Most overrated/underrated albums from major HR/HM icons

Looking to hear everyone's opinion of this.

Can you give me a rundown of the single most underrated/overrated albums in the catalog of these iconic artists of HR/HM?

AC/DC
Aerosmith
Alice Cooper
Black Sabbath
Deep Purple
Dio
Grateful Dead
Guns & Roses
Helloween
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
KiSS
Led Zeppelin
Metallica
Motley Crue
Ozzy Osbourne
Pantera
Pink Floyd
Poison
Queen
Ratt
Skid Row
Slayer
Stryper
Wishbone Ash
Yngwie Malmsteem

I know this isn't a comprehensive list, but I'm just thinking of the biggest and most influential ones from their hey-dey.

So the format will be like
Most Overrated: Third Album
Most Underrated: First Album

And then a summary, however long you want to make it, for each.

Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and Wishbone Ash are considered Hard Rock/Heavy Metal now?

KISS

Most overrated: Destroyer
Most underrated: Music From: The Elder

KISS Solo edition

Most overrated: Ace Frehley
Most underrated: Gene Simmons

Ozzy Osbourne

Most overrated: For now, I'll say Blizzard of Ozz though a later album may better qualify. I like the album well enough, I just think Diary was better but so many fans favor the debut. I'm sick of "Crazy Train," too.

Most underrated: The Ultimate Sin

Quote :

Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and Wishbone Ash are considered Hard Rock/Heavy Metal now?

Don't really want to start a debate but when these artist first came out..yeah, they were considered hard rock artist and were played on fm rock stations along with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc....

Overrated/Underrated


AC/DC......Fly On The Wall/TNT
Aerosmith..Toys In The Attic/Permanent Vacation
Alice Cooper...Billion Dollar Babies/Trash
Black Sabbath...S/T debut/Born Again
Deep Purple...In Rock/Perfect Strangers
Dio...Dream Evil/Angry Machines
Grateful Dead...In The Dark/Anthem Of The Sun
Guns & Roses...Use Your Illusion 1/Lies
Helloween...Keeper Of The Seven Keyspart 1/Straight Out of Hell
Iron Maiden...Book Of Souls/The Final Frontier
Judas Priest...Sin After Sin/Turbo
KiSS...Kiss Alive/Hot In The Shade
Led Zeppelin...IV/Presence
Metallica....Load/Death Magnetic
Motley Crue...Dr. Feelgood/Saints Of Los Angeles
Ozzy Osbourne...bark At The Moon/Ultimate Sin
Pantera...Far Beyond Driven/The 4 glam albums from the 80s
Pink Floyd...The Wall/Division Bell
Poison...Flesh And Blood/Hollyweird
Queen...II / Live Killers
Ratt...S/T ('99)/Infestation
Skid Row...Thickskin/Subhuman Race
Slayer....? (not a fan at all so wont rate this artist)
Stryper..Fallen/Against The Law
Wishbone Ash...(not familiar enough with this artist full catalog to make a choice)
Yngwie Malmsteem...Rising Force/Inspirations (also the album he did with Ron Keels Steeler)

Wishbone Ash doesn't have much of an overrated album (everything of theirs that is great is duly noted as such in most places I've seen), but they have two very very underrated ones: There's the Rub and Pilgrimage.

Sabbath's entire Tony Martin era is what I consider the most underrated, along with Never Say Die. That album isn't that weak, it's just different than the other Ozzy-era stuff.

Priest's British Steel is overrated, their most underrated is likely Rocka Rolla.

Maiden's most underrated is obviously No Prayer for the Dying, along with the X Factor. Overrated, not because it's bad but because it's not their best, is Number of the Beast.

Pink Floyd's most underrated album is probably Animals, it seems to only be recognized amongst either die-hards or prog-fans. Though they have many buried gems that most don't know about, like Obscured by Clouds and the Soundtrack to More. Their most overrated in my eyes is The Wall, even though it's a great album. Most people I run into are only familiar with Floyd through a couple tracks off of that one.  

Also I don't think Dream Evil by Dio is overrated at all, it definitely should be mentioned in the same breath as Holy Diver and The Last In Line. His most underrated is probably Lock up the Wolves; it's not actually bad at all, despite the mostly negative opinions I see. If anything, Dio doesn't have anything overrated to his name.

underrated/overrated

Death Angel-Act 3/The Ultra-Violence
Megadeth-So Far/Rust
Slayer-Show No Mercy/Seasons in the Abyss
Nuclear Assault-Handle with Care/Survive
Exodus-Bonded By Blood/Fabulous Disaster
Kyuss- Blues for the Red Sun/....And the Circus Leaves Town
Whiplash-Power and Pain/Insult to Injury

Iron Maiden

Most overrated: Brave New World (I can see Number of the Beast, too)

Most underrated: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Overrated/Underrated
AC/DC: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/Fly on the Wall
Aerosmith: Self-titled/Nine Lives
Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare/Raise Your Fist and Yell
Black Sabbath: Sabotage/ Dehumanizer
Dio: Strange Highways/Dream Evil
Helloween: Walls of Jericho/Better than Raw
Iron Maiden: Brave New World/Powerslave
Judas Priest: Sin After Sin/Jugulator
KiSS: Monster/Asylum
Metallica: And Justice for All/Kill Em All
Motley Crue: Dr Feelgood/Generation Swine
Ozzy Osbourne: Diary of a Madman/Ultimate Sin
Pantera: Cowboys from Hell/I Am the Night
Poison: Open Up and Say Ahh/Native Tongue
Ratt: Out of the Celllar/Dancin Undercover
Slayer: Reign in Blood/Show No Mercy
Stryper: Fallen/Murder By Pride

Yngwie Malmsteem

Black Sabbath

Most overrated: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Most underrated: Vol 4 (Dehumanizer, too)

Quote :

Pink Floyd

Nothing overrated about them

80s Metal Lady wrote:

KISS

Most overrated: Destroyer
Most underrated: Music From: The Elder

KISS Solo edition

Most overrated: Ace Frehley
Most underrated: Gene Simmons

I disagree on your overrateds, especially Ave...but the two underrated ones:

-Elder, I have never understood the vehement dislike for that. I love it.
-Gene' solo...man, I really despised it for so long, but recently I heard "Radioactive" and it prompted me to give the album a fresh listen. I did quite enjoy. Still some spots that are pretty bad, but overall, I now think it's pretty good. Not Ace good, but still a fun album.

My pick for underrated KISS album would be Unmasked. It does get more praise now then it used to, it seems, but not as much as I feel it deserves. Possibly my favorite KISS album.

I'm not gonna do all the bands, but in addition to my KISS pick above:

Black Sabbath:
-underrated: the Martin era, as said, and especially Forbidden. But also Technical Ecstasy from the Ozzy era....so good.
-Overrated: I don't really think any are overrated...the ones that are loved and revered are deservedly so. I dislike some songs like "Planet Caravan" and "Changes", but small gripes in such a stellar catalog.

Alice Cooper:
-underrated: 94% of his catalog is underrated, but I will go with Flush the Fashion.
-overrated: As with Sabbath, I don't consider any of it overrated...the small amount that is highly revered is deservedly so. I guess I'd throw Welcome to My Nightmare in here. Even though I love it, it'd rank much lower on my list than on most people's, so I guess that counts. Still great though.

Guns N Roses - Appetite overrated its a great album but most people know or like them for that, IMO underrated would be Spaghetti Incident yeah its covers but they did a awesome job on them.

Pink Floyd - The Wall Great album but as it was said most people are only familiar with that. Underrated would be IMO Meddle. Great album a pre cursor to Darkside. That or their first album Piper at the Gates of Dawn both these albums I love.

Stryper - Overrated IMO Fallen, Underrated Murder by Pride I didnt say any from the first 4 cuz while they might be overrated their awesome albums and classic.

Metallica - Overrated THe Black Album, Underrated Load. Most die hards hate this album but it has some good rifs and some good songwriting. Not being a Metallica fan I love this album.

Megadeth - Overrated Rust in Peace GREAT album!!!! Underrated: I want to say either United Abominations or Countdown to Extinction

Aerosmith - Overrated Pump Underrated: Draw the Line

I only did the ones that I'm in any way qualified to talk about

AC/DC - Black Ice/Powerage
Black Sabbath Live Evil/Technical Ecstasy
Deep Purple In Rock/The Book of Taliesin
Dio Sacred Heart/Strange Highways
Guns & Roses Use Your Illusion 2/The Spaghetti Incident
Helloween Keeper of the Seven Keys 2/Walls of Jericho
Iron Maiden Powerslave/Killers
Judas Priest Painkiller/British Steel
Metallica Death Magnetic/Load
Ozzy Osbourne Bark at the Moon/The Ultimate Sin
Pink Floyd The Wall/Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Queen The Works/Inunendo
Slayer Repentless/Hell Awaits

ZombieHavoc wrote:

My pick for underrated KISS album would be Unmasked. It does get more praise now then it used to, it seems, but not as much as I feel it deserves. Possibly my favorite KISS album.

It's a refreshing change of pace in the KISS discography. Some songs I used to love, though, I don't like much now. "Talk To Me" and "Torpedo Girl" just go on and on, and, now that I'm older, "She's So European" doesn't have the same appeal. Just seems kind of stupid, lol. I do really like "Is That You" and "Easy As It Seems" now whereas I didn't care for them much back in the day, so it evens out. Always loved "Shandi" and "Naked City."

Boris2008 wrote:

I only did the ones that I'm in any way qualified to talk about

AC/DC -                                              Black Ice/Powerage
Black Sabbath                                      Live Evil/Technical Ecstasy
Deep Purple                                        In Rock/The Book of Taliesin
Dio                                                   Sacred Heart/Strange Highways
Guns & Roses                                    Use Your Illusion 2/The Spaghetti Incident
Helloween                                         Keeper of the Seven Keys 2/Walls of Jericho
Iron Maiden                                       Powerslave/Killers
Judas Priest                                       Painkiller/British Steel
Metallica                                            Death Magnetic/Load
Ozzy Osbourne                                   Bark at the Moon/The Ultimate Sin
Pink Floyd                                          The Wall/Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Queen                                                The Works/Inunendo
Slayer                                                Repentless/Hell Awaits

Cool we agree about Floyd and mostly on GNR

80s Metal Lady wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

My pick for underrated KISS album would be Unmasked. It does get more praise now then it used to, it seems, but not as much as I feel it deserves. Possibly my favorite KISS album.

It's a refreshing change of pace in the KISS discography. Some songs I used to love, though, I don't like much now. "Talk To Me" and "Torpedo Girl" just go on and on, and, now that I'm older, "She's So European" doesn't have the same appeal. Just seems kind of stupid, lol. I do really like "Is That You" and "Easy As It Seems" now whereas I didn't care for them much back in the day, so it evens out. Always loved "Shandi" and "Naked City."

Along with "Tomorrow", "Talk to Me" and "Torpedo Girl" are my faves from the album. I just love Ace and pretty much anything he does--as far as I'm concerned he was the best part of KISS. I agree on "She's So European"...I'd probably rank that as my least favorite track.

On with the KISS theme, one record I do think is overrated is Carnival of Souls. Aside from the Criss solo album, it is the only KISS album without a single redeeming song for me...I don't get why so many people like it. And conversely, I really like Psycho Circus, so I've never really understood why people didn't dig on that, especially when they dig on Carnival.

Overrated feels easier to define.

Underrated is a bit tricker, because on one hand you have well-known albums that received criticism and/or a bad reception from fans. And on the other, you have albums that flew completely under the radar. Like Tony Martin Sabbath. It isn't necessarily "underrated", it's just that it's mostly un-rated completely. Can you say Headless Cross is underrated when almost everyone who has heard it says they like it? So there's two ways to go about it.

I'll try a few easy ones:

DIO

Underrated: Dream Evil. Somehow the first 2 or 3 get all the glory, but this is a classic sounding Dio album, on par with Holy Diver & Last in Line.

Overrated: Sacred Heart. Gets lumped in with the classic era albums (and somehow even gets rated higher than Dream Evil), yet the band went on to make several better albums later on.

HELLOWEEN

Underrated: Gambling with the Devil. Basically most of the recent Helloween albums are underrated. I'll pick this because it's the best.

Overrated: The highest rated and most beloved Helloween albums are the first three. But those are all incredible, so I can't go there. I could say Chameleon, because I've heard people defend it. It's not worth defending, so does that make it overrated? But I'm going to go The Dark Ride. Somehow out of all the Deris -era albums some people pick THIS as their best. I don't know why, maybe it's the black cover? It's got its highlights, it's definitely better than Keeper Legacy (at least no-one ever picks that as their favourite) but it doesn't compare to Time of the Oath, Better than Raw or Rabbit Don't Come Easy, for instance, to name a few contemporaries. If you like it becasue it's "dark", well, all of the last 4 Helloween albums have been darker, heavier and harder than the Dark Ride. That's just my opinion. I still like the Dark Ride, I just find it a little overrated among Helloween fans. I remember I was disappointed when I first heard it. I thought I got over it, but then it came back again.

BLACK SABBATH

Overrated: Sabotage. This album generally gets included in the classic awesome Ozzy-era Sabbath, and people genuinely seem to like it a lot. But it really doesn't compare AS WELL as it's made out to compare. I think the first 5 are the true pinnacle of Ozzy era Sabbath, and this one is a clear step down. Obviously Sabotage is a better album than the two that followed it, but that's not the topic here.

Underrated: Tony Martin. "Who?"

IRON MAIDEN

Overrated: Seventh Son. Probably a top 5 Maiden album. But it's not the prog metal masterpiece some make it out to be...

Underrated: The X-Factor. If you can't see past Blaze, and the change in overall direction, you're missing out. Obviously it's subjective though. Not everyone likes this kind of music. I love it.

JUDAS PRIEST

Overrated: Screaming for Vengeance. Defenders of the Faith is just better. Very similar, only one is better. Yet the other one gets all the glory.

Underrated: Maybe Jugulator? Super heavy and... catchy. Maybe a little juvenile, but it's memorable.

METALLICA

Overrated: Anything they recorded in the 80's. I'm not a massive fan, but I own all these records and enjoy them alright. But that's about it. They are all overrated. If I had to pick one, it'd be And Justice for All. It has its moments, it's good, but that's just not a great album.

Underrated: I haven't actually heard any of the albums most people bash (Lulu, St.Anger, Re-Load etc). I guess I'll just pick Kill'Em All because a lot of Metallica fans don't have it as their #1. It's my favourite by them.

I can't do more. There's too many bands. Okay, one more:

LED ZEPPELIN

Overrated: Led Zep IV. Stairway to Heaven, yup. Really doesn't do much for me anymore. And even if I agree it's a cool song, it doesn't make this album their best.

Underrated: Physical Graffiti. Their best. Enough heavy hitters mixed with deep cuts that need repeated listens. Plus, I like long albums. And somehow the way it's not numbered like their first four makes it a little less sexy for newbies.

Quote :

Overrated: Anything they recorded in the 80's. I'm not a massive fan, but I own all these records and enjoy them alright. But that's about it. They are all overrated. If I had to pick one, it'd be And Justice for All. It has its moments, it's good, but that's just not a great album.

Underrated: I haven't actually heard any of the albums most people bash (Lulu, St.Anger, Re-Load etc). I guess I'll just pick Kill'Em All because a lot of Metallica fans don't have it as their #1. It's my favourite by them.

How can one album be both? Im not a massive fan either.

Addy wrote:

How can one album be both?

I guess it depends on the feedback you hear or read about re: certain albums. For example, I didn't think Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was well received or remembered; so, to me, it is underrated. Someone here posted it was their most overrated. I would say Dio's Dream Evil is underrated, but I see it in both categories in this thread.