This list of Rock's 100 Most Underrated Albums includes an incredibly broad compendium of near misses, also-rans, shoulda-beens and forgotten gems. The reasons they were ignored are many. In some cases, they arrived at the tail end of a period of stirring success, but also of abject failure. Sometimes, bands moved too far outside of fans' comfort zones, or returned to their core sound too late for it to matter.
Some came early on, before a group's legend grew. Other times, they arrived very late in their careers – when the crowds had simply moved on. Some were even regarded as initial hits at the time, but have faded in the public consciousness after radio and soundtracks and hits packages focused the general public's attention elsewhere.
