10 Masterpiece Albums Everyone Ignored

By the time the '70s turned a corner, many listeners had had enough of the poppy sounds of the '60s. Now that things were getting a lot more hard-edged with acts like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, who really had time for the more radio-centric stuff in the underground? As opposed to the riff heavy material polluting the rock scene, a little something called power pop was still chipping away at the charts.

Though many would cite bands like Cheap Trick or the Cars with pioneering the power pop sound, the real blueprint album came with #1 Record by Big Star. While the cheeky title may have been a little much, this record is coated with hooks from head-to-toe, with songs like Watch the Sunrise and The Ballad of El Goodo having the same kind of breezy atmosphere to put you in a state of bliss.

Granted, the one big hit off of this record In the Street only ended up becoming popular once Cheap Trick decided to cover it to be used as the theme song to That '70s Show. Big Star may never have been able to really live up to their name, but for one glimmering moment in the late '70s, this was a good time no one should have missed.