10 Best Rock Albums That Everyone Forgets About

10. White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground as a whole tend to not really get a fair say in the history of rock and roll. Despite being hated in their time as being unprofessional and avant garde, the weird musings on albums like their debut record with Nico became the benchmark for punk and hard rock later down the line. However, White Light/White Heat deserves just as much praise and more in retrospect.

If you thought the first VU record was a bit rough around the edges, then you haven't seen anything yet, with this album sounding almost unproduced in places. From one track to the next, the mix of these cuts are borderline amateurish, and yet they manage to sound absolutely amazing under these conditions. In addition to the noise of something like the title track, songs like Lady Godiva's Operation intersperse those little bits of art rock into the picture, with John Cale and Lou Reed in a virtual duel with each other.

The best tracks actually manage to do both at the exact same time, with Sister Ray being a 17 minute exercise with feedback being used to create one of the most chaotic pieces of sound design ever conceived. Though White Light/White Heat may have been considered a sophomore slump in its time, there are still post punk acts the world over trying to duplicate what this album does effortlessly.