Favorite Supergroups?

[Smokey]

Wikipedia describe Supergroups as a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups.

There have been alot of supergroups from 60's onward like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Firm, Traveling Wilburys, or Damn Yankees just to name few. And some that nobody remember such as Power Station.

Have to say my favorite SP are Traveling Wilburys (George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison), and The Firm (Paul Rodgers, Jimmy Page). And each group put out two albums before breaking up.



Here is list of Supergroups to refresh memory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergroup_(music)

[nobody]

How about the first punk rock Supergroup, Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators (The Dead Boys), Brian James (The Damned), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69) and Nicky Turner (The Barracudas). I will still pull out their self-titled debut now and then.

[MasterCylinder]

My two favorites would be BLIND FAITH and UK.

That list in Wiki is impressive -- the bands reflected in the first half of the list actually might fit the description of "Supergroup" -- the second half, although meeting the criteria of the definition, appear to be experiments to see what works or pure desperation rather than super.

[Jim Clark]

Actually, The Power Station is the first one that comes to mind. Lot's of hype back in the day for that one. While Robert Palmer was in fact the man, this one never really worked for me.

Broken Social Scene is probably gonna be my overall fave but Electronic is actually up there pretty high on my list. Mike in the UK turned me on to that one. Johnny Marr, Bernard Sumner, and Neil Tennant. Tough to go too wrong on that one for my tastes.

Postal Service is down there just a bit further. Only one album and is anyone other than Gibbard eligible to be a member of a 'super' group?

jc

[Mr MidFi]

Broken Social Scene is probably gonna be my overall fave...

If BSS counts as a 'supergroup' then so do The New Pornographers... and that's my answer. At least for today.

[Rae]

The first group that leapt to my mind here was Shellac, but I know there are others.

That Ugly Casanova record was pretty good.

~Rae

[Stone]

The Greedy Bastards (a/k/a The Greedies)



Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy), Paul Cook (fmr. Sex Pistols), Steve Jones (fmr. Sex Pistols), Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Brian Downey (Thin Lizzy)


Ok, so maybe not technically a supergroup but a mashup of two bands, and maybe they weren't that great, but still quite a combo.

[Davey]

...and The Firm (Paul Rodgers, Jimmy Page). And each group put out two albums before breaking up.

Looks more like a leftover picture from that bad idea of a Mercury-less Queen revival.

My favorite of the moment would be the first lineup of 801 Live, one of my favorite records,. taken of course from the lyrics of "The True Wheel"....

We are the 801, we are the central shaft

[ForeverAutumn]

Okay, I have to put in something prog.

ASIA. Geoff Downes, John Wetton, Steve Howe, and Carl Palmer.

Also, Transatlantic. Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), Pete Trewavas (Marillion), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) and Neil Morse (Spock's Beard).

[3LB]

The best supergroup we dint here enough from: Derek & The Dominoes.

The one supergroup who's sum was less than its individual parts (way less): GTR.

The supergroup that almost was:
XYZ (ex-Yes, Zep)


Was a supergroup before it was a supergroup: Temple of The Dog.

[3LB]

The Firm's first album twernt half-bad, but the second one stunk.

[3LB]

Black Country Communion (2010)
Glenn Huges (latter-day Deep Purple)
Jason Bonham (John's son)
Derek Sherinian (former Dream Theater)
Joe Bonamassa (blue guitar slinger for hire ala Gary Moore)

I have this debut and it smokes

[ForeverAutumn]

Black Country Communion (2010)
Glenn Huges (latter-day Deep Purple)
Jason Bonham (John's son)
Derek Sherinian (former Dream Theater)
Joe Bonamassa (blue guitar slinger for hire ala Gary Moore)

I have this debut and it smokes

Funny, right after I read this I went over to PE and the very top thread is "Black Country Communion 2 drops today".

[Jack in Wilmington]

How bout Velvet Revolver?
They were a mixture of Guns n Roses, Stone Temple Pilots and another band whos name escapes me. Could Foghat be considered a supergroup even though they were three quarters of Savoy Brown?

[TheHills44060]

Supergroup

Ted Nugent - Amboy Dukes
Scott Ian - Anthrax
Sebastian Bach - Skid Row
Jason Bonham - John's son
Evan Seinfeld - Biohazard

I thought their original material was pretty good.

[Mr Peabody]

I may be a minority here but for the most part I find many of the super groups disappointing and just don't seem to work out. I was really excited when i heard about Chickenfoot, it just didn't do anything for me. When I heard about Black Country Communion from Lenno or Letterman I checked out some samples, they were rowdy but just didn't sway me to purchase. I hated stuff like GTR and Asia. I did like the Firm, both albums, and Damn Yankees first album was pretty good.

I think the version of Rainbow on the live album was a super group with Blackmore, Dio, Tony Carey & Cozy Powell, I really like that album, just wish it was produced better.

The Wiki link didn't work for me, maybe my browser settings or something.

[thekid]

I'll go with the first supergroup IMO- CSN&Y. They have been at it certainly longer than any supergroup I can think of even though they have split off and done their own thing over the years. A lot of people listening to their music now are probably not aware of their status as a supergroup. The Byrds, The Hollies and Buffalo Springfield were still at or near their peak when CSN&Y formed.

Many of the so-called supergroups that have formed since then are from members of groups past their prime or were formed after a key member of an existing group left and legally the remaining members cannot continue to use the original band name.

I'll also put in a quick vote for Blind Faith however they were not around very long so they barely qualify as a group.

[Mr Peabody]

You know there is probably endless Jazz supergroups but Return To Forever deserves a mention.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Yeah, fine. But I question mentioning them before the Miles Davis Sextet; when Coltrane returned from Monk's band, and the Quintet added Cannonball Adderley, if they weren't a supergroup, I don't know what is. And that's the band that recorded Kind Of Blue.

In "Rock," I agree with the mention of CSN, except...how many good recs were there from them? Still, I'd take them before Velvet Revolver, or Chickenfoot, or Audioslave, or whatever. I don't think Blind Faith was as good as they could/should have been, even if they didn't disappoint as much as some others. I don't think I ever made it through the Dim Stars album, either. Both Electric Mud & theh London Howlin' Wolf Sessions are mostly steaming piles. Jamming With Edward sucks rocks, too, even though Ry Cooder should've worked well with the Stones. Super Session is underwhelming.

In short, I think probably 95% or more of these things are overblown ego-fests where few are going to be inclined to bring their 'a' material. At least in 'rock.' In jazz...different story. Still, I do think most of the best jazz comes from combos with well-defined leaders.

Ever read some of the reviews on the 'Dylan & the Dead' album?

[thekid]

In "Rock," I agree with the mention of CSN, except...how many good recs were there from them?

Ever read some of the reviews on the 'Dylan & the Dead' album?

I think the thing about CSN is the various combinations that came from them. Sometimes it CSN-sometimes CSN&Y and sometimes just CN. They did get a lot of mileage out of a relatively small catalog but what a catalog......

I actually picked up a tape of "Dyan and the Dead". I have not read any reviews of it but it was a bit underwhelming IMO. My son who is a huge Dylan fan said that Dylan wanted to join the Dead but they turned him down.

[Woochifer]

Generally not a fan of supergroups. But, a couple that come to mind did put out some good stuff.

From the early-90s, there was Electronic, which paired Bernard Sumner of New Order with Johnny Marr from The Smiths (and included Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe from The Pet Shop Boys on a couple of tracks). Wound up with a very strong self-titled debut release that was better than New Order's previous album and the solo stuff that Morrissey was putting out. Their two follow up albums flopped.

And I don't think this follows the definition of a supergroup, but there's also Mudcrutch, which is Tom Petty reuniting with his original band. Excellent debut album that's better than any of Petty's projects from the past decade.

[3LB]

Its hard to peg any one gathering in jazz as a "supergroup" since they all intermingled on each others projects. Especially jazz's heyday of the '50s and '60s.

[Woochifer]

Its hard to peg any one gathering in jazz as a "supergroup" since they all intermingled on each others projects. Especially jazz's heyday of the '50s and '60s.

Strange to think that Miles Davis "intermingled" with the Grateful Dead, among others.

[thekid]

Its hard to peg any one gathering in jazz as a "supergroup" since they all intermingled on each others projects. Especially jazz's heyday of the '50s and '60s.

I would agree since "sitting in" with other musicians has been part of Jazz history from the very start.