10 More Bands Who Had Huge Potential (But Wasted It)
They could been massive, but fate had other ideas.
Potential is a very strange thing when you think about it. Everybody's got it, in theory, but some seem to have it more than others. However, even if a person or group do have lots of potential, there is no guarantee that it will ever lead to anything.
Nowhere is this more true than in the world of music, where acts with tonnes of promise come and go without leaving even the faintest of marks on the industry. A band can have a huge hit with their first song, get signed to a major label and be promised the world, only to have it all dry up and then be dropped like a bad habit.
The following bands could all have been much bigger than they ended up being, but, for one reason or another, the world just didn't want them to succeed. Some of them made such an impact in such a short time that they are still famous, it's just a case of them not being as famous as they should be.
Of course, there's every chance they make a comeback and finally complete their rise to the top, but for now, they will just have to stay as "what ifs?".
10. Neutral Milk Hotel
As you may have deduced from its offbeat name, Neutral Milk Hotel were an indie band who were first around from 1989 to 1998.
In that time, they released two albums, On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, neither of which were particularly successful upon their initial release. Everything would change for the band with the advent of one of the most powerful and divisive inventions in human history - the internet.
With the rise of the web in the late '90s and early 2000s, Neutral Milk Hotel’s music began to take off in very unexpected ways. They amassed a sizable cult following, which might seem like a good thing on paper, but would eventually lead to their downfall.
Lead singer Jeff Magnum (which is a sensational name) did not enjoy being famous. His band’s popularity sparked a severe downturn in his mental health, so he called for them to go on hiatus. This break would end up lasting for 15 years.
The band could have easily jumped on the bandwagon of their internet success, but who knows what toll that would have taken on them. Ultimately, they made the right call.