10 Best Rock Albums That Everyone Forgets About

There's no real way to trace back where the genres of pop rock begin. For any music historian, the whole thing gets so convoluted that you're better off just trying to trace the lineage of pop itself rather than factor in when guitars came into the picture. On the other hand, if you're talking about the pure synthesis of pop hooks congealing with rock aesthetics, Big Star should have been much bigger than they were.

Across this debut album, these guys from the American South came through with note perfect songs that fit nicely between the Beatles' poppiness and the swaggering rock and roll of something like Cheap Trick. Though there are some straight ahead rock moments on tracks like Don't Lie to Me, the intrinsic cuteness of something like Thirteen and In The Street are perfect for people to get acclimatized with the rock genre. While songs like the Ballad of El Goodo have some of the best hooks of the decade, that didn't stop this album from tanking hard.

Despite its initial cheeky title, Number One Record never really reached the heights it not so humbly bragged about, instead becoming a relic of the '70s until one of their songs was covered by Cheap Trick for the theme to That '70s Show. If that's absolutely all you know from these guys, this is mandatory listening for anyone who likes the more single-friendly side of rock and roll.