It’s been around for a while, dropped out of focus a bit, and then came back strong with a vengeance. As some definitions go, power pop has that classic rock instrumentation with harder edges, but with a focus on a great melody and harmony hooks that abound.
Many pinpoint the genre's birth with that still-great Beatles single, “Paperback Writer,” and cite such great rockers as the Who, and Kinks as its progenitors. Later on, names that made it big, like Cheap Trick, the Cars, Todd Rundgren, and the Knack (of "My Sharona" fame) were bands and artists that made it quite big with power pop.
Yet, there are those artists who made power pop what it is today. The groups had other albums hailed with some of their best work remaining in the shadows or even underrated, sometimes by the critics. They certainly deserve more respect and love and can also serve as a great introduction to the genre.
Eight underrated or forgotten power pop albums that everybody should know about
Big Star - #1
For all the true fans of the genre, this is the album that represents the basis on which the term power pop was initially based on. Created by Alex Chilton of the Box Tops (who had a huge hit with “The Letter”) and Chris Bell, another melodic rock prodigy, Big Star unfortunately never made it big nor became stars. The band did acquire a staunch cult following at the time that remains to this day, with both Chilton and Bell leaving us too early.
The album (1972) bombed in sales initially, yet even the numerous reissues didn’t do much for the band sales-wise, even though it is filled with melody-perfect songs that ring fresh even to this day.