Best Underrated Pop Albums to Listen To

I was listening to Halsey's 2021 album, If I Can't Have Love I Want Power the other day and I was just thinking about how severely underrated this album is. The production from Nine Inch Nails is absolutely amazing, echoing Trent and Atticus' film scores in certain places (Bells in Santa Fe and I Am Not A Woman I'm a God feel ripped straight from The Social Network) and mixing a range of genres such as breakcore, trip-hop and shoegaze as well as some of Halsey's best writing ever.

I personally found this album to be a breath of fresh air lyrically too, as so many pop albums not just from this decade but in general concern themselves with men and their troubles with men, and seem to find their empowerment through their relationship with men, but Halsey rejects the presence of men entirely on this album and I found it to be a very refreshing brand of empowerment in this Olivia Rodrigo/Sabrina Carpenter era of pop music focusing so much on the men in their lives.

Just absolutely baffled at how underrated this album has been, and I was just wondering what other picks people might have for other pop albums that didn't get their flowers or flew under the radar?

More people need to get into MUNA. Their self titled album from a couple years ago definitely has some of my favorite pop songs of this decade.

I know this was a critical darling but What’s Your Pleasure by Jessie Ware (and the platinum deluxe edition) is literally a no-skip album! I still listen to it all the time and it all sounds so fresh! Both the production and lyrics are soooo solid I wish it catapulted her to stardom.

Other, lesser known pop perfection albums I want to highlight are “The Loveliest Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen (I love the soundscapes she plays with here and hope it’s an indicator of her future direction) and “Girl with No Face” by Allie X (amazing visuals and how an “80s inspired” album should actually sound)

From a commercial pov id say Sawayama is soooo good but didn't chart much, it should've been #1 for months

1. The Next Day - David Bowie

2. Boarding House Reach — Jack White

3. The Slow Rush - Tame Impala

4. In Through The Out Door - Led Zeppelin

5. i,i - Bon Iver

Based on the delta between the recognition it has received and how good it is. I’ll go first. Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home by the Geraldine Fibbers is top to bottom song for song so good. The lyrics, arrangement, and the energy. Oh the energy! It got some recognition the year it released but all but forgotten now. One of my top albums ever.

Side question, do musicians put out music with this kind of energy anymore? Seems like I haven’t heard music that just kicks you in the teeth in a long time.

Amy Winehouse became a household name in the states with Back to Black and her media presence, but her first record, Frank, is superior imo and at the very least not as well known as it should be.

Don't even know if it constitutes as "underrated" at this point since it's universally critically acclaimed and one of the highest-rated R&B albums of all time, but Trilogy by the Weeknd I guess? Easily his best work, and a lot of his more casual radio listeners might not even be aware it exists.

Also unpopular opinion but True Romance is the best album in Charli's discography, even better than all the PC-Music-adjacent stuff.

With how the music industry works, especially over the past couple of years, artists are often catapulted into the spotlight with a singular breakthrough song, often long after they've already put out a lot of good work in the past.

But before they went mainstream or became more widely known, which artist had the best debut or sophomore album? Or early collection of music in general?

For me, it's Sabrina Carpenter with EVOLution. The entire album is just pop perfection with zero skips, and while Thumbs did pretty well (and was even expected to be her breakthrough hit), it's still relatively unknown in the wider pop conversation. The dance-pop elements are super relevant to the music scene at the time of its release, but I honestly think even if it was released right now, at the height of her popularity, the album would do phenomenally well.

My personal favourites from the album are Mirage, Don't Want It Back, On Purpose, and No Words.

Several of her other singles from that era and during the release of the Singular duology, including Why and Sue Me, definitely deserve their flowers too.

Which artist is it for you, and which of their early songs should be way more popular than they currently are?

The Veronicas in general. All their albums are underrated af outside Australia. I still don't understand how they didn't see more success in the US.

Badlands by Halsey is truly my favorite debut album forever. It was such an iconic piece of the Tumblr 2010s era. Shes mostly known for "Closer" which feels like the opposite of the rest of her music. I think her biggest solo single is "Without Me" from 2019 and as much as it love that song, Badlands is something special.

the word “underrated” has been watered down in recent years, but what albums had an impact on you that would you put forward? these are some of mine from the 90s in particular!

Give me your favorite most underrated albums

Suggest me an album that is perfect, no skips in your book that doesn’t get praised or talked about enough. I’ll start:

Ride “Nowhere”

HUM “Downward is Heavenward”

Tegan and Sara - “Love You to Death” The production on this album is so clean and the lyrics are so catchy to a lot of the songs

The owner of a record store showed me this album when I and another customer were both randomly looking for Lou Reed records. I went away with a copy of Berlin, because it was just 15 bucks and my budget was small. I listened to Songs For Drella on the way home and I‘m surprised it’s not considered a classic.

Aly and Aj - Insomniatic Still one of the most solid teen pop albums.

Hillary Duff - Breathe in, Breathe out This is Hillary's best in my opinion.

What are the slightly obscure, niche, under-the-radar masterpieces in your collection?

Cross Purposes - Black Sabbath

1/2 century man by Naoki Urasawa

Thanks to you song by ghost and pals