Alright, a list game!!
Well, Carl W., it seems to me there are two ways you can go with this
underappreciated thing. We could say that albums are underappreciated
because no one (hardly) heard them, but we could also say records are
underappreciated because they weren't given their appropriate critical due,
even though lots and lots of people heard them. So, I'm coming up with a
top five (or more) in each category, listed alphabetically.
First, The Unheard Music:
Blood Oranges--The Crying Tree (ESD, 1994)--What Bill S. said. This is one
of the very best alt.country (rock) records ever made.
Ditch Witch--Everywhere Nowhere, Plus The Faye Singles (Grass, 1994)--I am
still amazed by how hard this record rocks, and by how much it moves me.
"Explode" is among the elite of this decade's best tracks.
Mike Ireland & Holler--Learning How To Live (Sub Pop, 1998)--Kinda a cheat
since, while it sold absolutely shit, I've never encountered a record that
got such wide-ranging and virtually universal positive press. The best
alt.country (country) record ever made?
Adam Schmitt--World So Bright (Reprise, 1991)--The best (true) power pop
record since, hell, the Raspberries. Schmitt's follow-up, the much grungier
Illiterature, is damn good too.
Style--In Tone We Trust (Select, 1990)--One of the best rap albums ever
released and no one, with the possible exception of Don Yates, has even
heard it. The bass-heavy single "What A Brother Know" is among rap's best
kept secrets.
--------------------------------------------------
Now, The Heard Music:
Hanson--Middle Of Nowhere (Mercury, 1997)--As good as any album released
this decade. No qualifications.
Iris DeMent--The Way I Should (WB, 1996)--Her best, most focused record,
which is really saying something special on the heels of My Life.
Dr. Dre--The Chronic (Interscope, 1992)--Not just mega popular, not just
influential, not just representative of a genre and a moment, but a truly
great work of art.
Maria McKee--You Gotta Sin To Get Saved (Geffen, 1993)--Easily the best
album Maria McKee's ever been involved with because it's the closest she's
come to making a soul record. And it still twangs too.
Rancid--And Out Come The Wolves (Epitaph, 1995)--Sure, they cop the Clash.
But the Clash, excepting London Calling, never made an album this perfect.
And even there it might be a close call...
Spearhead--Home (Capitol, 1994)--Among the three or four best rap albums of
the decade. Maybe THE best...
Bruce Springsteen--Lucky Town (Columbia, 1992)--Despite the collective yawn
that greeted it, this is, IMO, among Bruce's top five best albums--and,
bonus, the twangiest of his full-out rock efforts.
Lisa Stansfield--Lisa Stansfield (Arista, 1998)--The best album yet from
one of the most amazing, powerful singers on the planet.
George Strait--Chill of An Early Fall (MCA, 1991)--One of the best country
albums, ever.
I could go on but...
--david cantwell
