HICCUP: Sorry about the unintentional holiday hiatus; my hard drive crashed and burned Wednesday night, and I'm still in the process of recovery. Posting from me may remain sporadic for the next few days, but here's something I'm wondering about, given a recent discussion several of us had last night on the Twitters re: Prince's Batman soundtrack -- what's a piece of pop culture you continue to regard as deeply underrated?
[N.B. to several here: "Adnan Syed's claims of innocence" does not constitute "a piece of pop culture."]
Is "underrated" the same as "not widely known or remembered"?
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone who -- if they know the record -- doesn't think David & David's "Boomtown" was brilliant, but who listens to that one-off album any more? I'm not even a very big Husker Du fan, but it's rare that a month goes by without my listening to at least part of Bob Mould's Workbook -- but no one who knows that album would say it's much other than genius (although I hate "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton" and skip it well nigh every time).
After crossing a couple off my list because they're probably better labeled as underappreciated, I have two that jump to mind:
ReplyDeleteHudson Hawk
Dan LeBatard
Semisonic - everybody thinks of them as a one hit wonder because of "Closing Time" but there's a good body of solid pop music in their mid-to-late 90s albums.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll always argue that "Some Kind of Wonderful" is the most underrated of the John Hughes teen flicks.
The Joe Schmo Show (though I know this crowd appreciates it).
ReplyDeleteSwan's Crossing (teen soap before teen soaps were big, starred Sarah Michelle Gellar), which I loved so much I wrote the station a letter when it was canceled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swans_Crossing Underrated in a guilty pleasure sense, for sure, but also something that really should be given its due when discussing the rise of the Dawson's era teen drama.
Sting's Soul Cages, which is one of my favorite pop albums of all time, and yet probably his least loved and least commercially successful release.
ReplyDeleteBig thumb's up on this. I especially love Mad About You.
ReplyDeleteOh God, does LeRetard suck. BAM.
ReplyDelete"When the Angels Fall" is one of my favorite songs ever.
ReplyDeleteIt's better than the one with the song about how awesome it is to drive a Jaguar.
ReplyDeleteBut isn't it awesome to drive a Jaguar? I've never been so lucky.
ReplyDeleteI think of them as the band Dan and John formed after Trip Shakespeare broke up.
ReplyDeleteHot Take!
ReplyDeleteHeh. Think.
ReplyDeleteFeeling Strangely Fine is wall-to-wall strong. No filler, 14 songs. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I missed the Batman discussion. I still listen to the Batman Soundtrack. I've listened to it way more than Lovesexy, if less than Purple Rain. It's up there with the Gold Experience for me.
ReplyDelete...and that's what I'll contribute. The Gold Experience. Fantastic record, annoying behind-the-scenes controversy, could have heralded his return to form if WB had handled it correctly. I think there's a lot of bad Prince that doesn't happen if the Gold Experience gets a proper release from the jump.
ReplyDeleteMad About You. No, seriously. At it's height it was a deeply solid show with a very good cast that suffered from a time when NBC was jerking it around the schedule like a yo-yo. Was it as good as it's contemporaries like Frasier, Seinfeld and Friends? Of course not. Was it better than ratings juggernaut Will & Grace? Of course it was. it's in reruns on FXX these days, but it seems like in the 15 years since it went off the air it's kind of disappeared from the collective memory.
ReplyDeleteI love Hudson Hawk. Never understood why everyone else didn't.
ReplyDeleteNews Radio. Pretty much the same post after that.
ReplyDeleteNewsRadio always and still had cred in the comedy nerd community. Mad About You never really got that.
ReplyDeleteHow about The Iron Giant? Kind of lost in all the Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, but aside from the Toy Story trilogy, maybe my favorite animated film.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not sure if this is underrated, but I remain a huge fan of the American version of the police time travel series Life on Mars, which incredibly got a full season on ABC a few years back. Something about it stays with me, especially its haunting use of Bowie music. I even liked the ridiculous but audacious ending.
Steven Thompson sang Iron Giant's praises on last week's Pop Culture Happy Hour, and my DVD copy is set to arrive tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteFlashForward was much better than it got credit for being.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how it's viewed, but Dream On seems practically forgotten now, but to my totally uneducated eye seems like a critical step along the path to the modern sitcom.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Eat World. They were never the most popular band, but their albums (Bleed American and Futures come to mind) are ones I could listen to on loop. They had multiple good songs beyond their most famous ("the middle"). The band doesn't get enough credit.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Some Kind of Wonderful. My pick over Pretty in Pink every time.
ReplyDeleteGenevieve - agreed, because Some Kind of Wonderful has the ending that Pretty in Pink should have had.
ReplyDelete