100 Greatest Forgotten Albums

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

100 Greatest Forgotten Albums

Criteria: - These albums were chosen from the years 1960-1999. They intend to reflect those artists from Rock, Folk, & Pop and their sub-genre's. The only consideration was the uniform excellence of the material free from "filler" & representative of the era that it was taken from. As with all lists, this is a subjective list and makes no claim of an official nature. (This list does not include 'Live', Greatest Hits, or 'Best' Of compilations.)

List compiled by & Editor: Rick Varner

Link: http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_forgotalb.html

1. Frisco Mabel Joy - Mickey Newbury
2. Gilded Palace of Sin - The Flying Burrito Brothers
3. Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
4. White Light/White Heat - Velvet Underground
5. Something/Anything - Todd Rundgren
6. Killer - Alice Cooper
7. The Great Puzzle - Jules Shear
8. Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
9. Spirit - Spirit
10. Argus - Wishbone Ash
11. Odyssey & Oracle - The Zombies
12. A New Flame - Simply Red
13. Electric Warrior - T-Rex
14. Moby Grape - Moby Grape
15. A Wizard, A True Star - Todd Rundgren
16. Bring The Family - John Hiatt
17. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens
18. Message From The Country - The Move
19. Seconds of Pleasure - Rockpile
20. The Captain and Me - The Doobie Brothers
21. Sunburst Finish - Be Bop Deluxe
22. Good Old Boys - Randy Newman
23. Musta Notta Gotta Lotta - Joe Ely
24. Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw
25. Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon
26. John Barleycorn Must Die - Traffic
27. All The Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople
28. El Rayo-X - David Lindley
29. John Prine - John Prine
30. Outlaws - Outlaws
31. Buffalo Springfield Again - Buffalo Springfield
32. The Notorious Byrd Brothers - Byrds
33. Winning - Russ Ballard
34. I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die - Country Joe & The Fish
35. Living With The Animals - by Mother Earth
36. Chicken Skin Music - Ry Cooder
37. Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
38. Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Joe Cocker
39. Fear of Music - Talking Heads
40. Lost In The Ozone - Commander Cody
41. Cricklewood Green - Ten Years After
42. Nightingales & Bombers - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
43. SF Sorrow - The Pretty Things
44. Balaklava - Pearls Before Swine
45. Infinite Rider on The Big Dogma - Michael Nesmith
46. Marquee Moon - Television
47. Teaser - Tommy Bolin
48. 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus - Spirit
49. Ghosts Upon The Road - Eric Andersen
50. The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - Incredible String Band
51. Alone Together - Dave Mason
52. Gaucho - Steely Dan
53. Crazy Horse - Crazy Horse
54. Dancing in The Dragon's Jaws - Bruce Cockburn
55. #1 Record - Big Star
56. Lives In The Balance - Jackson Browne
57. By The Light of The Moon - Los Lobos
58. Montrose - Montrose
59. Steven Stills - Steven Stills
60. Rides Again - The James Gang
61. Pure Pop For Now People - Nick Lowe
62. Emitt Rhoads - Emitt Rhoads
63. Third Down, 110 To Go - Jesse Winchester
64. Once Upon a Time - Simple Minds
65. Songs of Love & Hate - Leonard Cohen
66. The Immortal Otis Redding - Otis Redding
67. Grooves in Orbit - NRBQ
68. Kimono My House - Sparks
69. Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones
70. Argybargy - Squeeze
71. New Riders of The Purple Sage - New Riders of The Purple Sage
72. Gorilla - Bonzo Dog Band
73. Do You Believe In Magic - Lovin' Spoonful
74. Tres Hombres - ZZ Top
75. Nighthawks at The Diner - Tom Waits
76. McCartney - Paul McCartney
77. Who Came First - Pete Townshend
78. Ogden's Nut Gone Flake - The Small Faces
79. Pickin' Up The Pieces - Poco
80. Body & Soul - Joe Jackson
81. Everywhere At Once - The Plimsouls
82. Howlin' Wind - Graham Parker
83. Song Cycle - Van Dyke Parks
84. Elephant Mountain - Youngbloods
85. Accept No Substitute - Delaney, Bonnie & Friends
86. Los Angeles - X
87. O'Keefe - Danny O'Keefe
88. Suite For Susan Moore - Tim Hardin
89. Desolation Boulevard - Sweet
90. Moss Elixir - Robyn Hitchcock
91. Radio City - Big Star
92. The Slider - T-Rex
93. Unhalfbricking - Fairport Convention
94. Music in a Doll's House - Family
95. Blue River - Eric Andersen
96. Pirates - Rickie Lee Jones
97. This Was - Jethro Tull
98. Fool For The City - Foghat
99. A Nod Is As Good As a Wink - Faces
100. Real Life - Magazine

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101. UFO - Jim Sullivan
102. Stories We Could Tell - The Everly Brothers
103. Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
104. You Got To Sin To Be Saved - Maria McKee
105. Medusa - Trapeze
106. Slaughter On 10th Avenue - Mick Ronson
107. All Shook Down - The Replacements
108. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt
109. Bare Trees - Fleetwood Mac
110. Sunflower - The Beach Boys
111. Berlin - Lou Reed
112. Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan
113. Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison
114. Havana Daydreamin' - Jimmy Buffett
115. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits - Doobie Brothers
116. Ladies of The Canyon - Joni Mitchell
117. French Kiss - Bob Welch
118. Pleasures of The Harbor - Phil Ochs
119. Sons - Sons of Champlin
120. City To City - Gerry Rafferty
121. Shady Grove - Quicksilver Messenger Service
122. Pink Moon - Nick Drake
123. American Gothic - David Ackles
124. Sweet Child - Pentangle
125. Tracks On Wax 4 - Dave Edmunds
126. Cry Tough - Nils Lofgren
127. Fire On The Mountain - Charlie Daniels Band
128. Will O' The Wisp - Leon Russell
129. Between The Buttons - Rolling Stones
130. Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
131. Got No Breeding - Jules and The Polar Bears
132. Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad
133. Homeless Brother - Don McLean
134. A Salty Dog - Procul Harum
135. But Seriously Folks - Joe Walsh
136. Discover America - Van Dyke Parks
137. Holland - The Beach Boys
138. Stone The Crows - Stone The Crows
139. Vienna - Ultravox
140. Healing Bones - Jules Shear
141. Non Fiction - The Blasters
142. Duet - Illinois Speed Press
143. Box of Frogs - Box of Frogs
144. Trace - Son Volt
145. Eli and The Thirteenth Confession - Laura Nyro
146. Goodbye and Hello - Tim Buckley
147. Blows Against The Empire - Jefferson Starship
148. Midnight Madness - Night Ranger
149. Down Two Then Left - Boz Scaggs
150. Twilley Don't Mind - Dwight Twilley Band
151. Mystery Girl - Roy Orbison
152. Songs For a Tailor - Jack Bruce
153. Temple of Low Men - Crowded House
154. Dream Police - Cheap Trick
155. War Baby: Hope & Glory - Tom Robinson
156. Phosphorescent Rat - Hot Tuna
157. It Aint Easy - Chris Smither
158. Zen Arcade - Husker Du
159. Gris Gris - Dr John
160. Kapt Kopter and The Fabulous Twirly Birds - Randy California
161. Only a Lad - Oingo Boingo
162. Hardline - The Blasters
163. Razamanaz - Nazareth
164. Ssssh - Ten Years After
165. Pontiac - Lyle Lovett
166. The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
167. I Don't Want To Go Home - Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
168. Spinning Around The Sun - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
169. Album III - Louden Wainwright III
170. Up On The Sun - Meat Puppets
171. The Dark - Guy Clark
172. Summertime Dream - Gordon Lightfoot
173. Home Free - Dan Fogelberg
174. Neil Young - Neil Young
175. The Raspberries - The Raspberries
176. Here Come The Warm Jets - Brian Eno
177. Happy Sad - Tim Buckley
178. California Bloodlines - John Stewart
179. Second Thoughts - McKendree Spring
180. Son of Schmillson - Harry Nilsson
181. Starfish - The Church
182. The Flock - The Flock
183. Tim Rose - Tim Rose
184. Melting Pot - Booker T & The MG's
185. Mars Needs Guitars - Hoodoo Gurus
186. Straight Up - Badfinger
187. Flat As a Pancake - Head East
188. Two Weeks Last Summer - Dave Cousins
189. Glass Harp - Glass Harp
190. Motherlode - Loggins & Messina
191. Blue Jays - Justin Hayward & John Lodge
192. Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
193. Stormcock - Roy Harper
194. Can You Fly - Freedy Johnston
195. Other Voices, Other Rooms - Nanci Griffith
196. Cafe Bleu - Style Council
197. Asylum Choir - Leon Russell & Marc Benno
198. Pictures For Pleasure - Charlie Sexton
199. McLemore Avenue - Booker T & The MG's
200. Eagle Rock - Daddy Cool

Chaplin · **Joined:** Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:38 pm **Posts:** 191

What's the difference between forgotten and underrated?

Timi · **Posted:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:44 pm

Rick wrote:

12. A New Flame - Simply Red

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11747

How is Alice Cooper's KILLER a forgotten album?!

I really dont understand that one. It was a landmark for him, and has three of his biggest hits.

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

Chaplin wrote:

What's the difference between forgotten and underrated?

The Forgotten album list is one of the most fun lists I’ve compiled. I took road trip after road trip to local gigs, music festivals like The Long Beach Blues Festival in Ca and to countless clubs where I interviewed lots of people. I had a working list of albums but always was adding to it after each stop. Once people started the conversations it was always a case of “yeah, I remember that one but did you ever listen to this one because its great even though most people have forgotten about it” It wasn’t like the forum where a lot of talk is centered around this album is better than that album so the notion of under-rated records never entered the equation as pertains to this list.
Of course being at all these shows I got to hear a lot of music and just like the forum people love to talk about music so it was easy accumulating many titles and the list could easily have been larger.

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

Negative Creep wrote:

How is Alice Cooper's KILLER a forgotten album?!

I really dont understand that one. It was a landmark for him, and has three of his biggest hits.

The Forgotten album list is one of the most fun lists I’ve compiled. I took road trip after road trip to local gigs, music festivals like The Long Beach Blues Festival in Ca and to countless clubs where I interviewed lots of people. I had a working list of albums but always was adding to it after each stop. Once people started the conversations it was always a case of “yeah, I remember that one but did you ever listen to this one because its great even though most people have forgotten about it” It wasn’t like the forum where a lot of talk is centered around this album is better than that album so the notion of under-rated records never entered the equation as pertains to this list.

Of course being at all these shows I got to hear a lot of music and just like the forum people love to talk about music so it was easy accumulating many titles and the list could easily have been larger.

Josh,
As for your post re:Killer by Alice Cooper
I take a ton of notes when I put these lists together after interviewing people and over and over again Billion Dollar Babies & Schools Out we’re always quoted and referred to as ‘great’ Cooper albums but very rarely did any mention of Killer enter the conversations, hence ‘forgotten’ and why is it so high on my list……….because it is a great rock record that apparently many actually had forgotten. I mean Halo of Flies/Under My Wheels etc etc. come on !.

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11747

Oh, Halo is one of my faves, believe me.
I've had the album for quite some time now, and I'm well familiar with it.

Desperado was reportedly written about Jim Morrison.

pgm · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:54 pm

Village Green Preservation Society seems to usually place high in critics' lists, but I could see it having a tendency to be forgotten by the general public.

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

pgm wrote:

Village Green Preservation Society seems to usually place high in critics' lists, but I could see it having a tendency to be forgotten by the general public.

It just wasn't mainstream but always a fun listen.

ClashWho · **Joined:** Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:45 pm **Posts:** 19297

Why is Murder Ballads forgotten?

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

ClashWho wrote:

Why is Murder Ballads forgotten?

Well that would be an oops. I looked at my notes of interviews from the time I began compiling this list and 'The Boatman's Call' was supposed to be on the list rather than 'Ballads'.
So the change was made, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

beaverteeth92 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:09 pm **Posts:** 1163

What about UFO by Jim Sullivan? NPR actually did a feature on it. It's one hell of an album if you want me to Dropbox it onto here.

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/09/131936448 ... iece-u-f-o

Rick · **Joined:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:21 pm **Posts:** 456

[quote="beaverteeth92"]What about UFO by Jim Sullivan? ]

Excellent and he has been added. Thanks.

boo boo · **Joined:** Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:36 pm **Posts:** 10833

Several of these are highly influencial albums so I wouldn't say they're forgotten so much as underrated. Or maybe they're forgotten by the general public, if that's what you mean.

Electric Warrior is a weird choice, it has a massive influence on popular music, gets much of it's due credit for bringing glam rock into the mainstream and had a huge hit in Get It On which is still a radio staple today.

100 Greatest Forgotten Albums

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