10 Rock Albums That Were Ahead Of Their Time

During the mid '60s, rock and roll was first starting to figure out what it could do outside of the traditional party music. The Beatles had already opened the floodgates on albums like Revolver and Sgt. Peppers, and the next few years would see even more bands bringing different wacky ideas into the mix as well. Even though the Velvet Underground may have been on the ground floor of the art rock scene, that didn't stop critics calling this one of the most unprofessional recordings ever made when it first came out.

Being a student of the art scene in New York, the songs that Lou Reed wrote on here were a lot more about creating an atmosphere, whether that's talking about the wonders of the sun coming up on Sunday Morning or engaging in some bondage activity on Venus in Furs. This album isn't trying to hold your hand through these topics, throwing you into the fray of the drug-fueled underground on Heroin or I'm Waiting for the Man. Though this street level rock and roll may have been looked down upon, what came from this one album remains some of the most interesting rock and roll ever made.

Outside of the underground, The Velvets became the forerunners of punk rock and alternative, pioneering different abrasive techniques as well as garnering fans like David Bowie as well as Julian Casablancas from the Strokes. Rock and roll could definitely be fun, but it could also be grimy, and this is the equivalent of what Bob Dylan would be if he were born out of the seedy underbelly of The Big Apple.