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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Underrated and overrated 70's albums

I think I did one of these lists for 80's album so now maybe I'll tackle the 70's. Here are five albums that I overrated at one time and five that I underrated.


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Underrated

1-Led Zeppelin-3
This one didn't click with me for years just because it was way more mellow than I was used to. It has grown on me and I glad that it is an album with it's own personality.

2-Rush-Caress of steel
Not everyone's favorite Rush album for sure. Odd around the edges and perhaps that's why it stands out for me.

3-Aerosmith-Get your wings
This one often gets left in the shadows of album like Rocks and Toys in the attic. It's more subtle, but the grooves are solid.

4-TKO-Let it roll
Known more for their 80's output, but this 1979 release was a solid Boston inspired album that didn't work for me in the mid-80's. In recent years I came around.

5-KISS-Hotter than hell
I used to skip past this one for most of their other mid-70's albums. Now I think it's one of their 4-5 best of their long career.

Overrated
1-Deep Purple-Who do we think we are
I always put this in with their fine string of early 70's albums, but really it's a mixed bag.

2-AC/DC-High Voltage (US version)
All their other 70's efforts rock and this one has some fine songs, but some snoozers too.

3-KISS-S/T
I used to like this one just as much as the five albums after it. There is some potential there, but it's clunky too.

4-Alice Cooper-From the inside
I got really into this one for a while mainly just because I liked the concept. Then I realized the songs were not quite as good as the ideas behind them.

5-Judas Priest-Rocka Rolla
Once I saw this one a small step away from Sad wings of destiny and sin after sin. Time and repeated plays has made me realize that the distance is wider than I thought it once was. Their are some sparks here, but it's a long ways from where they would go with their other 1970's efforts.

5 comments:

  1. I agree about the Caress of Steel. There are some great musical moments on here that sadly suffer from a slightly muddy mix.

    Take comfort that you weren't alone--Rush themselves have pretty much disowned the album to varying degrees over the years

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  2. Good call on Zeppelin III. It gets lost, because it's not made up predominantly of rockers, but ti has a lot of color to it. Two of my fav Zep songs are "Out on the Tiles" and "Tangerine."

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  3. Anonymous8:11 AM

    under:
    1-Led Zeppelin-3
    it's still zeppelin...pass

    2-Rush-Caress of steel
    my #1 by them

    3-Aerosmith-Get your wings
    fantasic record

    4-TKO-Let it roll
    never heard, but in your face is pretty good.

    5-KISS-Hotter than hell
    definitely one of their best

    Over
    1-Deep Purple-Who do we think we are
    beyond perfect strangers, i'm not much of a fan

    2-AC/DC-High Voltage (US version)
    it's an alright album...it's definitely no pwerage

    3-KISS-S/T
    they were still figuring it out on this one, fun to listen to, but not very often

    4-Alice Cooper-From the inside
    my all time #1 cooper album. blows me away every time i hear it

    5-Judas Priest-Rocka Rolla
    yeah, this one isn't great by any means, but it showed promise. who else was hitting those notes at the time? no one

    ReplyDelete
  4. The track "Strange Ways" ALONE makes Hotter Than Hell a great KISS album.

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  5. Anonymous7:47 PM

    "Caress Of Steel" is like a mini-masterpiece from RUSH, IMO. "Hotter Than Hell" is WOW TIME! Led Zep 3 is... simply... Classic.

    Stone

    ReplyDelete