Finding a well-known musical artist's hidden gems can be difficult. If one still listens to terrestrial radio, the station is likely to tend to play the hits. They want the money from the ads from sponsors, and playing tunes that everyone has heard is the best way to go.
But true music lovers want to mine an artist's catalog. We might like the top hits, but the real gold is found in what most others do not hear. This is especially true if a performer has been around for many years.
Ideally, a great musical artist does not work on a song long enough for it to end up on an album if the track is fluff. Lesser artists might simply be fulfilling their record company's needs. But a true artist always strives for excellence, and such is the case with these five songs.
Hidden gems from musical artists you likely love a lot
David Bowie - "Strangers When We Meet"
The song comes from the name of a project that turned Hanif Kureishi's book into a series, The Buddha of Suburbia. Bowie was originally going to just do the score for the show, but things were going so well that the icon turned the music into his 19th studio album. While not exactly Hunky Dory, the album is not at all bad.
The standout is this tune. But you have to find the original because the remake, which is on Bowie's Outside album, is not quite as good and too airy. The original propels forward and builds a momentum that is undeniably catchy and excellent. You could listen to the track for years and it would sound as fresh.
Tom Waits - "Georgia Lee"
Spare, beautiful, and based on the real killing of 12-year-old Georgia Lee Moses in California in 1997, the song is brutal emotionally. However, few songwriters are able to turn any given emotion into art. Waits' track aches and observes, and asks the biggest question of all: Why did the senseless killing have to happen?
The production of the song is perfect, though. With minimal instrumentation and driven only by a plaintive piano, Waits' emotive qualities are at their highest with the way he uses his voice. It is one of the saddest songs in Waits' catalog but one of the best-hidden gems as well.
Styx - "Snowblind"
If one goes into this tune thinking its about struggling to find one's way in the snow, that is partially correct. If by "snow," one means cocaine. The song resembles addicition as well, with its slows and starts. The chorus is terrific and loud, but the verses are far more somber.
While lead vocalist Dennis DeYoung co-wrote the song, he did not take lead vocals on the track. That was James Young for the verses and guitarist Tommy Shaw for the chorus. The difference in voices might seem slight, but it also makes a huge difference on this underrated tune.
Bob Marley - "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)"
Classic Marley, but maybe this song is a bit too on-the-nose for some who just want music they can chill out to. That was always Marley's trick, though. He can bring good vibes, but he often sang about poverty and rich versus poor. If one truly listened, they might be taught a few things.
This song has a singalong chorus, but not a necessarily happy one. Maybe the disconnect might be if someone doesn't know what it is like to be truly hungry. The empathy we have been gifted as human beings, however, could make one love this song and find a way to help those less fortunate.
Depeche Mode - "World Full of Nothing"
Lost among all the excellence that is arguably the band's best record is this tune which fits the rest of the album's theme. Dark and foreboding, it is a perfect example of Depeche Mode's ability to go goth when other more keyboard-driven bands are far too poppy. DM eschewed the happiness that one must have to produce meatless top 40 hits consistently.
The song grips the listener from the beginning with a sound that could be a breath or could be someone cutting wood, and either way, it is unsettling. The band then plays the rest of the tune sparsely which makes it even more scary. The world might be ending, but it never sounds so good.