10 Perfect Rock Albums That Critics Got Wrong

As the old saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. Even though you might think you have a grasp on what the kids are listening to these days, the test of time is the only thing that will tell you what people really want to remember. And through the years, there have been many instances where the head honchos of the music business have royally screwed up.

Aside from the label drama that comes with every release, these were albums that were torn to shreds back in the day for no good reason. Whether it be because the critics themselves had an axe to grind or that they were just jealous, these albums didn't have a prayer with the music press that was supposed to be hyping them up.

In fact, it's actually comical to just go back to some of these records and see how little faith that these people had in what would become some of the most acclaimed bands in the rock scene. Then again, anyone can try to clown on something that's popular in the moment. Once you actually take a step back and take a listen to what you're hearing, you start to realize just how out of touch you really were with what the rock scene was really listening to.

When genres like prog rock were first coming up the ranks, a lot of critics didn't really know what to make of these respective acts. Since the sounds of people like Pink Floyd and King Crimson were just getting born, it was anyone's guess as to whether this kind of music had any kind of commercial potential at this point. If the critics had their say though, we wouldn't be talking about Rush at all these days.

As the Canadian icons were first starting to get some traction off the strength of albums like Fly By Night, the critics were going in hard on just how derivative they were, calling them Led Zeppelin rip-offs and particularly complaining about the tone of Geddy Lee's voice. Although his natural high register takes a bit of getting used to, there were a few more colourful ways to describe his voice as well, with some critics comparing him to a hamster with a blowtorch up its ass.

That hasn't stopped the Rush army from getting stronger and stronger through the years, garnering them the reputation as one of the most popular cult rock bands next to acts like the Grateful Dead. And some critics have even changed their tune, like Rolling Stone dunking on them in the '70s and awarding Moving Pictures as one of the greatest albums of all time just a few months ago. That, my friends, is what we call a glow-up.