- Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd: Though “Dark Side of the Moon”, and “The Wall” are undoubtedly the groups most iconic albums, die-hard fans often rank “Wish You Were Here” above them as the band’s finest work.
- Aja – Steely Dan: Despite being generally revered by Rock critics, Steely Dan’s albums are rarely mentioned amongst the all-time greats. Arguably, “Aja” stands out as being one of the bands most cohesive projects. Decades later, it sounds even better than when it was first released.
- Reggatta de Blanc – The Police: While “Outlandos d’Amour” was a great introduction to this talented trio, it was “Reggatta de Blanc” which provided the first glimpse of the band’s spectacular potential. It was a leap forward in style, songwriting, musicianship and production.
- Frontiers – Journey: On the heels of the phenomenally successful “Escape” album, the band released this gem, which combined the best of that previous record with a heavier, more rock based sound. While the former could be considered a pop record, with some rock underpinnings, the later was more of a rock record, with pop sensibilities.
- Bad Company – Bad Company: Formed from the remains of successful bands, “Free”, “Mott the Hoople” and “King Crimson”, Bad Company came out firing on all cylinders for their debut record. Though this album contained numerous rock radio staples (e.g. Bad Company, Can’t Get Enough, Ready for Love, Movin’ On) and featured one of rock music’s best vocalists (Paul Rodgers), it is rarely acknowledged amongst rock’s elite records.
- In Utero – Nirvana: There is no denying the massive impact the bands, “Nevermind” album had on the music industry, but in some ways that story has obscured the brilliance of their latter work. With “In Utero” the band began to show its range, both musically and emotionally. Tragically, their story was cut short before we got to see how far they could take it.
- One of These Nights – The Eagles: The extraordinary success of 1976’s “Hotel California” didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. 1975’s “One of These Nights” was a number one album, featuring three top ten smashes, “One of These Nights”, “Take it to the Limit” and “Lyin’ Eyes”, which were each sung by a different lead vocalist. Few records or groups have ever managed such a feat.
- Pieces of Eight – Styx: The dynamic tension between Dennis DeYoung’s over the top pension for musical theater, and Tommy Shaw/James Young’s hard rock dreams came into perfect balance for the album, “The Grand Illusion” and on its breakout single, “Come Sail Away”. But on the follow-up record, “Pieces of Eight” it was the duo of Shaw & Young who got to be the rock band they’d always wanted to be. Unfortunately, the phenomenal success of the single, “Babe” from their next album, “Cornerstone” brought DeYoung back to the forefront, and marked the beginning of the end of the band’s straight ahead rock sound.
- Love Over Gold – Dire Straits: Though it was not their best selling or highest charting album, “Love Over Gold” may be the band’s most artistically ambitious work. The plaintive “Love Over Gold”, the haunting “Private Investigations”, and the sprawling, “Telegraph Road” create a soundscape that rivals the film scores that Mark Knopfler would eventually become famous for.
- Houses of the Holy – Led Zeppelin: Though Led Zeppelin I, II & IV are most often featured on critics “best of” lists, “Houses of the Holy” features some of the bands strongest and most original work (e.g. The Rain Song, No Quarter, Over the Hills and Far Away, D’yer Mak’er).
10 Underrated Classics
March 30, 2021 by bjcorbin
Bjcorbin's Blog 
Bryan, Is there anything you don’t know about? BTW, I couldn’t open your blog this morning
Love ya, Paulette
LOL – A lot of what I know isn’t very important, but I still love that old music.