The following 1970s bands were way ahead of their time. There’s no way around that. Some of them might be familiar to you if you’re a diehard 1970s rock aficionado. Otherwise, these killer artists didn’t get nearly as much mainstream attention as their big-name contemporaries during their heyday, and you might be unfamiliar with them. I think they deserve to be appreciated in the 21st century. Let’s take a look!
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1. Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster was made up of former members of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. The British outfit was pretty ahead of its time, at least in terms of combining prog-rock with jazz and blues quite beautifully. The use of Vincent Crane’s organ made their sound all the more unique.
Atomic Rooster found some success with “Death Walks Behind You”, but the band’s members became busy with other projects and broke up in 1975. They reformed periodically through the years, but nothing beats their early-1970s prog-rock era.
2. Gentle Giant
Another British progressive rock outfit that stepped outside of the norm, Gentle Giant was on the complex side of musical composition. Nothing they produced was simple, and experiencing records like The Power And The Glory and Octopus is still quite transcendent today. It’s pretty wild that Gentle Giant didn’t have more commercial success before they broke up in 1980.
3. Budgie
Out of all the 1970s bands that were ahead of their time on this list, Budgie might be the one that rings a bell. This Welsh band was on the heavy metal side of 1970s rock music, and one might even define their sound as proto-metal.
From their stunning lyrical compositions to those vibrational guitar riffs, it’s clear that Budgie inspired metal bands that followed in their footsteps… and unfortunately got bigger than Budgie ever got. This underrated band broke up in 1988, with a few reunions to follow until 2010.
4. Captain Beyond
Captain Beyond is more than worthy of a spot on our list of 1970s bands that were ahead of their time. The outfit was one of the OG supergroups, comprised of members of Deep Purple, Johnny Winter, and Iron Butterfly.
Few musicians were combining prog-rock with metal the way they did in the 1970s, and it’s clear that they influenced new genres that came about after their breakup in 1973. Captain Beyond have returned time and time again, and they’re still technically together today.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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