Wow, I didn't realize there were two Valentine bands either (I never got into any of them, but I'm sure I came across both). And even more confusing for me because I know one more: Broken Valentine ;)
I came here to mention them. I didn’t give them a chance for years b/c I thought the name was so idiotic. Then I listened and realized, damn these guys write great songs
Butthole Surfers. I always thought their music would be terrible. I listened to it and fell in love. They're one of my favorites.
Eels. Same story as the Butthole Surfers. I adore their music.
Cool, the ideas were interesting for me at least but the execution was dire IMHO. The songs ended up bumbling and unlistenable for me. And right now I just don't remember the melodies, lyrics of it it and maybe it's for good.
Before there was Eels, Mark Everett released music as E. Try searching that without knowing his name! I think there were only two albums, but Broken Toy Shop is still one of my favorite albums.
I took my then 16 year old son to see the Eels 4 years ago. He wasn't familiar w/the band but I told him he'd enjoy the show.
He loved "The Chet" and E (Mark Oliver Everett)'s awkward dancing. He also enjoyed the music but he still does some of the dance moves and talks about "The Chet".
I can never hear their name without remembering the time they opened for Guns N' Roses and Axl referred to them onstage as "The Pigeons of Shit Metal." Axl, for all his faults, is in the shit talking hall of fame.
I expected them to sound like Pink Floyd, because they were supposed to be the trippy acidhead music, and everyone I knew in the 80s who was doing acid was into Floyd and other psychedelic rock. Instead they were folksy bluegrass hippies.
Yeah, they're alt rock, but growing up listening to stuff like Three Days Grace and Crossfade, I had figured they would sound more like that. I didn't even know the song Drive was by them until like 5 or 6 years ago lmao, but I've known that song forever
Foo Fighters. I hated their name when they started. Now the greatest active rock band in the world.
Teenage Fanclub. Sounds like a K-pop band, not a bunch of hard drinking Scottish rockers.
Soundgarden. If I'd never heard them I'd say they're likely a New Age instrumental synth band.
Surfer Blood. Sounds like a California thrash metal band, not a jangle pop/rock dad band.
Bad Bunny. Not Puerto Rican Trap. Maybe an ex-Disney Channel actor turned pop star?
Daft Punk. Neither daft nor punk.
Before Daft Punk existed, there was Darlin’. It consisted of the two dudes that would go on to form DP and the guitarist from Phoenix. A newspaper article referred to Darlin’s music as a “daft, punky thrash”. And thus Daft Punk was born!
Yes, TOOL!!!!! I love their song titles.
I wouldn't consider those song titles to be misleading, mainly because I had absolutely no idea what to expect before listening to them. However, damn, they did NOT disappoint!!!
I'm listening to "Stinkfist" right now. ;)
A Flock of Seagulls, I only knew " I ran" for the longest time . Then I decided to look into more of their music and they have became one of my favorite 80s bands. My family laughed at me when I told them I liked them. The lead singer Mike Score, his hair. People didn't take them seriously. Which sucks because they had enjoyable songs. Paul Reynolds was/is a great guitarist.
Every time I see the band name Death Cab For Cutie I always imagine that one scene in Magical Mystery Tour where The Beatles are watching a terrible, old-fashion striptease with The Bonzo-Doo-Dah Band playing that song
Honestly I was the biggest hater of Beabadoobee, just because of the name, before I ever listened. and I won’t say I love her stuff, but I get the hype.
The name is still terrible though.
They do at least have that visual aesthetic. The whole Kawaii metal scene was a bit confusing to me at first, but I'm totally on board now. Great musicians.
And they are doing a joint concert with The Warning. I recognize your name for always rec them. I have tried a couple songs but didn't really hit it for me but don't know why. There seems to be a lot of fans that love both bands.
Blended Babies sounds like a hard-core death metal band....it's not. If you're interested, look up Kill Satan by them and see for yourself. The album is slightly NSFW (Big 'ol booty)
The Cocteau Twins aren't twins
No one from The Smiths has the last name Smith
There's no Native American / African tribe titled Quest
There's no happiness to be found in Joy Division
*****AND STP ISN'T TOILET PAPER!!!!*****
Arcade Fire.
I expected them to be a power metal or symphonic metal band. I didn't expect easygoing indie rock from them.
On the contrary: Dream Theater.
In my opinion, Dream Theater's music sounds EXACTLY like what comes to mind when I think of "Dream Theater". You expect epic progressive metal from them, and they serve you epic progressive metal.
It's funny you bring up the Goo Goo Dolls - I used to be a great big giant super fan. I collected all of their albums (back in the day when it wasn't easy to find on Spotify), and their original sound was *nothing* like what they ended up popular for! 😅 They were originally, like, a drunken punk garage band. And the name *also* doesn't fit that!
Vampire Weekend was not who I expected them to be.
Aesop Rock was *not* in fact a rick band.
Radiohead and Stereolab were *not* in fact the same band and both deserved a listen. (Hey, 90s were hard! You couldn’t just google stuff!)
It was KISS for me, I heard it stood for Knights in Satan's Service and saw them on the cover of KISS Alive (75) in all their makeup and they were not nearly as heavy as promised. Good but nowhere near satanic.
In my country, there was another verison: **KI**(nder) von **SS** (especially because they styled the two S's as lightning bolts, much like SS emblem.)
Cute is what we aim for is a terrible band name. Mustard Plug and Mad Caddies are silly but are some of my favorite bands. The Get Up Kids sounds like a ska band but isn't. I think we can all agree Skankin Pickle is of course a fantastic band name.
Skid Row.
Their not named after the area in LA and you would think with that name it would be an LA punk band but then you watch the I remember you video and you just want Sebastian Bach to sing that to sleep to you every night
Oddly, there was an LA club band called Skid Row at the time who had to change their name.
Plus there was a band called Skid Row in the UK about 15 years earlier with Gary Moore who lost out.
My babysitter's brothers had Molly Hatchet albums back in the 70s. I thought the album artwork was kick ass and expected something like Black Sabbath, but when they put on a record for me, I asked them to turn it off pretty quickly as it wasn't cool at all to my 7 year old ears.
i have that issue with my band, Juggernaut Drunk. had friends refuse to come see us live because they 'weren't into death metal'. we're an indie rock band with a closer sound to Tom Waits.
It's not really a weird name but I think "Michael Learns To Rock" is one example to me- it was just slightly strange name for me to hear personally but ive liked a lot of their songs now
For the longest time I didn't give Marianas Trench a chance because I assumed by their name that they were really heavy screamo and I was SO wrong. I missed out on a great band for years
Royal Blood. WHen I first heard the name I thought it was more of a pop band because of "Royals" by Lorde and didn't give them a chance because I'm more of a metal-head. They're now one of my favorite bands.
Nine Inch Nails - when I was little I thought for sure they would be a super heavy metal band with a growling singer
Silverstein - for whatever reason I also thought they were a super heavy like death metal band or something, I was old enough to find out by then but just never listened to them until my mid 20s
Failure is anything but. The Jesus Lizard, not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. The Reverend Horton Heat is a weird name but fits the band very well.
Gorguts. I saw the name and thought "Man, that's a stupid name", which is true for about 95% of all death metal bands. But then my buddy showed me Obscura, and I never looked back. One of the most innovative and ahead of it's time bands of the 90s, if not all time, in any genre.
For the longest time I kept thinking My Bloody Valentine and Bullet For My Valentine were the same band lol. Two completely different genres
I was about to say two whole different genres lmao
Wow, I didn't realize there were two Valentine bands either (I never got into any of them, but I'm sure I came across both). And even more confusing for me because I know one more: Broken Valentine ;)
*Very* different lol
Like Black Veil Brides and My Dying Bride - confused me a bit.
I was today years old when I learned those two bands are not the same...
Lol. Like guns n' roses vs Love and Rockets or Rush vs Mahogany Rush. .. although Rush and MR are kind of similar
For some reason, Vampire Weekend is *not* a goth band.
Ha! I first listened to Vampire Weekend through Oxford Comma and was like, “that is *not* what I expected.”
I came here to mention them. I didn’t give them a chance for years b/c I thought the name was so idiotic. Then I listened and realized, damn these guys write great songs
Barenaked Ladies — talk about disappointment.
Butthole Surfers. I always thought their music would be terrible. I listened to it and fell in love. They're one of my favorites. Eels. Same story as the Butthole Surfers. I adore their music.
Love Eels too, but I never found the name weird :)
It's just really different. Not what you would expect
Well, maybe. I just saw Novocaine for the Soul video on TV and the rest is history.
I think that was the song that drew me in also
I like them but they have made some music that ... I find horrible, Electriclarryland has mostly bad songs in my opinion.
I love Electriclarryland
Cool, the ideas were interesting for me at least but the execution was dire IMHO. The songs ended up bumbling and unlistenable for me. And right now I just don't remember the melodies, lyrics of it it and maybe it's for good.
Before there was Eels, Mark Everett released music as E. Try searching that without knowing his name! I think there were only two albums, but Broken Toy Shop is still one of my favorite albums.
...and I don't believe the E albums are available on streaming services, either. My CD copy of Broken Toy Shop has to get the occasional workout.
Butthole Surfers wasnt misleading they sound very much like buttholes lol. They had a song with farts in it.
I took my then 16 year old son to see the Eels 4 years ago. He wasn't familiar w/the band but I told him he'd enjoy the show. He loved "The Chet" and E (Mark Oliver Everett)'s awkward dancing. He also enjoyed the music but he still does some of the dance moves and talks about "The Chet".
Butthole Surfers were such an awesome band
AKA the 'B H Surfers'. Radio stations wouldn't use their actual band name, LOL.
Came here to say that lol
Eagles of Death Metal Sounds nothing like either The Eagles OR Death Metal
I can never hear their name without remembering the time they opened for Guns N' Roses and Axl referred to them onstage as "The Pigeons of Shit Metal." Axl, for all his faults, is in the shit talking hall of fame.
Honestly, knowing what I know about Jesse Hughes, he probably thought that was funny as shit.
I thought the Grateful Dead’s music was going to be waaaaay heavier when I first saw their name
And that skull and lighting bolt logo seemed to confirm the heaviness.
Same. I assumed they’d sound like Black Sabbath. Spoiler: they don’t.
Yeah Grateful Dead range from blues to soul to jazz to country to disco to psychedelic rock all within the same concert.
I expected them to sound like Pink Floyd, because they were supposed to be the trippy acidhead music, and everyone I knew in the 80s who was doing acid was into Floyd and other psychedelic rock. Instead they were folksy bluegrass hippies.
They Might Be Giants: All of the members of this group are clearly of normal human size
Look, dude. They said they *might* be. That's technically not a lie.
Doesn't matter how big they are, Triangle Man always wins in the end.
Well what are we going to do unless they are?
Incubus. You'd think they'd have a harder sound with that name.
Yeah, they're alt rock, but growing up listening to stuff like Three Days Grace and Crossfade, I had figured they would sound more like that. I didn't even know the song Drive was by them until like 5 or 6 years ago lmao, but I've known that song forever
There was a death metal band by that name too
Same with Ghost. Don't get me wrong, I love their music, but with a name like Ghost and face paint + costumes, I was expecting some real heavy shit.
Massive Attack's name doesn't really fit them at all.
10,000 Maniacs should absolutely be a loud, fast hardcore punk/scremo band.
Also, they're short roughly 10,000 maniacs
Fun fact, the Goo Goo Dolls original name was Sex Maggots. The ones that come to mind for me are Melvins, Deftones, and Butthole Surfers.
Melvins is a great example. You expect it to be dweebs talking about programming and chess club.
Foo Fighters. I hated their name when they started. Now the greatest active rock band in the world. Teenage Fanclub. Sounds like a K-pop band, not a bunch of hard drinking Scottish rockers. Soundgarden. If I'd never heard them I'd say they're likely a New Age instrumental synth band. Surfer Blood. Sounds like a California thrash metal band, not a jangle pop/rock dad band. Bad Bunny. Not Puerto Rican Trap. Maybe an ex-Disney Channel actor turned pop star? Daft Punk. Neither daft nor punk.
You think the foo sounds silly because you’ve never seen one. Who do you think has been keeping those horrific creatures at bay? You’re welcome.
Mr T. Brought awareness to them because he pitied them.
They keep scooping up those poor little field mice and bopping them on the head.
I still hate the name Foo Fighters. The music is good though.
Before Daft Punk existed, there was Darlin’. It consisted of the two dudes that would go on to form DP and the guitarist from Phoenix. A newspaper article referred to Darlin’s music as a “daft, punky thrash”. And thus Daft Punk was born!
* Neutral Milk Hotel * Diarrhea Planet * Butthole Surfers * Limp Bizkit * Hoobastank * Chumbawamba * Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets make ... psychedelic rock though!
Chumbawamba is GREAT
Upvote for Diarrhea Planet
Just have to say the band , cherry poppin daddies sounds so freaking CRINGE
Much to the chagrin to many-a-jazzheads, neither Cap'n Jazz nor The Jazz June are jazz bands. They're both 90s emo bands.
Sleepytime gorilla museum
Depeche Mode
Rainbow Kitten Surprise - great band but not what I would expect from the name
The Front Bottoms, except it actually is as dumb as it sounds
Not band names, but the first time I was handed song lists for Tool I'm like uh what? Tool - Enema Stinkfist Hooker with a Penis Prison Sex
lmao ikr, same
Yes, TOOL!!!!! I love their song titles. I wouldn't consider those song titles to be misleading, mainly because I had absolutely no idea what to expect before listening to them. However, damn, they did NOT disappoint!!! I'm listening to "Stinkfist" right now. ;)
A Flock of Seagulls, I only knew " I ran" for the longest time . Then I decided to look into more of their music and they have became one of my favorite 80s bands. My family laughed at me when I told them I liked them. The lead singer Mike Score, his hair. People didn't take them seriously. Which sucks because they had enjoyable songs. Paul Reynolds was/is a great guitarist.
Second that about Paul Reynolds; amazing guitar sound and proficiency.
Eagles of Death Metal
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Tropical Fuckstorm
King Gizzard is a wild band. Gumboot Soup fits their name, but some of their other stuff is just...wild.
Alice In Chains. Such a dumb name. Such great music.
Began as a glammy hair metal band. In that context, the name makes more sense.
Violent Femmes aren't actually a band of punk lesbians
They are three rather effeminate dudes though. Still love their music.
I remember I impulsively bought Skillet's 'Monster album, that I mistook it for Skrillex.
Of Monsters and Men Of Mice and Men
The Eagles Of Death Metal.
Had a friend who was telling me about the black keys back when they were still local in Akron. I just assumed they were a rap group.
The Black Eyed Keys
That would be Lil’ Keys 😆
Every time I see the band name Death Cab For Cutie I always imagine that one scene in Magical Mystery Tour where The Beatles are watching a terrible, old-fashion striptease with The Bonzo-Doo-Dah Band playing that song
Honestly I was the biggest hater of Beabadoobee, just because of the name, before I ever listened. and I won’t say I love her stuff, but I get the hype. The name is still terrible though.
When I was younger, I always thought The Grateful Dead was a metal band, between their name and skull/skeleton aesthetic.
Savage Garden was more garden than savage. *Much* more garden.
Your comment made my day
Echo and the Bunnymen
Sunny day Real-estate
Deftones. That should be the name of an early 90s jazzy hip hop band.
psychedelic porn crumpets I was so surprised
I'm going to have to listen I think
The Devil Wears Prada
That band sucks
Barenaked Ladies
Band-Maid - [HATE?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfORoQIqB3E) , thinking about Japanese maids you are probably guessing cute or kawaii, not this.
They do at least have that visual aesthetic. The whole Kawaii metal scene was a bit confusing to me at first, but I'm totally on board now. Great musicians.
And they are doing a joint concert with The Warning. I recognize your name for always rec them. I have tried a couple songs but didn't really hit it for me but don't know why. There seems to be a lot of fans that love both bands.
Venom P. Stinger. Great Australian postpunk. What a terrible name.
Blended Babies sounds like a hard-core death metal band....it's not. If you're interested, look up Kill Satan by them and see for yourself. The album is slightly NSFW (Big 'ol booty)
Really obscure, but I'll toss in The Hafler Trio. No matter what you might be thinking they sound like, and from whatever era, you are likely wrong.
MC 900 ft. Jesus L7
Daft Punk
The Cocteau Twins aren't twins No one from The Smiths has the last name Smith There's no Native American / African tribe titled Quest There's no happiness to be found in Joy Division *****AND STP ISN'T TOILET PAPER!!!!*****
There’s also a project called Post Industrial Boys which is actually one guy 😀
The Thompson Twins were a trio who looked nothing alike.
I expected Alice In Chains to be some super edgy and heavy band, but they’re so sludgy and I’m addicted
Arcade Fire. I expected them to be a power metal or symphonic metal band. I didn't expect easygoing indie rock from them. On the contrary: Dream Theater. In my opinion, Dream Theater's music sounds EXACTLY like what comes to mind when I think of "Dream Theater". You expect epic progressive metal from them, and they serve you epic progressive metal.
Strapping Young Lad The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza Better Lovers
It's funny you bring up the Goo Goo Dolls - I used to be a great big giant super fan. I collected all of their albums (back in the day when it wasn't easy to find on Spotify), and their original sound was *nothing* like what they ended up popular for! 😅 They were originally, like, a drunken punk garage band. And the name *also* doesn't fit that!
I had a friend who introduced me to the Cowboy Junkies. It wasn’t what I expected.
I thought Deer Hunter was gonna be such a bad ass doom metal band. Ugh
Squirrel Nut Zippers
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard … like how am I going to recommend this epic catalog to the uninitiated with a straight face??
.orbix Such a varied artist
Twelve Foot Ninja.
KFC murder chicks found today bout Tokyo ghetto pussy
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets is a much more "normal" band than their name implies.
Radiohead
Vampire Weekend was not who I expected them to be. Aesop Rock was *not* in fact a rick band. Radiohead and Stereolab were *not* in fact the same band and both deserved a listen. (Hey, 90s were hard! You couldn’t just google stuff!)
It was KISS for me, I heard it stood for Knights in Satan's Service and saw them on the cover of KISS Alive (75) in all their makeup and they were not nearly as heavy as promised. Good but nowhere near satanic.
In my country, there was another verison: **KI**(nder) von **SS** (especially because they styled the two S's as lightning bolts, much like SS emblem.)
Rainbow kitten surprise
Cute is what we aim for is a terrible band name. Mustard Plug and Mad Caddies are silly but are some of my favorite bands. The Get Up Kids sounds like a ska band but isn't. I think we can all agree Skankin Pickle is of course a fantastic band name.
Cycle Sluts From Hell. They are not from Hell nor do they ride bicycles. “Soultaker” is still a banger tho.
Oh, BIKERS!
The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza (Death Metal band)
FUUUUUCK, beat me to it.
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
Skid Row. Their not named after the area in LA and you would think with that name it would be an LA punk band but then you watch the I remember you video and you just want Sebastian Bach to sing that to sleep to you every night
S.P.E.E.D
Oddly, there was an LA club band called Skid Row at the time who had to change their name. Plus there was a band called Skid Row in the UK about 15 years earlier with Gary Moore who lost out.
My babysitter's brothers had Molly Hatchet albums back in the 70s. I thought the album artwork was kick ass and expected something like Black Sabbath, but when they put on a record for me, I asked them to turn it off pretty quickly as it wasn't cool at all to my 7 year old ears.
People have definitely gotten the wrong idea from the name Grateful Dead
i have that issue with my band, Juggernaut Drunk. had friends refuse to come see us live because they 'weren't into death metal'. we're an indie rock band with a closer sound to Tom Waits.
Tallest man on earth He is quite average
Rainbow Kitten Surprise. sounds like a girlie pop band right? nope. alt/indie band. i love them.
[Party Cannon](https://youtu.be/xUcmpIGBMDM?si=sjRr0z8AMeOt1Htd) uses the toys R us font. Wasnt expecting what i heard, but i like it.
Bowling for Soup is just as silly as their name and I love them!
It's not really a weird name but I think "Michael Learns To Rock" is one example to me- it was just slightly strange name for me to hear personally but ive liked a lot of their songs now
Party Cannon Isis Torche Band of Skulls definitely sounds like they should be metal, not indie rock Royal Blood Norma Jean
Younger me wouldn't give Oingo Boingo a listen because I thought the name was stupid. Younger me was a dumbass.
Screaming Orphans. They actually sound really nice.
Rudimentary Peni. They have a great H.P. Lovecraft-themed album.
Dream Theater sounds like a smooth jazz group to me.
LOL, for me, I find Dream Theater to be one of the least-misleading band names. They sound exactly like what I imagined they would sound like.
For the longest time I didn't give Marianas Trench a chance because I assumed by their name that they were really heavy screamo and I was SO wrong. I missed out on a great band for years
Murder By Death robbed a metal band of a fucking metal name. Still, one of my favorite bands
Panic at the Disco - worst name ever - refuse to listen
Royal Blood. WHen I first heard the name I thought it was more of a pop band because of "Royals" by Lorde and didn't give them a chance because I'm more of a metal-head. They're now one of my favorite bands.
10,000 Maniacs
Butthole Surfers.
The Cranberries. There was no cranberries. I was disappointed.
Average White Band is pretty funky and above average IMO.
Nine Inch Nails - when I was little I thought for sure they would be a super heavy metal band with a growling singer Silverstein - for whatever reason I also thought they were a super heavy like death metal band or something, I was old enough to find out by then but just never listened to them until my mid 20s
Savage Garden- I thought they were gonna be awesome. They weren’t.
Prince Daddy & the Hyena, now easily my favorite band of all time.
Thee Oh Sees (when they were still called that) - I thought it was going to be hipster garbage. I was wrong.
Failure is anything but. The Jesus Lizard, not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. The Reverend Horton Heat is a weird name but fits the band very well.
Skillet. Odd name beautiful music
This thread reminded me of my disappointment that Danzig's "III- How The Gods Kill" wasn't an instruction manual.
Lamb of God Mastadon
Misleading? Sound Garden and Savage Garden should have switched names. There is nothing Savage about Savage Garden.
Twisted Sister is misleading.
Lamb of god
Worked at a gas station for a few weeks .. had a Lamb of God shirt on and a car full of old Ladies said they love my shirt lol
Grammas rock!
Gorguts. I saw the name and thought "Man, that's a stupid name", which is true for about 95% of all death metal bands. But then my buddy showed me Obscura, and I never looked back. One of the most innovative and ahead of it's time bands of the 90s, if not all time, in any genre.
Urban Dance Squad
Rainbow Kitten Surprise sounds nothing like their name suggests
I thought the Pixies would be jingly fluff pop when I first saw the name.
[here is a playlist I just made:](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32Jg7TvyvF8rbelY0rlIbC?si=0638d6dc5e72473b)
Can’t imagine why no one would listen to these freaks. https://open.spotify.com/artist/3rpYd2cPT9B5bKyUiu5Sws?si=SNVOTfOaS_iagCaklpX6QQ
There’s also Wet Leg 😆
Not that the band name is stupid, but Ben Folds Five misleading because they’re actually a trio
Opposite: Radiohead has never, ever lived up to the expectations they created by naming themselves after a Talking Heads song.
Well, Cocteau Twins named themselves after a Simple Minds song, but there’s nothing similar between the two.
I don’t really listen to them, but Leprous is not a tech death band.