bone is great. Very underated in my opinion. Rock on Bertram😁👍

[@Jamie.Laszlo]

I'll go with Mastodon. I enjoy a lot of albums after Blood Mountain just a little bit more.

[@malco49]

gotta love pete’s deadpan when martin talks about a band he does not like or not familiar with. trying to think of a band and thought of radiohead ,but they were the opposite they got bigger the less commercial they got .

[@williamwalker146]

Like the punk bands? 🤣

[@wernermoritz882]

Haha, absolutely! 😅

[@sspbrazil]

@@williamwalker146 hahaha yep.

[@mintyfresh4987]

Radiohead is the exact opposite of this concept and a very interesting case. Good call.

[@mcsmoothie7052]

Yep, I sympathize with Pete. Sometimes listening to Martin is similar to listening to Finn McKenty , who I also enjoy listening to, but they both have a tendency to throw around band names like they are the most popular household names in the world, and I have no friggin clue who or what the hell they are talking about. 🤣

[@colinrgage]

another great episode,there's often a musical snobbery involved in this topic

[@normangeleri1522]

One of the bands that saw a transformation from a prog rock band to more commercially appealing music was the band Angel and if they could hold on for 4 or 5 more years in the light of the hair band phenomenon and MTV they would have been huge

[@mikeb.7183]

Scorpions- Lonesome Crow thru Tokyo Tapes are good and enjoyable but the closer they get to Lovedrive the better it gets, then from Lovedrive thru Savage Amusement they become more and more commercial and they just keep getting better and better, right to where they pushed it ff the cliff.

[@lordofthemound3890]

Everything you said about 38 Special also applies to ZZ Top, too.

[@michaelbaucom4019]

Styx(although Tommy Shaw joining the band was a major reason) Pink Floyd Fleetwood Mac Rush, somewhat( 75-89 was my favorite era) Genesis, kind of--my favorite era was Trick of the Tail through the self-titled in the early 80s when I was younger, but now I prefer the Peter Gabriel era

[@ChromeDestiny]

I tried exploring The Dead more during 2020. I found I enjoyed '66 - '72 stuff pretty consistently, other than the odd track the later 70's stuff didn't do much for me, I was surprised to find I liked Go To Heaven a lot and then I wasn't into the late 80's stuff.

[@63mckenzie]

The Rocker was probably the most commercial song from Thin Lizzy's early days. It could have been a hit.

[@wolf1977]

"Whiskey in the Jar" from '72 was actually a hit (in UK & elsewhere but maybe not so much in the US). I think "The Rocker" also had some success. To me a song like "Little Girl in Bloom" was hit-worthy but at over 5 minutes probably too long for radio. I also really like "Look What The Wind Blew In" from '71, I think that one had real hit potential (but had that somewhat proggy/weird middle section)...BTW many have probably forgotten this but TL (sort of) released a totally un-commercial Deep Purple 'tribute' album called Funky Junction-Tribute To Deep Purple in '73 (it's on YT). It's got three members of TL on it (Bell/Lynott/Downey) with Lynott mainly only playing bass

[@63mckenzie]

@@wolf1977 I think their early stuff needs re evaluating. Eric Bell's playing reminds me of Rory Gallagher.

[@wolf1977]

@@63mckenzie Not sure about that but Vagabonds is a really good album....I have their '79 compilation album called The Continuing Saga of the Ageing Orphans which is basically the first 3 albums plus the New Day EP but with portions remixed/rerecorded (only 3 of the 11 tracks are the original album versions). Gary Moore actually plays guitars & keys on those reworked tracks - definitely worth seeking out if you're a Gary Moore fanatic (like me)...

[@timsmith9953]

I remember buying Rosalie/cowgirl song as a single (from Live & Dangerous) - I think it did reasonably well in the UK.

[@AndDeathForAll82]

Fleetwood Mac is my favorite example of this. I guess I have to say Blue Öyster Cult as well since ‘Fire of Unknown Origin’ is my favorite album. A modern example, for me, is Ghost.

[@halfabee64]

BOC's Black and White era makes for two camps. Some think the commercial era was not as good. I happen to like almost everything through FOUO and TSR but T&M and ST were their peak.

[@EclecticInstinct]

Opeth, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. My three choices but your honorable mentions. Might throw Joni Mitchell into the mix. Court and Spark widened her appeal imho. Another great topic.

[@maddysmith8846]

Although, interestingly, Joni’s most covered songs and arguably masterpieces that still sound fresh today, were written when she was early 20’S and initially sung by other artists. Am obviously thinking of Both Sides Now & Judy Collins initially and Circle Game. I agree on For the Roses (big single You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio) and Court and Spark (Help Me, Free Man in Paris)- highly accessible album and think its her biggest seller. Personally, much as I Iove these two albums, I prefer the creative power of the next 3 and Hejira will always be my favourite. I wish we could have an album ranking and some more love for Joni on SOT but appreciate she’s not Pete’s cup of tea any more than Leonard Cohen or Dylan.