Most underrated album in a bands discography?

sheroman01 · 20-04-2012 08:35PM

handsomecake wrote: »

youth and young manhood by the much maligned kings of leon. tragically i think the band themselves have forgotton how good this body of work is compared to their new stuff (they only played one song off it in the recent o2 show-mollys chambers).

the sex on fire brigade seem oblivious to their past glories too and it seems to have initiated an "old kol" vs "new kol" divide.

our generations rolling stones in my opinion.love them or hate them.
anyways ......my favourite song of all time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su-PfHBuuV0

I learned a new word today, maligned :P! It's the perfect word to describe KOL! Completely agree with you. t's so annoying how they're now percieved by their latest 2 albums, coz they're first 3 albums were so much better.

I think Arctics Monkeys' second album, "Favourite Worst Nightmare", was overshadowed by their first album. Both were brilliant, but their second album was much more mature, and had such great lyrics.

libertinemart · 24-04-2012 07:20PM

The Strokes' second album was a hidden gem. Nothing was gonna beat the debut, but if you go back and listen to Room On Fire now it stands up as a classic.

Stompbox · 24-04-2012 10:47PM

Yeah, 'Room On Fire' is a cracker of an album, I'd probably rate it more than it's predecessor.

skinny malinky · 24-04-2012 11:20PM

Very annoying how Room On Fire got written off so quickly. One of the most perfect albums I've ever heard.

JamJamJamJam · 01-05-2012 01:03AM

Pearl Jam's No Code. Maybe as good as the acclaimed Ten (?)

EDIT: Oops! Thought I'd clicked on "Rock and Metal", and didn't know any better since I almost never visit the Music forums. Oh well, still stands.

lewisdhead · 03-05-2012 09:24AM

Teenage Fanclub-Thirteen. Got a bit panned after the success of their previous release Bandwagonesque, but for me it has some absolute belters on it The Cabbage, Radio, Escher, Tears Are Cool, Gene Clark.

Gmol · 03-05-2012 09:33AM

Bad Reputation by Lizzy, a well made album with some cracking tunes all drummers should check out the title track it's an education. Some great song writing and tasteful guitar playing. Can't stop listening to this at the moment

loyatemu · 03-05-2012 10:22PM

lewisdhead wrote: »

Teenage Fanclub-Thirteen. Got a bit panned after the success of their previous release Bandwagonesque, but for me it has some absolute belters on it The Cabbage, Radio, Escher, Tears Are Cool, Gene Clark.

loved (and still love) Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix, but never picked up Thirteen for some reason, must check it out.

Mental Mickey · 03-05-2012 10:24PM

Load by Metallica. Some absolute gems on that album. Criminally underrated.

I_p_freely · 07-05-2012 10:18PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Bossa Nova - Pixies

No, much prefer Tromp Le Monde. Not much of a fan of Bossanova other than veloria.

Ash.J.Williams · 07-05-2012 11:37PM

I_p_freely wrote: »

No, much prefer Tromp Le Monde. Not much of a fan of Bossanova other than veloria.

Two great albums!

jakobgallagher · 08-05-2012 08:06PM

I love death of a ladies man by Leonard Cohen, it was produced by gun loving nut case that is Phil Spector.
What I love about it is probably what most Cohen fans hate, the layers of instruments, the dodgy vocals, it's no where near as polished as his other records.
From wikipedia "Before Cohen had completed his vocals, Spector barred him from the studio (supposedly under armed guard) and mixed the album by himself. For this reason some of the songs only have "guiding vocals" originally meant to be redone later. Interviewed for the 2005 documentary I'm Your Man, Cohen expressed disappointment in the record and felt that the songs "got away" from him; he also noted that it was a favorite among "punksters" as well as his daughter"
The only track on it that I would not be into is fingerprints (really dont like the fiddle) other than that it's full of fantastically dark love songs.
oh and Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg sing backing vocals on dont go home with your hard on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMG7sYpMaF4

Stompbox · 08-05-2012 09:50PM

Think Tank by Blur is criminally underrated IMO. The quality of the song-smithery was unfortunately overshadowed by Coxon's departure.

Rothko · 09-05-2012 04:46PM

Pablo Honey by Radiohead.

Even though it's my least favourite album of theirs, I still like it and I think it gets a lot of unfair hate from a lot of fans.

Blow Out is probably one of their most underrated tracks too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JWH3dXYis

Da Shins Kelly · 17-05-2012 11:58PM

Beck's Mutations had the misfortune of coming out just after the success of Odelay and so tends to be a bit overshadowed by it and maybe dismissed or forgotten by some. I think it's a great album in its own right though. It has some really great tunes on there. Dead Melodies from that album remains one of my favourite Beck songs.

Then of course he has Golden Feelings, Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot in the Grave; albums that have a lot of his really early, raw stuff like Rowboat, Schmoozer, Mutherfukka (early version of Mutherfuker that appeared later on Mellow Gold), songs that were early indicators of what kind of artist he was going to become. I'll admit that some of it is not the most accessible stuff he's ever done and a lot of it is just him playing around with sounds so I can kinda understand why people wouldn't be so eager to listen to it, but it's just that a lot of people don't even seem to know they exist.

column · 18-02-2013 09:49AM

Bloc Party's Intimacy. I've even started liking Ares and Mercury but they would have been better as instrumentals.

The rest of the album is mostly genius.

Blisterman · 18-02-2013 11:11AM

Surfs Up by the Beach Boys has been mostly forgotten, but I think it's a brilliant album. The title track and Feel Flows are two of the best songs the band have ever released in my opinion.

Tombo2001 · 18-02-2013 11:17AM

Suas11 wrote: »

Pablo Honey by Radiohead.

Even though it's my least favourite album of theirs, I still like it and I think it gets a lot of unfair hate from a lot of fans.

Blow Out is probably one of their most underrated tracks too
[]

As discussed on another thread recently, Pablo Honey is my favourite Radiohead album, to be honest the only one I would listen to.

I would have liked The Bends a lot in its day, but wouldnt listen to it much now. But I suppose its equally good. Thought OK Computer was a big disappointment.

Why? Its got good tunes and its reasonably upbeat. Is that asking too much?

Every other radiohead album I've heard since is just relentlessly depressing and light on melody.......sonic fusions rather than songs that involve melody or harmony......very experimental and pushing boundaries I am sure, but not in a way that achieves much to my mind.

Tombo2001 · 18-02-2013 11:23AM

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Good to see Pop by U2 get a few mentions. But I'm surprised that Zooropa hasn't been in there too. It's a great, inventive little album which they rattled off in a couple of months in the middle of the Zoo TV tour. It's like Achtung Baby's noisy little brother. The title track in an absolute epic. Numb, Lemon, The Wanderer, Dirty Day are all totally different to anything they had done and they deserved kudos for it at the time.

I wouldnt say Zooropa was underrated, more underpromoted.....wasnt released with the usual U2 fanfare.

I would have to admit that Pop was a very patchy album, cant think of a single song on it that I would particularly like.

I would see Unfortgettable Fire as the most underrated album in the U2 pantheon. I think its possibly their best, but Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby normally get the plaudits.

Particularly, Elvis Presley in America is one of their best ever songs IMHO.....

loyatemu · 18-02-2013 01:16PM

Blisterman wrote: »

Surfs Up by the Beach Boys has been mostly forgotten, but I think it's a brilliant album. The title track and Feel Flows are two of the best songs the band have ever released in my opinion.

much of their post-Smile stuff is excellent, and it has had a bit of a critical re-evaluation in recent years. "Friends", "Sunflower" and "Wild Honey" are all well worth a spin.

SilverScreen · 18-02-2013 01:17PM

The most underrated Cocteau Twins album has to be Four-Calendar Café. It was the follow-up to their masterpiece Heaven Or Las Vegas, their first for a new label and their only album to feature intelligible lyrics. It seems to get a bit of a cold shoulder by a lot of fans for either not being as good as Heaven Or Las Vegas or for the change in musical direction. I think it's a brilliant album and 'Bluebeard' is one of my favourite CT songs. The production was a big improvement from their previous albums and it gives the music a brighter and more vibrant feel. It definitely need more love.

Miguel_Sanchez · 18-02-2013 02:06PM

Blisterman wrote: »

Surfs Up by the Beach Boys has been mostly forgotten, but I think it's a brilliant album. The title track and Feel Flows are two of the best songs the band have ever released in my opinion.

Great album, contains possibly my favourite Beach Boys track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46IQu0yuJzU

libertine21 · 20-02-2013 10:48PM

Some great shouts here, especially think thank and arctic monkeys humbug.

For me it's smiths strangeways. Impossible to rank them but possibly my favourite smiths album. Maturity in songwriting and maturity in morrisseys vocals. Shame it was their last album, so much more to give as a band

Lightbulb Sun · 21-02-2013 08:02PM

column wrote: »

Bloc Party's Intimacy. I've even started liking Ares and Mercury but they would have been better as instrumentals.

The rest of the album is mostly genius.

It's their 2nd best album in my opinion. Very underrated. Once you get over the first two songs. I don't mind Ares but Mercury is one of their weakest tracks.

22-02-2013 12:50AM

Always thought, and I bought it the day it came out and still think, that "Antics" by Interpol is a wonderful record.

I also love the first album, but I could never understand why so many people just glossed over Antics, or even dismissed it completely, saying it was nowhere near as good. In fact out of all the Interpol albums Antics is usually the one I put on first.

column · 22-02-2013 09:37AM

Lightbulb Sun wrote: »

It's their 2nd best album in my opinion. Very underrated. Once you get over the first two songs. I don't mind Ares but Mercury is one of their weakest tracks.

Agreed. The b-sides/extra tracks are pretty good too. Idea for a Story, Your Visits are Getting Shorter, Letter to MY Son.

Andy-Pandy · 23-02-2013 12:30AM

The Violent Femmes "Hallowed Ground". Most people have never gotten past their self titled debut. I wont say I prefer Hallowed Ground, but it is the album I've gone back to more over the years. I love it, and it is one of my favourite albums of all time, it really influenced me when I was a teenager, and guided my taste in music.

Edit: I do prefer it.

Lightbulb Sun · 23-02-2013 01:04AM

column wrote: »

Agreed. The b-sides/extra tracks are pretty good too. Idea for a Story, Your Visits are Getting Shorter, Letter to MY Son.

I don't remember ever giving them a listen, must do soon. Their Silent Alarm b sides were great, that was a very strong period for the band creatively.

If you haven't heard the AWITC b sides check them out. I love songs like Once and Future King and We Were Lovers.

column · 23-02-2013 09:42AM

Lightbulb Sun wrote: »

I don't remember ever giving them a listen, must do soon. Their Silent Alarm b sides were great, that was a very strong period for the band creatively.

If you haven't heard the AWITC b sides check them out. I love songs like Once and Future King and We Were Lovers.

Will do. There's quite a lot of AWITC b-sides as far as I remember.

I would rate thier albums

Silent Alarm 9
AWITC 7
Intimacy 9

mosstin · 23-02-2013 12:54PM

Tombo2001 wrote: »

As discussed on another thread recently, Pablo Honey is my favourite Radiohead album, to be honest the only one I would listen to.

I would have liked The Bends a lot in its day, but wouldnt listen to it much now. But I suppose its equally good. Thought OK Computer was a big disappointment.

Why? Its got good tunes and its reasonably upbeat. Is that asking too much?

Every other radiohead album I've heard since is just relentlessly depressing and light on melody.......sonic fusions rather than songs that involve melody or harmony......very experimental and pushing boundaries I am sure, but not in a way that achieves much to my mind.

In Rainbows is light on melody? I'm guessing you just haven't listened to it.

Most underrated album in a bands discography?

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