10 Great Rock Music Acts Who Were Too Far Ahead Of Their Time
1. Fishbone
The congregation of punk and reggae is one of the strangest but happiest couples in rock history. Their marriage in the late 1970s gave birth to the genre of ska, which has only grown in strength in the decades since its conception. However, one of the pioneers of American ska, Fishbone, remain amongst the most underrated innovators of all time.
Forming in 1979 in Los Angeles while the UK’s 2-tone movement was taking off, Fishbone were seemingly in the wrong place but at the right time. While ska flourished in the UK through bands such as Madness, The Specials, and Bad Manners, it didn’t catch on to the same extent in the States. As a result, Fishbone never seemed to match the mainstream peaks of their cross-Atlantic counterparts. Fishbone didn’t have a top ten single in the US until 1991, by which point Madness had already scored 15 in the UK. US ska picked up in the '90s through the likes of Reel Big Fish and Rancid, but Fishbone were unfairly denied the same praise as the new generation.
Not only were Fishbone in the wrong continent for 2-tone, but they were in the wrong era to capitalise on funk metal also. Innovating funk metal brought Fishbone little commercial success, but the bands they influenced - such as Living Colour, The Urge, and Skindred - have enjoyed brilliant careers by building on the LA group’s foundations. Despite never receiving their just recognition, Fishbone are still active today and released a new EP in 2023.