Criminally Underrated Albums

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stocker08

stocker08

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By lesser known bands or by well known bands. Offer them up.

I have always been disappointed at how The Who By Numbers is regarded in terms of their entire catalog. It's a shame that Squeeze Box is the one song that seems to have been played off the album when there are a few really great songs ('How Many Friends', 'However Much I Booze', 'Blue, Red and Grey') that seem to have slipped through the cracks. Not to mention what I consider to be one of their best songs....'They're All In Love'. Personally....I think this album is up there with Tommy and right behind Who's Next.

I'd also like to say in regards to The Who. How did they manage to create the album 'It's Hard', which is absolutely horrendous....but manage one absolutely AWESOME song (Eminence Front)? Honestly.....I'm not sure there is even one other song on that album this isn't unoffensive to the ears.

And while it is still considered a very good album.....Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy I believe is as good as IV (Zoso)....which is pretty much universally considered their best album.

Lastly.....The Beatles. I'm glad to see that Revolver is referred to as their best work on some lists. There are some disagreements with Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road also topping some lists. I personally have never understood the love for Sgt. Peppers. But my favorite Beatles album just a sliver ahead of Revolver is Rubber Soul.
 

I can agree with you on The Who by Numbers. I understand why it's not appreciated as much as their previous works. It's a downer, and Moon's drumming was starting to slip. Nevertheless, the songs you listed, plus Dreaming from the Waist and Entwistles's wickedly funny Success Story, make it a terrific album. Squeeze Box was forced onto the album by the label because nothing save possibly Slip Kid could have been a single.

Can't agree with you on Rubber Soul. Just because it's usually ranked behind some of their other works doesn't mean it's "criminally" underrated. It's still a beloved album and viewed as step forward in The Beatles growth.

Lastly, since you brought up Tommy, I will listThe Pretty Things concept album S.F. Sorrow. The Pretty Things were a very solid band but had some bad luck that meant S.F Sorrow didn't get the acclaim it deserved. Delays in it's release meant Tommy had beaten them to punch being a "rock opera" and the psychedelic era was waning so it seemed out of step when it was released. Nevertheless there are some remarkable songs on it, especially S.F. Sorrow is Born and Balloon is Burning.
 

Frink said:
I can agree with you on The Who by Numbers. I understand why it's not appreciated as much as their previous works. It's a downer, and Moon's drumming was starting to slip. Nevertheless, the songs you listed, plus Dreaming from the Waist and Entwistles's wickedly funny Success Story, make it a terrific album. Squeeze Box was forced onto the album by the label because nothing save possibly Slip Kid could have been a single.

Can't agree with you on Rubber Soul. Just because it's usually ranked behind some of their other works doesn't mean it's "criminally" underrated. It's still a beloved album and viewed as step forward in The Beatles growth.

Lastly, since you brought up Tommy, I will listThe Pretty Things concept album S.F. Sorrow. The Pretty Things were a very solid band but had some bad luck that meant S.F Sorrow didn't get the acclaim it deserved. Delays in it's release meant Tommy had beaten them to punch being a "rock opera" and the psychedelic era was waning so it seemed out of step when it was released. Nevertheless there are some remarkable songs on it, especially S.F. Sorrow is Born and Balloon is Burning.
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Yeah....I didn't mean to say that Rubber Soul is "criminally" underrated like By Numbers. It's actually a well thought of album much like Houses of the Holy. It's just that most album rankings that I've seen have at least three or four albums ranked higher. I have those two ranked up at/right near the top of these artists discographies.
 

Too Low For Zero is Elton John's criminally underrated album.
 

stocker08 said:
Yeah....I didn't mean to say that Rubber Soul is "criminally" underrated like By Numbers. It's actually a well thought of album much like Houses of the Holy. It's just that most album rankings that I've seen have at least three or four albums ranked higher. I have those two ranked up at/right near the top of these artists discographies.
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Gotcha, makes sense. In fact I probably listen to Rubber Soul as much or more than any of their albums. I dislike What Goes On but other than that it's glorious album.
 



I still enjoy some hip-hop....but I did go through a short phase in high school when I listened to rap music. Still to this day....I swear that Straight Outta Cashville by Young Buck doesn't have a single bad song and should be on greatest albums of all time lists.
 

Frink said:
I can agree with you on The Who by Numbers. I understand why it's not appreciated as much as their previous works. It's a downer, and Moon's drumming was starting to slip. Nevertheless, the songs you listed, plus Dreaming from the Waist and Entwistles's wickedly funny Success Story, make it a terrific album. Squeeze Box was forced onto the album by the label because nothing save possibly Slip Kid could have been a single.

Can't agree with you on Rubber Soul. Just because it's usually ranked behind some of their other works doesn't mean it's "criminally" underrated. It's still a beloved album and viewed as step forward in The Beatles growth.

Lastly, since you brought up Tommy, I will listThe Pretty Things concept album S.F. Sorrow. The Pretty Things were a very solid band but had some bad luck that meant S.F Sorrow didn't get the acclaim it deserved. Delays in it's release meant Tommy had beaten them to punch being a "rock opera" and the psychedelic era was waning so it seemed out of step when it was released. Nevertheless there are some remarkable songs on it, especially S.F. Sorrow is Born and Balloon is Burning.
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Pretty Things were more dangerous than the Stones for a quick minute, or at least that is how they were advertised. Great underated band for sure.

The Who's Quadrophenia is my favorite concept album ever
 




tikited said:
Pretty Things were more dangerous than the Stones for a quick minute, or at least that is how they were advertised. Great underated band for sure.

The Who's Quadrophenia is my favorite concept album ever
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I'll have to check out Pretty Things. As for Quadrophenia.....I've got it on vinyl but I've never listened to the entire album straight through. I have done so with Tommy. I will have to do that sometime.


R.E.M. is an extremely tough band to do this for. Rankings for their albums are all over the place depending on who you ask. I personally think Monster ('94) is their best album which is not at all a popular take at all. It's consistently ranked in the lower half of the polls I've seen of their 15 albums. My next two favourite R.E.M. albums would be Life's Rich Pageant ('86) and Document ('87) which are lesser known since they were mostly before R.E.M. really blew up with Out Of Time (three Grammys) and Automatic for the People.
 

Great White - Psycho City and Once Bitten

Queensryche - Empire
 

Streetlife Serenade is Billy Joel's criminally underrated album.
 

stocker08 said:
R.E.M. is an extremely tough band to do this for. Rankings for their albums are all over the place depending on who you ask. I personally think Monster ('94) is their best album which is not at all a popular take at all. It's consistently ranked in the lower half of the polls I've seen of their 15 albums. My next two favourite R.E.M. albums would be Life's Rich Pageant ('86) and Document ('87) which are lesser known since they were mostly before R.E.M. really blew up with Out Of Time (three Grammys) and Automatic for the People.
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"Radio Free Europe" from Murmer was recorded 38 years ago today. REM was/is my favorite non-classic rock band ever.
 



stocker08 said:
I'll have to check out Pretty Things. As for Quadrophenia.....I've got it on vinyl but I've never listened to the entire album straight through. I have done so with Tommy. I will have to do that sometime.
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Check out the movie as well. Soooo good.
 

"All About Chemistry" is Semisonic's criminally underrated album. In fact, I think it's the best of their three, and I'm not alone. They had Carole King!:

 

Thanks for the thread! For myself it would be Radiohead's 'Hail To The Thief'.
 

Can you imagine my surprise when I noticed that the Lemonheads' album "Come On Feel The Lemonheads" had only a 3.5-star composite review on Amazon! That for what is one of my top five favorite records of the 1990s. It would be on my desert island list if I had to choose.

 


Section2 said:
Rush - Hemispheres
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So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw
 

saintpaulguy said:
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw
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Nice!

I've been on a kick with Cygnus-X1 Book 2 and my god is it brilliant even though the singing is not good.
 


Bad Gopher said:
Can you imagine my surprise when I noticed that the Lemonheads' album "Come On Feel The Lemonheads" had only a 3.5-star composite review on Amazon! That for what is one of my top five favorite records of the 1990s. It would be on my desert island list if I had to choose.

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Great choice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Bad Gopher said:
"All About Chemistry" is Semisonic's criminally underrated album. In fact, I think it's the best of their three, and I'm not alone. They had Carole King!:

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I didn't even know they had more albums other than Feeling Strangely Fine (which I own). Minnesota based band. I know that they are more well known for their songwriting, no? But thanks for the recommendation. I really like this song. I can't believe that I've never heard it before.
 

tikited said:
"Radio Free Europe" from Murmer was recorded 38 years ago today. REM was/is my favorite non-classic rock band ever.
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It's amazing what they were doing in the 80's. Way ahead of their time. If you listen to podcasts.....Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman have an R.E.M. podcast that's very funny. R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE:ME? Came after they did the same for U2. I never really got into U2 however. Love the song 'Bad' off of The Unforgettable Fire however.

https://www.earwolf.com/show/u-talkin-u2-to-me/
 
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stocker08 said:
I didn't even know they had more albums other than Feeling Strangely Fine (which I own). Minnesota based band. I know that they are more well known for their songwriting, no? But thanks for the recommendation. I really like this song. I can't believe that I've never heard it before.
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They've done a couple First Avenue reunion shows where they've played the entirety of their first two albums respectively. Waiting for them to announce the show where they play this one!
 

Bad Gopher said:
They've done a couple First Avenue reunion shows where they've played the entirety of their first two albums respectively. Waiting for them to announce the show where they play this one!
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Great Divide was amazing. I went both nights.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

stocker08 said:
It's amazing what they were doing in the 80's. Way ahead of their time. If you listen to podcasts.....Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman have an R.E.M. podcast that's very funny. R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE:ME? Came after they did the same for U2. I never really got into U2 however. Love the song 'Bad' off of The Unforgettable Fire however.

https://www.earwolf.com/show/u-talkin-u2-to-me/
Click to expand...

I’ve listened to every episode of that podcast and almost all the U2 ones. It’s great. Adam Scott is the man. The episodes where they actually have U2 on are brilliant. They need to get R.E.M. on, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Great Divide was amazing. I went both nights.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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... and i could be mistaken - have they done a Feeling Strangely Fine show yet, or has that been just talk up to now? I lost track.
 

hard to quantify what is criminally underrated. for example, load was a number one record while the cliff burton albums are generally seen as better albums (and are definitely seen as the only metallica albums when it comes to metal). but i think it is undrrrated by most music fans.

travelers and thieves by blues traveller would by my submission for a criminally under appreciated albums.

throwing copper by live is generally underrated.
 
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