10 Rock Music Bands That Quit On Top

“On top” is a phrase that can have several interpretations. If we’re talking about bossing the industry, The Beta Band were very much not on top, calling it a day because they simply weren’t able to make ends meet with their music.

Artistically, though, few in the era were able to touch the Scottish group. Coming up during Britpop, the Betas skewed the bombastic movement altogether, instead choosing to make deeply weird, distant but surprisingly emotional music that remains almost impossible to classify.

Their defining statement remains their first collection, The Three EPs (immortalised by the film High Fidelity), with “Dry The Rain” and “Needles In My Eyes” highlighting the band’s folky soulfulness, “Inner Meet Me” and “Monolith” their boundless artistry. Their self-titled debut is their weakest, but they capped off a short career with two brilliant albums. Hot Shots II’s “Al Sharp” is the band at its oblique best, while finale Heroes To Zeroes sees the them approach radio friendliness with the likes of “Space Beatle”.

One of the few contemporary acts you’ll ever hear Oasis actually praise, The Beta Band won immense admiration from all around them and boast a brief back catalogue that nonetheless contains depths as-yet unexplored.