What are some albums you feel are underrated on PA

hah... I'll toss ELP's first 6 into the kiddie.. every single one of the them severely underrated on this site. Then again this site is overrun with limp dicked Genesis fans so one could understand.. I guess..  why albums that are the antitesis of prog..  its greatest collection of talent... the greatest keyboardist in rock much less prog.. one of the very top handful of drummers to grace prog.. and one of the greatest vocalist in all rock (as well as a very underrated instrumental talent himself.. remember.. Fripp thought him better than himself) not to mention the one single group one could point to that made prog what it is.. and made it as popular as it once was.  

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria (3.76)

Edited by tempest_77 - July 03 2019 at 03:19

Jethro Tull's "A Passion Play,"King Crimson's "The Construction of Light" and "The Power to Believe," most of Nektar and Renaissance's catalogs, and a lot of Camel's music as well. 

Yes Tales From Topographic Oceans - My favorite LP of all time and it doesn't crack the Top 100? Suspect!

I'll start with a disclaimer, I don't generally use the term underrated in quite this way. Usually I refer to specific claims made about music where I feel that one can present an objective case for someone holding an album in too low esteem (for instance, it may be because they got certain facts wrongs which affected their evaluation or because, in the case of a review I've seen, they hadn't actually listened to the whole album or in the right order, and in the case of some ratings it was clear that it was rated before being listened to at all). All I essentially mean n my list below is that people haven't rated these as highly as I would. That doesn't mean they're wrong and I'm right, or vice versa. That said, if I trawled through the reviews, I might well be able to find dubious claims from which I might be able to infer that it likely has been underrated. I think people who are not familiar with a style of music/category are more likely to underrate, as I think albums are general best rated against others of their ilk (the right comparisons and reference points are important). We all have our biases. By the way, for me Acquiring the Taste is GG's best, but that's my taste.

Ralf Nowy - Lucifer's Dream (3.22).   Soon after adding this it only had a rating of 2.0, thankfully that did go up. As one review says, "[it] can only be recommended to universal collectors of the German music history." But I love it and am not a universal collector of the German music history (that said, I do have plenty of Bach in my collection and quite a lot of Kosmische musik).

The Residents - Mark of the Mole (3.02). This is very easily the lowest rated of The Residents first nine albums at PA, yet this is one of my very favourite The Residents albums. I can understand that it wouldn't be for most people, especially if your idea of adventurous is Kenny-G.

Robert Wyatt - The End of an Ear (3.19). I think this is a great solo "debut".   I wouldn't put it up there with Rock Bottom, but it would at least still be a solid four star album to me. A number of 2 star reviews bring down the average -- I think it's just too avant-garde for some people, and not enough like some later Robert Wyatt albums to some people.

Fabio Frizzi - Manhattan Baby (with Walter Rizzati, Francesco de Masi , and Piero Piccioni (2.00). That seems to me a harsh rating for what I think is a solid soundtrack. I also consider his Zombi 2 (3.50) album lowly rated, as well as Paura nella città dei morti viventi (City of the Living Dead) at 3.02 really lowly rated (but then not everyone is into Italian horror movie soundtracks). This is lovely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qqTxE--zDI

The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (3.42). I love Acid Folk and related music, and think this to be an exemplary example of the 60s UK folk. I find this album mesmerising. That to me is a very low rating for what not only do I find such an enticing album, but also a historically significant one of its ilk.

A review I found of it elsewhere:

"Back in the Seventies I used to have a cat that miawed a lot when it wanted feeding. It made an awful noise until it saw you get out the Whiskas and then dollop a pile of smelling fishy paste onto its plate. Only then would it stop its incessant racket. I prefered the cat to this godawful mess of dung."

Hellebore - Il y a des Jours (3.50). Solid five stars for me.

Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation (3.36). It's the lowest rated of any TD album betwixt 1970 and 1976. I love this album, and this was the album that got me interested in TD, and I find it interestingly different from later TD albums. I guess it might be too reminiscent of some early jammy Pink Floyd to some. I was going to say Zeit by TD, but the rating has gone up to 3.64, which is fair for such an album that would be bound to divide listeners.

Pink Floyd - More (3.15). Speaking of jammy Pink Floyd, I thoroughly enjoy this OST, and "Cirrus Minor" is one of my Pink Floyd faves (reminds me so much of a Vladimir Cosma track), the tranquility of which is shattered by the rocking "Nile Song".

Comus - To Keep From Crying (2.79). Okay, I also only gave it a three even though it's more like four stars in terms of my enjoyment. The album is inconsistent, but it's one that I feel gets too easily dismissed by those who love First Utterance and ignored by those who dislike Comus because of First Utterance. I find it rather interesting that the compilation album of the first two albums (this came out years before Out of the Coma) Song to Comus: The Complete Collection has a 4.53 rating, and aside from "bonus tracks, half that album is To Keep From Crying. I've heard some people completely dismiss To Keep From Crying, but I'd be surpised if many fans of First Utterance wouldn't at the least like the tracks "Children of The Universe" and "To Keep From Crying".

Magma - Merci (2.57). Okay, maybe this is Magma's weakest album, but I still think it's mostly good. I love side two, especially the last two tracks. This is a similar case to To Keep From Crying. I suspect that many people have dismissed this too easily as they haven't got beyond the opening track (I don't mean people who reviewed it). Or that initial distaste tainted the whole impression of the album. I like "Call From The Dark (Ooh Ooh Baby)" as it's some ridiculous fun even if unintentionally ridiculous. Actually, the rating is fair, and not far off how I'd rate it.

Magma - Attahk (3.70). Not a bad rating by any means, but it's one of my very favourite Magma albums. Personally, of Magma's studio albums I'd rank Kobaia the highest. It has 4.04, and I think that's a solid five star, kick-ass double-album debut (much better than K.A. for me, and I really like K.A.)

Cos - Babel (3.73). Not a bad rating, but rated considerably less than the first two. To me Cos first three albums are all 4.5 to five star efforts, though I guess Viva Boma would be my top-ranked one followed by the debut.

Brave New World - Impressions On Reading Aldous Huxley (3.72). Again, not a bad rating, but this happens to be one of my favourite albums in Krautrock.

Igor Wakhevitch (& Salvador Dali) - Être Dieu (2.60). I love every Wakhevitch album and would rate all of them higher than they are at PA. This is comfortably a four star album for me.

Heldon - Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale (3.24). Every Heldon album is not rated as highly as I would rate them, but this is a particular favourite of mine that I would rate 5 stars.

Art Zoyd - Les Espaces Inquiets (3.84). It is higher rated than it used to be, and a 3.84 is hardly bad, but this is the lowest rated of Art Zoyd's first eight and is one of my favourites by what I have often called my favourite band.

Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Osorezan / Dou no Kenbai (3.42). While I do prefer the Osorezan part, I think the whole album is quite brilliant. It's one of my very favourite albums from Japan, and I love Japan.

Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Chi no Hibiki Higashi Yuroppo Wo Utau (2.56) Not Prog, so I guess that might drop the rating (that said, Kind of Blue is the top-rated album in the JRF category despite long pre-dating the electric-Miles period that got Davis included), but Chi no... is a gorgeous album to my ears.

Pascal Duffard - Dieu est Fou (3.59). If I hadn't reviewed this album then the rating would be lower. I think it's a wonderful obscurity, and is fairly unique (at least in my collection). This was my first addition and review back in 2007.

I'm sure I could think of lots more, and find lower rated ones of albums that I love, but I'll stop there. If I look for real obscurities, I'm sure I'll find ones I think seriously underrated with very minimal ratings. That said, I genuinely love The Shaggs' Philosophy of the World (not sure how I'll rate it when it finally gets added to Zeuhl). ;) I'm certainly not someone who automatically think that others should hold the same music in the same esteem, rank music, or think about music as I do (I'm not someone who generally makes claims of best and worst, although I think one can objectively given the right frameworks). To each his or her own tastes and ratings.

Edited by Logan - July 03 2019 at 11:10

Probably the first solo album of the most underrated guitar player on this site. In my opinion a 5 star album. I deliberately don't name him.

CristauxFeur wrote: Animals is underrated tbh

If Animals is underrated at 4.52 with 3521 ratings at PA, then methinks that Pink Floyd's pre-Dark Side of the Moon albums are all really underrated.

Edited by Lewian - July 03 2019 at 17:34

Lewian wrote: Camel- Breathless (3.14 - probably wouldn't rate this 5 so not that underrated, but strong 4 without a doubt). Just had a look at Camel ratings on allmusic. Know which ones are rated highest? Right, Rain Dances and... Breathless! And I know where they're coming from. Inventiveness can cost a band dearly on PA if that inventiveness leads them away from the orthodox prog paths...