Underrated Albums

Hole's early stuff
At first I thought they were just some trashy punk act riding the grunge wave, but then I actually sat down and listened... man, I was floored. One of those bands I’ll always regret not seeing live.

girls against boys - 1996 - house of gvsb
Man, we really need to give this record more credit than we do! 🙂
..
Just look at tracks like super-fire, click click, disco 666, and life in pink

The second track from The Saints, "Type O Negative." Anyone who actually knows them gets hyped immediately, but they really outdid themselves on this one—it’s killer punk rock with a massive amount of blues feeling. Every single detail is spot on.

Radiohead - Joy Division

Ethan Perez said:The Killers - The '59 Sound

An awesome album I only just discovered...

Solid record, but I wouldn't call it underrated. When it dropped, plenty of music mags and sites named it album of the year. It’s generally viewed as their magnum opus—for now, anyway, they're still young😁. Personally, I think their debut, Sink or Swim, is the one that actually gets overlooked. That one is great.

Here are a few albums I consider underrated:

1. Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love
2. The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
3. The Ramones - Mondo Bizzaro
4. Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest of Times
5. Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
6. Sick of it All - Built to Last
6. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
7. Crowbar - Broken Glass

I don't mean to stir the pot here, but:
1. Leonard Cohen's "David Bowie" produced by Phil Spector was unfairly looked down upon
back in the day—and honestly, plenty of those quiet Cohen enthusiasts still sneer at it today. I guess it’s because of that flashy production and the overtly suggestive lyrics (not like those kinds of themes were ever foreign to Cohen, right?), but if you ask me, it’s one of his strongest records.

2. Deep Purple - Come taste the band
That funk-rock monster that Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes carved out of Deep Purple is fantastic to me. It always left me feeling a bit heavy-hearted that Bolin left so little behind.

Caravanserai
🙏 🙏 🙏

I find myself attempting to wrap my mind around which specific album deserves far more recognition than it currently receives, yet, much to my frustration, nothing quite comes to mind immediately.

UFO - Lights Out - uf, that track stayed with me long after the show... honestly, that whole album is strictly for those who were actually at the New York City concert... Michael wasn't even in the band anymore by then, sigh.
UFO - Doctor Doctor (Live 1986)

Sean Doyle97 said:The second one from The Saints, "Eternally Yours"—anyone who knows them gets fired up by the first, but they really hit their stride with the second. It's top-tier punk rock with a massive amount of blues feeling; everything about it is just perfect.

The first record is basically a punk precursor—the second one arrived here just when we needed it most. Personally, I’d put Pure Mania by The Vibrators right up there with the early days of The Clash, even if it was totally overlooked at the time—aside from the track Baby, Baby, Baby.

gentlewolf53 said:The first one was a punk precursor, and the second one dropped here right when we were really into it. Personally, I’d put Pure Mania by The Vibrators almost on par with the early days of The Clash. It was totally overlooked, though, aside from that one song. Baby, Baby, Baby.

Sure, Pure Mania is good, but personally, I’d put SLF's Stiff Little Fingers on the same level as The Clash's debut. It's a seriously underrated punk gem.

Look, those were actual bands that knew how to play. Personally, I got harassed at the Student Center by various Pink Floyd fans and old-school dinosaurs just because I had The Clash on my jacket—but hey, at least I can be certain they actually heard them afterward, if not more.
It's just like my theory that the first punk band was actually the kinks all day and all of the night. Ha, ha.

gentlewolf53 said:Yeah, those were bands that actually knew how to play. Personally, I used to get harassed at the Student Center by various Pink Floyd fans and old dinosaurs just because I had The Clash on my jacket , but hey, at least they definitely heard of them after that, if not more.
Just like my theory that the first punk band was the kinks all day and all of the night. Ha, ha.

It’s hard to believe how divided everything used to be😁. Then the tech revolution and the internet hit, and now everyone listens to everything🙂. For me, it’s totally normal to have Crowbar, Saint Vitus, Voivod, MC5, The Clash, Buzzcocks, 4 Skins, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and James Brown playing in the same day... and everyone gets along just fine😉.

Oh, and here is another great underrated album: MC5-Back in the USA🙏.

gentlewolf53 said:The first one was basically a punk precursor—and the second one dropped here just when we were really feeling that vibe. Personally, I thought Pure Mania by The Vibrators was right up there with early The Clash, even though everyone totally snubbed it—aside from that one song. Baby, Baby, Baby

The other guys recorded in London—they wanted to turn them into some kind of pop guns, even though sound-wise they were actually closer to The Ramones. The album wasn't exactly a massive commercial hit, but they did it right. They took a solid budget and turned it into a genuine masterpiece that stays true to who they are. It’s one of those records I’ve been spinning since forever; it never gets old. Honestly, it hits me just as hard now as it did when I was a kid—even the acoustic stuff. I mean, I'm usually more of a fast-paced punk guy, heh. Haven't listened to Pure Mania in a minute, so thanks for the reminder. 😉

btw, I'm hanging out with my brother—older than me, total rocker, grew up on all those classic records. He got hooked on hardcore punk early on and still lives for it, but he’s also big on the stuff before that—old school punk is his main thing, obviously—plus some rock classics and post-punk too. Speaking of which, Theatre of Hate gets way too little credit here; honestly, they’re more forgotten than underrated. They eventually found an audience, though. Given how trendy post-punk is getting again, it blows my mind that nobody mentions them. Westworld is an absolute classic, and hey, Mick Jones produced it.

Sean Doyle97 said:...... acoustic stuff actually hits hardest for me—even though I'm really more of a fast-paced punk fan, heh. Haven't listened to Pure Mania in ages, thanks for the reminder 😉

Yeah, those acoustic tracks are exactly what stuck in my memory... and Pure Mania? Man...
I still remember them from back during the war—now I find myself digging through my friend's attic up in the Upper Town just to borrow a copy. Thanks, Nataša ( Into The Future by The Vibrators (w/ lyrics) )

here's one you'll actually dig 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ZKhk_e4QM

Sean Doyle97 said:By the way, I grew up with my brother—older than me, total rocker. He started with all the classics and old-school punk. Hardcore punk hit me during my formative years and still sticks, but I dig what came before that too. Old punk is my favorite, obviously, along with some rock classics and post-punk. People here tend to overlook them, or rather, they've been forgotten. They eventually got some play, though—Theatre of Hate. Given how trendy post-punk is getting again, it’s weird that nobody mentions them. Westworld is a classic, and Mick Jones produced it, for what it's worth.

For me, the best post-punk is Wire (Pink Flag), Gang of Four (Entertainment!), and Joy Division (Joy Division). Absolute classics.🙏