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Independent: The 20 Most Underrated Albums


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Posted (edited)

 

 

Albums ATRL cares about:

 

#14 - Evermore (Taylor Swift)

Spoiler

No, she's not one of the "underdogs" mentioned earlier, but Taylor Swift does have an underrated album in the shape of Evermore, her companion record to 2020's superb surprise album, Folklore. Written during a particularly fruitful period with collaborators such as The National's Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, it continued the Folklorian shift from pop into alt-rock territory.

 

It's also, arguably, the album where she does her biggest creative flex, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. She's fantastic on the banjo-strumming caper "No Body No Crime" then, on "Ivy", she casts spells with off-kilter rhythms and evocative lyrics: "Clover blooms in the fields/ Spring breaks loose, the time is near/ What would he do if he found us out?/ Crescent moon, coast is clear/ Spring breaks loose, but so does fear/ He's gonna burn this house to the ground." Exquisite. ROC

#8 - Crash (Charli XcX)

Spoiler

After a long Brat summer, Charli XCX's earlier album Crash has all but faded into the background. But as much as critics (and fans) tend to compare it unfavourably to the experimental alt-pop of her neon-green masterpiece, Crash proved her innate understanding of what makes a brilliant pop record. Inspired in part by David Cronenberg's 1996 erotic thriller of the same name, it featured many of the same collaborators with whom she later joined forces on Brat: The 1975's George Daniel and producers AG Cook, Oscar Holter and Lotus IV.

It takes its musical cues from Eighties vixens and plays with the artist's fascination surrounding pop as product – here by repackaging some of her favourite songs. The pulsating club bop "Used to Know Me" interpolates the 1990 Robin S track "Show Me Love", while "Good Ones" deploys a crunchy Eighties analogue synth beat. Charli might have dubbed it her "major label sell-out record", but Crash is a near-flawless demonstration of an artist unpacking the fickle nature of the music industry, all the while ensuring it sounds really, really good. ROC

#3 - Blackout (Britney Spears)

Spoiler

"It's Britney, *****." Few music moments are as thrilling as Spears's opening salvo on her defiant 2007 album, Blackout, which turned a series of personal (and highly publicised) issues into one of her greatest works. The beats are dark and edgy, speaking to the muddied, hedonistic and gossip-ridden times. Spears herself often sounds bored, or mocking, as she rolls her eyes at her detractors. "I'm Mrs Lifestyles of the rich and famous," she sings on "Piece of Me"... "I'm Mrs 'oh my God that Britney's shameless'/ I'm Mrs Extra! Extra! This just in/ I'm Mrs she's too big now she's too thin." Those icy beats and glitchy synths would inspire generations of future-leaning pop stars in the decades to come. Bravo. ROC

 

 

 

:xtinass:

Edited by Rev8
  • Like 4

Posted

Crash? Should've picked Pop 2 or even her debut tbh

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Posted

How is Blackout underrated when is considered Britney's best album by most? :deadbanana2:

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Posted

:suburban:

Posted

Blackout is indeed underrated. Many people act like it's mid because it is Britney. 

Posted (edited)

Albums by Britney Spears and Taylor swift should not be put into a most underrated of all time list… be fr these are two of the biggest celebrities of the past 50 years

Edited by JO1s
Posted

Dumb ass list

  • Like 1
Posted

Those aren't even underrated. They just picked albums or artists that are trendy on Twitter. 

Posted

i'm so tired of critics trying to convince us that Charli xcx is actually underrated. like, who on earth thought Crash was anything but a complete snooze fest? it's honestly wild how they're shoving this blandness down our throats and calling it subtle genius

 

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Posted

Britney queen of pop ! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YALL.

 

 

SHES THE MOTHAEFFIN QUEENNNNNNMNNNNN *NICKI MINAJ VOICE*

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Venice B said:

How is Blackout underrated when is considered Britney's best album by most? :deadbanana2:

It makes sense all things considered but I agree that nowadays, after the retrospective praise and its recognized undeniable impact, it's not really suitable to call it underrated anymore.

 

Taylor Swift does NOT belong in an "underrated" list btw

  • Like 1
Posted
Quote

Crash proved her innate understanding of what makes a brilliant pop record.

 

They get it. :clap3:

Posted

this is a weird ass list, there's a few albums on here that aren't underrated at all and quite a lot of them just suck

Posted

Where's Witness?

  • Confused 1
Posted

Slint :clap3:
Peter Gabriel :clap3:

ELO :clap3:

Posted

What a horrible list. There's so many great actually underrated music that would use coverage instead

Posted

Evermore is so underrated. Blackout is seen as Britney's best so I'm not 100% if it's super underrated but it is totally a masterpiece.

 

I'd say the following are really underrated:

Janet Jackson Damita Jo and Unbreakable

Madonna Erotica

Tinashe Songs For You

Carly Rae Jepsen The Loveliest Time

Troye Sivan Something To Give Each Other

 

Among others

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Posted

no 143? list cancelled

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Posted

How is Evermore underrated? It was highly praised and got more success than it deserved. No Kelis album, no list.

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Posted

Stupid list

Posted

what a snooze list

Posted

No The Kick by Foxes no list.

  • Like 1
Posted

Does Independent know the meaning of 'underrated'? :huh: 

Posted

This list is dumb as hell 

 

 

If anything Blackout is a bit overrated. I would say In the Zone is actually underrated. 

 

Evermore was released to critical acclaim. I dont see many Swifties list it in their top 3 so it being underrated does make a bit of sense. 

 

 

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