Seven criminally underrated albums by icons of rock

Ok, so even the biggest names in rock and music in general are bound to make a flop. Some rarely stray away, others have just a few flashes of brilliance.

Still, greats are greats for a good reason, and as it happens, some of their work is lambasted by the critics and/or ignored by the audiences even though those underrated albums included some brilliant music that later was, or still needs to be reevaluated.

The reasons for such a treatment can vary - it could be too high or different expectations, a different turn in the artist's approach, the musical trends at that moment in time, or even some minute details that don’t really matter.

Seven underrated albums by icons of rock music

Whatever the case is, the seven albums bellow got a lukewarm or even a very cold shoulder the first time around, but late on proved that they are gems that need to be cherished.

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

One of the reasons this album raised confusion the first time around may lie with the fact that there were a few versions of it, and it is hard to say which one is really the original one.

The American one included not only the six songs that were prepared for the freewheeling psych fool-around that was the film of the same name (itself one of the reasons the album received flak) but also everything the Beatles recorded at the time - from “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” to ‘Baby You’re A Rich” Man and “Hello Goodbye”. The English (and some other places) version was just the six ‘original’ songs as a double 7” EP.

Still, even if you just listen to the paired-down version, how can you skip an album that includes greats like ‘I’m The Walrus” or “Fool On The Hill?”

The Doors - Strange Days (1967)

When The Doors burst on the scene in 1967 with their self-titled album they set out not one, but at least three other musical trends that are traced to these days. The expectations were set sky-high. They quickly followed it with this album, which some critics and part of the audience felt was a bit of a let-down or more of the same.

What they failed to notice was that the band was enriching its sound, making it more diversified and complex with all the 10 songs here proving to be true classics.

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline (1969)

At some point in the 1960s, Bob Dylan decided he didn’t want to be just a folk, protest troubadour, but everything that pleases his musical (and intellectual) fancy. Those moves were more often than not controversial, both with critics and audiences, only later on to be re-examined and considered as masterworks.

That fate garnished this album, the one Dylan decided to go full-on country, even adjusting his voice (he was always a true magpie) for it. Yet, as was the case with many other of his albums the first, almost knee-jerk reaction turned into praise, as this album fully deserves it.

Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup (1973)

After they released such a trio of classic albums that were Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, and Exile On Main Street, there was practically no chance that anything the Stones came up with was going to be received as well as those albums were. In some ways, it was no wonder that this album received such a cold, Arctic-freezing shoulder that it did at the time.

Even though the album included only one big single in “Angie” (possibly the weakest rack here), it later on turned out to be more than just a solid Stones album, with hidden gems all over it.

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (1979)

Tusk was another case of coming up with an album after the artist/band released something that was considered their pinnacle, in this case, Rumours.

The band had a free hand to do whatever they wanted. That is exactly what they did, coming up with a 20-track double album that was all over the place. All those places they visited here were great and full of pop inventiveness that was never fully discovered first time around but turned out to be a true classic nevertheless.

R.E.M. - Fables of Reconstruction (1985)

After their first two albums, R.E.M. was becoming a sort of indie rock icon, possibly something the band members didn’t expect themselves.

Deciding, to rely a bit more on their love of folk and roots music, this album turned out to be a bit too dark and moody for some tastes. The record was on a whole actually a more complex and detailed effort than the previous two albums and a preview of how great R.E.M. was yet to become.

Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (1987)

Yet another case of a follow-up album after a big one, not raising expectations, in this case, both with critics and the fans. Born In The U.S.A., this album’s predecessor is, with its 30 million copies Springsteen’s best-selling album, boasting a big-screen production and some of his best-known tunes.

Compared to it, this follow-up was quite a low-key affair, but included his usual brilliant songwriting, with gems like “Tougher Than The Rest,” without a single dud in sight. Still, it seems that both the critics and the audiences expected Born In The U.S.A. part two, not giving this album the fair chance it deserved.

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