A COUPLE of weeks back, we delved into the often disappointing world of supergroups, with the aim of digging the treasure from the trash.
If you missed it, head back to the Musicology page to see what we said (particularly the bit that annoyed Chickenfoot fans).
Here's another five supergroups that didn't suck.
The Highwaymen
SEEN as four of the big hitters of outlaw country music, it was no surprise Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson teamed up in the mid '80s. All had worked together in various forms over the years, so it was a natural fit. The quartet released three albums and a couple of concert videos over the next 10 years, with their first album being the most powerful collection. It's led by two crossover hit singles - Jimmy Webb's Highwayman (which gave the then unnamed band its name) and a haunting take on Guy Clark's Desperados Waiting For A Train. The collaboration came to an end when Jennings died in 2002 and Cash sadly followed suit a year later.
Monsters Of Folk
FUNNY self-referential name, given all four members are seen as champions of the American indie folk movement - there's Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and M Ward of She & Him. All have worked solo and toured together, with the band's first early jams taking place in 2004. But it took until last year for them to get their self-titled debut out. And that's where the band name takes an extra layer of irony - anyone expecting a folk record would have been disappointed. Instead there are poppy slow jams (Dear God), stirring rockers (Say Please), country (The Right Place) and awesome CSNY-style harmonies and My Morning Jacket-esque production flourishes abound, particularly on the dreamy south-of-the-border ramble Temazcal.
Oysterhe ad
PRETTY much everything bassist extraordinaire Les Claypool touches ends up sounding like his band Primus, but here that sound is tempered by his bandmates - Trey Anastasio of legendary jam band Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police. The trio came together after Claypool was asked to put a group together for the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and the performance was such a hit it led to tours and an album The Grand Pecking Order. Oysterhead were big on wig-out jams and weird sounds and Anastasio occasionally played the Matterhorn - a guitar with a built-in deer antler that worked like a theremin. They also crafted some pumping rock tunes and the results were always intriguing as these guys are among the best in the world at their respective instruments, but also found the necessary musical bond that stops a supergroup sucking.
A Perfect Circle
THIS alternative rock act didn't exactly start as a supergroup, but sort of grew into one. Originally a collaboration between guitar tech Billy Howerdel and Tool's Maynard James Keenan, the band eventually absorbed members of Smashing Pumpkins, The Vandals, Primus, Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. Across three eclectic-yet-fantastic albums, the line-up has continually shifted around Howerdel, Keenan and Vandals' drummer Josh Freese, with James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Jeordie White (Manson) filling out live duties. New material is expected this year. Their most recent album was a stunning collection of pro-peace and anti-war cover songs that featured a dramatic reinvention of John Lennon's Imagine.
The Raconteurs
NOT ones for sitting around doing nothing, all four members of The Raconteurs (known as The Saboteurs in Australia) have spread themselves across a number of bands. Jack White (The White Stripes, The Dead Weather), Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes, The Dead Weather, Blanche), Patrick Keeler (The Greenhornes, Loretta Lynn) and Brendan Benson (The Mood Elevator, The Well-Fed Boys) combined their sizeable skills to produce two truly awesome albums as The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers and Consolers Of The Lonely. Anyone who's heard those records hopes there's more on the way.
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