10 Most Underrated Albums From Legendary Hard Rock Bands
Dark Horses Among Gods.
Most veterans of the heavy rock genre tend to have a bit of a halo around their classic set of material. Since they have been able to stand the test of time, it's safe to say that most of their records are close to great at the absolute worst, right? Well yeah, but that doesn't mean that everyone else feels the same way.
Across every single decade that rock has been alive, the harder side of the genre has come through with amazing albums that were never given the time of day that they deserved. Regardless of the amount of lip service they may get today, these were treated like absolute dogs back in the day, either being passed over by the public entirely or outright detested by some of the diehard fans.
With hindsight now in play, these albums should get treated like the classics they are instead of just a placeholder between the classics.
Oftentimes, these albums can have more experimental sides of the group that made you see them in a completely different light, whether it be through a change in musical direction or tackling some completely different set of lyrics.
Either way, these are the few outliers in these band's catalogs that are still worth some serious reconsideration.
10. The Fragile - Nine Inch Nails
There's no real road map of where to go after releasing something like the Downward Spiral. After a mammoth tour that completely exhausted him both physically and mentally, Trent Reznor seemed completely fried from the life of a rock star. Despite making one of the darkest records imaginable, The Fragile showed that Reznor had the capacity to go even darker.
Spanning two discs, the Fragile is a far more eclectic mix of influences for Reznor, as he delves into more heavy territory inspired by the rise of nu metal giants like Korn and Rage Against the Machine. While critics were quick to jump down Reznor's throat about being a sell out, this is one of the most biting records he has ever made. Acting as a companion piece to Spiral, this feels like some of the usual menace of NIN dialed in even further, all while sprinkling in more hopeful passages like We're In This Together.
Discounting some of the more filler material on the album like Starf*ckers Inc., this was the logical next step that the industrial rock world needed, only to be glossed over in favor of "cooler" bands like Limp Bizkit. If there was any justice in this world though, The Fragile would be on par with the legendary double albums of old today.