Classic bands and artists that were hard to categorize

[Willie G. Moseley]

Was listening to the live CD of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly, and it struck me that back in their heyday, it would have perhaps been difficult to describe Steely Dan as being in a particular genre of music--they weren't progressive, weren't blues or hard rock, weren't purely pop, etc.. Yet the stuff was quite listenable. There were numerous other artists around over the decades that defied categorization, and oftentimes their earlier material was the best source of such validation. For me, it would have been  Thomas Dolby's first two albums, early Peter Gabriel solo albums, etc. (may add others here as I think of them). 

The Atlanta Rhythm Section was once pronounced to be "the Southern Steely Dan" and IMO that's valid, although the ARS still had a decent Southern rock foundation.

David Bowie? Maybe, but he was more of a trendy chameleon.

Others (and why)?

Edited December 10, 2025 by Willie G. Moseley

[beezerboy]

Zappa.....

[bry4321]

Just don't call Steely Dan Yacht Rock

 

 

[Jakeboy]

Def SteelyDan.

I found Rush hard to really categorize too. Especially if you include the first album.

[Saul Goodman]

Focus

Early Genesis w/ Peter Gabriel 

[singlehum]

Kansas.

[Zork]

Kaleidoscope the 60s band with Davis Lindley and others.  Really good and hard to find a box for them.  Not a classic band tho.  Worth a listen for sure.

[Brooks]

Fishbone is a combo of funk/ska/punk/hard rock.

Same w/ Sublime.

80s era King Crimson obviously has a prog rock pedigree, but they also had a song based focus that leaned into new wave.

[Willie G. Moseley]

Tears for Fears

[BruceM]

The very first band I saw in concert setting was The Flock, in December 1973 at The Decatur Armory in Decatur, IL (my hometown).  They opened for Blue Oyster Cult.  The Flock would be characterized as a jazz-rock band, mainly because they featured a violinist.  They were quite good.  This concert also coincided with my first foray into hallucinogenics, so as a 17 year old, I was quite impressionable.  I don't ever remember The Flock getting much radio airplay, but they were somewhat similar to Jean-Luc Ponty, who did get some FM radio play.  

This is what they sounded like:
 

 

[BruceM]

Harvey Mandel was another who used to tour the college circuit in the mid-70s.  He was in the conversation as the new Rolling Stones guitarist in the mid-70s, and he was featured on Hot Stuff and Memory Motel from the Stones' Black and Blue album.  He had a number of good solo albums out at that time, and he was jaw-dropingly good in the small nightclubs he performed in at that time.
 

 

Edited January 2 by BruceM

[django49]

18 minutes ago, BruceM said:

Harvey Mandel was another who used to tour the college circuit in the mid-80s.  He was in the conversation as the new Rolling Stones guitarist in the mid-70s, and he was featured on Hot Stuff and Memory Motel from the Stones' Black and Blue album.  He had a number of good solo albums out at that time, and he was jaw-dropingly good in the small nightclubs he performed in at that time.
 

 

Oh yeah. He did some interesting stuff. This one always found a way onto the close out the day playlist. A bit of a change of pace from the outright rockers.

 

[seeker]

The almighty Hawkwind.  Critics just ended up putting them in their own sub-genre. 

[hamerican gigolo]

Love. The classic 3 albums on Elektra changed musically with each release. 

[Kerry Marchman]

Mother's Finest

[Biz Prof]

King's X. Not really metal. Not really rock. Not straight blues, albeit a bit of Texas blues.

But all good.

[draelyc]

On 1/17/2026 at 10:37 PM, Biz Prof said:

King's X. Not really metal. Not really rock. Not straight blues, albeit a bit of Texas blues.

But all good.

Beat me to it.  I came here to say this.

[Disturber]

The Mars Volta.

[RobB]

5 hours ago, Disturber said:

The Mars Volta.

Oy. I teched a show with MV and Soundgarden. During sound check my coworker and I counted 108 pedals onstage. They sounded like 110dB of marbles dropping from the ceiling with a broken air-raid siren wailing on top. 

Soundgarden ruled, of course. 

Edited January 19 by RobB

[Disturber]

4 minutes ago, RobB said:

Oy. I teched a show with MV and Soundgarden. During sound check my coworker and I counted 108 pedals onstage. They sounded like 110dB of marbles dropping from the ceiling with a broken air-raid siren wailing on top. 

Soundgarden ruled, of course. 

Haha. Sounds brilliant! 108 pedals is my new benchmark for a satisfying pedalboard.

I never got into MW's earlier stuff. It's a bit to weird for me. But the bands two latest albums are wonderful. 

[kizanski]

Donald Fagen's The Nightfly is a masterpiece.  That's how I categorize it.
I'm not much of a Steely Dan fan (I like their hits, but that's all I know), but for some reason The Nightfly resonates with me.

[The Shark]

Yes.  

[tommy p]

I saw the headline and thought "I'm going in there and say Steely Dan" but apparently that's who got OP thinking about this.  It's very cool to see some bands I love mentioned: Fishbone, Mother's Finest, King's X...

I'd throw in the Good Rats.

[Steve Haynie]

On 1/17/2026 at 9:32 AM, Kerry Marchman said:

Mother's Finest

Tom Werman wrote in his book and a blog that he felt Mother's Finest should have been more successful.

[Saul Goodman]

I was reminded of this thread last night while listening to Supertramp. So that's my answer.