Underrated albums by well-received artists

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I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan - he's my second favourite artist after Zappa. From '65 onwards, everything I've heard by him gets an 8/10 or higher (usually higher), so I find a large portion of his work to be very underrated. Self Portrait, Hard Rain, and Empire Burlesque are masterpieces; Street-Legal, At Budokan, Down in the Groove, and Christmas in the Heart are at least near-masterpieces (I'm probably forgetting a few great ones in those lists. It's hard to keep up with the albums by Dylan that even Dylan fans seem apathetic to).

Deserving of particular mention here is pretty much everything he released during his gospel years. Counting bootleg stuff, that's my probably my favourite Dylan period, maybe tied with his recent work ("Love and Theft" to Together Through Life). I even think the lyrics from that era are some of the best he's written, despite my atheism.

In my opinion:

Pink Floyd - Animals
(second best Album by Floyd)

Radiohead - In Rainbows
(best album by Radiohead)

Aphex Twin - Drukqs
(best album by Aphex Twin)

King Crimson - Lizard

On lots of music, I have no idea about what is underrated, or overrated, or rated just right - since I don't read reviews, or pay any attention to what is popular - or even critically acclaimed. This list is of albums that I do feel I have some sense of how they were received, in relation to the artist's other work.

Cyndi Lauper's debut effort, heading a band called Blue Angel (album of the same name.) - Powerful, lyrical singing - no sense of the hiccupy style she later adopted.

Imogen Heap's solo debut "I Megaphone" - There seems to be more emotion to her singing on this early recording. As she got more into electronica, her sound became a bit too stylized for my taste.

Kiki Dee - "Stay With Me" - Fabulous performance - and her session musicians were the guys who went on to form Toto.

Maria McKee - "Life is Sweet" - She really pushed the boundaries with this one & ended up losing the support of her record company (they wouldn't promote it.)

Patti Smith - "Radio Ethiopia" - I think this was a stronger record than "Horses" - don't know why the critics never warmed to it. I don't think it sold very well, either.

Depeche Mode Exciter

I wasn't all that impressed with Empire Burlesque, but there is a song on it called 'Clean Cut Kid' that was covered very impressively by a band called The Textones. If I recall correctly, their version of the song was released nearly a year before Dylan's was, on an album called Midnight Mission.

I know Highway 61 Revisited could hardly be considered underrated, but that and Blood On the Tracks are my faves. Though Blonde on Blonde is pretty awesome, too.

Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you must tell me, baby
How your head feels under somethin' like that

Aah, the 60s. You just had to be there.

I gave Blood on the Tracks a low 9/10, which puts it among the lesser Dylan albums, for me. I don't rank Highway 61 Revisited among his best work, either; I'd probably give it a low-mid 10/10 (just to be clear, I consider 'low 9/10' and 'low-mid 10/10' to be very high scores. I just rate a lot of Dylan's albums even higher).

Blonde on Blonde is definitely awesome. I think John Wesley Harding is the best he released in the 60's, though - it contains some of Dylan's finest vocal work and I love what the bass is doing on a lot of the songs.

I only get my sense of what is underrated or overrated from a few music boards I post/lurk on, so what I've listed as underrated might be very well-received in other communities. I used to call Lady Gaga underrated, until somebody pointed out how famous she is. Because the online and offline communities I engage with generally dislike her (or at least used to - she's starting to be held in higher regard now), she was underrated to me.

Another bunch of albums that deserve a mention here are much of what Miles Davis released during the last decade or so his career. '81-'91 is probably my favourite Miles Davis period, but it tends to be neglected in favour of his earlier work. That's a shame, because his albums from those years contain some of the most beautiful music he recorded.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
David Bowie - Lodger
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

thx, will check it

The Soft Parade by The Doors.

A few more -

Captain Beefheart's attempts at a more commercial sound - Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans & Moonbeams. They're both beautiful albums, and I'd rate the latter above his first two.

Many of Neil Young's 80's albums. Re-ac-tor, Trans, Everybody's Rockin', and Landing on Water are all great, and This Note's for You is one hs absolute best.

As far as classic rock is concerned:

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
Live concert recording that is not only shows what the band is evolving into, but is still firmly anchored with the older Syd Barrett sound

Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
I consider this to be the first 'Ozzy' album, but with Black Sabbath as his backup band

The Scorpions - Lonesome Crow
The Scorpions first album, which walks the line between proper German 'Krautrock' ALA Guru Guru, Neu, and Faust, with stellar Rock and roll guitar leads, and absolutely none of the screamy ballads the band was later known for.

Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music
Probably the first REAL Experimental Industrial album, with influence by Stockhausen and John Cage. --It was hated when it first came out, and is still has absolutely no commercial 'accessibility'.

I remember when this came out. Lester Bangs had two reviews of it, side by side in Creem magazine. Each was a full column.

The first said: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...

The second said: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...

I think one of the reasons why Lou Reed put out Metal Machine Music was to give a big double record in a gatefold sleeve F.U. to the record label that was insisting that he follow up 'Transformer' with more of the same.

I really like that album, but I sometimes feel that it's overrated, because there's so much similar stuff out there that's way better. I guess the genre as a whole tends to get overlooked.