History VindicatedByHistory / Music

* Music/FelixMendelssohn is an interesting case in that the neglect (and subsequent re-evaluation) didn't happen during his lifetime but shortly after his death. During his lifetime, he was pretty successful in Germany and even more so when he traveled to other European countries. Shortly after his death, however, influential figures like Heinrich Heine began to seriously question his talents. Music/RichardWagner, in particular, expressed hatred for his music and, motivated by fierce anti-Semitism against Mendelssohn's Jewish origins, wrote the infamous ''Jewishness in Music'' essay making many personal attacks on him and his contemporary Giacomo Meyerbeer. [[FromBadToWorse Then the Nazis happened]], and it seemed that his reputation was forever doomed. Since [[TheSixties the 1960s]] however, his music has been re-evaluated and noted for its creative originality, and has re-entered the musical canon, with Creator/HLMencken declaring that "if Mendelssohn missed true greatness, he missed it by a hair".

* Music/SpikeJones: Very popular during the 1940s and 1950s, but most people only saw him as a musical clown, parodying hits and doing sketches and skits more typical of a circus act than a regular musician. As a result, nobody took him seriously and failed to see that his arrangements and orchestrations were actually quite complicated to pull off, especially considering that it was all done ''live''! Only [[PosthumousPopularityPotential after his death]] did music historians finally recognize his merit.

* Until fairly recent years, many composers from ethnic minority groups (e.g. women composers, black composers, etc.) were neglected in favor of white male composers during their lifetimes, due to a lot of Western society at the time believing that women and black people were inherently inferior by default. Even those who did manage to achieve some success like the French composer Louise Farrenc were quickly forgotten after their deaths. Starting from the late 20th century, many composers outside of the white, male field have begun to be rediscovered and re-evaluated, with many groups dedicated to making their music known to more people.

* Music/{{Devo}}. They're most famous for hitting the big time off their {{New Wave|Music}} classic "Whip It," which was a fluke novelty hit that gave the world the CatchPhrase "whip it good" and the "flower pot" hats that are still a trademark. However, Devo's deeper catalog reveals them to be a multimedia outfit with a penchant for dark, twisted satire on what they saw to be the ''devo''lution of humanity, and a love of bizarre, almost MediaNotes/{{Dada}}-esque imagery. This as well as their tense, rigid, quirky take on new wave, filled with malfunctioning synthesizers, won them a devoted (pardon the pun) cult following. Still, to the public at large they were a novelty act in funny-looking flower-pot hats, and critics had a very polarizing reaction to their cynicism and a perceived lack of humanity in their music and lyrics. Flash forward a few decades, and Devo are one of the few {{One Hit Wonder}}s to have multiple MediaNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame nominations, because Devo are up there alongside Music/TheCars and Music/{{Blondie}} as a seminal band in new wave, and especially crucial to the development of SynthPop. Their cult following is now bigger than ever, right up to the present day, with even Gen Z finding appeal in their quirky sound, kitschy images and messages. The band also have tons of big names that were hugely influenced by them, most notably Music/WeirdAlYankovic, plus Music/{{Nirvana}} of all people, not to mention Music/{{Polysics}} who exist as a direct result of Devo. It's commonly accepted today that in many ways, Devo, in sound ''and'' image, were years ahead of their time.

** The band has always been popular, but they were a bit overshadowed during the 1960s by the success of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion bands like Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheWho and Music/TheKinks. Plus, many people incorrectly saw them as a SurfRock band still trying to cash in on that fad, long after it was over. As a result, much of their music has only been rediscovered and re-appreciated as magnificent songwriting and arranging in the decades afterwards.

* Music/BritneySpears's 2007 album ''Blackout'' was OvershadowedByControversy when first released, due to it being released mere weeks after Spears's public crackup, rumours about her being drugged into compliance and exploited, and a stiff, clumsy performance at the 2007 [=VMAs=] in which she was HollywoodPudgy and wearing scary blue eye contacts. The album received lukewarm reactions from critics, many of whom were negative about its hypersexual and plasticy tone, the [[AutoTune heavily processed]], emotionless vocals (which contributed to the perception of her as a drugged-out robot being forced to perform), and the idea of a TeenPop star being 27 (and therefore past her expiration date). ''NME'' granted it the [[http://awardsandwinners.com/category/nme-awards/2008/ Worst Album Award for 2008]]. ''Blackout'' ended up being one of the most influential pop albums of the decade, with its parodic and snarling lyrics about her [[TabloidMelodrama tabloid trainwreck]] status (via a paper-thin metaphor of songs about dancing and fucking) and its avant-garde, bleak, [[SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness genuinely hard]] electro-pop production that broke {{Dubstep}} into the mainstream for the first time. The roboticised vocals that first attracted contempt were re-evaluated as a metaphor for Britney's StepfordSmiler dissociation and it (along with Music/KanyeWest's similarly controversial Auto-Tuned album ''808s And Heartbreak'') ended up influencing hip-hop and R&B to experiment with processed vocals. Pop spent the rest of the decade and the next copying Britney's homework (most obviously early Music/LadyGaga and Music/TaylorSwift's ''Reputation'' era), and ''Blackout'' is in particular considered an UrExample of {{Hyperpop}}, influencing artists like Music/{{SOPHIE}}. ''Rolling Stone'' [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spears-blackout-a-salute-to-her-misunderstood-punk-masterpiece-121525/ compared]] the album to Music/DavidBowie's Berlin Trilogy and Music/LouReed's ''Metal Machine Music'', and said it was about 'not giving a fuck'. Britney's fans, assuming they don't have any particular nostalgia for one of the earlier records, generally cite ''Blackout'' as her best album.

* Music/{{Devo}}. They're most famous for hitting the big time off their {{New Wave|Music}} classic "Whip It," which was a fluke novelty hit that gave the world the CatchPhrase "whip it good" and the "flower pot" hats that are still a trademark. However, Devo's deeper catalog reveals them to be a multimedia outfit with a penchant for dark, twisted satire on what they saw to be the ''devo''lution of humanity, and a love of bizarre, almost UsefulNotes/{{Dada}}-esque imagery. This as well as their tense, rigid, quirky take on new wave, filled with malfunctioning synthesizers, won them a devoted (pardon the pun) cult following. Still, to the public at large they were a novelty act in funny-looking flower-pot hats, and critics had a very polarizing reaction to their cynicism and a perceived lack of humanity in their music and lyrics. Flash forward a few decades, and Devo are one of the few {{One Hit Wonder}}s to have multiple UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame nominations, because Devo are up there alongside Music/TheCars and Music/{{Blondie}} as a seminal band in new wave, and especially crucial to the development of SynthPop. Their cult following is now bigger than ever, right up to the present day, with even Gen Z finding appeal in their quirky sound, kitschy images and messages. The band also have tons of big names that were hugely influenced by them, most notably Music/WeirdAlYankovic, plus Music/{{Nirvana}} of all people, not to mention Music/{{Polysics}} who exist as a direct result of Devo. It's commonly accepted today that in many ways, Devo, in sound ''and'' image, were years ahead of their time.

* Music/YokoOno's music, with and without her husband Music/JohnLennon, was despised and detested when it first came to wide public attention in the late '60s and early '70s, with many mainstream critics dismissing it as unlistenable junk that was DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible. Not helping was the fact that during this period, Ono was largely (albeit wrongly) [[MisBlamed blamed for being the reason behind the break-up of]] Music/TheBeatles. Following her husband's tragic death, however, her work began to be seriously re-evaluated, with songs such as "Walking On Thin Ice" being surprise commercial successes, along with artists like Music/TheB52s acknowledging her as an influence. Somewhat [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] in the case that many ordinary music listeners today still dismiss her music as unappealing if not outright objectively bad (especially when compared to her [[Music/TheBeatles husband's band's work]]), modern music critics nonetheless acknowledge her work as influential and ahead of its time, despite its narrow appeal.

* The première of Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor by Music/JohannesBrahms in 1859 was greeted with booing and hissing; it was only successful in one out of five early performances (the third) before Brahms withdrew it. While Piano Concerto No. 2 in B♭ major is still seen as the better of the two due to Brahms having more experience when he wrote it twenty years later, No. 1 has been accepted as part of the repertoire and is doing very well.

* Until fairly recent years, many composers from ethnic minority groups (e.g. women composers, black composers, etc.) were neglected in favour of white male composers during their lifetimes, due to a lot of Western society at the time believing that women and black people were inherently inferior by default. Even those who did manage to achieve some success like the French composer Louise Farrenc were quickly forgotten after their deaths. Starting from the late 20th century, many composers outside of the white, male field have begun to be rediscovered and re-evaluated, with many groups dedicated to making their music known to more people.

** Paul [=McCartney=] in general was critically reviled as a soppy, over-whimsical soft-rock artist in TheSeventies, especially by critics still upset at the Beatles' break-up in 1970. It didn't help that he received lots of negative press (and a very public feud with Music/JohnLennon) in the early '70s during the Beatles' legal battles (he received legal advice that he had to sue the other Beatles to indict Allen Klein, which rubbed his band-mates the wrong way) and his appearance in ''Film/LetItBe'' made him look like a dominating ControlFreak. Years later, his albums would be critically re-evaluated as they were reissued starting in 2009.

* ''Bluebeard's Castle'', Music/BelaBartok's sole opera, was rejected by the Hungarian Fine Arts Commission as unstageworthy when Bartok submitted it for an award. It wasn't performed until 5 years later, but is now considered one of Bartok's most important works, and, despite its unusually small cast causing some difficulty - it only has two main characters, and three silent roles, which is a little awkward if you have a large group of performers on retainer - it receives regular performance.

[[folder:Jazz]]

* Music/BohrenUndDerClubOfGore were seen as an interesting experiment but nothing much more. Now they're regarded as one of the most important jazz acts of the 21st century, using elements of Music/BlackMetal and Music/{{Slowcore}} to create some of the most unique sounding jazz ever, giving the genre some much needed innovation in an era where not much was going on.

[[folder:Blues]]
* Music/RobertJohnson was an obscure blues artist during the 1930s who was only known in his own state. He performed mostly on street corners and in bars and only made a handful of recordings. The legend and mystery surrounding his life have helped him gaining notoriety and acclaim after his death. Today he is for many, the most well-known blues singer of the interbellum.
[[/folder]]

* ''Magazine/RollingStone'' magazine, due to its [[LongRunners decades-long history]] and changing staff, tends to praise genres, bands and albums that its prior reviewers and past reader's poll voters once trashed, like Music/BlackSabbath, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/{{Journey|Band}}, most 80s ThrashMetal and HairMetal, ''Music/{{Wish You Were Here|1975}}'' by Music/PinkFloyd, and ''Ritual de lo habitual'' by Music/JanesAddiction.

** ''Music/{{Presence}}'' was initially dismissed even by those who liked the band, but its stature has improved a lot in the intervening years, in no small part due to the three major works on it, "Achilles Last Stand", "Nobody's Fault but Mine", and "Tea for One". The other songs aren't bad either. It's not uncommon for people to cite "the first seven Zeppelin studio albums" as being the band's essential works these days.

* Music/TheZombies' ''Music/OdesseyAndOracle'' was released in 1968 to little critical or commercial notice - it probably didn't help that the band broke up shortly before its release due to its being a bit of a TroubledProduction. After several flopped singles, "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit the following year, and this was enough to get the album a re-release, but it wasn't that much more successful. Nowadays ''Odessey and Oracle'' is critically acclaimed and regularly shows up on "Greatest Albums of All Time" lists, and "Time of the Season" keeps turning up in NothingButHits soundtracks to films or TV shows set in TheSixties.

** The {{camp}}y, theatrical ConceptAlbum[=/=]RockOpera period that followed from 1972–75[[note]]''Everybody's in Show-Biz'', ''Preservation Act 1'', ''Preservation Act 2'', ''Soap Opera'', and ''Schoolboys in Disgrace''[[/note]] is also gaining quite a big group of fans.
** While obscure in their time, they are now widely acknowledged through their influence on future musicians, songwriters and independent bands. Pete Townshend called Ray Davies the greatest songwriter of his generation. It's not uncommon these days to see The Kinks placed alongside Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, and Music/TheWho as the Big Four of the British Invasion.

** Some of Bowie's post-Tin Machine work was reevaluated in the wake of the success and popularity of his post-retirement albums ''Music/TheNextDay'' and ''[[Music/BlackstarAlbum ★]]''. ''[[Music/{{Outside}} 1. Outside]]'' in particular is now considered a classic among die-hard Bowie fans. For example, a popular Bowie blog ran a poll in 2015–16 for his best albums, [[https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/album-poll-day-3-10-1/ where it came in at ninth]].

* While Music/LindaRonstadt has always been recognized for her singing talent and well-respected among her classic rock-era peers, she divided critics and the public during the 1970s. She was hated by country music fans who viewed her as the era's Music/TaylorSwift and not a real country act, at the same time being a popular object of scorn among male rock music fans who viewed her as an annoying [[TheScrappy scrappy]] who didn't deserve to rub elbows with their favorite artists. (This also [[ValuesDissonance reflects the social attitudes of the time]], as rock music was then-male dominated, and Ronstadt was one of the first women to assimilate into and find commercial success within the genre). She also received significant tabloid scrutiny when she dated Governor of California UsefulNotes/JerryBrown for a good chunk of his first two terms in office. When the classic rock-era musicians fell off the charts and became legacy acts in the 1990s, Ronstadt found herself treated often as TheChewToy, such as when she was [[KickTheDog ruthlessly mocked]] for her [[FormerlyFit substantial]] [[IWasQuiteTheLooker weight gain]] or when she got evicted from the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas in 2004 for her anti-UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush comments during a concert. However, over time Ronstadt came to be universally praised as one of the greatest singers of her generation and a trailblazer who helped paved the way for women in rock music. Her 1970s albums have received a more positive re-evaluation, with her [[BreakthroughHit breakthrough album]] ''Heart Like a Wheel'' being judged as a landmark of the era and one of the greatest albums of all time. She has been the subject of numerous tributes in the 2010s, including two Lifetime Achievement Grammy Awards in 2013 and 2016, ''Heart Like a Wheel'' being selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2013, being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and being awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities by UsefulNotes/BarackObama in 2014, and she is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. As she has been in declining health after her retirement due to Progressive supranuclear palsy (originally diagnosed as Parkinson's disease), the tributes have a [[TheAtoner feel of atonement]], and could be seen as a means of the public ensuring that Ronstadt receives her dues while she is still able to participate in them.

** The band was regularly panned by music critics during the 1970s, due to their pomp and general goofiness. Then-renowned music critic Dave Marsh even called them [[GodwinsLaw "the first truly fascist rock band."]] After their disco-centric 1982 album ''Hot Space'' flopped, they were more-or-less written off as relics of '70s flamboyance and excess (although they did have a hit in 1984 with "Radio Ga Ga"). However, their monumental performance at Live Aid in 1985, [[PosthumousPopularityPotential Freddie Mercury's early death]] in late 1991 and their 1975 hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" from ''Music/ANightAtTheOpera'' appearing in the popular 1992 comedy ''Film/WaynesWorld'' caused a major resurgence in the band's popularity, with many critics seriously reconsidering their prior dismissal of the band. They are now almost unanimously considered to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

* The self-titled album by folk punk trio Music/ViolentFemmes flopped upon release, but slowly gained a cult-following and quietly turned platinum about a decade after its 1983 release. Its lead single "Blister in the Sun" went being thought of as a cute novelty song to one of the most important alternative rock songs ever written in roughly the same amount of time, largely due to the ColbertBump it got from the ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' soundtrack.

** LSD and The Search for God were criticized for basically taking the MBV formula and pushing it to its most extreme. The vocals were even more buried, the melodies even more obscured by the textures, etc. They only ever obtained a local following in their native California when they broke up. A decade later, thanks to fans of the band circulating the tapes, they're now regarded as an impressive band that was able to outdo MBV at their own game.

** Lift To Experience - their one and only album ''The Texas Jerusalem Crossroads'' was critically praised but was blocked from decent promotion due to it being a scathing satire of evangelical culture (these guys were from Texas). Major labels didn't want to scare off investors that may have been offended by their message. Over the years, though, it's been embraced as being a rare example of comedy being blended with shoegazing, a feat not easily obtained due to the fact that vocals are usually put low in the mix. Josh T Pearson has even had a modestly successful solo career as a result.
** The entire "dark gaze" movement angered shoegaze purists who thought that it took away the more peaceful aesthetics that the genre had gathered. Years later, bands like Singapore Sling and Music/APlaceToBuryStrangers have seen much better reception for their unique take on the genre. Even some shoegazing veterans such as Slowdive did collabs with some of these bands to tip their hats to their skills and creativity.

** Then there's the album ''Heyday'', which at the time was lambasted by critics for missing much of the soloing and stripped-down orchestrations of their previous work. The addition of strings and horns were not well received, and when ''Starfish'' was released, many critics embraced it as a refreshing return to form. As of right now, fans will very likely prefer ''Heyday'' to ''Starfish'' or ''The Blurred Crusade'' and has even gone on to be recognized by some critics to be the definitive Church album.

* The Music/ManicStreetPreachers were initially viewed as Music/GunsNRoses [[PoorMansSubstitute imitators]] whose albums, mixing glam style with political punk fury, were viewed as out of touch with the depressing grunge scene stateside and the trendy shoegaze and Britpop scenes in the UK. Their third album, ''The Holy Bible,'' was darker and more depressing than the ones that preceded it. The album was not critically and commercially successful, since troubled lyricist Richey Edwards' self-destructive antics and lyrics were considered to be shallow attempts for attention (it didn't help that, before the band released their debut, he slashed "4REAL" on his arm in front of a skeptical journalist). It turned out that he [[CassandraTruth really did have issues after all]], and his disappearance/apparent suicide on the eve of the band's American tour derailed the band's ambitions for success. They have since found success by mostly [[LighterAndSofter toning down their act]]; their first three albums are regarded as posthumous classics.

** Temple of the Dog was a tribute to Mother Love Bone, whose lead singer died of heroin overdose in 1990. Chris Cornell who was roommates with him for the longest time felt heartbroken over the loss of his dear friend. Mother Love Bone themselves are considered one of the greatest grunge acts in existence by those who have heard of them (rivaling Music/{{Nirvana}} for many). Mother Love Bone, though still quite obscure, are much more acclaimed now than they were back in their heyday.

* Music/{{Jawbreaker}}'s fourth album, ''Dear You''. It garnered significant backlash from the band's core audience at the time, mainly due to lead singer Blake Schwarzenbach singing much more smoothly and producer Rob Cavallo (well-known at the time for working with Music/GreenDay) intentionally giving it much more polished production values in comparison to the first three Jawbreaker albums. The fact that it was their first album after signing to DGC Records, a major label (they had repeatedly said that they would never join a major label in the past) only helped seal its fate. After Jawbreaker broke up just a few months later, fans eventually started to reexamine the album. When the band's drummer Adam Pfahler re-released it in 2004 after successfully licensing the publishing rights from Geffen Records, the response was much more positive all-around. Furthermore, after they performed the song "Accident Prone" from this album live at Riot Fest 2017 in Chicago, there was applause from everyone attending as well.
* Music/{{Weezer}}'s second album, ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'', was initially trashed by critics and fans and sold dismally. ''Rolling Stone'' readers named it the second worst album of 1996; Rivers Cuomo viewed it as an OldShame for years. Today, it's regarded as one of the greatest albums of TheNineties, and as one of the albums responsible for bringing {{emo|Music}} to the mainstream. In 2002, ''Rolling Stone'' readers voted it the 16th best album of all time. Quite a reversal indeed. The only major magazines who gave ''Pinkerton'' praise at the time of release were Pitchfork and NME.

* Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns is somewhat of a downplayed inversion. While he remained a popular composer for most of his lifetime, ending with a state funeral upon his death, he was increasingly seen as an arch-conservative by many of the later French composers, while Saint-Saëns increasingly grew hostile to the modernists like Music/ClaudeDebussy and Music/IgorStravinsky. Nowadays, while he retains the acclaim shared by many of his peers, his music is still considered overlooked compared to other composers.

* Music/TheMonkees' show was relatively popular and well-received in TheSixties(even winning two Emmys), and their records were top-sellers, but after the group was "discovered" to have been [[BoyBand manufactured]], anyone who wanted to look remotely hip or intellectual completely disavowed them. A couple decades later, an Creator/{{MTV}} marathon of the show and Rhino's re-releases of their albums incited renewed interest in the Monkees' music. As the story of the band's successful overthrow of their musical puppet-masters became more widely known, and the legitimate innovations and influences became more apparent (Music/MichaelNesmith, for example, should be credited alongside Gram Parsons for inventing country rock), they finally started getting some critical respect for the music they made post-overthrow.

** LSD and The Search For God were criticized for basically taking the MBV formula and pushing it to it's most extreme. The vocals were even more buried, the melodies even more obscured by the textures, etc. They only ever obtained a local following in their native California when they broke up. A decade later, thanks to fans of the band circulating the tapes, they're now regarded as an impressive band that was able to outdo MBV at their own game.

* Music/{{Weezer}}'s second album, ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'', was initially trashed by critics and fans and sold dismally. ''Rolling Stone'' readers named it the second worst album of 1996; Rivers Cuomo viewed it as an OldShame for years. Today, it's regarded as one of the greatest albums of The90s, and as one of the albums responsible for bringing {{emo|Music}} to the mainstream. In 2002, ''Rolling Stone'' readers voted it the 16th best album of all time. Quite a reversal indeed. The only major magazines who gave ''Pinkerton'' praise at the time of release were Pitchfork and NME.

* Though Music/BillyJoel had strong sales after 1977, and respect in many quarters, he was regularly critically drubbed, especially by The80s (his most visible period). It hadn't helped that he was well-known as a balladeer/soft rocker thanks to massive hits like "Just the Way You Are" and the very poppy, uptempo Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons tribute, "Uptown Girl". Some time after he retired from making new music in 1994, respect for his albums and songwriting increased (though he still gets a bad remark from critics here and there), and works like ''[[Music/TheStrangerAlbum The Stranger]]'' and ''The Nylon Curtain'' were reappraised.
* To varying degrees, HairMetal is this. During The90s and into the mid-to-late-2000s, it was outright verboten to speak positively of any band associated with the genre, with only the original fanbases still clinging said acts daring to stay on the defensive. Of course, there were exceptions in HardRock acts just barely categorizable as such riding the trend (e.g. Music/DefLeppard, Music/VanHalen, Music/{{Whitesnake}}, Music/MotleyCrue, Music/{{Scorpions|Band}}, Music/GunsNRoses), but for the most part it was out of fashion. That is, until the inevitable backlashes against AlternativeRock, PostGrunge, NuMetal and later [[IndiePop Indie Rock/Pop]] made Hair Metal much more palatable to the public, along with pop culture's prevalent [[The80s '80s]] nostalgia and the success of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity''.

* For The80s and most of The90s, Disco music was [[DiscoSucks declared dead]]. The genre in its heyday was urban music popular in the Black, Hispanic, and queer communities and with women of all backgrounds, while the backlash against it was largely driven by straight white men who were more into rock and country. Then a wave of '70s nostalgia made it cool to admit to liking stuff from TheSeventies again, including some disco music. The genre started to gain new appreciation for its innovative production techniques and influence on later dance music styles, especially HipHop. Disco songs are still dance floor staples at weddings and other events. Then the 2010s/early 2020s saw the world examine bigotry a lot more critically, and people have finally recognized that "Disco Sucks" was always fueled by racism, homophobia, and misogyny. Fortunately disco's SpiritualSuccessor, ElectronicDanceMusic, has enjoyed worldwide success; it helps that EDM's biggest fans are at least one generation removed from the anti-disco movement.

* The ArenaRock genre. While bands such as Music/{{Boston}}, Music/REOSpeedwagon, Music/{{Toto}} and Music/{{Journey|Band}} sold millions, critics usually didn't speak too kindly of them in their heyday, and they often got the "dad rock" label during The90s and ''very'' early 2000s. Years later, several bands in the genre began to be reappraised, with Journey's Steve Perry being among those ranked on ''Magazine/RollingStone'''s "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list.

* Music/BritneySpears's 2007 album ''Blackout'' was OvershadowedByControversy when first released, due to it being released mere weeks after Spears's public crackup, rumours about her being drugged into compliance and exploited, and a stiff, clumsy performance at the 2007 [=VMAs=] in which she was HollywoodPudgy and wearing scary blue eye contacts. The album received lukewarm reactions from critics, many of whom were negative about its hypersexual and plasticy tone, the [[AutoTune heavily processed]], emotionless vocals (which contributed to the perception of her as a drugged-out robot being forced to perform), and the idea of a TeenPop star being 27 (and therefore past her expiration date). ''NME'' granted it the [[http://awardsandwinners.com/category/nme-awards/2008/ Worst Album Award for 2008]]. ''Blackout'' ended up being one of the most influential pop albums of the decade, with its parodic and snarling lyrics about her [[TabloidMelodrama tabloid trainwreck]] status (via a paper-thin metaphor of songs about dancing and fucking) and its avant-garde, bleak, [[SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness genuinely hard]] electro-pop production that broke {{Dubstep}} into the mainstream for the first time. The roboticised vocals that first attracted contempt were re-evaluated as a metaphor for Britney's StepfordSmiler dissociation and it (along with Music/KanyeWest's similarly controversial Auto-Tuned album ''808s And Heartbreak'') ended up influencing hip-hop and R&B to experiment with processed vocals. Pop spent the rest of the decade and the next copying Britney's homework (most obviously early Music/LadyGaga and Music/TaylorSwift's ''Reputation'' era), and ''Blackout'' is in particular considered an UrExample of {{Hyperpop}}, influencing artists like Music/{{SOPHIE}}. ''Rolling Stone'' [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spears-blackout-a-salute-to-her-misunderstood-punk-masterpiece-121525/ compared]] the album to Music/DavidBowie's Berlin trilogy and Music/LouReed's ''Metal Machine Music'', and said it was about 'not giving a fuck'. Britney's fans, assuming they don't have any particular nostalgia for one of the earlier records, generally cite ''Blackout'' as her best album.

** In The90s, Springsteen experienced a creative slump and a relative lack of commercial success and critical acclaim. It was common for articles to ask "What ever happened to Bruce Springsteen?" Main/{{Grunge}} music was also emerging around this time and seemed antithetically opposed to Springsteen's sincerity and bombast, especially in the ''Music/BornInTheUSA'' era. Over time, a new generation of bands and artists started to appreciate his work, including Music/TheKillers, Music/ArcadeFire, and Music/TheGaslightAnthem, to the point where Springsteen was considered one of the biggest musical influences of the 2000s.

** Eminem's {{Horrorcore}} album ''Relapse'' is now often considered better than ''Recovery'', sometimes ''[=MMLP2=]'', and occasionally even his 1999-2002 trio of albums, despite being hit with CreatorBacklash almost as soon as it came out. Initially slammed for its [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent bizarre accent rapping]], [[AudienceAlienatingPremise alienating]] content, outmoded [[BlackSheepHit comedy single]] and excessive celebrity namedropping, its reputation started to improve after its late-2009 UpdatedRerelease ''Relapse: Refill'', which added multiple songs considered among Eminem's career best. It was helped further by the rise of playlists, mitigating the album's [[TooBleakStoppedCaring desensitising]] content by allowing listeners to fall in love with each song individually, and the album's championing by Music/TylerTheCreator, who cited ''Relapse'' as a major influence on his albums ''Bastard'' and ''Goblin''. Once Eminem responded to the backlash to the album by [[WhatCouldHaveBeen cancelling]] ''Relapse 2'', switching to a [[RatedGForGangsta softer image]] and poppier [[NewSoundAlbum sound]], and dissing ''Relapse'' in his own songs, ''Relapse'' was then treasured by his fandom as the last of Em's albums in his original Dre-produced "shock-rap" style.\\

* M.I.A. released the abrasive, experimental album ''ΛΛ Λ Y Λ'' after her mainstream success with "Paper Planes". The music video for "Born Free" was OvershadowedByControversy due to its violent (but relevant) content to the point of being banned on Website/YouTube for a time. It was also criticised for its references to modern technology such as Twitter, with some critics thinking that it would [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece date the album horribly]]. Time has only been kind to ''ΛΛ Λ Y Λ'', with its sound that combined club music, harsh industrial, and a collage of worldwide influences such as dancehall and Arabic pop being a major influence on artists like Music/{{Sophie}}, Music/{{Arca}}, and albums like ''Music/{{Yeezus}}''. The technology references feel as if they haven't dated in the slightest considering that Website/YouTube and Twitter are even more important now than they were over a decade ago.

* Whilst reviews for it were quite positive, few saw Music/{{Eleni Foureira}} as the only rival for Music/{{Netta}} for the title in the 2018 event in Lisbon, and she had been 20th in the bookmakers odds, and reviews, whilst decent enough, elicited a similar average to far less successful entries, which were derided in hindsight (like those of FYR (now North) Macedonia and Azerbaijan, which had got similar scores from fansite reviewers pre-contest). This was perhaps not helped by Cyprus (the nation the Albanian born Greek represented) having not placed in the top 3 ever, having not placed in the top 10 since 2004, and having made the last 3 finals only to place below 20th in each of them. However, after fans went wild over her stage performance, Foureira went on to place runner up to Israeli entry Netta, whose song was written by one of Fouerira's regular songwriting collaborators Doron Medalie, and became the most popular runner up since "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", which she infamously covered in the following year's interval act.
* In 2020/21, Ukrainian Electronic folk act Music/{{Go_A}}, whose own language music (Ukraine had sent a mostly own-language entry just once before, and it placed 20th, one of their worst placings) was seen as divisive due to the vocal style, had their [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KnWBcO-fGvs Qualification chances for the 2020 contest questioned on the fan site Wiwibloggs]] and were [[https://eurovisionworld.com/odds/eurovision-2020 25th with bookies]] when that year’s show was cancelled. They were given immediate right to represent Ukraine in 2021, but their song was again polarising and not really seen as a favourite, until it was put on stage, whereby, with its 5th place finish, it became the 3rd best placing out of the acts that would have participated in 2020, and also had the highest televote score out of these 26 acts (Switzerland and Iceland - the latter of whom carried over Music/{{Dadi Freyr}} due to him getting cult status in several countries, including the UK, whilst the former’s act Gjon’s Tears had been a bookie’s and fan’s favourite both times - placed above Ukraine due to jury scores, which were still higher than expected for Ukraine, relative to the negative reputation of traditional folk-EDM blends with juries) and the second-highest in all, behind Italy, and also became the first Ukrainian language song in a Billboard Chart

* The Roland TB-303 Bass Line was released in 1981 as a synthesizer meant to emulate a bass guitar, which it generally did a very poor job of, leading to it commercially failing and being discontinued in 1984. A few years later, EDM musicians discovered you could create a unique, "squelchy" sound with it by [[NotTheIntendedUse tweaking with the synthesizer while it was playing]], which lead to the birth of the Acid House genre and made the 303 a cornerstone of EDM. After the market for second-hand units and clones exploded, Roland released updated models of the 303 in the mid 2010s.

* You'd probably not think an entire musical genre could be Vindicated By History, but here we have it: New Age music. Back when it first started, it was seen as overtly meditative fluff that took itself too seriously. You can't blame people too much, the entire premise of New Age music is easy to see as pretentious by some (a combination of acoustic and synthesized instruments, implementation of world music, ideas of unity, spiritualism, calming elements, etc). When Enya came around New Age compilations started shooting onto shelves, usually marketing the schlocky, cheesy New Age that sounded more like regular pop music than anything. Towards the 2000s, people barely acknowledged it as a genre with it's fanbase seen as hippies with their heads in the clouds. Then the 2010s rolled around and the genre disappeared. Now, many artists who were only popular in New Age circles such as Kitaro, Yanni, CLANNAD, and Enya are all seen as not just great examples of New Age music, but some of the best composers and producers of the 20th Century.

* Music/ScottJoplin, one of the greatest Ragtime composers. While he got some praise in the first decade of the 1900s, it would be in The70s when Joplin's work hit the big time (thanks to the movie ''Film/TheSting'') with his [[SignatureSong greatest tune]], "The Entertainer" becoming a Top 10 pop hit and himself getting a posthumous Pulitzer prize in 1976, among other major kudos. "The Entertainer" is now a StandardSnippet.

* Music/FelixMendelssohn is an interesting case in that the neglect (and subsequent re-evaluation) didn't happen during his lifetime but shortly after his death. During his lifetime, he was pretty successful in Germany and even more so when he traveled to other European countries. Shortly after his death, however, influential figures like Heinrich Heine began to seriously question his talents. Music/RichardWagner, in particular, expressed hatred for his music and, motivated by fierce anti-Semitism against Mendelssohn's Jewish origins, wrote the infamous ''Jewishness in Music'' essay making many personal attacks on him and his contemporary Giacomo Meyerbeer. [[FromBadToWorse Then the Nazis happened]], and it seemed that his reputation was forever doomed. Since [[The60s the 1960s]] however, his music has been re-evaluated and noted for its creative originality, and has re-entered the musical canon, with Creator/HLMencken declaring that "if Mendelssohn missed true greatness, he missed it by a hair".

* Music/TheMonkees' show was relatively popular and well-received in The60s (even winning two Emmys), and their records were top-sellers, but after the group was "discovered" to have been [[BoyBand manufactured]], anyone who wanted to look remotely hip or intellectual completely disavowed them. A couple decades later, an Creator/{{MTV}} marathon of the show and Rhino's re-releases of their albums incited renewed interest in the Monkees' music. As the story of the band's successful overthrow of their musical puppet-masters became more widely known, and the legitimate innovations and influences became more apparent (Music/MichaelNesmith, for example, should be credited alongside Gram Parsons for inventing country rock), they finally started getting some critical respect for the music they made post-overthrow.

* Music/TheZombies' ''Music/OdesseyAndOracle'' was released in 1968 to little critical or commercial notice - it probably didn't help that the band broke up shortly before its release due to its being a bit of a TroubledProduction. After several flopped singles, "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit the following year, and this was enough to get the album a re-release, but it wasn't that much more successful. Nowadays ''Odessey and Oracle'' is critically acclaimed and regularly shows up on "Greatest Albums of All Time" lists, and "Time of the Season" keeps turning up in NothingButHits soundtracks to films or TV shows set in The60s.

** Paul [=McCartney=] in general was critically reviled as a soppy, over-whimsical soft-rock artist in The70s, especially by critics still upset at the Beatles' break-up in 1970. It didn't help that he received lots of negative press (and a very public feud with Music/JohnLennon) in the early '70s during the Beatles' legal battles (he received legal advice that he had to sue the other Beatles to indict Allen Klein, which rubbed his band-mates the wrong way) and his appearance in ''Film/LetItBe'' made him look like a dominating ControlFreak. Years later, his albums would be critically re-evaluated as they were reissued starting in 2009.

* Music/{{Camel}} spent its peak years in The70s stuck in the shadow of more successful prog bands like Music/{{Yes}}, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, Music/GentleGiant, Music/{{Rush|Band}}, Music/JethroTull and Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, only appearing to gain any commercial momentum towards the end of the decade... right when ProgressiveRock was falling out of style. Later generations, however, have increasingly regarded them as unfairly overlooked, to the point where Mikael Åkerfeldt of Music/{{Opeth}} has cited them as a major influence.

* When ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}'' was released, Music/PearlJam was accused of being a soulless corporate response to Music/{{Nirvana}}, resulting in a minor feud between the two bands. It didn't help that they were actually a [[The70s '70s]] rock revivalist act that were branded with the "grunge" label due to their geographical origin and fashion choices, which gave them two strikes of perceived commercial appeal. They proved very quickly that they were not merely "rock stars", releasing the [[DarkerAndEdgier raw, abrasive]] ''Vs.'' and the [[NewSoundAlbum highly]] [[GenreRoulette experimental]] ''Vitalogy'' to a rather perplexed music industry and growing passionate fan base, as well as risking their careers boycotting Ticketmaster. Nowadays, ''Ten'' is looked back on a lot more fondly as the honest expression Pearl Jam proved themselves as.

* For The80s and most of The90s, Disco music was [[DiscoSucks declared dead]]. The genre in its heyday was urban music popular in the Black, Hispanic, and queer communities and with women of all backgrounds, while the backlash against it was largely driven by straight white men who were more into rock and country. Then a wave of '70s nostalgia made it cool to admit to liking stuff from The70s again, including some disco music. The genre started to gain new appreciation for its innovative production techniques and influence on later dance music styles, especially HipHop. Disco songs are still dance floor staples at weddings and other events. Then the 2010s/early 2020s saw the world examine bigotry a lot more critically, and people have finally recognized that "Disco Sucks" was always fueled by racism, homophobia, and misogyny. Fortunately disco's SpiritualSuccessor, ElectronicDanceMusic, has enjoyed worldwide success; it helps that EDM's biggest fans are at least one generation removed from the anti-disco movement.

* Music/LadyGaga's 2013 album ''Artpop'' was released to generally lukewarm reception, seen as overbearingly weird and running into [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny audience fatigue]] towards SynthPop, and is often cited as the beginning of the end of Gaga's time as one of ''the'' biggest names in the world and the start of her AudienceAlienatingEra. However, in retrospect (and even among some [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmessitte/2013/12/13/artpop-goes-the-weasel-3-glimpses-into-the-deflation-of-a-superstar/?sh=148d25696a24 forward-thinking critics]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140208080017/http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Consensus-Has-Consequences/ba-p/12189 at the time of release]]), it's been increasingly assessed that such claims were often [[AccentuateTheNegative motivated and highly exaggerated specifically because Gaga wasn't the new hotness anymore]], most notably in how its sales disappointment cascaded into [[PresumedFlop repeated insistences that it was an outright flop]] (Gaga herself was [[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5862267/lady-gaga-discounts-rumors-hints-at-deception-in-website-vent pretty incensed]] by a rumor that it was responsible for a $25 million loss and massive layoffs at Creator/InterscopeRecords). As the years and high emotions have passed by, critics and listeners have given ''Artpop'' a fairer shake, with many reevaluating it as an unfairly-maligned, but worthy Gaga album. By 2021, its CultClassic reputation [[https://ew.com/music/lady-gaga-fans-boost-artpop-top-3-itunes/ led to fans spiking the album back onto music charts]] thanks to light teases of a direct sequel. The only song off the album that even its fans (and [[OldShame Gaga herself]]) won't defend is "Do What U Want", but that's mainly because it's a duet with Music/RKelly, who was [[OpenSecret known to be a sexual predator]] even before he was ultimately sent to prison for it.