John Cale

John Cale is one of the most underappreciated members of the R'n'R Hall of Fame. His discography is stylistically diverse and holds many gems for intrepid listeners. Cale's album "Fear" is one of the best rock albums of the 1970s. His more recent work uses electronic music in interesting ways.

Suede

It's fascinating how many Bowie devotees seem to be obsessed with a very narrow portion of his catalog and have created entire careers from a small sliver of influence.  Nevertheless, Suede kicked up some good noise, especially on their earlier albums, while their later work has been more melancholy and delicate.

Tom Waits... for no one

 Tom Waits - the man, the myth, the legend. It's kind of similar to the way I view Dylan - you can dislike the voice or particular periods of their career, but you just can't ignore the songs. And both are master craftsmen in that category. Looking back over Waits' body of work, it seems that he sticks with a certain sound for about 3 albums, then moves on to something new. And that ain't easy to do while still maintaining the high quality of tunes.

The The

The The is the musical project of Matt Johnson. To listen to the first album, one would never guess he'd become an excellent songwriter, sign to a major label, get radio airplay and be in MTV rotation. Nor would anyone have guessed he'd record a fairly straight album of Hank Williams tunes.