Great 'unpopular' works of popular music artists

[modestmaus]

As some Beach Boys fans do sometimes I was pondering on if Pet Sounds had been successful and SMiLE had been completed if we would have even gotten great albums like Wild Honey, Friends, Sunflower, Love You, etc. and that line of thinking somehow lead to thinking about the whole concept of very popular artists/bands that continued to release albums (and those albums being some of their best work, sometimes superior to their popular material) after falling out of or at least quite down in popularity.

Two examples I can think of, both bands whose popularity is associated with the 90's but have continued making albums:

Fastball
Hanson (the US band. I'm not familiar with the music of the UK band, sorry.)

Simply put, in my opinion, their post-'mass popularity' albums show such great growth and improvement in their songcraft. Though it doesn't rub me as badly as some of the views on The Beach Boys from the general public, yeah I do get pretty irked when somebody gets all "HAHA ONE HIT WONDERS" about either of those bands.

Anyway, to be cheesy and conclude this post by quoting he subject line I want to know more great 'unpopular' works of popular music artists!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Well, off the top of my head, there are the very obvious examples that are pretty well known now like The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Muswell Hillbillies, etc. And there's, of course, Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies.

[OGoldin]

In the mid-70s, two of my favorites, Neil Young and King Crimson, were regarded ny both my friends and the critics as having gone downhill since Harvest and "In the Court of the Crimson King"  It took Decade and Discipline, respectively, to put them back on the map -- but now their 72-4 work is widely regarded as their best.

[Aum Bop Diddit]

Well, off the top of my head, there are the very obvious examples that are pretty well known now like The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Muswell Hillbillies, etc. And there's, of course, Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies.

For the Kinks, anything from after their early success through Sleepwalker falls into that category as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe not exactly what we're looking for, but the Doors' middle section of albums -- "Waiting for the Sun", "Soft Parade", and "Morrison Hotel" are often disregarded and put down.  IN particular, I consider "Morrison Hotel" their best work.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Good call on listing Hanson...they are so far removed from 'MMMBop' it's sad. Then again, lest anyone get it twisted, 'MMMBop' was a band-written song, as opposed to a song written by outside musicians, so they always did their own thing as opposed to be a label creation. They turned into a pretty good 70s-style band. Hell, the Beach Boys may have recorded Pet Sounds and such, but they once did 'Cuckoo Clock', so every young band eventually grows up.

[onkster]

Neil Young: On The Beach. A terrific album for the "in-between" times of your life. He was in one himself on this one, and captures it perfectly.

Squeeze: just about anything after they got back together. I still think "Frank" is their best album, and "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" follows closely behind. They grew so much as songwriters and performers, yet..."oh, didn't they do 'Tempted'? And they don't even have THAT singer any more?"

[Lonely Summer]

Neil Young: On The Beach. A terrific album for the "in-between" times of your life. He was in one himself on this one, and captures it perfectly.

Squeeze: just about anything after they got back together. I still think "Frank" is their best album, and "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" follows closely behind. They grew so much as songwriters and performers, yet..."oh, didn't they do 'Tempted'? And they don't even have THAT singer any more?"

Frank is one of my favorites, too. I think most of their latter day albums had some strong material and performances. Trying to think of the title of the one that had Electric Trains and This Summer.....

[Jay]

The Temptations had a number of very good albums and songs in the late 1970's, long after Motown seemed to have given up on them. The Temptations Do The Temptations from 1976 is a great album. It's one of those rare albums that you can listen to from beginning to end without skipping a song. Their two albums on Atlantic Records, Hear To Tempt You(1977) and Bare Back(1978) are quite underrated and overlooked. But they sold so poorly that Atlantic refused to release what would have been their third album for ATlantic. They apperently had a fully completed album, but Atlantic refused to release it, and dropped them from their label.

[rn57]

Paul Simon's Hearts And Bones was the second worst-selling album of his career (only Songs From The Capeman sold less) but I would say it, along with There Goes Rhymin' Simon, is one of his two best records.  Most of the songs were written on the assumption it was going to be a Simon & Garfunkel album so that may be one reason it holds up so well - Paul was aiming for the bleachers.

[Domino]

The Kinks Preservation Act 2! Dylans Empire Burlesque.

[Ovi]

Aerosmith - Rock in a Hard Place
McCa - Back to the Egg
Kinks - Everybody's in Show Biz
The Who - By Numbers
Pink Floyd - Final Cut

I really like all of 'em.

[Lonely Summer]

Paul Simon's Hearts And Bones was the second worst-selling album of his career (only Songs From The Capeman sold less) but I would say it, along with There Goes Rhymin' Simon, is one of his two best records.  Most of the songs were written on the assumption it was going to be a Simon & Garfunkel album so that may be one reason it holds up so well - Paul was aiming for the bleachers.

I like that album a lot - better than the IMHO overrated Graceland. Rhymin' Simon is probably my favorite, though - it was the first of his solo albums that I owned, so naturally I played it over and over, it's ingrained in my musical memory.

[MBE]

Elvis' recordings from 1971 and 1973 get a lot of flack at times but I like them. Raised On Rock and Elvis Now are two LP's I think are really good despite bad reps.
Jerry Lee was blacklisted from 1959-67 but did a lot of his best work then.
Jan & Dean's pre surf and post surf stuff is very good but not nearly as well known,
Beach Boys 1967-73 is a good example of great music that wasn't widely excepted in the USA at least
I think Dylan albums like New Morning and Nashville Skyline are under rated. I don't love it but Self Portrait isn't all that bad either. Crawl Out Your Window and Mixed Up Confusion were flop singles that may be among his best.
Beatles were always popular but solo LP's like Ram, Back To The Egg, Becoups Of Blues, 33 and a third, George Harrison etc. were either overlooked at the time or are now.
Stones I think people overlook the 1964-67 LP's which I find to be their best.
Who The first three LP's are excellent
Ike Tuner is under rated period. He may not have been a good guy but his work is brilliant both before, during, and after Tina.
James Brown LP's like Shout and Shimmy and I Can't Stand It are terrific yet almost unknown.
Jackson 5 is under rated overall. Destiny and Triumph from when they are The Jacksons are two of the best soul records in my collection. Get It Together comes from a period overlooked by many and it too is a fantastic LP
Small Faces are under rated over here.
Syd Barrett's work is not nearly as well known as it should be. This goes for all pre Dark Side Floyd too.
The First Edition's whole catalog is under rated. Some of their best work such as Calico and Monumental hardly sold.
Charlie Rich's early stuff didn't do nearly as well as his seventies but it's a lot more interesting.
Little Richard did a lot of great work post 1957 through about 1970 but it is all but unknown.
Everly Brothers did a lot of cool stuff post their peak of fame too. Gone, Gone, Gone, is a wonderful LP.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

"Flick Of The Switch" by AC/DC

An absolutely awesome bone-crusher of an album. Their heaviest work ever and it sold very poorly and sent them into their mid 80's slump (albums sales-wise) ....

"New Adventures In Hi-Fi" by REM. Sold very few copies despite being their best work of that decade.

[Domino]

McCa - Back to the Egg
Kinks - Everybody's in Show Biz
Pink Floyd - Final Cut

I really like all of 'em.

Yes, three really good examples! The Final Cut is just amazing.

[cablegeddon]

Parts of Axl Rose's GnR Chinese democracy are great. Better, Oh my god, Catcher in the rye, title track - it's some of the best rock music to come out the past 10 years but no album could ever live up to the expectations.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

McCartney II = Paul's Love You

[Lonely Summer]

McCartney II = Paul's Love You

I guess that explains why I don't care for it very much. I'll take the final Wings album, Back to the Egg, over Macca 2 anyday - those who thought Wings was just a light, fluffy pop band really should give it a listen. Too bad that lineup of the band never got to develop further. Laurence Juber has had quite a career doing instrumental cd's, and session work. Steve Holley was a rock solid drummer that's gone on to play with a lot of great artists, including Julian Lennon, Marshall Crenshaw, Tommy Shaw.

[cablegeddon]

"New Adventures In Hi-Fi" by REM. Sold very few copies despite being their best work of that decade.

I havent' heard the full album but the singles were really weird. It was pompous of them to think that they could get any hits with those singles.

[onkster]

McCartney II = Paul's Plastic Ono Band. Because he was soooo angry on this album, and that's an unusual thing to hear from him.

Also, Lonely Summer, the album you're thinking of if "Ridiculous". I like those two cuts you mentioned, plus the title cut, but I have a hard time with the rest--that heavy reverb makes them feel so far away. But yeah: nearly every late Squeeze album has something good on it, even the last one.

[Lonely Summer]

McCartney II = Paul's Plastic Ono Band. Because he was soooo angry on this album, and that's an unusual thing to hear from him.

Also, Lonely Summer, the album you're thinking of if "Ridiculous". I like those two cuts you mentioned, plus the title cut, but I have a hard time with the rest--that heavy reverb makes them feel so far away. But yeah: nearly every late Squeeze album has something good on it, even the last one.

Yeah, Ridiculous is one of my favs. Temptation For Love might be my favorite on that album. I remember seeing them on Late Night with Conan singing Electric Trains the week the Beatles Anthology was on ABC. It was a long time before I finally found Ridiculous in the store, and then it wasn't promoted at all. The final album they did (before the recent reunion), Domino, is a bit weak IMHO. They were clearly on their last legs by that point. McCartney II angry? I don't hear that. Mostly quirky, synth stuff, lots of silly stuff like Bogey Music and Temporary Secretary...and maybe a couple tunes bordering on sad, like Waterfalls. Whatever, it's not one of his best. I love the homemade McCartney I, but II just don't do it for me. The live Wings version of Coming Up just kills the studio version.

[Michael Edwards Love]

"Flick Of The Switch" by AC/DC

My favorite AC/DC album by far.  It's nearly perfect.  Yet, it may be their least known album.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I think it's basically forgotten because it came right in between For Those About To Rock (that album that's "not as good as Back In Black") and Fly On The Wall which is widely regarded as their "worst" ..... Plus, the band hasn't played anything off it since 1985 or so.

I looked it up and the album got to #15 in the U.S and was quickly certified platinum. Not bad for a forgotten failure.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

McCa - Back to the Egg
Kinks - Everybody's in Show Biz
Pink Floyd - Final Cut

I really like all of 'em.

Yes, three really good examples! The Final Cut is just amazing.

Actually, I always felt like TFC blows The Wall away.

[Moon Dawg]

  I seem to have liked R.E.M.'s UP better than most other citizens of this planet.

  Elvis Presley's 1971 single "I'm Leavin" came and went without impact - it was never even featured on a U.S. album in his lifetime - but rates as his best 70's ballad. His trademark 70's oversinging was nowhere to be found on this gem.

 I could never relate to McCARTNEY II. What was he up to on that one?