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Top 40 Underrated Songs
1. Alice In Chains- “Rotten Apple,” Jar of Flies 1994. In my opinion every song on this album is underrated (this is my favorite album by my favorite band) to a certain extent. Call me biased, but this beauty deserved to be heard by more people. Many other songs on the album received some attention, somehow this one really didn’t.
2. Rock Kills Kid- “Paralyzed,” Are You Nervous? 2006. Somehow this awesome song of just a year ago received little attention. With its killer base guitar and catchy vocals it came in as my number one song of 2006, but was ignored by many.
3. Audioslave- “The Last Remaining Light,” Audioslave 2002. This absolute gem was hidden at the end of Audioslave’s eponymous first album. It blows overrated hits like Cochise and Like a Stone completely out of the water.
4. Sam Roberts- “Brother Down,” We Were Born in a Flame 2003. I only first heard this existential song about a year ago and am totally obsessed with it to this day. While popular in Canada it got little attention in the States. However, it rests comfortably in my top 100 songs of all time.
5. Modern Talking- “Cheri Cheri Lady,” Let’s Talk About Love 1985. Modern Talking was, for some reason, completely overlooked in the United States. This German synthpop duo had plenty of hits throughout Europe. I have always had a soft spot for 80s music and this is actually my favorite 80s song.
6. Billy Corgan- “Mina Loy,” TheFutureEmbrace 2005. This much maligned record was indeed surprisingly poor, yet its one hit, “Mina Loy” remains my favorite electronica song, and one of my top songs of 2005.
7. Smashing Pumpkins- “Hello Kitty Kat,” Pisces Iscariot 1994. Pisces had a ton of underrated hits like “Pissant” and “Girl Names Sandoz,” yet it was “Hello Kitty Kat” stands out from all the rest, ending with one of my favorite guitar solos of all time.
8. REM - “Find the River,” Automatic for the People 1992. This beautiful song edges out “Drive” as my favorite song from this record. Surprisingly, far less qualified songs like “Everybody Hurts” and “Man on the Moon” get all the recognition on this awesome album.
9. Smashing Pumpkins “Soma,” Siamese Dream 1993. This song builds from a lullaby into full scale Smashing Pumpkins’ debauchery, while somehow staying tender the entire time. It’s much better than “Disarm” and just a hair below “Today” on my SP list.
10. Midlake “Roscoe,” The Trails of Van Occupanther 2006. This incredible band sounds like nothing I have ever heard before. As with the entire album, the song has an incredible nature feel, as if you are listening in the middle of a forest in the early 1900s.
11. Dada “Dizz Knee Land,” Puzzle 1992. Admittedly this song was a minor hit in the early 90s. However this 90s alternative classic didn’t get anywhere near the amount of acclaim that it deserved.
12. Wallflowers “I Started a Joke,” Zoolander Soundtrack 2001. How this amazing song was recorded for the crappy Zoolander Soundtrack boggles my mind. It is certainly one of my favorite covers of all time.
13. Army of Anyone “This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen,” Army of Anyone 2006. This band is a combination or Filter’s Robert Patrick and STP minus Scott Weiland. They produced an incredible record in 2006. While “Goodbye” received a good bit of radio play, this song was nearly as good, reminding me a lot of “Creep” from STP’s Core.
14. Toad the Wet Sprocket “Crazy Life,” Coil 1997. I had to throw in a couple songs from this seminal 90s alternative band. After the smash hit “All I Want,” “Crazy Life,” which deals with the case of Leonard Peltier, is my favorite song of theirs.
15. Broski Beat “Smalltown Boy,” The Age of Consent 1984. As I mentioned earlier, I have somewhat of a fetish for 80s music. This one’s got it all: the awesome synth, androgynous vocals, and quirky drum beats. If you ignore the slightly homosexual lyrics (J), this one is really enjoyable.
16. Puddle of Mudd “Bring me Down,” Come Clean 2001. For some strange reason I have a soft spot for these 5th wave, Nirvana-aping rockers. Maybe it’s a longing for Kurt, or maybe it’s just that this song kicks ass. Forget “She Hates Me” it’s this one that rocks.
17. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dosed,” By The Way 2002. Any fans of The Rock Czar know that I love RHCP. It was tough to pick an underrated song of theirs because they have had so many hits. This song is especially tender and one of their best.
18. Belly “Feed the Tree,” Star 1993. This song reminds me a lot of my #11 song by Dada. The infectious melody with those lazy guitars are just a perfect combination.
19. Phantom Planet “Knowitall,” Phantom Planet 2004. This beautiful song takes you back to the late 80s shoe gazer period. It is the best song on this underrated record.
20. Mazzy Star “Fade Into You,” So Tonight That I Might See 1993. I’ve never quite been able to figure out the exact definition of this song, but it is so sad, relaxing, and contemplative. Although it also charted, I still think it is still underrated.
21. Toad the Wet Sprocket “Woodburning,” Dulcinea 1994. This song is a bit harder than most TWS stuff, but I love the crunching grinding guitar. The tone of the guitar borrows a lot from the burgeoning grunge seen and especially AIC’s Jar of Flies.
22. Scissor Sister “It Can’t Come Quickly Enough,” Scissor Sisters 2004. Another sad, regretful tune (obviously I like sad music- AIC is my favorite band) that laments losing the love of one’s life. “Laura” and “Take Your Mama Out” got all the attention, but this song is just as good.
23. Pixies “Rock Music,” Bossanova 1990. You can’t have an underrated list without mentioning the Pixies. The bombast of this jewel epitomizes the beauty that was the Pixies. Unfortunately, like the band itself, it is tragically overlooked by many.
24. Stone Temple Pilots “Piece of Pie,” Core 1992. These guys made up for their late introduction into Grunge with this amazing album. It is tough to pick an underappreciated song on an album that gets a lot of acclaim, but I think this one often isn’t paid its due.
25. Porcupine Tree “Blackest Eyes,” In Absentia 2002. This relatively obscure progressive rock band really only has one song that I love. This tale about a serial killer is equally good for its thrashing guitars and its interesting lyrics.
26. Babes in Toyland "Sweet 69," Nemesisters 1995. This aggressive song about music’s favorite number only reached #37 on billboard’s rock chart. This Riot Grrrl classic received only 51 listens on Lastfm.com last week, I must have been responsible for half of them.
27. Velvet Revolver “Loving the Alien,” Contraband 2004. This may be the most sincere and touching song ever sung by Scott Weiland. It trumps anything on Libertad and is only rivaled by “Slither” in its grandeur.
28. Bush “Warm Machine,” The Science of Things 1999. For a band that made a career out of aping Nirvana, this song feels surprisingly sincere. It just gives you that feeling that you get after drinking a nice, warm cup of tea. About as good as Bush got.
29. Third Eye Blind “Crystal Baller,” Out of the Vein 2003. Say what you want, they may be partially responsible for the deplorable genre we refer to as Emo (shudder), but 3EB rocks. This one wasn’t one of their many hits, but definitely deserved to be.
30. The Offspring “Amazed,” Ixnay on the Hombre 1997. Alright so this list may sort of be a platform for me to rant about my favorite bands, but look at pitchforkmedia J. Anyways, Offspring definitely is one of them, and I still cannot believe that this song isn’t a radio staple to this day.
31. The Mock Turtles “Can You Dig It,” Turtle Soup 1991. This song was released at the beginning of the AltRock explosion and you can still see echoes of New Wave. Really can you ask for much more than a blend of New Wave and Alternative?
32. Weezer “This is Such a Pity,” Make Believe 2005. So it may have come from the most disappointing album of the decade, but I mentioned this song for one reason. The rest of the album is so bad, that it really stands out as the one good song!
33. Sonic Youth “Drunken Butterfly,” Dirty 1992. I realize that nothing by SY is really underrated since they are held to the highest esteem in many circles. Yet this top 3 SY songs is only their 19th most played song on Lastfm.com.
34. Marcy Playground “Saint Joe on the School Bus,” Marcy Playground 1997. This one definitely suffers from “one hit wonder effect” due to the massive success of “Sex and Candy.” One listen at the unique vocals and awesome guitar on this song and you will wonder why it’s not more popular.
35. Lotus Child “Gossip Diet,” Gossip Diet 2006. I’d be surprised if many of you know this band. I heard them on XM radio and instantly fell in love with this song for its powerful guitar riff coupled with some very melodic piano playing.
36. Sleater-Kinney “Turn it on,” Dig me out 1997. These ladies began as riot grrrls but really found success with their catchy blend of alternative and punk rock. “Turn it on” is their best song, but currently ranks as only their 31st most played.
37. Metric “Too Little Too Late,” Live it out 2005. Man I’m really into Metric right now. Although “Monster Hospital” is more popular, this song is really the prize of Live it out. In a couple of days I get to see them in concert!
38. Oasis “Force of Nature,” Heathen Chemistry 2002. I totally disagree when people insist that Oasis’ last good album was Morning Glory. Hence I wanted to take a stand and mention one of my favorite Oasis songs, “Force of Nature.” I always preferred Noel to Liam anyways.
39. Collective Soul “Compliment,” Dosage 1999. The melody and gentleness of this song make it easily comparable with more popular, hard rock hits like “Heavy” and “Where the River Flows,” while at the same time making it much more memorable.
40. Type O Negative “Love You to Death,” October Rust 1996. Honestly, how many bands do you know that sound remotely like these guys. The brooding, eerie songs somehow manage to be full of emotion, with none standing out more than this underappreciated classic.
Posted: 9/13/07
Note: Underrated means that these songs haven’t received enough mainstream popularity, critical success, or they are just prematurely forgotten.
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