Albums that are generally overlooked but that you think are ‘classics’

PolarityMan

Rob Dougan - Furious Angels
Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber

JezWynd

Redlester said:

ICBM said:

Reverend said:

Aphrodite's Child - 666

Fantastic album.

Demis Roussos!!!

Yes indeed.  Now you're talking. Aegean Sea- what a track! 

And The Four Horsemen: A great, great rocker. 

Demis Roussos. Great singer. I shall done my kaftan and smoke a big fat stogie in honour of the this record. 

Great call...

JezWynd

JAYJO said:

Gerry Rafferty   Night Owl
Blondie  Autoamerican
The Specials  More Specials
Bob Dylan Slow train coming
The Beatles  live at the Hollywood bowl

Have you heard the stage show version of Slow Train?...

russpm

JAYJO said:

Gerry Rafferty   Night Owl
Blondie  Autoamerican
The Specials  More Specials
Bob Dylan Slow train coming
The Beatles  live at the Hollywood bowl

Agree with the The Specials - More Specials

Teyeplayer

Redlester said:

Teyeplayer said:

I’ve also a soft spot for Manassas and Stills II.  

@teyeplayer Now Mannassas I've only heard once, but IIRC there's a track with a pedal steel put through a Leslie. Incredible sound! 

There’s some all round great playing and some fantastic grooves -those guys knew how to get in the pocket of a song. Highly recommended. 

merlin

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Next - Sensational Alex Harvey Band

EricTheWeary

merlin said:

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Next - Sensational Alex Harvey Band

I first heard Marcus Garvey about 30 years ago and have returned to it frequently since and occasionally the dub version, Garvey's Ghost. It is one of those albums that occasionally appears in lists of classics although rarely in more guitar oriented lists  ( despite perfectly wonderful guitar work therein). 

I was listening again to Ian Dury's New Boots and Panties the other day and there is not a wasted second on that. Again probably appears in some lists but for anyone unfamiliar with it it's really a masterwork.

I usually mention Cut by The Slits in these lists. The Slits used to get terribly slagged off by the music press as talentless bimbos but in many ways they embodied the punk ethic more than the bands made up of former pub rockers. Cut is punk, is new wave, was indie rock before that existed, was a meeting point between punk and reggae. Part of the reason for it's longevity is the production by Dennis Bovell so the album sounds good rather than the usual wasp in a jam jar productions of the genre. It is also one of the great drum albums as Budgie was sat behind the kit. One of Kurt Cobain's favourites, an influence as well on one of my favourite contemporary artists Adwaith. 

Bit of a curve ball but possibly the most played album in the Weary household is the soundtrack to Once More with Feeling  which was the one off musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Probably only really works if you loved Buffy but it still holds up in it's own way.   

mikeyrob73

Brad - Shame 

the late great Shaun Smith at his best 

Grunfeld

Suicide -- [the second album]

It's strange what makes it into one's list of stuff you've just played a lot over the years, but here it is.

The first album was the one that got the praise of the critics at the time but I found it too difficult to listen to.  Don't get me wrong, I played Frankie Teardrop and thought everyone needs something like that in their music collection but you probably only need to hear it the once. 

The second album, (I'm not sure it had a title), is um, musical.  The songs are basically pop songs but the delivery was never going to be straight-forward.  It's not a difficult listen though, and it isn't mentioned much as an album.  Which is a shame, cos it's great. 

Bellycaster

Diver Down!

Even though it's half cover versions, the originals on there are sublime.

I think I like Fair Warning more than MCMLXXXIV as well.

JezWynd

Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs
Bryan Ferry, The Bride Stripped Bare
Lou Reed, Growing Up In Public
Peter Hammill, Silent Corner and The Empty Stage

ICBM

JezWynd said:

Bryan Ferry, The Bride Stripped Bare

Great album, I think maybe his best solo work.

I also like the even more overlooked In Your Mind a lot - it’s cheesy, but in a cool way.

Boromedic

Longpigs - The Sun Is Often Out, they did garner some attention but they were never as highly rated as some of their peers. Sun is one of the best albums of the Britpop era, the songwriting is top class and Hawley's spiky guitar playing is great.

darcym

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
Aimee Mann - I'm with Stupid
Bon Jovi - These Days
KT Tunstall - Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
Maria McKee - You Gotta Sin To Get Saved
Richie Sambora - Stranger In This Town
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Lodious

Shame by Brad. still love it. Amazing record. 

ICBM

darcym said:

KT Tunstall - Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon

That’s a really great album - I’ve always struggled to really like her other ones, but that one is brilliant.

LastMantra

The Charlatans Up to Our Hips.

zepp76

Dumpy’s rusty nuts: Hot Lover.

Haych

Del Amitri - Twisted
Dada - Puzzle
Crooked Still - Shaken by a Low Sound

english_bob

Boromedic said:

Longpigs - The Sun Is Often Out, they did garner some attention but they were never as highly rated as some of their peers. Sun is one of the best albums of the Britpop era, the songwriting is top class and Hawley's spiky guitar playing is great.

They also made a shockingly bad second album.

But this one is bloody brilliant. They had a hard road to making it as well- Crispin Hunt was left comatose after a car accident just before their first single was due to be released, then their record label closed its UK office and essentially held the band to ransom by demanding £500,000 to release them from their contract. When they were bought out of the contract by their new label it took four singles to get any decent airplay. 

Hawley's post-'Pigs career is well known. Crispin Hunt has gone on to all sorts of behind-the-scenes industry stuff. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/crispin-hunt-08310613

PolarityMan said:

Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X

But only the early pressings before they replaced the original "Spin Spin Sugar" with the remix.

/90snerd