Underrated and overlooked albums you love

[r_z]

Ok, what are albums you guys would say are very overlooked, as in...

...hardly/never mentioned and/or discussed...
...hardly/never celebrated on their respective anniversaries...
...hardly/never appearing on year end lists and the like...

...where you feel they are nevertheless top notch, quality wise...
...where you therefore feel like a wrong-way driver the way they're neglected or unknown to a wider audience...

...thus you feel they deserve more attention?

Wanted: a brief description, only one album per posting and not more than two videos / links to songs from that album (for others to check out).

Hit me.

[GulDukat]

A few come to mind:
Born Again by Black Sabbath:

Beautiful Garbage and Bleed Like Me by Garbage:

Most everything by Glenn Hughes:

Shangri-La Dee Da, by Stone Temple Pilots:

[MrLobster]

"Bargainville" by Moxy Früvous

Early 90s Alternative-Folk humour Canadian very left political... (and too bad that one guy turned out to be an alleged abusive shitforbrains).

[GulDukat]

Winger is a pretty easy target, but this is a good song from their underrated album Pull.


Good writing and musicianship, but a Winger album wasn't going anywhere in 1993.

[GulDukat]

I've been watching people dunk on Winger for...thirty years? And I have to admit, I've never heard a Winger song. I don't even think I was aware they were a real band, and not just some particularly pitiful straw man, for a few seasons of Beavis & Butthead.

I shall take your word on this and do a long-overdue listen.

I wouldn't argue that Winger were a great band or anything, but there were other later-day hairbands from that era that were much, much worse, i.e., Trixter, Nelson, Firehouse, etc. Winger were good musicians-- Reb Beach, their guitarist, in particular is a great player. But yeah, Stewart on Beavis and Butthead and Lars throwing darts at a picture of Kip Winger in the "Nothing Else Matters" video pretty much sealed their fate as being eternally uncool.

[Krazy]

WASP’s first album, self titled. Awesome, IMHO, early-mid 80s Metal That has mostly bangers and some other slower songs. Listenable from front to back:

[Erneuert]

"Wild Mood Swings" by The Cure - particularly if you add all the b-sides from that era into the equation.

I mean, what a way to end an album:

[piggy]

Huh. This was actually the first Cure album I bought when I was attempting to get into The Cure. It didn't work on me. Kiss Me really didn't work on me (though I fucking love "Why Can't I Be You?") and then, after a pretty good time with Disintegration, I pretty much gave up. Guess if I start again, it should be here?

It sounds like you have a hard time with the Cure albums that aren't very cohesive mood-wise, which kinda bothers me as well sometimes. If you enjoyed Disintegration, I would recommend Wish and maybe Bloodflowers. The earlier, bleaker albums (Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Pornography) are also very cohesive.

[MrLobster]

You know, when I was in high school, I was the weirdo of my (admittedly weird) friend group for not liking these guys. Now, it seems like my wife and you are the only people who remember they existed. Which is obviously hyperbolic, but I really have drawn a lot of blank stares whenever I've mentioned them over the past two decades—and I live close enough to Canada to be basically a far-flung suburb.

So now I gotta ask, if you weren't in to them, why bring them up at all in the past years? What's the context?

I got into them because I caught a free show of theirs at the Calgary Stampede when they were still doing Green Eggs and Ham... something clicked and when I'm in the mood, I still go back to their catalogue.

[poinoup]

Hopesfall - Magnetic North (2007)



- One of my favorite albums ever. Post-hardcore and space rock mix. I have no idea what Jay is singing about, but he sings his ass off. Made me do a double-take a few times with where they went musically.

Hopesfall - Arbiter


- It took eleven years, but I finally got new music from these dudes. They picked up right where they left off, but with far more maturity. Still have no idea what he's singing about...

Neverending White Lights -There's 3 Acts spread across 3 cds. A continuing "concept" about love, loss and life. Some of the most beautiful melodies and instruments abound. Many guests on the first two albums, including Nick Hexum of 311 singing on their cover of "Age of Consent". Most popular song is "The Grace" with Dallas Green of City and Colour, but there's a lot of gold.

[Erneuert]

Huh. This was actually the first Cure album I bought when I was attempting to get into The Cure. It didn't work on me. Kiss Me really didn't work on me (though I fucking love "Why Can't I Be You?") and then, after a pretty good time with Disintegration, I pretty much gave up. Guess if I start again, it should be here?

Oh, definitely not! I'd go for Bloodflowers, Wish and Pornography.

The b-sides from the WMS era are so amazing, though. "Waiting" and "A Pink Dream" both have that extremely melancholic sense of longing and nostalgia in the words that Robert Smith is so amazing at invoking...

[r_z]

Red Parole by Seluah is an album that fits this thread. Seluah is a band from Louisville. Discogs describes their sound as Alternative Rock, Post Rock or Experimental. It's very moody, slow paced and dark with great drumming. They only have one EP and two albums out, but they're all equally great. Here are two songs from Red Parole. They're basically the only two songs from this album I found on YT - that's how obscure it is...:





You can stream and/or buy all their albums on their bandcamp page.

[MrLobster]

"Silver" by Moist

[BRoswell]

[Cookster426]

October is the 20th Anniversary of Orgy's Vapor Transmission. Been listening to it again and it still sounds fresh as hell. They were way ahead of their time.

[halo eighteen]

And of course I will never, ever, ever forget this.

Such a national treasure, meathead lol.







Salt - Auscultate was a very random 1¢ purchase from Columbia House or BMG or something back in the day, and it still remains one of my favorite 90s albums. Swedish trio take on grunge with strong, low vocals from trans singer Nino Ramsby (then Nina). I think they had a second album, too. There's a raw simplicity to most of these songs ("Witty" and "Undressed" show more depth than most of the others) that I still enjoy all these years later, but I'm not sure they really made a splash on anyone else's radar, sadly.

[richardp]

Gonna go on a huge limb here and say it, but...

Metallica's LOAD and RELOAD.

[dlb]

One of my most favorite bands. Evan Patterson never ceases to amaze me with his musical output and Jaye Jayle is his best in my opinion. God knows how often I listened to that particular record:

[neorev]

WOVEN
8 BIT MONK


https://open.spotify.com/album/4wylB...QHqAgpgWKVVbgg

https://www.discogs.com/Woven-8-Bit-...elease/1289071


WOVEN
DESIGNER CODES

https://open.spotify.com/album/60QSq...TDKPXgRujMSouQ
https://www.discogs.com/Woven-Design...elease/4991322

[Jon]

Blind Melon - Soup



Their entire catalog is overlooked other than "No Rain". This is their sophomore effort, riding the waves of their performance at Woodstock '94. Beautiful production by Andy Wallace, check out the instrument separation in songs like "2x4". "Mouthful of Cavities" is still a favorite of mine to this day.

[WorzelG]

A-Ha’s Scoundrel Days album for me. Due to my eldest autistic son getting into this we actually listen to the first 3 songs every morning as part of our routine. It has actually grown on me more than when I was 13 or so when it originally came out.



also Manhattan Skyline spawned this comedy sketch I love

[GulDukat]

Blind Melon - Soup



Their entire catalog is overlooked other than "No Rain". This is their sophomore effort, riding the waves of their performance at Woodstock '94. Beautiful production by Andy Wallace, check out the instrument separation in songs like "2x4". "Mouthful of Cavities" is still a favorite of mine to this day.

Soup is great, but was a hard sell in 1995.

[bobbie solo]

Renee Heartfelt. Post hardcore, put out stuff in 2005 & 2006, but major 90's post-hardcore/emo sound. Sounds like Quicksand, Texas Is The Reason, maybe Samiam. Members of American Nightmare, Striking Distance & Count Me Out. Fell off the planet never to be heard from again.

[Space Suicide]

A wonderful album that is never really given its due. Some songs on it are popular but for the most part it is forgotten about and discarded because it was the first album since the original line up and it was after his "it" factor died down. I also recall hearing complaints about it musically. No idea why, the John5 material on this is great.



This album is always talked in the RHCP thread on here fondly but for the most part this is a lost and forgotten album due to the (mature, darker and better in my opinion) lyrical content and the absence of everyone's favorite burnout guitar virtuoso Frusciante. I love this album. So many good songs and I love Navarro's work on this.

I can probably post more but as far as recognizable bands and ones universally known this will do for my post.

[Archive_Reports]

We Never Learned to Live - The Sleepwalk Transmissions



Definite Thursday / Hopesfall vibes on this one. Great songwriting and atmosphere throughout.

[GulDukat]

Agreed on One Hot Minute.

This might get some snickers and eyerolls, but Warrant's Dog Eat Dog album (1992) was really good. Of course a Warrant album wasn't going anywhere in 1992.

[Shadaloo]

Band goes through hell. Loses a member to drugs. Ends. Comes back years later with an outstanding live performance. Deliberates and releases a new album.

Album features an industrial dance number single with silly music video featuring goths breakdancing. "Diehards" take the entire thing at face value and swear off of anything here and forward. "Puppy-pop bad grrr no like accessibility no SP without Dwayne"

Never seen a fanbase less deserving of its artists.

[tricil]

Band goes through hell. Loses a member to drugs. Ends. Comes back years later with an outstanding live performance. Deliberates and releases a new album.

Album features an industrial dance number single with silly music video featuring goths breakdancing. "Diehards" take the entire thing at face value and swear off of anything here and forward. "Puppy-pop bad grrr no like accessibility no SP without Dwayne"

Never seen a fanbase less deserving of its artists.

TGWOTR is amazing. One of my favorite puppy records.

[MrLobster]

I don't really know if this is underrated or overlooked but...

"Bible Of Dreams" by Juno Reactor

[OJ2005]

Jugulator by Judas Priest. It's not underrated only because Rob Halford isn't singing in it after Painkiller. It's absolutely fantastic. I'd say it's very close to Painkiller