The Cross were an excellent band

I've only heard one album by them (Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know). It's so good that I suppose the others can't be crap either.

Why didn't they become famous? They have everything that is needed:

- handsome frontman
- strong lead voice
- catchy guitar riffs
- a name that is easy to remember
- both rocking and beautiful songs
- many songs that would have become hits for any already famous band

There are so many really famous rock bands that play the same type of music that The Cross do. Just take ZZ Top as an example. They don't come even close to The Cross in my opinion, but still they are concidred legends, while no-one has even heard of Roger and the guys.

Probably because it has always been 'a side-project of Queen-drummer Roger Taylor' to the public. Same reason why most of the solo-stuff doesn't sell well, people rather have the whole Queen-group then 1 member with some backinggroup.

They sure were. A good gritty rock band who deserved more publicity than they had.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Whisperer wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I've only heard one album by them (Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know). It's so good that I suppose the others can't be crap either.[/QUOTE]

Well if you've only heard one album then this link should interest you - tho you really should be buying the stuff where possible.

http://www.thecross.nm.ru/music_nd.html

Dave

And btw... The Cross are still an excellent band

They didn't become famous because they were on side of all the things mentioned earlier, terribly dated, bland and average in every aspect. There.

*wants to hear "Blue Rock" soooo bad...*

The Cross did some really interesting things, but ZZ Top far exceed The Cross. Um, no less an authority than Jimi Hendrix even said Billy Gibbons is a great guitar player. The Bo Diddley influence is a solid mark of respect. For any band to crank out great music consistently for 30 years-- let alone the 5 or so that the Cross were together-- speaks volumes about ZZ Top's unchanging greatness. Sure, I think Roger's a great drummer, but let's be real here.

"My heads's in Mississipp1..."

any of you been to Clarksdale? To the Delta Blues Museum, heavily supported by musicians like ZZ Top? Drive just outside town and you'll find a Mississippi crossroads where four cornfields come together, and there you'll find a cabin which was the boyhood home of Muddy Waters. Great road trip!

I also forgot to mention one more thing:

They realeased a single with Freddie Mercury and still no-one cared about them!

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Whisperer wrote: [/QUOTENAME]

There are so many really famous rock bands that play the same type of music that The Cross do. [QUOTE]

There you go, you give the answer yourself.
The music lacks any kind of originality, has some average tunes, doesn't stand out in technical stuff, no "catchy" riffs and the list goes on......

I can't think of anyone who had great success with a "side project" such as The Cross or anyone who went solo after his band split up. They can't keep up with the success that their band had. The Beatles, The Clash, The Verve and many others... many of them went solo afterwards and it wasn't the same.
I can actually just think of one artist who has now more success than he did while he was in a band and that's Robbie Williams. And he wasn't even the musician in the band.
Well, he still isn't quite a musician, he's rather an entertainer and singer.

Yes, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Robbie Williams are the only ones with big successes after their band/group. Can't think of any other real major artists right now... Of course there's stuff like Lionel Richie, but he was only really big in the 80's.

"They realeased a single with Freddie Mercury and still no-one cared about them!"

I don't know about a single with Freddie Mercury. Freddie sang HFE on the album version, the single version had Roger on lead vocals.

Sorry, but The Cross were average in every way.

In response to Sonja and Pim:

Dave Grohl

And in response to the qustion concerning The Cross:

As other people have said, though in slightly less precise terms, The Cross were absolutely diabloically shite, which is why they never made it in any way.

"Just take ZZ Top as an example. They don't come even close to The Cross in my opinion, but still they are concidred legends, while no-one has even heard of Roger and the guys."

Now I quite like The Cross, but this is complete and utter bollocks. Have you actually listened to ZZ Top's albums, or are you making a judgement based purely on having heard just a couple of songs?

'Tush', 'La Grange', 'Gimme All Your Loving', 'Sharp Dressed Man', 'Piece' - these tracks, as well as the majority of their output over the last 30 years, is of a very high standard - better than 99% of The Cross' three albums.