Prog albums you think are a little underrated?

Jared wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: Yes, just like these three underrated albums for instance.   2014: Yes - Heaven & Earth - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0Tfxf8B-2QCkUQmwItn52pk5QZglz2Hj (chronically underrated at 2.30 on PA)   2021: Yes - The Quest - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lD6x-iaY3we25X25RBbX2g_ee9AmZCUlA (rated only 2.90 on PA)   2023: Yes - Mirror to the Sky - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mdLFJt9iPnV0i5cqbPQzOA3-wD3VEgJxA (inexplicably rated only 3.42 on PA)  I had been patiently waiting for you to post some unfairly maligned Yes albums and credit where it's due, you didn't disappoint...

1. Rick Wakeman - Six Wives Of Henry VIII (has a good rating on PA but I put it right up there with the very best prog albums and should be in the Top 20 in my estimation.

Yes

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - July 20 2024 at 18:24

Awesoreno wrote: ^I think both this thread and the opposite one have lost the plot a bit. There have already been many threads about albums thought of as VERY underrated/overrated on this site, but I appreciate that we're tasked with focusing on works we believe to only be a LITTLE underrated/overrated. We should try to stick to that.

I understood the intention of this original poster; however, his request that the albums we mentioned have been rated with only two stars in PA is without a doubt in direct contradiction with the request expressed in the title (a title of a thread is like a preamble to the introductory post, you'll agree) of the topic for "little underrated" albums.

Mystique wrote: Grumpyprogfan wrote: Jared wrote: To keep this thread a little more focussed, I'd ask forum members to only include albums which score less than 3 stars. It amuses me that many don't follow what is intended. Is it perhaps because the original poster in the title of this topic asks for albums that are a little underrated, hence his desire for so-low-star-rated albums runs counter to that? For my part, I consciously ignored his unconventional requirement for two-star-rated albums and posted titles of albums that, despite being masterpieces, i.e., albums without a weak moment, didn't reach four stars, not to mention that they are referenced very infrequently or never.

Jared wrote: Mystique wrote: I understood the intention of this original poster; however, his request that the albums we mentioned have been rated with only two stars in PA is without a doubt in direct contradiction with the request expressed in the title (a title of a thread is like a preamble to the introductory post, you'll agree) of the topic for "little underrated" albums. and there you have it, encapsulated in this sentence, the reason why I tend to initiate so few threads on this forum; by the time we hit page 2, someone will have dissected and analysed my intentions, finding their consistency wanting... takes all the fun out of the experience quite frankly...

You can't ask for "little underrated" albums in the thread title and then almost imperceptibly slip in the opening post that they be rated no more than two stars. A two-star album can only be vastly underrated, or at least in the vast majority of cases. For instance, many 70s bands changed their style in the early 80s, for example, from prog-rock to new wave, and then the reviewers "punished" them for this by giving them only two stars, not rating their new style as such.

Edited by Mystique - July 21 2024 at 01:58

Hawkwind's albums like PXR5, Church of Hawkwind, and Road to Utopia deserve more than two stars and something, so these albums aren't little but criminally underrated, while this ridiculously set topic certainly does not deserve more than one star, as it got from me.

Gorgeous early fusion album that would have been historically important had it been released when it was recorded, and not shelved for almost ten years.

The Residents actually gets much more love from non-proggers:
 
Mark of the Mole (3.06) - a 5 star classic to me, and so is:
Intermission (3.36) =5 &
Commercial Album (3.66) =5
The Tunes of Two Cities (3.25) =4.5
Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? (2.91) =4

-and the same goes for Can:

Saw Delight (3.24) =4
Landed 3.51) =4 &

It depends on which community/echo chamber you focus on. There are some "prog" communities which despise The Flower Kings, and some that love them. xD On PA it's a 50/50 mix.