Underrated Rock Albums - Page 2

After listening to it for the first time in a while, I have to say Tool's LATERALUS. I know a lot of people, Tool fans particularly, that don't like it, but hearing it all together again, it really is a great experience.

Danzig 2: Lucifuge- A flawless, PERFECT album by Danzig. This is as good as it gets, with every song being perfectly timed, choruses that can't be any more catchy than they already are, and a voice that proves you can sing and still be metal. I never hear this album get love or the respect it deserves on polls and/or on countdowns.

Anything by Nightwish. I stumbled apon this band by accident and my gosh, is this band incredible! Great beats, riffs, string section, and a voice that doesn't let up! I have yet to see anyone give this band the respect they deserve.

Sentenced: The Cold White Light- IMO, this is the best band that america radio should be playing, but isn't. TCWL is a near-perfect album, that is suited for radio play. The songs aren't drawn out, the chouruses are catchy, and the solo's &#!@%^ rock! The way the songs are structured are perfect for a radio-friendly audience, just too bad no one is playing them.

- Fixxxer

It's only taken you 3 years to realize this. It's a grower, I know.

It took me 2 years to begin to appreciate NIN's "The Fragile".
"Downward Spiral" is one of my all-time favs, so that might have had something to do with it.

this is all i can come up with right now.....

Aerosmith/Rocks - this album is fucking great. like a heavier, drugged out version of toys in the attic.
Flaming Lips/Clouds Taste Metallic - easily my favorite Lips record. i think its the lead guitarist that i miss.
Failure/Comfort - Kurt Cobain must have listened to this record repeatedly before tracking In Utero.
The Beatles/Rubber Soul - fuck Sgt Peppers. this is the best Beatles album (arguably white album, but that shit ain't exactly underrated.)
Van Halen/Fair Warning - their best, darkest, most inventive record. Sunday Afternoon in the Park is pretty much responsible for Trans Am's enitre existence.
Radiohead/The Bends - back when radiohead bothered to be, y'know, an actual band.
guided by Voices/Propeller - there are other, better gbv records, but this one has some deep hits.

[/QUOTE}Shudder to Think - Pony Express Record
I will continue to hype this overlooked marvel until my dying day. There is literally no other album I've heard like it (although a few songs on their subsequent 50,000 BC reference it in a poppier context). The song structures are like nothing I've ever heard, from the precise drums that never seem to do exactly what you'd expect, to the guitar playing that goes from atonal to soulful, to the operatic vocals that hover unpredictably over the whole thing. On a first listen, it sounds so disjointed that you think the members got together and decided to write the songs simply to confound the unattentive listener - but the melodies slowly unravel, and the songs start to make sense.[/QUOTE]



Sir, to you I tips my hat. Its one of my favourite albums of all time. "So Into You" is right up there as a fave track but I reckon "Trackstar" is the masterpiece. A sonic overdose perfectly realised. Incredible stuff. So good to hear there are people out there who love this stuff too.
Donster.

OK. Just raided my collection quickly to add my two cents. The following are in no particular order and are horribly under-appreciated as far as I'm concerned.

Soulwax - Much Against Everyones Advice
Mr. Bungle - California
Shellac - at Action Park
Heatmiser - Mic City Sons
Those Bastard Souls - Debt and Departure
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Sebadoh - Bakesale
Jason Falkner - presents Author Unknown
The Grays - Ro Sham Bo
Fugazi - The Argument

...by way of qualification - underappreciated by the general population, not critics.

And I tip my hat right back at you, sir. This album is a perfect example of underrated, if it's even popular enough to be considered "rated," at all. Underrated by omission, I guess.

Such a great album. Amazing lyrics, tasteful guitar from Jeff Buckley's ex-sideman, Michale Tighe, and great violin by Joan Wasser from the Dambuilders. It's a shame the lineup only made this one album.

Incidentally, if you like Shudder to Think and this album, another underrated (by omission) album you've got to seek out is Mind Science of the Mind. It's the first 'solo' project from Nathan Larson. Wasser, Kevin March (drummer on Debt and Departure, the last few Shudder to Think recordings, and Guided By Voices late stuff), and Mary Timony (from Helium) round out the lineup. It comes off like the more soulful version of Pony Express Record.

Eleven - Thunk, Avantgardedog, and Howling Book
I shake my head that this band never got their proper due and the only exposure most people have to their sound is on Chris Cornell's solo record. This duo - Alain Johannes and Natasha Schneider - are among the premier pop tunesmiths of our age. Like Jon Brion, they get nothing but respect and worship from their contemporaries (Cornell, Josh Homme, who has them all over his latest Desert Sessions record), but they can't seem to make a dent with the public. The music's just very intricate pop/hard rock with soulful vocals, adventerous arrangements, and an amazing sense of melody and chord usage. Track down their stuff.

Killing Joke - Self Titled
Damn you, Sony, for signing these guys and then leaving them hung out to dry with no promotion. With Dave Grohl drumming here, they unleash the primal power of their music in a way that's never been captured on record before. Their production values have never been better, and the blunt fury of these songs just blows you away listen after listen. The perfect midpoint between leftist punk and the best of modern metal.

Mansun - Six
I'll never stop singing their praises. To me, the best Brit band in recent memory, easy. They had Radiohead's grace and adventerousness, but they tempered it with the wit and swagger of vintage Bowie. Just beautiful. Also, try to track down the British version of this record. The one here in America is resequenced and missing two integreal pieces of music, plus it contains an inferior, abridged version of the title track.

Ultramagnetic MCs - The Four Horseman
Kool Keith's best. Amazingly creative beats that still hold up almost 10 years later. And the pinnacle of Ced Gee as an MC.

The Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle, and The Shovel
Never got its due because of the cartoony horrorcore rep their first album gave them. But RZA took control of the album lyrically and sonically, and it's easily the best Wu-Tang related side project aside from Raekwon's first album. Intricate lyricism, stark beats, and a clear socio-political focus make this one a pleasure.

can't comment on the first one...but I was unfortunate enough to purchase that album. my dog wouldn't even shit on that one. Suffice to say that our musical preferences are different, but I couldn't find 1 thing positive about that 1.

Your opinion is very interesting to me.

Wait.

No it's not, and fuck you.

You gotta admit, Proyas, you shoulda seen that one coming. The good people trawling this forum and sharing their musical delicacies probably don't care that your dog is capricious about where it chooses to take a shit. What they do care about is the pricks who seemingly don't have anything better to do that hit the reply button and spew forth negativity and ignorance. Here's a chance for you to take that poop-free disk and give it another spin with the knowledge that several of the posters in this section have liked it enough to profer it as suggested listening. Tracks such as 'Definite Door' and 'Coming Right Along' are incredibly memorable songs. Remember to keep en open mind and your dog out of the house.

I love the Pumpkins, but I have a hard time listening to this cd. It has some good songs (I am One, Tristessa, Snail) but sounds a little dated to me. Ironically a song that didn't make it to the album but was on the Singles:soundtrack (Drown) is my fave Pumpkins song of all time.

Owned it, listened to it plenty of times, but didn't have the same love I had for Sweet Oblivion. Another album of theirs that I really enjoyed was Anthology which was many of the tracks off of their SST albums. Very interesting to hear the progression of their tracks over that period of time.

I would agree that of my picks, Antichrist Superstar sold well, but the other 3:Sweet Oblivion, Badmotorfinger, Album of the Year were ignored, at least to the level I felt they should have been.

A very good debut, I recall the rumours that a second cd by them was going to be made just after this one came out. It was going to be double album, have Staley's vocals on one half and Lanegan's vocals on the second. Alas, it was not to be.

umm...no, definately not "under-rated" but most possibly "overrated"

[quote=lupus]
Helmet - Betty
[\quote]
YES!!!!!

I was very disappointed by this album. I can't help but judge it on their previous albums (which were not perfect) but there is just something about this album...it sounds as if they recorded it completely without Staley's vocals and then over-dubbed him after-the-fact (perhaps after he proved he was healthy enough). To me, Alice In chains is a "raw-er" sound, flashier guitars and Layne Staley's voice conveys the anger/self-loathing/depression that I don't feel Cantrell is capable of. It sounds like Alice In Chains-homginized. The harminization of Staley's vocals over-top of Cantrell's left a sour taste in my mouth.

Is it still a good album, yes...but a sad departure for a band on its last legs.(how ironic/iconic that the cover of the cd was a 3-legged dog, something was definately missing from the mix)

Perhaps their best, but the single was definately not underrated.

An album easily in my Top 20 of all time, hovering close to Top 15. A simple sound from a simple band. Evan Dando deserves the "pop rock" mantle.

I never understood the hate for this album. It was a natural progression for the band. There is no sense whining because we didn't get an Aenima part 2. In fact I have always liked this album more than Aenima simply because it did not have as much "filler" tracks as Aenima.

I had the same problem with The Fragile. I picked it up and groaned. I wondered exactly how long Trent was going to "sit on the pot for" Either shit or get off. But it grew on me, once I was able to seperate Reznor from his music and just enjoy it for what it is. Beautiful dram-tragedy.

Awesome record. The only VH album I own and it gets considerable sping time. The sad thing is I got it for $2 in a used music store.

:-)

fair enough. I don't appreciate the band, and in particular this album. I just felt the entire album was weak(haven't listened to it in about 4 years) but I suppose I could give it another go.

a couple other that I would like to push

Sunny Day Real Estate-Diary
Anthrax-Sound of White Noise
Machines of Loving Grace-Concentration?
Sonic Youth-dirty
and finally
Korn's first album (can't recall the name) It is just unfortunate they could never evolve.

Possibly their best, I'd say. Billy Corgan's vocals are satisfyingly buried and function mostly as an instrument rather than a delivery system for fascinatingly erratic-to-consistently poor lyrics.

Badmotorfinger's a damn fine album, but I don't see how you could expect an album of that kind to do any better than it did at that time. "Outshined" established Soundgarden as a mainstream rock act, in any case. Album of the Year deserves to be forgotten, for the most part. A sad comedown from King for a Day...

No, they just inserted the filler into the context of the long drawn-out instrumental jams in every song. At least with Aenima, you could easily skip over the filler. Lateralus takes strategic fast-forwarding. Generally not worth it.

That one never grew on me. Same problem as with Lateralus, except that you CAN skip the weak material, because the good stuff (what little there is of it) isn't good enough to make you ever want to listen to the album.

Now that's a little more intelligent than making dog poopy jokes, now, isn't it?

Excellent fucking album, as were there later albums, which I'd argue are even more underrated (as Diary gets all the "foundation of emo" namedrops).

Badly dated and now hilariously angsty.

Great, but no Daydream Nation, Goo, or Sister.

I actually like Corgan's lyrics. Gish is just a weak recording, imo and could use a remastering. Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming is noticably off-beat (or the rest of the band is) and Corgan/Iha's guitar attack gets to be a little much. Of course, I also liked Adore, so that says it all for me.

No, I didn't expect more from Badmotorfinger at the time, but I weap when I hear people talk about Superunknown as a "break-thru" album and Soundgarden's best. I have shown a handful of people "light" by exposing them to the bludgeoning that is 'Jesus Christ Pose'.

King for a day was a disappointment to me. It sounded like they were trying to get as far away from Angel Dust as possible and, as I said, Album of the Year was just a Patton album with Faith No More backing his lead. I put 'Last Cup of Sorrow' up against 'Cuckoo for Caca' any day of the weak.

I find it easier to relax, close my eyes and drift away while listening to Lateralus or The Fragile. I suppose at the time I was more willing to let go of my angst and enjoy those 'tunes of acceptance'. Certainly those albums are a disappointment to anyone expecting/hoping for both bands to "kick it up a notch" As a Floyd fan, I can enjoy Lateralus' "wanking off"

but poopy jokes are so much fun. dog poopy jokes get the gold star.

As for SDRE, I didn't have the benifit of listening to any albums after Diary. I ran out of the expendable cash and resorted to downloading. So all I have to think of is individual songs, as opposed to albums. Having put them together and given them a listen, their last album (the name is lost on me) certainly is great. The Fire Theft is also a great album. I curse Lolla for not going this year, I was all set to check them out on the 2nd stage.

I agree with Machines, did you ever listen to that album that came after that? Can't recall the name, but I thought it was decent. I found an earlier album of theirs about 5 years ago...man it was just bad.

I don't know why I love dirty so much...It is actually in my top 5 albums on any given Sunday. Youth against Facism, Orange Peels/Angel Spit, Swimsuit Issue. I haven't been able to get into any other SY album, not for lack of trying.

I eventually ended up liking Dirty better than Goo (but not as much as Independent Star Trash, or whatever the next one was called).

gah....I couldn't get passed 'Bulls in the Heather'...that one drove me mad and cemented my hate for Kim Gordon.

Actually, I retract that statement. I was really happy with that album when it came out, but none of the songs have stuck with me...I'm failing to remember what any of them sounded like.

Yeah, that happened with me, too, although I was only relatively pleased with it, initially. Dirty was their last great one, but I still give the edge to the three before it. I think they included a few too many tracks on Dirty, and the overall quality suffered. I'm not sure if it's actually longer than Daydream Nation (originally a two-record set), but it feels like it is.

I'm no DaveB, but here goes.

Soundgarden - Down On The Upside
Their final album and probably foreshadowed what direction they would take had they stayed together. Not as accessible as Superunknown, but it's a grower and definitely worth your time. Favorite rack: Tighter & Tighter

King Crimson - Beat
Considered by many of their fans as the weakest of their 80's output, it's my personal favorite of the 80's era Crimson. The songs are shorter, and there's a noticeable lack of instrumental tracks. It might just be their "warmest" album. Heartbeat and especially Two Hands are beautiful, while The Howler is mesmerizing and terrifying.

Stone Temple Pilots - Purple & Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Decades from now, I'll still be defending these guys in my head. I still think that Weiland is an underrated singer. Both albums pulled away from the Pearl Jam comparisons (Tiny Music, especially) and I think they're great rock albums in their own right.

Big Wreck - In Loving Memory Of...
Not really so much underrated as unknown, Big Wreck were a great, straight up, Zeppelin influenced rock band. This is their first album, if I'm not mistaken, and their best. Lyrically, I hadn't heard anything like this before. That Song knocked me on my ass when I heard it for the first time and Under The Lighthouse is one of my favorite sad bastard songs of all time. They released only one more album, The Pleasure And The Greed, in 2001 before they broke up and the lead singer, Ian Thornley, went solo.

U2 - Rattle And Hum
All I Want Is You. Enough said.

Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
R.E.M. - Monster
Pavement - Terror Twilight
Killing Joke - Killing Joke (2003)
The Afghan Whigs - Black Love

Pearl Jam - RIOT ACT

This and the self-titled could be PJ at the peak of their prowess. While the self-titled was pretty streamlined and reliable compared to RIOT ACT, I find RIOT ACT's melodies, arrangements, and intricacies to outshine just about any of their previous studio work. There's a spontaneity and energy evident that comes close to the rawness of their live shows. And that's saying a shitload.

Noisettes - WHAT'S THE TIME MR. WOLF?

The debut album of the London-based post-punk band was released earlier this year, and it's disheartening how under-the-radar it ended up. I'm not sure I've heard a better album this year. The songwriting's some of the highest caliber for such a young band in its infancy, and there isn't a tune I would cut. So satisfyingly rockin' and beautiful at the same time, it blurs the line between razor-sharp fuzz and minimalist instrumentation in a fascinating, gripping way.

Kings of Leon - AHA SHAKE HEARTBREAK

Pitchfork doesn't know what the hell they're talking about (what else is new?). This is a fantastic sophomore effort from one of the most promising bands in the world. I've heard Caleb Followill's vocals described as being "gimmicky", and while almost every track's mood and style is characterized by his twangy southern drawl, the music itself is so buoyant and pulverizing that the vocals become their own mesmerizing character. The songs are short and sweet, and if you've ever wondered what a rock n' roll band outta a Bible-thumping, horn-dog graphic novel would sound like, wonder no more.

At The Drive-In - ACROBATIC TENEMENT

Their best album? Maybe. One thing's for sure: very few albums feature flimsy production to such an endearing and effective way. It just emphasizes the chemistry between all the members of the band and their individual strengths. Unlike the tunes on the solid RELATIONSHIP OF COMMAND, this album sneak-attacks you in unsuspecting ways. If you end up being startled, it's because tunes like 'Skips On The Record' and 'Ticklish' are frighteningly organic.

Everclear - Sparkle And Fade.... actually i think Everclear was underrated as a band completely. they had some amazingly powerful songs that were kind of overshadowed by Kurt Cobain and the height of grunge.

Smashing Pumpkins - Machina....yes, i am one of the few who think this is their second best album. i dont know what it is, i just find all of the songs very emotional.

Thank God for some recognition for the Posies and Frosting on the Beater. I've always loved this band and this particular CD was always a seminal one for me during the 90's. Burn and Shine elevates it above the generic by itself.

Wow, some awesome lists here.

I'll second Fugazi: The Argument. I've recently found it to be my fave Fugazi album.

I'll also add:

Fugazi: In on the Killtaker
Fugazi: Red Medicine
Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
Geggy Tah: Sacred Cow

Purple might be my favorite rock album of all time. Very underated imho...