Most underated albums......

I think Tweakgeek has the right idea (and I agree with him about "Presence").

I'll nominate the Stones "Goat's Head Soup". Yeah, it may have been a let down after the run of brilliance that preceded it, but it's not the waste of tape most critics would lead you to believe. The album has a great drugged out and dreary atmosphere about it and all the songs are good except the stupid "Dancing With Mr.D", which is still partially salvaged by the awesomely nasty guitar riff it's built upon. I'd say it's the last fully satisfying Stones album.

Another overlooked goody is Aerosmith's "Done With Mirrors". This is a pretty solid piece of work and the last good record they made before sliding into overproduced MTV powerballad sorryness. It lacked hit singles which sunk it critically and commercially, but that is probably one of the reasons it's so good compared to the dreck that followed.

Finally, I'll nominate all of the Kinks' mid 70's rock opera albums. "Preservation Act I", "Preservation Act II", "A Soap Opera", and "Schoolboys In Disgrace" were all pretty well savaged by critics, but all of them are perfectly good. I'd easily rank the Preservation set among Ray Davies' best work.

That's a big 10-4 on The Kinks albums that you listed, Curbach

I will admit...this probably wasnt my most well conceived post...I was just trying to stimulate some dialogue...at any rate...now that I look back...most of these releases are pretty old and in some light probably received the attention they deserved justified or not...not to mention recording quality which varies heavily...but hey...nobody died...or wet themselves...or at least that Im aware of...

For underated reggae...Black Uhuru "sensimilla" gets my vote...more extended dub sound...with classic echoey vocals,L to R panning,and some interesting production effects...only downside to alot of dub music...the bass seems to be recorded a bit "hot"...I assume to fatten it up...but I would prefer it more clean if I had my way....

I think of this category as albums people have not heard of and when listen, demand to know who they are and where to acquire them. Using this criteria, items that come to mind are Milla's The Divine Comedy and Eros Ramazzotti's Eros in Concert.

Milla's album is "her," meaning all lyrics were written and performed by her and all music was written by her. The lyrics are sincere, clear and well recorded. The choices and layering of instruments is outstanding. After this album, she lost all musical talent. All musical performances I have seen from her since this album make this album seem a fluke... but, I'll take it anyway.

The Eros disc is something completely different. It is the finest recorded live concert I have ever heard. Admittedly, I have the difficult to find, double-disc German import, but the single disc American disc is also pretty good. Everything is clear, which is unusual for a live recording in a stadium. The performance is better than his studio recordings. He was definitely "on" when he was performing for this disc. If someone could only have one Eros disc, this is the one to have

Unfortunately, as many of my friends have found, neither of these CDs are easy to find these days. They are both worth the search, though.

Best Regards,