We still seem to live in a world where female artists are underrated. Thankfully, the Grammy Awards featured many female artists up for top awards, but these were mostly pop stars with the same kind of sound. That is both good and bad.
At least, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are getting the attention they deserve. Let's hope that lasts as music can be cyclical and soon we might just get back to male-driven boring rock bands. Since many women were nominated for Grammys and sold millions of records in 2023, that does not mean record companies will revert back to boring retreads of Justin Bieber once sales start to dip.
Even if nothing does not change, we can still look back on the recent past and see some albums by female musical artists were greatly undervalued. There are many, of course. The four albums listed below are just a snippet but worth your time to listen.
These albums by female artists in the 2000s were hugely undervalued
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006)
Neko Case always brought the boys to the playground who were truly the cool kids. The ones who would wander off and listen to Dwight Yoakam when their parents were listening to Patsy Cline. That is kind of what Neko Case is, though: Patsy Cline with a mean streak. And we should be thankful for that.
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a bit of an intentionally odd album anyway. Most of the songs are based on fairy tales of the kind you would tell at night. Narratives of misfits who some how find hope in the dark. The songs brood along but Neko Case's voice and melodies are far too charismatic to be bored. These are tracks to hear on long drives across the country.
Two of the best songs among an entire album of winners are "Hold On, Hold On" and the bonus track "The Needle Has Landed." "Hold On, Hold On" features lyrics such as "I leave the party at 3 a.m./Alone, thank God/With Valium from the bride/It's the devil I love, it's the devil I love/And that's as funny as real love/And that's as real as true love." While "The Needle Has Landed" has "The needle touched down from a semitrailer/Took the name of your town from a sharktooth freighter/And if I knew then what's so obvious now/You'd still be here." Tom Waits is somewhere smiling.