It seems like the days of flipping through vast vinyl, cassette, or CD collections is a thing of the past. And while there’s no denying the convenience of having all your favorite albums on a mobile device, it’s becoming more common for recordings to get lost in the shuffle and/or completely forgotten about.
Author/journalist Greg Prato is willing to provide some assistance, with his 12th book overall, Overlooked/Underappreciated: 354 Recordings That Demand Your Attention. Inside, you will find countless albums that you may have completely forgotten about or perhaps have never even heard of before.
Starting with AC/DC’s Flick of the Switch and wrapping up with Zombi’s Surface to Air, countless styles of music are represented in between – rock n’ roll, hard rock, heavy metal, alternative, new wave, punk, hardcore, grunge, jazz, fusion, psychedelic, prog, folk, blues, funk, soul, rap, spoken word, power pop, big band, glam, experimental, instrumental, soundtracks…the list goes on and on. But the selections stay strong!
Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, whose writing has appearing in Rolling Stone, among other outlets. He is also the author of several acclaimed books, including Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon, The Eric Carr Story, and MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video, among others.
Now available as paperback ($12.99, 256 pages), Kindle ($9.99, 287 pages), and Nook.
($9.99, 256 pages) versions.
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Color-Are You With Me
Judas Priest: Point of Entry….The Tubes: Completion Backwards Principle….Survivor: Vital Signs….Uriah Heep: Abominog….Lou Gramm: Ready or Not….Cheap Trick: All Shook Up….David Lee Roth: Skyscraper….Bonham: The Disregard of Timekeeping….Megadeth: The System Has Failed….Blue Oyster Cult: Imaginos
Another one, I know this is derivative, but for awhile I couldn’t get it out of my player: Impelliteri’s Stand In Line….Also, perhaps Eternal Idol by Black Sabbath.
ABOMINOG! Clown you’re on a winning streak and then some. ABOMINOG, given Daisleys and Kerslakes input is the follow up album to DIARY OF A MADMAN. SELL YOUR SOUL, and TOO SCARED TO RUN are metal classics. Very solid album. STAND IN LINE, which is out of print certainly has moments but borrows too much from Blackmore. OVER THE RAINBOW and SINCE YOU BEEN GONE. SECRET LOVER is terrific. My wild card: REACH FOR THE SKY by RATT. Everyone hates it, but I think it’s a strong showing.
Thanks Richman, and I know this will seem very geekish, but notice that “Chasing Shadows,” and “Over the Mountain” end the exact same way. Just a little indicator perhaps of the significant contribution that Daisley and Kerslake made on Diary. “Son of a Bitch,” from Abominog Jr. is incredible. It’s the subtle sophistication, the attention to the details in the architecture that makes Abominog really stand the test of time. I also really respect a band that put the song before the ego, i.e. there is a healthy use of outside writers on there. But then you contrast that with Survivor’s Vital Signs, and I’ll be doggone if they don’t utilize any outside writers whatsoever. That is one very unappreciated American band from Chicago. (And Jim Jamison can still sing his old songs). You are right about Impellitteri, he is very derivative of a Swedish guitar player (and I hear your counter, they both are derivative of Ritchie, who, in my opinion, has more musicality than any of the gunslingers)…but I couldn’t get that thing out of my player, I just kept flipping the tape over (analog is so much better), over and over again.
Also check TATTOOED DANCER from NO REST FOR THE WICKED. It borrows from SELL YOUR SOUL. ABOMINOG may not be equal with OZZYs first two records but is as good as BARK AT THE MOON, if not better.
And because I know you guys really wanted to know: my list of the most overrated albums, albums that are pretty good, but for the life of me, I can’t get my head around what the big freaking deal is.
1. Nirvana, Nevermind
2. Guns ‘n’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction
3. Judas Priest, Painkiller
4. Slayer, Reign In Blood
5. Kiss, Creatures of the Night
I know, what an idiot huh?
Actually, I agree with you on all of these except Creatures, which I must admit I love.
I agree with you except for Painkiller. : )
Explain why Appetite is overrated please…
It’s a case of “been there, done that.” Stylistically, almost everything on Appetite had been done before by Aerosmith, the New York Dolls, the Rolling Stones, and half-a-dozen other bands, yet many people regard it as some kind of revolutionary masterpiece when it really isn’t. It’s a decent rock’n’roll album, but it’s nothing special (unless you’d never heard any of those other bands, in which case you’ve got some homework to do).
Appetite is a masterpiece. Aerosmith may have done it before but that doesn’t discount how good that album is. The sad thing is, everything they did after this sucked. (except Lies that is)
H. S. A. S., this one is a cool little side-trip.
NICE! HAGAR KILLER VOX AND NEAL SCHON SMOKES ON THIS ONE!