Louder Sound online picked their choices for the 20 most underrated classic rock albums ever. Look, we’ve all got an opinion, but did your favorite make the list?
“Overlooked comebacks and heroic failures, bonkers concept albums and electro-metal diversions – here are 20 underrated classic rock albums that deserve more than a second chance”
20. Pink Floyd – Soundtrack To More (1969)
The music for the film More is a broad-canvas painting incorporating a number of very contrasting colours, including the electro-fluorescent, almost heavy metal The Nile Song, soft watercolour washes with Crying Song, and the stark, primary-colour elctronica of Quicksilver.
From its very beginning with the hypnotic and wonderfully ethereal Cirrus Minor, the album marks the emergence of guitarist David Gilmour as a lead vocalist, as well as offering glimpses of the kind of music that would really put Pink Floyd into orbit three years later with Dark Side Of The Moon.
19. Jimi Hendrix – Rainbow Bridge (1971)
Not to be confused with the Rainbow Bridge Concert recording, Rainbow Bridge was put together as a promotional album for a mostly dreadful film of the same name. The album itself, on the other hand, contains arguably some of the best – indeed some of the most beautiful – studio tracks Jimi Hendrix ever recorded.
The floating ballad Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) is magnificent; the instrumental Pali Gap is hypnotic, and shows his guitar playing at its most shimmering; Earth Blues, is Jimi at his most soulful. A real forgotten pearl.
18. Status Quo – Dog Of Two Head (1971)
For many people, Status Quo’s career didn’t really begin until they slipped into distressed denims and released Piledriver in 1973. Its predecessor, Dog Of Two Head, has much to recommend it: it packed a vicious bite, and would supply a host of tracks that would cement Quo’s live performances for decades to follow.
Most strikingly, the album contained Mean Girl, three minutes of finely honed boogie that would be forever regarded as quintessential Quo. Without doubt, Dog Of Two Head was the first classic Quo album – and it has aged better than most.
17. Deep Purple – Burn (1974)
People usually turn to the Mk II line-up of the band for a dose of classic Deep Purple, and that means albums such as In Rock or Machine Head. At the time of its release, Burn upset Purple purists because of its ambitious rock/blues/soul/funk direction, and because of the absence of simple, Smoke On The Water-type riffs.
But it represents a monumental milestone in the history of Purple: new boys David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are as enthusiastic as they come, and Ritchie Blackmore is on peak form.
16. Aerosmith – Get Your Wings (1974)
The second album from Aerosmith was originally overlooked because their debut featured Dream On, which was a belated hit around the time Get Your Wings was released.
But it really is a far better record than its predecessor, both in the playing and the songwriting. Seasons Of Wither, Lord Of The Thighs, Same Old Song And Dance… classics every one. Only Toys In The Attic and Rocks were better Aerosmith records during the band’s 70s reign.
See the rest of their list here!