History VindicatedByHistory / Music

* Music/ScottJoplin, one of the greatest Ragtime composers. While he got some praise in the first decade of the 1900s, it would be in TheSeventies 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 [[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/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.

* 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.

** 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.

* Music/EltonJohn began as a critical darling, though not without his share of harsh criticism, until his "glam period" when he decided to wear funny glasses and costumes, and dropped the orchestral, somber "singer-songwriter" style for a more radio-friendly sound. Charges of "one-handed piano-player" and "disposable" came his way [[ItsPopularNowItSucks as he dominated the pop charts and news headlines]]. The negative reviews even came as early as 1971; [[WordOfGod Elton mentioned in an interview]] he did for a BBC special he filmed to promote ''Madman Across the Water'' that a review mentioned an album he played on was good ''even though'' it had Elton John in it. It got ''very'' intense at the height of his can-do-no-wrong "{{glam|Rock}}" period (1972–76). As he fell off the pop charts, albums like ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad'' and ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'' began to be considered classics. He came under fire again in TheNineties as a "soft rocker", but as the 2000s and 2010s came along, his music once again gained new respect and hipness.

* Music/{{Camel}} spent its peak years in TheSeventies 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 [[TheSeventies '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.

* 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.

** While the album ''Love Gun'', released in the summer of 1977, became one of the biggest smash hits of all time (even going platinum ''before'' its release, thanks to a deluge of pre-orders), the TitleTrack didn't even crack the Top 50 when it was released as a single - and this was during a time when it was practically impossible for anything by Kiss to ''not'' be an instant success! Certainly, "Love Gun" was the [[DarkerAndEdgier Darkest and Edgiest]] - and heaviest - Kiss song up to that time, and in all likelihood, it was probably just too "metal" for late Seventies audiences. But Paul Stanley (who wrote it) considers it one of his three favorite Kiss songs, it had a ''huge'' influence on the earliest HairMetal bands such as Music/QuietRiot and Music/{{Ratt}}, and it's been played at virtually every Kiss concert since. ("Rock and Roll All Nite" will ''always'' be the group's SignatureSong, however.) Meanwhile, the song off that album that ''did'' become a hit in 1977 - TheFifties-inspired tune "Christine Sixteen" - has fallen into obscurity and is remembered only by die-hard Kiss fans.

* Though Music/BillyJoel had strong sales after 1977, and respect in many quarters, he was regularly critically drubbed, especially by TheEighties (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 TheNineties 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 [[TheEighties '80s]] nostalgia and the success of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity''.

* For TheEighties and most of TheNineties, 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.

* Back in 1980, San Francisco group The Units released their pioneering synth-punk album ''Digital Stimulation''. Despite initial success, the album and by extension the band was soon forgotten about in the face of California's rising hardcore scene. After ''three decades'' of being out of print, the album's since found critical acclaim in TheNewTens, and was reissued in 2015 to even further acclaim. It's now hailed by many as an underrated classic.

While most of the bands in the scene were American (though there were also some British, European, and Australian bands in it), and they were critical darlings on both sides of UsefulNotes/ThePond, they [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff enjoyed their greatest success in the UK]]. In the US, meanwhile, they weren't quite able to break the stranglehold that PostGrunge had on mainstream American rock music. Landmark albums like Music/TheStrokes' ''Is This It'', Music/TheWhiteStripes' ''White Blood Cells'', Music/YeahYeahYeahs' ''Fever to Tell'', and Music/TheKillers' ''Hot Fuss'' had decent sales but were handily outsold and overshadowed by the likes of Music/{{Nickelback}}, Music/ThreeDoorsDown, Music/PuddleOfMudd, and other post-grunge acts, while other post-punk revival bands struggled for mainstream recognition. Time eventually sided with the genre's fans, however, with many of those records going on to be regarded as some of the greatest rock albums of the TurnOfTheMillennium, having had an enormous influence on the indie rock music of TheNewTens. As for the post-grunge bands, however, the genre mostly crashed and burned by the end of the 2000s due to overexposure and the sudden rise of the ElectronicDanceMusic craze, with the bands associated with the genre being reduced to cult followings at best and [[CondemnedByHistory being declared persona non-grata]] at worst.\\\

* 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 TheNineties 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/PCMusic began in TheNewTens with an early cult following for presenting a bizarre new breed of [[{{Postmodernism}} post-ironic]] pop and dance music, but they were heavily polarizing among critics because of widespread uncertainty of how to approach it, being so deep within the valley of {{Irony}} that [[PoesLaw it was difficult to artistically decipher how seriously it should be taken]], with some dismissing it entirely as a gimmicky novelty. However, as the group continuously developed and their influence began creeping the indie electronic/pop scene (with twinges of mainstream relevance like Music/CharliXCX and massive cult acts like Music/HundredGecs), favor has skewed much more positively, with PC Music being seen as one of the most forward-thinking and influential pop movements of the decade, [[TropeCodifier kick-starting]] the nascent {{hyperpop}} genre.

** In TheNineties, 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.

** ''[=808s=] & Heartbreak'' was quite divisive with fans and warmly received but not as universally loved as his other albums with professional critics when it first came out. Time has proven it to be a bold and transformative work that arguably changed the entire rap and hip-hop scenes of TheNewTens. "Emotional" male R&B acts like Music/{{Drake}}, Music/FrankOcean, and Music/TheWeeknd likely wouldn't be taken seriously without Kanye first laying the ground for them.

* 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.

* 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 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.

* Music/YokoOno's music, with and without her husband Music/JohnLennon, was dismissed as unlistenable junk when it was first released in the early 1970s. Within five years, however, artists like Music/TheB52s began to acknowledge her as an influence. Today, her work is seen as being far ahead of its time, even if it isn't palatable to everyone.

* Music/MichaelJackson: Despite being a colossal bestseller Jackson's artistic qualities have always been [[OvershadowedByControversy overshadowed by his private life.]]. ''Music/{{Bad}}'' and ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' sold well, but reviewers spent more time talking about Jackson's facelifts, skin color changing and other eccentric activities than the benefits of the music. After the 1993 child abuse allegations Jackson's albums were even more ignored by the press. All his albums released after this date, like ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'', were dismissed as if he was past his prime and, again, spent more time to his troubled behavior and private life than the songs themselves. After being declared innocent in the child abuse trial in 2005 many youngsters who grew up with Jackson's music started to give him more serious critical attention. Sadly Jackson died in 2009, but this ''did'' start a huge revival and re-appreciation of his entire catalogue.

** ''All of the Above'' was released the next year, leading to many critics saying Live should have waited since ''The Best Part'' was still just making the rounds. Live was already working on this one while trying to get an official release for the previous album. He knew he was falling behind and might have overcorrected. ''All of the Above'' divided critics; many thought it was too experimental compared to its predecessor, and mainstream audiences found it too confusing. Nowadays it's seen as a classic as well, with some listeners even preferring it over ''The Best Part''. Live played around with production that was ahead of its time, taking in the polished vocal perfectionism of Kanye West, the weird madman "mess with the listener's head" production that MF DOOM was still perfecting, and even played around with glitchy noisy beats in a similar fashion that Music/DeathGrips would a decade later. On top of that, his political awareness seems incredibly poignant in today's political climate, he cited 9/11 as having opened his eyes to exactly how bad the world really was and wanting to make a difference. It's not uncommon to hear "Satisfied?" played at BLM rallies.

* The early work of Music/ThrobbingGristle was absolutely shocking to audiences of the late 70s for its violent and openly transgressive nature. Nowadays, it's the basis for the entire genre of industrial, with critically-acclaimed artists such as Music/NineInchNails holding them as a core influence and their albums getting put on best-of-all-time lists.

** The Violin Concerto in D major from 1806 was unsuccessful at its premiere and languished in obscurity until 1844, when the legendary Joseph Joachim took it up and proved it was a masterpiece. It has since become one of the most popular Violin Concertos in the repertoire.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to its appearance on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would scoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going to a Town" still holding relevance even today.

* The first performance of Music/JeanSibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor on 8 February 1904 was an utter disaster. The composer finished the work only a short time before its scheduled first performance, giving violinist Victor Nováček (a player known more for his pedagogical skill than his performing prowess) scant time to learn its extremely difficult solo part. Sibelius revised the work immediately afterwards and saw this later version successfully presented a year later. It has since entered the standard concerto repertoire for the violin.

** A particularly good example was his opera, ''Treemonisha''. It was written in 1911 and partially performed in 1915; it wouldn't be performed in its entirety until 1972.

** Music/PaleSaints: They were ''really'' obscure and barely even reviewed back during their existence. Nowadays, their albums and [=EPs=] get swiped up on Website/EBay because of how much their stature has grown. They command a pretty penny because they barely sold in the day.

* 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.

* 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 his 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/RobertJohnson was an obscure blues artist during the 1930s who was only known in his own state. 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.

* When Gram Parsons died in 1973, he was only known as a former member of Music/TheByrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers who'd released a flop solo album. Gradually, people began to realise that he'd invented country-rock.

* Music/NickDrake. Although he failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, Drake's work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years.

** The finale of Symphony No. 9 in D minor, the "Ode to Joy", was despised by critics when first performed in 1824 and for a long time afterwards. Music/GiuseppeVerdi called the symphony "marvelous in its first three movements, very badly set in the last. No one will ever surpass the sublimity of the first movement, but it will be an easy task to write as badly for voices as is done in the last movement." The finale became beloved during the late 20th century and is now considered one of his finest works and one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.

* Music/IgorStravinsky's ''Theatre/TheRiteOfSpring'' caused a scandal (complete with yelling and fisticuffs between audience members) at its 1913 premiere because of its dissonant sonic palette and the primitive rawness of its choreography, though the piece entered the standard concert repertoire immediately afterward. Today, it is one of the most popular, important, influential and famous classical works of the 20th century.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to its appearance on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would scoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to its appearance on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to its appearance on the ''{{WesternAnimation/Shrek}}'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to it's appearance on the ''{{WesternAnimation/Shrek}}'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.
** His 2010 release ''All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu'' was controversial even among Rufus' discography. Usually his music is known for lush, full orchestrations. However, due to the death of his mother, Rufus couldn't bring himself to do that with songs that were so vulnerable and sad. Thus, he released the album with minimal overdubs, just him on piano. Critics were split, many thinking it as a dull-gray moment in an otherwise lively, exciting discography. Today, however, it's regarded as a hauntingly beautiful, if depressing album. It's not uncommon to see it suggested to people needing something to listen to after losing a loved one. Rufus alone at the piano has been so well-liked by audiences, that he even started touring solo on occasion to satisfy people who prefer him in such a setting.

** ''Music/TheLifeOfPablo'' was very polarizing during its release in early 2016, partly because of its erratic roll-out after [[ScheduleSlip being stalled for several years]], partly because -- by Kanye's own admission -- it was "finished" in a rush and was still incomplete to him, and partly because [[NewSoundAlbum it's his most kaleidoscopic and experimental project to date]] ''by design''. However, following several post-release updates in the subsequent months (from improvements on the audio mixes to swapping around the tracklist), opinion has since become more favorable -- the initial consensus was that as sloppy and inconsistent as it was, ''The Life of Pablo'' was at least commendable for its ambition and the risks it took, with the updates seen as having helped them reach their full potential.

* 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.

* J-Live is a rapper who released 2 albums that flopped hard for opposite reasons that are now both seen as classics:
** ''The Best Part'' took 3 years to produce between 1996 and 1999. Live was already playing around with a fairly outdated idea, trying to modernize the "Emmcee" role, which had been long abandoned by this point. Even by the time of it's completion in 1999, it had elements of which many artists had taken and made obsolete (turntable scratches and older methods of sampling that artists such as OutKast had mostly done away with). Live was unhappy with the treatment by his label, so he took the album around with him over the course of 2 years, trying to find someone that would give the album better treatment. By the time it was released in 2001, ''The Best Part'' was already bootlegged to death (sometimes by Live himself, especially vinyl copies) and sold very poorly. While critics loved the album for it's themes and Live's impressive delivery, listeners were already moving on to more modern hip-hop. Now it is seen as one of the best hip-hop albums ever made, even with all of it's old-school leanings. Website Golden Age Hip Hop considers it one of the go-to albums for people trying to get into the genre.
** ''All Of The Above'' was released the next year, leading to many critics saying Live should have waited since ''The Best Part'' was still just making the rounds. Live was already working on this one while trying to get an official release for the previous album. He knew he was falling behind and might have overcorrected. ''All Of The Above'' divided critics. Many thought it was too experimental compared to it's predecessor and mainstream audiences found it too confusing. Nowadays it's seen as a classic as well, with some listeners even preferring it over ''The Best Part''. Live played around with production that was ahead of it's time, taking in the polished vocal perfectionism of Kanye West, the weird madman "mess with the listener's head" production that MF Doom was still perfecting, and even played around with glitchy noisy beats in a similar fashion that Music/DeathGrips would a decade later. On top of that, his political awareness seems incredibly poignant in today's political climate, he cited 9-11 as having opened his eyes to exactly how bad the world really was and wanting to make a difference. It's not uncommon to hear "Satisfied?" played at BLM rallies.

* Gina G's "Ooh Ahh Just A Little Bit" was an instant hit in the UK, reaching number 1 in the billboard charts. However, it finished 8th in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, outshone by Ireland who won with Eimear Quinn's "The Voice." Nowadays the winner has faded into obscurity, whilst Gina G is fondly remembered for releasing one of the best 90s songs ever recorded.

* On the whole, the PostPunk revival scene of the early-mid '00s experienced a strange case of this, being Vindicated by History in the US but running into the opposite problem in the UK.\\\

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to it's appearance on the ''WesternAnimation/Shrek'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to it's appearance on the ''WesternAnimationShrek'' soundtrack). However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to his downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements with songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.

* Almost every first-wave {{shoegazing}} that wasn't Music/MyBloodyValentine band is far more popular and acclaimed now than they were back then. Some notable examples:

* Almost every {{shoegazing}} band is far more popular and acclaimed now than they were back then. Some notable examples:

* Being the son of musical royalty, Music/RufusWainwright was on most critics' radars with the release of his first 2 albums, his self-titled and ''Poses''. Both those albums sold very well and it looked like he had a promising career ahead of him, with his version of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" being one of the most recognizable (due to it's appearance in ''Shrek''. However, Wainwright's meth addiction and subsequent disastrous tour for ''Poses'' left him the laughing stock of the Music/BaroquePop genre due to him appealing to classical music fans, many of whom, at the time, didn't take kindly to Rufus' downfall. While he released several albums that have come to be seen as classics (especially the ''Want'' duology), there was a time where if you were a Rufus Wainwright fan, some people would schoff at you. Reviews for many of his albums from 2003 to 2020 were middling at best, many poking fun at him, calling him "self-indulgent". However, many of them are now being re-evaluated, not just as pop classics, but for their complex arrangements. Songs like "Going To A Town" still holding relevance even today.