Formed: 1992

How I became a fan

Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland. Such perfect singing and melody and I was converted straight away. With a tune like this their original material could never be bad!! I then heard The Crystal Lake, borrowed The Sophtware Slump and saw them live in very quick succession.

Comments

A personal choice here as there's definitely scope for argument that Grandaddy haven't done enough to deserve a place in a top ten. I can see what people would mean, but I hope everyone who knows their stuff can agree that they're a pretty decent band at least!

You'd be hard-pressed to deny that Jason's vocals are incredible. The Sophtware Slump is also a very, very strong album, and Under the Western Freeway has some wonderful moments. Singles such as Summer Here Kids and A.M. 180 form an interesting contrast to their quieter tunes.

The band seemed to have had difficulty deciding a new direction after The Sophtware Slump. Sumday was a perfectly fine album but I couldn't shake the feeling that the band were not making much meaningful progress and were beginning to stagnate. It therefore was probably for the best that Grandaddy decided to split up, and final album Just Like The Fambly Cat brilliantly encapsulated all that was good about them, harking back to their early brilliance yet still being all-new. And now since reforming in 2012 hopefully they've regained their mojo and will keep up the quality with their new material.

Bad points

I would cite a lack of variety and strength in depth. Grandaddy are a good band but are liable to be relegated from this list when I next get into someone in a massive way. Sorry guys - you're very good but not quite life changing.

Ten songs you really should know before you judge this band

Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland (2000)
A.M. 180 (1997)
Elevate Myself (2006)
Everything Beautiful Is Far Away (1997)
He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot (2000)
Hewlett's Daughter (2000)
Now It's On (2003)
Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake (2003)
Summer Here Kids (1997)
The Crystal Lake (2000)

Assessment

Tunes: 9/10
Accessibility: 7/10
Originality: 7/10
Diversity: 7/10
Rockability: 8/10
Balladability: 9/10
Consistency (of b-sides): 8/10
Consistency (over career): 8/10
Live show: 8/10
Influence: 6/10
Vocals: 9/10
Interestingness: 6/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Work ethic: 6/10
Image: 7/10

Final judgement: 8.5/10

The bottom line

Grandaddy made a great album, a (partly) incredible debut and never stopped writing top tunes. They'll never be the best band in the world, but they're still pretty good!