10 Most Overlooked (non-surround) Albums

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Quad Linda

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
10,728
Location
DROP YOUR WAD ON QUAD Chicago, Illinois
Please list your votes for the 10 obscure albums deserving wider recognition. Please don't list albums available in Quad or 5.1.

1- Moby Grape (1st) My all-time favorite album. Listen my friends...
2- Marrying Maiden - It's a Beautiful Day
3- You Never Know Who Your Friends Are - Al Kooper
4- New York Tendaberry - Laura Nyro
5- Loosen Up Naturally - Sons of Champlin
6- Wings - Michel Colombier w/Bill Medley, Paul Williams, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall
7- Rehearsals for Retirement - Phil Ochs
8- You Smile, the Song Begins - Herb Alpert & TJB (a cancelled Quad)
9- Streetnoise - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity
10-Mind Transplant - Alphonse Mouzon w/Tommy Bolin (reputed to be mixed, but not released in 5.1)
 
Speedy Keen Previous Convictions
maybe a few Nico albums. I'll think of more. The difference between obscure and cult is a fine line....
 
Ever? I have quite the list of DKA Lost Classics.

Poe - Haunted
Badlands - Badlands
Jellyfish - Split Milk
Kele - The Boxer
Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
Mansun - Six
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
BT - These Hopeful Machines
Bob Schneider - Lonelyland
Virgos Merlot - Signs of a Vacant Soul
Weezer - Pinkerton
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Saigon Kick - Water
Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy

I agree with Jefe. The line between "obscure" and "cult" is a fine line, and "overlooked" is another matter altogether. "Chinese Democracy" was neither of the first two, but it got so lost in its own hoopla that it was impossible to impartially listen to the music. Therefore, to me, it's overlooked, since everyone thought the album sucked before they even heard it.....and it turned out to be good (at least to me.)

"Haunted" is always my all-time champ of overlooked albums. Sophomore album by a damn talented artist who really pushed herself and wound up getting dropped from her label and, about twelve years later, never releasing another album.
 
OK - next to impossible, and on any given day, I could probably come up with a different 10, 20 or 100 but for today;

Lighthouse - One Fine Morning (AFIK, there is a quad version of the single, but not the album)
Charles & Eddie - Duophonic (early 90's neosoul)
Nickelbag - 12 Hits & A Bump (under-appreciated guitar god, Stevie Salas and Stones back-up singer Bernard Fowler set fire to PFunks, "Hit It & Quit It")
Emmit Rhodes - Self Titled - my all time favorite Power Pop masterpiece.
Don Dixon - Romeo At Julliard (REM, Smithereens producer & Cleveland home boy - killer version of "Cool" from West Side Story) - plus anything that he and or his wife Marti Jones ever did.
Field Music - Measure (brainy power prog/pop - XTC meets Yes)
Lewis Taylor - Stoned Pt.1 (Brit mystery man who can go from Brian Wilson to Shuggie Otis in a split second)
Wondermints - Mind If I Make Love To You (Brian Wilson's back-up band)
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (she's had a bit of exposure the last year - but IMO, she's far more interesting than Adele)
California Guitar Trio - Yaminishi Blues (Fripp Guitar Craft disciples - anytime you have an opportunity to see them perform - do it! - and really nice guys to boot!)
 
There's a KILLER version of One Fine Morning by Santana on the 2 disc expanded Supernatural.

Emmitt Rhodes! Fresh as a daisy.

OK - next to impossible, and on any given day, I could probably come up with a different 10, 20 or 100 but for today;

Lighthouse - One Fine Morning (AFIK, there is a quad version of the single, but not the album)
Charles & Eddie - Duophonic (early 90's neosoul)
Nickelbag - 12 Hits & A Bump (under-appreciated guitar god, Stevie Salas and Stones back-up singer Bernard Fowler set fire to PFunks, "Hit It & Quit It")
Emmit Rhodes - Self Titled - my all time favorite Power Pop masterpiece.
Don Dixon - Romeo At Julliard (REM, Smithereens producer & Cleveland home boy - killer version of "Cool" from West Side Story) - plus anything that he and or his wife Marti Jones ever did.
Field Music - Measure (brainy power prog/pop - XTC meets Yes)
Lewis Taylor - Stoned Pt.1 (Brit mystery man who can go from Brian Wilson to Shuggie Otis in a split second)
Wondermints - Mind If I Make Love To You (Brian Wilson's back-up band)
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (she's had a bit of exposure the last year - but IMO, she's far more interesting than Adele)
California Guitar Trio - Yaminishi Blues (Fripp Guitar Craft disciples - anytime you have an opportunity to see them perform - do it! - and really nice guys to boot!)
 
...Emmitt Rhodes! Fresh as a daisy.

Emmitt disappeared for a long time - word was that he couldn't hack the biz of the music biz - and after awhile became a bitter recluse. He's currently making music again - I believe he has a few new tracks on CD Baby (with a little help from Bangles Susannah and Debbie) - unfortunately the years have been unkind to his voice.
 
Please list your votes for the 10 obscure albums deserving wider recognition. Please don't list albums available in Quad or 5.1.

7- Rehearsals for Retirement - Phil Ochs

Have to agree on that one. As much as he had some great songs on Pleasures and Tape, Rehearsals just had a quality to it that I can't really describe...desperation....like it's his "berlin" or "Marble Index" or "Music for a New Society"

A few other for me:

Heidi Berry - s/t (on 4ad from the 90's, always reminded me of Sandy Denny for some reason)
Peter Blegvad - King Strut & other Stories (just a very finely crafted album, great tunes)
Bill Nelson - I could pick almost any of the 20 or so albums he's self-released over the last 5 or 6 years
Neil Halstead - Sleeping On Roads (also on 4ad, ex Slowdive and Mojave 3, here he makes what is almost like a Nick Drake album)
Roger Eno - Lost In Translation (he'll always be overshadowed by his more famous brother)
Peter Hammill - Thin Air (a very dark album, chilling in places)
Mick Harvey - The Book of the Dead (mostly known as one of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds and more recently with PJ Harvey, he's done fine stuff on his own too)
Dave Davies - Solo Live (another always overshadowed by the brother. Dave's self-released acoustic live disc is I think better than Ray's)
Lisa Germano - Geek the Girl (again, more known for who she's played with - Mellencamp, Bowie etc etc etc)
Channel Light Vessel - Automatic (great little "supergroup" of Bill nelson, Roger Eno, Kate St John and Laraaji)

I could go and on and get really obscure...but I'll stop for now.
 
Doppelbock, you're right on the money on Rehearsals. His depression shines through, even the cover smacks of it - his tombstone, albeit 7 years premature. He was despondent because he expected to write thundering protest songs after the Chicago convention. That didn't happen. Only a few get remotely near that. Instead, he bares his soul in perhaps his most personal album. He's not being paranoid when he sings "take your tap from my phone, and leave my life alone." The wiretaps began with LBJ and escalated with Nixon. Lennon may have been the only singer Nixon feared more than Phil.

About 15 years ago, I was strolling near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village one saturday morning headed to Tower Records (RIP). The sign at the Bottom Line: Tonight! A Small Circle of Friends - a Tribute to Phil Ochs. There is a 2 CD set of those artists in tribute to Phil with the same title. I had a party that evening at the National Arts Club. But, hey, I could make the late show afterward. It was a magical evening. I sat right by the stage with his sister, Sonny Tanzman. Phil hung himself in her home in Far Rockaway in '76, though I wasn't going to broach that subject. In between acts, we chatted about Phil and the disappointment when Elektra/Rhino trimmed his then upcoming box set from 3 to 4 CD's. At that time, Rehearsals was out only in Japan on CD. Yes, I had it. All that was missing that night was Phil. His spirit loomed large. A genius. The rock archivist Michael Ochs is Phil's Brother and managed him when Rehearsals was recorded. PBS recently ran "There But for Fortune," the documentary about Phil. I have the DVD. It's mesmerizing, don't miss it!

I'll go back to the city where I can be alone, and tell my friend she lies in stone, in Lincoln Park the dark was turning. "The police are not here to create disorder, the police are here to preserve disorder." - Richard M. Daley. Little did Phil know, Daley wanted out of Vietnam as much as he did. We found that out when LBJ's tapes were released a few years ago. Who'da thunk it?

Have to agree on that one. As much as he had some great songs on Pleasures and Tape, Rehearsals just had a quality to it that I can't really describe...desperation....like it's his "berlin" or "Marble Index" or "Music for a New Society"
 
Thanks for the info Linda. I never knew about the tribute release - I'll have to check it out. The DVD too. I've got pretty much all of Phil's albums, both the biography books, a few bootleg recordings, a boot dvd of tv stuff...so yeah, I like the guy!

(And I forgot to add - back around 89 or 90 I was helping a friend record some of his songs. Some nights we'd really quickly toss off a cover tune just for a lark...we once did a whacky version of "Pretty Smart On My Part")
 
The tribute 2CD set is long OOP. I've read both books, but never ran into Ochs boots.

Is Krazy Kat records still on Rt. 66 in ABQ?

Read
Thanks for the info Linda. I never knew about the tribute release - I'll have to check it out. The DVD too. I've got pretty much all of Phil's albums, both the biography books, a few bootleg recordings, a boot dvd of tv stuff...so yeah, I like the guy!

(And I forgot to add - back around 89 or 90 I was helping a friend record some of his songs. Some nights we'd really quickly toss off a cover tune just for a lark...we once did a whacky version of "Pretty Smart On My Part")
 
Music - s/t (Buzzy Linhart)
Autosalvage - s/t
Anthony Moore - Out
Turning Curious - Soul Light Season Produced by Mitch Easter (an EP really, and for full disclosure, I helped record the demo that led to it) probably too indie for this list
White Witch
Captain Beyond (well, this might be in cult territory, but still there's got to be fans of similar music that haven't heard it)
oh, (excuse my yelling) THE FIRST THREE DOLL BY DOLL ALBUMS!


Strongly agree with the Al Kooper You Never Know..., and Emmitt Rhodes

Elmer, some of those sound very interesting, I'm going to search out Field Music and Lewis Taylor.

Linda, great idea for a thread!
 
The tribute 2CD set is long OOP. I've read both books, but never ran into Ochs boots.

Is Krazy Kat records still on Rt. 66 in ABQ?


Not sure about K Kat. I've only lived here for 2+ years and do most shopping online. The one "cool" CD shop in the Nob Hill/University area that I went in a few times closed up a while back.

I'll have to pull out the Ochs oddity stuff I have and let you know what they are.


Anthony Moore - Out

There's another that I could have put on my list too - excellent album!
 
Music - s/t (Buzzy Linhart)

John Lennon guest DJ'd on a NY FM station. The host let him do the weather and some ads. One was for an appearance of Buzzy Linhart's in Jersey. Lennon comments on Buzzy, "she's nice!" Buzzy is a guy! No doubt Lennon knew that.

Captain Beyond (well, this might be in cult territory, but still there's got to be fans of similar music that haven't heard it)

Captain Beyond is an announced, but unreleased CD-4.


Strongly agree with the Al Kooper You Never Know..., and Emmitt Rhodes

If Kooper did a followup, he could call it You Never Know WHAT Your Friends Are. The cover of that '69 album is Chicago's finest beating the crap out of protesters in Grant Park. "Where were you in Chicago?... I didn't see them break your head and breathe the tear gas air." - Phil Ochs In May, we have the opportunity to get an updated photo with Chicago hosting the NATO summit. G8 mysteriously moved.

Elmer, some of those sound very interesting, I'm going to search out Field Music and Lewis Taylor.

Discovery is the reason the thread and it's Quad and modern surround counterparts were invented.

Linda, great idea for a thread!

Thanks Quadsearcher! I stay up nights thinking of this stuff.

And I continue to burn the Midnight Lamp - Hendrix
 
Not sure about K Kat.
There's another (Anthony Moore - Out) that I could have put on my list too - excellent album!

Krazy Kat has lots of collectable and rare stuff. I got my Beatles at Hollywood Bowl and Buckingham/Nicks there.

I goofed on #13 in this thread. Both my comments and Quadsearcher's are in the balloon.

I'll cheat and add an 11th to my list: Dreams, a jazz/rock band from '70 w/Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, Randy & Mike Brecker and a fantastic vocalist named Eddie Vernon. Brass charts arranged by the late, great Barry Rogers. RIP Barry & Mike.
 
...I'll cheat and add an 11th to my list: Dreams, a jazz/rock band from '70 w/Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, Randy & Mike Brecker and a fantastic vocalist named Eddie Vernon. Brass charts arranged by the late, great Barry Rogers. RIP Barry & Mike.

As long as we're cheating, how about Dreams second album, "Imagine My Surprise" which added the Letterman Show Band's Will Lee on bass & vocals with a classic album cover by Playboy's Gahan Wilson.
 
As long as we're cheating, how about Dreams second album, "Imagine My Surprise" which added the Letterman Show Band's Will Lee on bass & vocals with a classic album cover by Playboy's Gahan Wilson.

YES!! Elmer, you were reading my mind. I have CD's & LP's of both albums. Imagine My Surprise if these were mixed in surround. Don't hold your breath. Anyone who digs 70's jazz, Chicago, or B,S&T should pick them up. YOU NEED THESE!
 
Krazy Kat has lots of collectable and rare stuff. I got my Beatles at Hollywood Bowl and Buckingham/Nicks there.

I goofed on #13 in this thread. Both my comments and Quadsearcher's are in the balloon.

I'll cheat and add an 11th to my list: Dreams, a jazz/rock band from '70 w/Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, Randy & Mike Brecker and a fantastic vocalist named Eddie Vernon. Brass charts arranged by the late, great Barry Rogers. RIP Barry & Mike.

Billy Cobham, I saw this band at Hamilton College in the 70's. It was in the chapel that was stuffed with people. Got stuck way back, but I'll never forget that show.
 
Back
Top