hopefully some who read these posts will unearth a new (to them) masterpiece - i'll start with a healthy list of underappreciated masterpiece albums, not just decent records with a couple of good songs... complete albums full of great, and sadly, underappreciated music look sharp-joe jackson shelter-lone justice the name above the title-john wesley harding grace-jeff buckley hollywood town hall-the jayhawks trace-son volt poi dog pondering-poi dog pondering rites of passage-indigo girls the rainmakers-the rainmakers music-311 big red letter day-buffalo tom rumble-tommy conwell & the young rumblers there goes the wondertruck-mary's danish dust-screaming trees pleased to meet me-the replacements many of these are quite hard to find now, some i got on ebay after 150 of my cd's were stolen - if somebody checks one out let us know what you think
Happy Mondays "Bummed" Dexy's Midnight Runners "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels" the Clash "Sandinista"
That song was a few years later and, with the exception of the distinctive voice, has little in common with the soul drenched first LP. But I like the song!!
Outside the Simian Flock - Millionaire Love is Okay - Evil Superstars United - Phoenix Mental Floss for the Globe - Urban Dance Squad
Throwing Muses- Hunkpapa The Wedding Present -- Seamonsters THe Tragically Hip -- Road Apples, Day For Night Vic Chesnutt -- West of Rome Bettie Serveert -- Palomine
Some more .... Grant Lee Buffalo -- Copperopolis Sloan -- Twice Removed Giant Sand -- Ramp Luna-- Bewitched
1)Two very well known bands, but totally underated albums: QUEEN: Queen I and II (1973/1974) Masterpieces. That's all i can say about those albums. Some of the best Rock albums ever made. It's a shame that the only song from those albums who made it on the Greatest Hits 1 is Seven Seas of Rhye. Queen were still mostly a Hard Rock band (see Great King Rat), but also already had the typical Queen sound (as seen on the choruses for example). White Queen is one of the best ballads Brian May has ever writen and The March of the Black Queen IS better than Bohemian Rhapsody. BLACK SABBATH: Headless Cross (1989) One of the best Heavy Metal albums ever made. Who needs Ozzy Osbourne ? Tony Martin is Sabbath's best singer ever. No discussion. Fantastic choruses that stay in your head forever (as seen on the title track, exception is the not so great song Call of the wild, but when such a song is the worst on your album you know that you've done everything right). When i got this album new i used to listen to it for hours non-stop. Iommi shows why is one of the most legendary Metal guitarist ever, Martin shows that nobody needs Ozzy. And Brian May makes a guest appearance on When Death Calls (Best. Chorus. Ever.). Most bands can only dream of creating such an intense atmosphere as Sabbath did here (for evidence, listen to Nightwing). Not in the same league as HC, but still great albums are the other Tony Martin-era albums (Especially The Eternal Idol and Cross Purposes). 2)Some less known bands: MEKONG DELTA: Dances of Death and other walking Shadows (1990) Progressive Thrash masterpiece. 4 (quite long) songs of insane riffing madness. Killer version of Night on a Bare Mountain. Lyrics you have no idea what it's all about. If you think Metallica are the best thrash band ever listen to this (if you can get it of course). FAITHFUL BREATH: Gold'N'Glory (1984) One of the best German Metal/Rock albums ever. Highlights: Play the Game, Princess in Disguise, the more commercial, catchy opener Don't feel Hate or the ballad A Million Hearts. They should be mentioned right after Accept, but life isn't always fair. They started in the sixties as a Prog Rock band btw, before turning in a Metal band in the early eighties. Should be very hard to find, as it is long out of print ( i don't have it.) CORONER: Punishment for Decadence (1988) It's Swiss. It's Technical. It's Thrash. It rocks. TONY MARTIN: Back where i belong (1992) Also: Rondinelli-Our Cross,Our Sins, Empire-Trading Souls, Both The Cage albums. WESTFALEN: S/t (1985) SHOK PARIS: Steel and Starlight (1987) LEGEND: From the Fjords (1979) UNICORN: The Legend Returns (no idea) I already wrote way too much in this post. I hope that at least someone read it.
You folks going on about prog-metal and what not should be checking out the Mars Volta record, and pronto.
Poster Children - "Daisy Chain Reaction" Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Godfodder" Candyskins - "Death of a Minor TV Celebrity"
Duran Duran "The Wedding Album"...That album just blew me away in so many ways. Strong writing. A great cover of Femme Fatale.
High Land Hard Rain - Aztec Camera Gentlemen Take Polaroids - Japan From Gardens Where We Feel Secure -Virginia Astley Nightclubbing - Grace Jones The Dreaming - Kate Bush Sons and Fascinations - Simple Minds
I, too like Matthew Sweet's 'Girlfriend,' and most of what Sloan has released. Here's my list (in no particular order...), though: Mouse on Mars- 'Vulvaland': contemplative, distorted, semi-electronic dubby bliss. That Petrol Emotion- 'Manic Pop Thrill': edgy post-punkish whatever with a good pop sensibility from the mid 80s; never got the attention they deserved. Photek- 'Solaris': better known for his drum + bass efforts (and as a result, widely criticized for this album), but this is just some really nice deep house. Terry Lee Brown, Jr.: 'Chocolate Chords': moody, soulful tech-house on Germany's very worthwhile Plastic City label. The Jam- 'The Gift': most people like their earlier stuff better, but I think they're at their best (and most mature) here. Naked Raygun- 'Throb Throb': blows all the new school angst rock and "punk" out of the water. Teenage Fanclub- 'Howdy!': They're better known for their earlier stuff, but the songwriting and subtlety of this album is really something.