Five bands whose most popular song overshadows a great catalog

Sometimes bands just do not get the just desserts. They form, play for a bit, get a recording contract, and get ready for a long career. Only, one song kind of ruins it all.

The song might be great, but it also might be something that fans want replicated and the band simply can't or doesn't want to do that. Heck, Pearl Jam made their debut album something that record execs wanted and have spent the rest of their glorious career doing mostly what they wanted. That is how it should be.

Other times, a band will make one incredibly popular song, but then the rest of the catalog will be full of hidden gems most do not spend the time to find. Such is the case with the bands that follow. All are worth multiple listens to many different songs.

Five bands who deserve to be heard beyond their one massively popular song

Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

Those who know, know. Joy Division grew out of a post-punk world, but their songs were always their own and kind of defied being fit into a singular concept. There is certainly very little pop to their sound, but "Love.." caught on so much that some who didn't delve into the group's catalog wanted every Joy Division track to sound like that one. They didn't, and many of their songs are better.

"Dead Souls," later covered by Nine Inch Nails, is a banger that borders on hard rock. "Transmission" is musically simple but the power of the track builds throughout. "She's Lost Control" pulsates and dances but speaks of a woman having an epileptic seizure, something frontman Ian Curtis suffered from. The group did not make a bad song, but sadly, due to Curtis' death, we did not get enough of the band.

Devo - "Whip It"

"Whip It" is a fine song and worthy of being loved, but the track certainly does not do justice to what Devo truly sounds like. Live, the band is even better. "Mongoloid" has a vicious bass line and jangling guitars. "Freedom of Choice" should have been just as big as "Whip It" with its huge riff.

The issue was the band appeared gimmicky and "Whip It" was a safer option for MTV instead of risking having music lovers choose for themselves what Devo had to offer. Unless someone took the time to truly listen, the band simply faded into other seeming one-hit wonders like Thomas Dolby.

The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"

Maybe The Verve was simply too English. Their early albums had a heavy shoegaze influence, and American fans were not ready for that in the 1990s. At least with "Bittersweet Symphony," there was the familiar sound of the Rolling Stones as the track borrows an ongoing bit of Stones brilliance to propel it.

The album that the single came from, Urban Hymns, has a number of other tracks that are better than the band's biggest hit. One of the more underrated tunes is "Velvet Morning" which simply drones on in the most beautiful way. "Drugs Don't Work" aches, and "Lucky Man" has a bounce you won't get out of your head.

Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London"

Zevon was one of the greatest songwriters many people have never heard of. Or, even if one has heard of Zevon, they most likely have just heard "Werewolves of London." He has many better songs, though. "Keep Me in Your Heart" is extremely moving and was written as a requiem of the singer-songwriter himself. It transposes into any sadness you might feel, though.

Other gems from Zevon include "Frank and Jesse James" - a song about the outlaw brothers, of course, but a story about 1970s Los Angeles as well, and "Carmelita," a tune covered by Linda Ronstadt that she turned into a top-ten single.

Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back in Town"

This musical artist is big everywhere else, seemingly other than the United States. They also produced one of the best live albums ever, Live And Dangerous. That is because the band was always better live than on their studio records, but they were still brilliant enough to be listened to by Americans for other tracks than "The Boys Are Back in Town."

"Whiskey in a Jar" is just as good by Thin Lizzy as the cover done by Metallica. "Waiting for an Alibi" has echoes of Boston while the vocals dance about. While Thin Lizzy only had one top-20 song in the US, they had seven in the UK and many other songs that charted.

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