15 Most Underrated Hard Rock Bands Of All Time
11. Sonic Youth
Once punk exploded onto the scene in the late 70's, every band and their mother were stripping their sound back to canvas. As time progressed though, bands started to find it tedious trying to deliberately stifle their playing for the sake of their art. It was time for a change of pace, and late bloomers Sonic Youth were the prime candidates to get the ball rolling.
Coming just at the tail end of the first punk wave, this collective from New York seemed to take every single cool idea behind punk and sandwich it into their own delectable style. With the guitar army of Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, the band's sonic attack hit you like a dust cloud, as they played off each other with feedback and infectious riffs.
As the band progressed into the 80's, they started to incorporate even more alternative sounds into their style, which resulted in some of the most underrated masterpieces of the genre like Goo and Daydream Nation.
Though their star power was never too bombastic, the band had respect from both the music critics as well as the industry at large, who ended up listening to their advice to sign acts like Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins in the early 90's. Sonic Youth might not be everyone's choice for favorite band, but more than not, they're seen as your favorite band's favorite band.