Rock's Most Criminally Underrated Albums

I noticed an article on www.ultimateclassicrock.com which was a list of what they consider to be Rock's Most Criminally Underrated Albums:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/underrated-albums/

There is no mention of the Eagles here but I thought this might prove quite an interesting topic for discussion.

The list is not exhaustive and contains the following albums:
The Who Sell Out - The Who (1967)
Vincebus Eruptum - Blue Cheer (1968)
Presence - Led Zeppelin (1976)
Waiting For Columbus - Little Feat (1978)
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (1979)
Done With Mirrors - Aerosmith (1985)
Yeah! - Def Leppard (2006)

I only own 2 of these 7 albums - Presence and Tusk - and I personally disagree with the inclusion of Tusk. I have mentioned my feelings about this album before and while I do like a lot of the songs on the album (I love Sara, Think About Me, I Know I'm Not Wrong and the title track, for instance) I would rather that Lindsey had left his more experimental works to his solo career - they just aren't band recordings - but I also feel that most of Christine McVie's songs were weak and weren't as memorable or melodic as her tunes from the previous two albums. In fairness Stevie does more than her bit for the album with 4 great songs out of 5 (Angel is good but lacks something). I certainly cannot agree that is best digested as a 75-minute album as side three has three consecutive songs which I would skip - in my view That's Enough For Me is a pure throwaway, Brown Eyes goes nowhere and Never Make Me Cry is so dull that I actually sometimes think it's called You Never Cry Like A Lover or Don't Cry No Tears (I never get the titles of those two songs mixed up though. Can't think why!). In the past I have made a single album playlist for the album which I find much better.

I agree more with the inclusion of Presence, as Achilles' Last Stand is terrific by the standards of any Zeppelin album while I also think For Your Life, Nobody's Fault But Mine and Tea For One are strong while Royal Orleans is also quite good and quite amusing. However, I also think Led Zeppelin III and Houses of the Holy are somewhat underrated apart from one or two iconic songs, and these albums are better than Presence.

A couple of non-Eagles albums I would suggest:
Communique by Dire Straits (1979) - this to me is perhaps the most criminally underrated rock album. Often (wrongly) written off as boring, it contains three of my absolute favourite DS songs, these being Once Upon A Time In The West, Where Do You Think You're Going? and Single Handed Sailor, which is in my personal top 5-6, and several other strong songs such as Lady Writer and Portobello Belle. Mark Knopfler's guitar has a great warm tone throughout and the lyrics are up to the usual standard.

Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd (1970) - Musically very satisfying for the most part and not as impenetrable as is generally suggested. The side-long title suite is the only song that I would say is difficult to get into, with the shorter songs all being relatively accessible. The title track isn't perfect but the best sections such as David Gilmour's bluesy solo midway through are very, very good indeed, while the three shorter songs - If, Summer '68 and Fat Old Sun - are all strong, as is the IMO unfairly maligned Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, a song that is far more musical than its title suggests.

JCL, you are much better at analysis than I am. I thought that list barely scratched the surface. I agree with Presence but had no opinions on the others except I know Tusk divides people. As for the Who? Underrated? They are IMO the most overrated band of all time. (NB: I am listening to Bell Boy from Quadrophenia, one of my husband's favourite albums).

Predictably I agree about Communiqué. Apart from Lady Writer nobody seems to know it at all. Love Once Upon A Time In The West.

All of Knopfler's solo albums are underrated because none of them received the attention they deserved.

Glenn Frey's albums are all underrated. Don Henley got all the crtical praise. Glenn got virtually none.

Let It Be - Beatles

I worship this with a passion. I don't care they were breaking up while they were recording it. As well as a couple of very famous songs, it has One After 909, Two Of Us & I've Got A Feeling, three of the most exhilarating tracks they ever did.

Steel Wheels - Rolling Stones

First I wish to state that Exile On Main Street is one of the most overrated albums evey made. Not many later Stones albums got much critical attention. Steel Wheels contains some superb songs like Mixed Emotions, Blinded By Love, Almost Hear You Sigh & Continental Drift.

Hello, I Must Be Going! - Phil Collins

Forget the crass commercialism of You Can't Hurry Love. The rest of this album is almost as dark & cynical as Face Value - Thru These Walls, I Don't Care Anymore, Why Can't It Wait Til Morning & Like China which he sings in a cockney accent!

Desire - Bob Dylan

His 'On The Border' album full of Joseph Conrad or Garcìa Marquez shady characters & locations. Hurricane Romance In Durango, Black Diamond Bay & the magnificent Sara. What's not to like?

Poetic Champions Compose & No Guru, No Method, No Teacher - Van Morrison

Again some of the later albums don't get the recogntion they deserve. PCC includes Bright Side of the Road, a personal favourite in Alan Watts Blues & some instrumentals. Guru is very spiritual even by Van's standards & includes In The Garden & One Irish Rover.

Well, "(Music from) The Elder" by KISS is underrated IMO. Gene's story, which the album is based on, is silly. The producer (Bob Ezrin) was having serious problems at the time, so the band had to do a lot of it by themselves. But "A world without heroes" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. "Mr. Blackwell" is one of the most bizarre songs I've ever heard - in a fascinating way. "Just a boy" sounds like it's from the Renaissance era and "Under the rose" sounds like a troubadour song from the Middle Ages. Both of them brilliant songs. "The oath" is a hard rock song with brilliant melodies and a bizarre bridge. And Tony Powers's obscure "Odyssey", which they covered here, is one of my favorite songs EVER. Paul has said that the song was great when he heard Tony sing it, "because it was unique", but him singing it was "just tragic". I don't agree.

The Elder is totally unique. To this day I haven't heard an album that is anything like it. I think it deserves to be more than a "love it or hate it" album. Gene, Paul and Ace have all said that it's a good album, but they hate it as a KISS album. In terms of stars Gene has said that "as a KISS record I'd give it a zero. As a bad Genesis record, I'd give it a two". A bit

It seems that there's no musical style they can't handle when they put their mind to it.