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There are many different ways albums land in the underrated album category. Some are popular ones that people hate for no real reason. Others are forgotten masterpieces that deserve to be known by people in all eras. There are also overlooked albums that simply did not find the kind of audience they deserved. Others keep being referenced as underrated and never leave the category!
As an album review site, we felt that it made sense to highlight some of the unsung heroes that should’ve been hits but missed the mark for one reason or another.
Here are the ones we love.
Watertown — Frank Sinatra
Despite being one of Sinatra’s most conceptual and complex works, Watertown has never received the attention or appreciation it deserves. Most people who’ve never heard the entire album don’t realize that it’s a whole musical plot divided into tracks.
The album is a work of art, but it has to be admitted that it’s so different from Sinatra’s earlier work that it just didn’t resonate with the public. The sound was meant to be rock-oriented pop, but in the most subtle way possible, and it was also perhaps Frank Sinatra’s raw work that never made it out to the radar.
Goats Head Soup by Rolling Stones
Despite Rolling Stones being a household name at the time, Goats Head Soup only attracted subpar praise. The studio album was released in 1973 with several funky songs, including popular ones like “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” and “Angie.” And then, of course, the album art was as dynamic as ever, yet the studio album remains highly underrated as a whole.
It could have something to do with the fact that the album was released after Exile on Main St., which is one of the most iconic works by the band. The legendary album set the bar way high!
In Through The Out Door, Led Zeppelin
This was Zeppelin’s last studio album, and typically, it should’ve gotten the most attention, but it somehow didn’t. This wasn’t necessarily because the music wasn’t good—because it was—but it had a lot to do with the transitional phase in the rock music world at the time. Disco, punk, and new wave were taking over, which may have pushed this album somewhere in the shadows shortly after its release.
Of course, these aren’t the only overlooked albums. If you’d like to learn more about historical and modern-day musical trends, check out our album reviews on SpoiledCabbage.com. From Selena Gomez’s new album review to Beyonce’s album review, there’s something for everyone—check it out.