| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[folder:Classical Music]] |
| 4 | * Music/JohannSebastianBach was well-regarded as an organist in his time (with his compositions being seen as something of a side-note), and after his death in 1750, the only people who took his work seriously were a small number of German composers (although some great ones, such as [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]] and [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]]). Even then, those composers focused on his keyboard work, mostly ignoring his other pieces. However, a biography of Bach in 1803, then Music/FelixMendelssohn's 1823 performance of the ''St. Matthew Passion'' led to a renewed interest in Bach's work, and then his acceptance as one of the greatest composers of ClassicalMusic (broad sense) to have ever lived. |
| 5 | ** Today, the Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor is one of his most famous pieces - you know it as ''THE'' OminousPipeOrgan. It was once so obscure that the first known performance was 80 years after his death, and we don't even know exactly when it was written. We only even know of it from a random entry in a book of Bach's music - it was almost literally forgotten. |
| 6 | * Music/GioachinoRossini's opera ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville'' got off to a thoroughly rocky start. The libretto had been set earlier by a rival composer, Music/GiovanniPaisiello, who took offense to Rossini composing his own version and sent a cabal of supporters to disrupt the opening night. Reportedly, they did so and then some, complete with hooting, laughter, and jeers. The performance also suffered from bad luck during staging, with one singer tripping and falling just before his big aria, being forced to sing it with a bloody nose. In addition, a wayward cat wandered onstage and refused to leave, finally being flung off by a cast member. ''Barber'' has since become Rossini's most famous and best-loved opera. |
| 7 | * Music/LudwigVanBeethoven: |
| 8 | ** One of his last works, the "Große Fuge" ("Great Fugue") in B♭ major, features the sort of complexity and dissonance that might still have been considered radical in the early 20th century. At the time of its premiere in 1826, it was dismissed by critics and audiences as being completely unlistenable; fellow composer Louis Spohr (who was, at the time, as famous and well-regarded as Beethoven, and is an example of this himself) described it as "indecipherable, uncorrected horror." It took more than a century for it to become widely regarded as a work of genius, though it is still quite challenging for some listeners. |
| 9 | ** At its premiere in 1805, Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major (''Eroica''), received mixed reviews for being too noisy and modern-sounding. To listeners of the time, modern music was still [[Music/JosephHaydn Haydn]] and Mozart; Beethoven's innovations and dissonances completely confused them. Fast forward a century or so, it is now one of his most celebrated works for the exact same reasons it was divisive back then. |
| 10 | ** 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 is now one of the most popular Violin Concertos in the repertoire. |
| 11 | ** 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. |
| 12 | * Music/HectorBerlioz was a French composer who produced some of the most striking and memorable works of the early Romantic Period. Yet critics and audiences alike, especially in his native country, frequently dismissed him as a talentless hack whose compositional techniques left much to be desired. His melodic writing was seen as irregularly constructed, and his use of harmony and counterpoint was considered awkward and eccentric by several contemporaries accustomed to the stringent standards of more academically-oriented composers back then. ''Music/SymphonieFantastique'', for example, was seen as shocking, even incomprehensible by many listeners at the time, though a few critics (most notably Music/RobertSchumann) and a few notable composers such as Music/GiacomoMeyerbeer and Music/FranzLiszt, were impressed. It proved very influential on later music of the century, thanks to its clever orchestration, vivid use of programmatic elements, and pioneering use of ''idée fixe'' which {{foreshadow|ing}}ed Music/RichardWagner's use of {{Leitmotif}}s -- and the work has been a cornerstone of the standard repertoire since the mid-19th century. Several other works, including his songs, three completed operas, church music for large forces (such as the ''Requiem''), and lesser-known symphonic works such as the ''Symphonie funebre et triomphale'' remain performance rarities to this day despite being held in high regard by Classical musicians. |
| 13 | * 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 immediately entered the standard concert repertoire. Today, it is one of the most popular, important, influential and famous classical works of the 20th century. |
| 14 | * Another disastrous concert in 1913 was the so-called ''Skandalkonzert'', in which pieces by the Second Viennese School (which included Music/ArnoldSchoenberg, Music/AlbanBerg, and Music/AntonWebern) were received with brutal negativity from their audience. Though their atonal music never gained a massive audience, composers of the 20th and 21st centuries widely cite the Second Viennese School as core influences, with the Serialist school of composers taking their innovations even further. |
| 15 | * American composer Henry Cowell was physically attacked by his audience in a 1923 concert in Leipzig, Germany for his music which took the limits of the piano to the extreme, involving techniques such as playing the piano with his forearm and directly plucking the strings. Nowadays, extended piano techniques are quite common, being expanded upon by Music/JohnCage and finding their ways into a wide variety of pieces both avant-garde and widely-performed. |
| 16 | * The opera ''Theatre/{{Carmen}}'' was not a great success when it premiered in Paris, France on 3 March 1875. Although the first act was well received as was the beginning of the second, the third and fourth acts were greeted with {{stunned silence}}. Fortunately, it was well received at the second premiere (this time in Germany) just seven months later; however, by that time Georges Bizet had already died (his death had nothing to do with the opera's failure). Today, ''Carmen'' is considered not only one of the world's greatest operas, but also one of the most popular operas ever written. |
| 17 | * 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. |
| 18 | ** 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''. |
| 19 | ** A major drawback for Joplin was that, while his songwriting talent cannot be denied, he never learned to play the piano on anything above a mediocre level. [[note]](According to second-hand accounts, at least. He did record a few piano rolls near the end of his life, but these are not representative of his actual skills due to them being heavily edited and his syphilis-induced tremors and dis-coordination affecting his playing ability.)[[/note]] Certainly, when a composer can't perform his own music very well, it becomes difficult for his genius to shine through. |
| 20 | * Except for his songs and piano four-hands works, Music/FranzSchubert's music was virtually unknown outside his immediate circle of friends during his lifetime. His piano sonatas were considered to be completely outclassed by Beethoven's, and his symphonies and chamber music were virtually unknown (the famous Symphony No. 8 in B minor (''Unfinished'') was only premiered 37 years after his death, the score being discovered posthumously). He is now regarded as one of the great composers of the 19th century; his Lieder and compositions are beloved by many listeners worldwide. His piano sonatas have slowly gained attention and respect over the years, and his symphonies are regularly performed and recorded nowadays. |
| 21 | * ''Theatre/DukeBluebeardsCastle'', 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. |
| 22 | * Music/ErikSatie was seen as a musically lightweight artist during his lifetime. His minimalist approach was only reassessed as being well ahead of his time many decades later. |
| 23 | * When Music/EdwardElgar went to premiere his Cello Concerto in E minor in 1919, he and the performers were given little to no rehearsing time, due to Albert Coates overrunning his rehearsal time at Elgar's expense. The fact that World War I had just happened and brought about huge social changes didn't help at all. People wanted to forget the past and look to the future, so Elgar was now seen as old-fashioned. Due to its under-rehearsal, the premiere went as well as you'd expect. The concerto then fell into obscurity until Jacqueline du Pré recorded it in 1965 and brought it worldwide recognition; it is now one of the most popular Cello Concertos of all time. |
| 24 | * The 1897 premiere of Symphony No. 1 in D minor by Music/SergeiRachmaninoff was a total disaster; the orchestra was ''extremely'' under-rehearsed and conductor Alexander Glazunov was reportedly drunk. Nonetheless, [[MisBlamed Rachmaninoff got the blame]].[[invoked]] Critical opinion was so negative that he fell into a two-year depression where he wrote virtually nothing. Like all of Rachmaninoff's work, the symphony was re-evaluated [[PosthumousPopularityPotential after his death in 1943]]. Although Symphony No. 2 in E minor is still more popular, his First is now considered a significant achievement and a milestone in the history of Russian music. |
| 25 | * None of Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky's three ballets, ''Theatre/SwanLake'', ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Theatre/TheNutcracker'', were popular in his lifetime, but have since become some of the most famous and loved ballet music the world has ever seen. |
| 26 | ** Reception to Symphony No. 4 in F minor and Symphony No. 5 in E minor was initially very negative, particularly in the United States, whose critics at the time dismissed Russian music in general as barbaric. They have since become very popular and are now staples of the orchestral repertoire alongside Symphony No. 6 in B minor (''Pathétique''). |
| 27 | * Music/GustavMahler was known as a great conductor during his lifetime and did achieve a little success with his compositions (his Symphony No. 2 in C minor ''(Resurrection)'' and Symphony No. 8 in E♭ major ''(Symphony of a Thousand)'' were two of those few successes), but being a Jew meant he had to contend with fierce anti-Semitism that eventually pressured him into resigning from his job as director of New York's Metropolitan Opera. The Nazis labeling him as a creator of "degenerate music" obviously didn't help matters; by the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, his music was usually either disliked or ignored. Then highly-renowned conductors such as Music/LeonardBernstein, Music/AaronCopland, and Leopold Stokowski began championing his works. He is now seen as an influential, innovative composer whose pieces are regularly performed and recorded. |
| 28 | * Music/AntonBruckner was a highly polarizing composer in his lifetime; his critics, such as Music/JohannesBrahms, pointed to the large size and extensive use of repetition in his symphonies. He was also widely maligned in Vienna as well, with only a few of his symphonies actually being performed while he was still alive. On the flip-side, he also had many a celebrity fan, such as Gustav Mahler, who was friends with Bruckner and called him his "forerunner", and Music/RichardWagner, whom Bruckner respected highly.[[note]]Symphony No. 3 in D minor is dedicated to Wagner; furthermore, the second movement Adagio of Symphony No. 7 in E major was written with his death and funeral in mind, since he was in poor health at the time.[[/note]] Advances in recording technology and the introduction of longer-playing records helped to bolster his reputation as one of the best Romantic Era composers; every one of his 9 numbered symphonies are now part of the standard classical repertoire. |
| 29 | * Music/FrancisPoulenc was known for writing funny, light-hearted works, but he had a spiritual epiphany in 1936 after his friend Pierre-Octave Ferroud was killed in a violent car crash; he alternated between his famous humourous style and more serious, religious works and more austere late duo sonatas. In contrast to his light-hearted works which have always been popular, his religious music was overlooked during his lifetime and for decades after his death from a heart attack in 1963. It took until the 21st century for that side of his music to be recognized and become frequently performed and recorded. |
| 30 | * Music/FranzLiszt was very controversial and polarizing during his lifetime. He was hailed as the greatest pianist of his age but heavily criticized for his compositions, particularly by Music/RobertSchumann, Music/JohannesBrahms and their supporters in what is now known as the "War of the Romantics". For example, the Sonata in B minor, now seen as the pinnacle of Liszt's output, was dismissed by Clara Schumann, who said it was "merely a blind noise"; Brahms reportedly fell asleep listening to Liszt perform it in 1853. There are still pieces by him not in the standard repertoire, but many pieces by him, particularly his piano pieces, are much more appreciated now than they were back then, and Liszt is now recognized as one of the most important 19th-century composers after Beethoven's death. |
| 31 | * 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". |
| 32 | * 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 20 years later, No. 1 has been accepted as part of the repertoire and is doing very well. |
| 33 | * 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 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. |
| 34 | * Opening night of the opera ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'' by Music/GiacomoPuccini was a catastrophe. The performance was under-rehearsed, the work having been finished at the last minute, and thus was insecurely presented. The audience jeered, hissed, laughed, and yelled throughout the performance, at one point catcalling that the main female character was pregnant! To make matters worse, the audience had been given bird whistles to blow into, meant to accompany the dawn after Butterfly's sleepless night; these were instead used to general disruptive effect by the audience. Puccini hastily pulled the work after opening night and revised it extensively. It subsequently met with great success and immediately entered the operatic repertoire. |
| 35 | * Music/CharlesIves is now considered the first significant United States composer and an early ''avant-garde'' icon, but recognition for his greatness did not come until near the end of his life. Ives spent most of his adult years as a life insurance salesman and insurance company co-owner, composing on the side during nights and weekends in his spare time -- in fact, he was very well-known in the former field via the publication of the book ''Life Insurance with Relation to Inheritance Tax'' while his music languished in obscurity, almost never played. His music career breakthrough came in 1939 at age 65 (13 years after being forced to give up composing for health reasons) with the premiere of the ''Concord Sonata'' by pianist Ralph Kirkpatrick; his Symphony No. 3 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1947, seven years before his death. Nevertheless, several of his finest works remained unperformed until after his death -- most notably his Symphony No. 4, which was not premiered in full until 1965. |
| 36 | * Until fairly recently, 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. |
| 37 | [[/folder]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Blues/Jazz]] |
| 40 | * 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. |
| 41 | * Music/CharlieParker was once seen as a cacophonous musician just noodling about. He was re-evaluated [[PosthumousPopularityPotential after his death]] as a genius and an innovator, effectively paving the way for bebop and free jazz. |
| 42 | * Thelonious Monk: Early in his career he was seen as an eccentric, but later he became respected as someone who was way ahead of his time. |
| 43 | * 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. |
| 44 | * Music/OrnetteColeman's album ''Free Jazz'' had an almost comically polarized response, with magazine ''Down Beat'' giving it 5 stars ''and'' 0 stars. It invented an entire genre. |
| 45 | * Norah Jones: Although her early work has gotten her some backlash, her 2009 album, ''The Fall'' was seen as a betrayal to her overall jazz sound. However, as time has gone on, it's become recognized as one of the greatest breakup albums of all time and a hell of a grower. It's seen now as more of a Blues/Jazz fusion record. |
| 46 | * Music/MilesDavis: His funk-influenced 1972 album ''On the Corner'' was critically panned and a commercial failure upon its release. Now it's recognized as a huge influence in the development of hip-hop, electronica, and drum and bass, as well as being one of his best albums. His 1974 album ''Big Fun'' received the same treatment as well, though it was more a case of being ignored. Four ~25-minute songs coming out at the start of the disco era will do that to you. ''On the Corner'' inspired vitriolic hatred because jazz purists saw Miles' increasing use of tape editing and rock/funk influences (including the use of electric instruments) as ruining jazz purity. His wont for ''On the Corner'' to be mastered for AM radio fidelity simply so kids would hear his new album and get back into listening to him instead of James Brown [[BrokenBase was the last straw]] for some fans. |
| 47 | ** Taking a broader view, the fusion era in general; at the time, Miles and Teo Macero editing performances on those records was very controversial and alienated jazz purists, but the albums are now recognized as masterpieces. |
| 48 | * Music/JohnColtrane is now one of the most respected and even beloved figures in jazz, but during his career, he was one of the most divisive, with some critics accusing him of being an 'enemy of jazz' and suchlike. |
| 49 | * 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. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Pop/Rock]] |
| 53 | * Music/FrankZappa's music wasn't very successful in his lifetime. He did receive some critical attention and a loyal cult following, but since his work was such a GenreRoulette from the start, rock fans, jazz fans or classical music fans all had the idea he operated in a different genre from theirs. Thus, they mostly ignored him. Other people were put off by either his intellectualism or the [[BawdySong bawdy sex comedy he used in his songs]]. The latter aspect was also the reason why some people saw him more as a kind of musical clown[=/=]novelty artist, like Music/SpikeJones. Since Zappa's death in 1993, his reputation has only grown. His collaborations with classical orchestras, like ''Music/LondonSymphonyOrchestra'', ''Music/ThePerfectStranger'' and ''Music/TheYellowShark'' have gained him more respect as a classical composer too. There's no doubt that in the centuries to come, he will be regarded as one of the most important composers of his time. |
| 54 | * Music/TheBeatles: |
| 55 | ** Music/RingoStarr's drumming gained quite a bit of retroactive appreciation after the albums were remastered and his fills became more audible. |
| 56 | ** [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]] greatly appreciated his inclusion on ten tracks of ''Music/TheBeatlesAnthology 1'', not only for the royalties he received, but because the tracks vindicated him as a drummer, dispelling rumours caused by his dismissal that he was a substandard musician who couldn't keep time. |
| 57 | ** During Music/TheBeatles' later years, their post-''Sgt. Pepper'' work got mixed reviews upon their release. ''The Beatles'' (Music/TheWhiteAlbum) was criticised for its satirical songs in a turbulent, political climate, as well as for its lack of coherence stemming from tensions flaring between the band-members. ''Music/AbbeyRoad'' got flack for its elaborate production. In the years since their release, both are now considered among the greatest albums of all time for those very reasons. |
| 58 | * 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. |
| 59 | * Music/DustySpringfield had only one hit from 1969's ''Dusty in Memphis'', "Son of a Preacher Man". The album itself was a flop. Today, ''Dusty in Memphis'' is recognized as one of the finest albums of the 1960s. |
| 60 | * 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 their 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. |
| 61 | * When Alex Chilton died in early 2010, his obituary in ''The New York Times'' noted that his band Music/BigStar "left a legacy more easily measured in artistic influence than in commercial impact." |
| 62 | * Although Music/NickDrake failed to find a wide audience while he was alive, 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. |
| 63 | * ''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 ThrashMetal and HairMetal from TheEighties, ''Music/{{Wish You Were Here|1975}}'' by Music/PinkFloyd, and ''Ritual de lo habitual'' by Music/JanesAddiction. |
| 64 | * Music/LedZeppelin: |
| 65 | ** The band was initially ''trashed'' by music critics, including ''Magazine/RollingStone'' (though they actually praised ''Music/PhysicalGraffiti'' when it came out, calling it "the band's ''Music/{{Tommy}}'', ''Music/BeggarsBanquet'' and ''[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Sgt. Pepper]]'' rolled into one.") There's also a brutal ''Melody Maker'' review of ''Music/LedZeppelinIII'' that seemed to be Jimmy Page's BerserkButton for a while. Now, of course, both publications have "revisited" those assessments after Led Zeppelin fans grew up and began writing for them. |
| 66 | ** ''Music/{{Presence}}'' was initially dismissed even by those who liked the band, but its stature has improved a lot in the intervening years, in large 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. |
| 67 | * As a general rule, most notable '70s hard rock/heavy metal bands get this. Music/{{Aerosmith}} and Music/BlackSabbath were slammed by critics when they first became popular, but in the decades since have earned respect as pioneers. |
| 68 | * Sixto Music/{{Rodriguez}}'s two albums were well-received but bombed completely in sales in the United States in the early 1970s. However, thanks to being the most extreme example of GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff, he found himself a star in South Africa (and UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/NewZealand) decades later. That bizarre story led to a well-received documentary, ''Film/SearchingForSugarMan'', which led to him finally getting some much-deserved media attention at last in America as a long-overlooked musical star. |
| 69 | * Music/TheZombies' ''Music/OdesseyAndOracle'' was released in 1968 to little critical or commercial notice - it 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. |
| 70 | * Music/CaptainBeefheart's ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'' hardly sold at all in 1969 and the few who heard often found it hard to tolerate. Over the decades, the album has been re-appreciated as a milestone in music history, inspiring countless {{alternative rock}} bands ever since. |
| 71 | * ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' did this with Music/{{Chicago}}'s "You're the Inspiration": when originally released, it was regarded as a cheesy, crappy love ballad. Don't tell that to anyone who played the stage "A Christmas Wish", though: they'll tell you why you're wrong while [[TearJerker fighting desperately to hold back tears]]. |
| 72 | * Music/BrianEno is said to have joked that "only about 1,000 people ever bought a Music/TheVelvetUnderground album, but every one of them formed a rock and roll band." That's especially true for the two first VU albums, ''Music/TheVelvetUndergroundAndNico'' and ''Music/WhiteLightWhiteHeat'', which were widely criticized for being vulgar noise at the time. Because of their early-career penchant for lyrics with controversial subject matter (drugs, sexual deviancy) and an abrasive ''avant-garde'' influenced musical style, the group's singles and studio albums saw no commercial success whatever, and the band's work generally met with critical indifference. In the US, none of their albums charted higher than number 129, and none of the group's songs reached the Top 100. They also lost a lot of potential customers because many rock fans were under the impression that the Velvet Underground was merely Creator/AndyWarhol's backing band, which wasn't the case at all. The group is now considered to be one of the most influential in rock music history, providing a blueprint for every punk, indie, and new wave band that followed, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. |
| 73 | * Music/ThePixies were at most a modest success in the United States, even if [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff they played in stadiums and sold much more in Europe]]. After their 1993 break-up, given their sound influenced acts such as Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, and Music/{{Weezer}}, the decade until their 2004 reunion had many music fans seeking the Pixies' music, making two albums get certified Gold long after their release (6 years for ''Doolitle'', ''17'' for ''Surfer Rosa''), and their reunion tour to have nearly all the tickets sold out within minutes. |
| 74 | * Music/TheBeachBoys: |
| 75 | ** The band has always been popular, but they were a bit overshadowed during the 1960s by the success of MediaNotes/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. |
| 76 | ** ''Music/{{Sunflower}}'' was a major flop in the US when it was first released in 1970 (it peaked at #151). The passage of time helped heal its standing considerably. This can also be said for [[Music/SmileySmile every]] [[Music/WildHoney single]] [[Music/Friends1968 one]] [[Music/TwentyTwenty of]] [[Music/SurfsUp1971 their]][[note]]While ''Surf's Up'' reached #29 in the U.S. and #15 in the UK and sold better as well in contrast to ''Sunflower'''s lackluster initial reception, its two US singles, "Long Promised Road"[=/=]"'Til I Die" and "Surf's Up"[=/=]"Don't Go Near the Water", failed to chart and peaked at #89, respectively.[[/note]] [[Music/CarlAndThePassionsSoTough albums]] that came after ''Music/{{Smile|TheBeachBoys}}'', up to ''Music/{{Holland|1973}}''. |
| 77 | * Music/{{Suicide|Band}} was made up of Martin Rev on synthesizer - from which he played little more than a drum loop and a repetitive synth melody - and Alan Vega on vocals, the duo referred to their music as "punk, funk & sewer music" and, even in the thick of the emerging PunkRock scene, got a lot of backlash in the late 70s due to their confrontational, abrasive performances, where Vega tended to tunelessly chant and scream the lyrics over Rev's sparse song structures. (One particularly infamous performance in Brussels, opening for Music/ElvisCostello, wound up enraging the audience into a riot.) However, their cold, alienating music was so powerful that it had a major hand in giving rise to SynthPop, modern ElectronicMusic, PostPunk and {{Industrial}}; it also ended up influencing countless musicians. Not bad for two lunatics who pissed off a lot of drunk rock fans almost nightly. |
| 78 | * Music/PaulMcCartney: |
| 79 | ** ''Music/{{Ram}}'' by Paul and Linda [=McCartney=] wasn't kindly received by critics in 1971. Jon Landau, writing for ''Magazine/RollingStone'', infamously deemed it "inconsequential", "monumentally irrelevant" and "the nadir of the decomposition of Sixties rock thus far". A. J. Weberman of the Rock Liberation Front was so affronted by an album that "said nothing about what was happening on the street" that he staged a mock funeral to symbolize Paul's death as a "representative of youth culture". Music/RingoStarr sounded concerned for Paul's mental health when asked what he made of the album: "I feel sad with Paul's albums because I believe he's a great artist, incredibly creative, incredibly clever, but he disappoints me on his albums. I don't think there's one tune on the last one, ''Ram''... he seems to be going strange" -- Music/JohnLennon's reaction was that the whole album was a shot at him. Forty-odd years later, ''Ram'' has at least three [[CoverAlbum tribute albums]] and is regarded as a proto-indie pop masterpiece and one of Paul's best albums, if not his best, period. It received glowing reviews when remastered and re-released in 2012 (including 4½ stars from ''Magazine/RollingStone''). |
| 80 | ** 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 bandmates 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. |
| 81 | * Music/TheKinks: |
| 82 | ** They were banned from touring in America from 1965–69. This led Ray Davies, the band's main songwriter, to start changing his writing style towards more English topics and creating albums such as ''Music/TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety'' and ''Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)''. While both received critical acclaim upon release, they did not receive the same thing commercially; the former only sold about 100,000 copies initially worldwide (25,000 of which was in America). It has since become their best-selling album. The latter has been named on record by Mick Avory, the band's longest-serving drummer (and second longest-lasting member), as his favorite. |
| 83 | ** 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 nowadays. |
| 84 | ** 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. |
| 85 | * Music/DavidBowie: |
| 86 | ** At the time of ''Music/HunkyDory'''s release, Bowie was still known as a OneHitWonder for "Space Oddity"; the album's first-run sales were middling, and the one single ("Changes") was a blip in the States and failed to chart in Britain. Fast forward five months to a little album called ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars''... the album is now frequently cited as his second-best or even best, often making "best album" lists, even outselling ''Ziggy'' itself by the end of the year. "Changes", "Queen Bitch" and ''especially'' "Life on Mars?" are now regarded as classics, with the first and last of those three being candidates for Bowie's SignatureSong. |
| 87 | ** Bowie's minimalist, synth-heavy "Berlin Trilogy" of the late 1970s (''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'' and ''Music/{{Lodger}}''), on which he collaborated with Music/BrianEno and [[Music/KingCrimson Robert Fripp]], were misunderstood and low-selling by his previous standards (though ''"Heroes"'' was ''NME'''s Album of the Year for 1977). They're now noted for influencing SynthPop, {{New Wave|Music}} and {{Ambient}} music. The title track of ''"Heroes"'', which didn't make waves as a single, is now one of his most recognized and beloved; it is also a candidate for his SignatureSong as well. |
| 88 | ** ''Music/StationToStation'' was re-evaluated, as it is an interesting transitional work with both blue-eyed {{soul}} influences lingering from the previous album (''Music/YoungAmericans'') and some interesting experiments in the direction of ''Low''. |
| 89 | ** While Bowie's work as part of Tin Machine was met with middling to outright hostile reviews in its time, in the years since the band has gone on to receive considerable acclaim from retrospective reviewers and has been recognized as being a significant influence on 1990s AlternativeRock and especially {{grunge}}. Nowadays, the Tin Machine era is regarded as one of Bowie's most underrated, rivaled only by the Berlin Trilogy. It helps that Bowie himself regarded the band as being crucial to his renaissance as a solo artist in the years after they disbanded. |
| 90 | ** 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]]. |
| 91 | * Music/MyChemicalRomance were successful during the 2000s, but they had the misfortune of being the poster boy for {{emo}} culture, which was one of pop culture's go-to punching bags at the time. Only after their break-up have many review sites and magazines realized how great and important to their generation they were, with even ''Magazine/RollingStone'' in their album guide calling ''Music/TheBlackParade'' "an instant classic". |
| 92 | * 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 The90s as a "soft rocker", but as the 2000s and 2010s came along, his music once again gained new respect and hipness. |
| 93 | * 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 TheSeventies. 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 she 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 TheNineties, 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. |
| 94 | * Music/StevieNicks only received a mediocre reception from critics and was also treated as a [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] by rock fans in her time, but has since been universally praised as one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time and cited as an influence among many of the female rock singers who emerged in her wake. Most notably, she is the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (as a member of Music/FleetwoodMac and as a solo artist). |
| 95 | * Music/LouReed's 1973 album ''Music/{{Berlin}}'' was torn down by critics back then, but eventually found acclaim as a great record. |
| 96 | * Mariya Takeuchi's single "Plastic Love" was merely a modest success back in 1984, selling 10,000 copies in Japan before quickly fading into obscurity. That is, until 2017, in which a user by the name of Plastic Lover, uploaded an extended version of the song onto [=YouTube=]. This was indirectly heavily pushed by [=YouTube=]'s recommendation algorithm, resulting in the single receiving a massive boom in popularity and acclaim, quickly kick-starting and becoming the face of the City Pop resurgence in the mid-to-late 10s. As an example of the song's resurgence in popularity, back in 1984, the single had only managed to obtain a #84 rank on the Japanese music charts, by contrast, when Warner Music Japan rereleased the single in 2021, it was listed as #5 on those same charts, becoming a top-ten single after 37 years. |
| 97 | * Music/{{Queen}}: |
| 98 | ** The band was regularly panned by music critics during TheSeventies, 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. |
| 99 | ** Their final album released before Music/FreddieMercury's death (''Music/MadeInHeaven'', the final album to feature Mercury as the vocalist, was released posthumously in 1995), 1991's ''Music/{{Innuendo}}'', was predictably slammed by critics upon release and mostly ignored by the general public. However, once it was revealed that Mercury was dying during its recording (his diagnosis didn't go public until mere hours before he died), the album's mix of silliness/goofiness and serious life questioning made much more sense. It's now considered by many fans and critics to be one of the band's best albums. |
| 100 | * 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. |
| 101 | * Music/{{Suede}}'s second album, ''Dog Man Star'', saw lukewarm reception and so-so sales upon release, but is now commonly considered to be one of their two best albums alongside their debut album. |
| 102 | * The Music/{{Ramones}}' debut record ''Music/{{Ramones|Album}}'' peaked on the Billboard charts at #111, and while subsequent releases would fare somewhat better (1980's ''Music/EndOfTheCentury'' made it all the way to #44), none would even be remotely considered hits. Only four songs by them entered the Billboard charts; none made the Top 40. Today, they are considered one of the most important rock bands of all time for writing a huge chunk of the blueprint for punk rock. |
| 103 | * Music/TheStooges and Music/{{Kyuss}} didn't sell many records, but are now acknowledged as the godfathers of punk and stoner metal. |
| 104 | * Music/GreenDay's 2000 album ''Music/{{Warning}}'' was shrugged at by critics and fans due to its LighterAndSofter sound, actually getting some flak for having this sound coming from one of the mainstream's most apathetic rock bands. It also became the band's worst commercial performance, being their only major-label album to not reach multi-platinum status. However, in time, people admitted that the album really was great, but severely underrated. Some even call it the band's best effort for its songwriting. |
| 105 | * Music/JeanMichelJarre's signature albums ''Music/{{Oxygene}}'' and ''Music/{{Equinoxe}}'' received mostly negative reviews at the time of their release, as the contemporary music press was more interested in the developing UK punk scene and thus hostile to most electronic music; one review of ''Équinoxe'' outright called it boring. Today though, both albums are considered electronica classics. |
| 106 | * Swiss metal band Hellhammer were generally hated when active, and brought down reception of Music/CelticFrost, the band that formed immediately after Hellhammer's break-up. These days, they are seen as one of the most influential metal bands in history. |
| 107 | * While it was an immediate critical hit and minor commercial success Stateside, Music/KateBush's ''Music/TheDreaming'' was both a critical and commercial failure in its native UK when it was originally released, mostly for being simply too experimental and difficult. Today it's considered to be one of her best albums (or even THE best, depending on who you're asking) and generally one of the best and most daring albums of the '80s. |
| 108 | * 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. |
| 109 | * ''Dazzle Ships'', the fourth album by SynthPop group Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark met with terrible reviews and poor sales upon its release in 1983 because of the weird, incomprehensible musique concrète that comprises half the record and the experimental nature of the actual songs on the album. After its failure, the band resigned to never do anything as experimental again and eventually settled into writing pop songs like "So in Love" and "[[BlackSheepHit If You Leave]]". Contrast this reception with the critical hosannas it received when re-issued in 2008. |
| 110 | * Music/DwightYoakam may have had critical acclaim and decent hits during his prime, but nobody really thought of him as anything legendary... then in the late 2000s, new country artists were popping up listing Yoakam as a key influence. He had a strong influence on Alternative Country and may very well have been the genre's first artist. ''Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room'' and ''This Time'' are now considered classics. |
| 111 | * Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's album ''Music/BalanceOfPower'' received mixed reviews in the US, and decidedly negative reviews in the UK. For two decades it was something of a black sheep among fans. It was marginalized by many ELO resources in print and online, including the liner notes for the hits collections ''Afterglow'' and ''Strange Magic''. There were even rumours that Jeff Lynne just threw something together to fulfill his contract, which he denies (his claim is supported by ELO archivist Rob Caiger, who says the 34-minute album was condensed down from 4 hours of material). The 2006 expanded remaster caused ''Balance of Power'' to be re-evaluated by fans and critics alike. |
| 112 | * Almost every first-wave {{shoegazing}} band that wasn't Music/MyBloodyValentine is far more popular and acclaimed now than they were back then. Some notable examples: |
| 113 | ** Music/{{Slowdive}}: Called "[[GodwinsLaw worse than Hitler]]" by Music/ManicStreetPreachers bassist Nicky Wire, this band is now beloved for their more subtle approach to the genre. ''Souvlaki'' is hailed as a modern-day classic, when it was originally hated by fans and critics for still trying to be shoegazing, despite it being a dying fad. |
| 114 | ** Music/{{Ride}}: While their first two albums, ''Nowhere'' and ''Going Blank Again'', are widely considered their best, they're still far from being praised as much as Music/MyBloodyValentine's ''Music/{{Loveless}}''. Nowadays, the band is one of many {{gateway|Series}}s into shoegazing. |
| 115 | ** Music/{{Lush}}: Although they were well-received critically throughout their original run and were the most successful shoegazing band on American alt-rock radio, they weren't considered one of the more important bands of the genre. Nowadays, a lot more people (especially in the US) have recognized just how good they were back then. |
| 116 | ** Music/CatherineWheel: Although they changed their sound to a more mainstream {{alternative rock}} style and kept having hits on American rock radio after the shoegazing scene ended, their final album ''Wishville'' wasn't received very well upon its original release, leaving much of their earlier work forgotten (''Wishville'' now has a growing fanbase, though). ''Ferment'' and ''Chrome'' are now both seen as classics of not only {{Shoegazing}}, but HardRock as well. |
| 117 | ** Music/KitchensOfDistinction: Originally seen as a rip-off of Music/TheSmiths because their vocalists sounded similar. Upon further evaluation in the 2000s, though, the band has seen a great improvement in critical opinion. ''Music/TheDeathOfCool'' has been getting more and more praise for its subtle drama and capturing the fear of the AIDS epidemic. Patrick Fitzgerald, the band's lead singer, even expressed that he felt cursed that nobody quite understood the album at the time. |
| 118 | ** Music/TheBooRadleys: Originally only majorly popular in Britain, their albums ''Giant Steps'' and ''Wake Up!'' have both been seen as {{shoegazing}} and {{britpop}} classics respectively. America and several other countries have finally become much more familiar with them. |
| 119 | ** Music/PaleSaints: They were ''really'' obscure and barely even reviewed back during their existence. Nowadays, their albums and [=EPs=] get swiped up on eBay because of how much their stature has grown. They command a pretty penny because they barely sold in the day. |
| 120 | * Music/MyBloodyValentine's influence reached so far that when the {{Shoegazing}} genre made a comeback as "Nu-Gazing" nearly 10 years later, many bands flew under the radar for being either too similar to MBV or not similar enough. Today, many of these bands have gained a much stronger following. Some examples include: |
| 121 | ** LSD and The Search for God were criticized for 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. |
| 122 | ** Music/MyVitriol were mocked by shoegazers when they were given credit for re-vitalizing the shoegazing movement (whether or not they did is still a contentious argument between shoegazing fans). Their more commercial rock sound turned a lot of listeners off. Heck, the band themselves weren't even trying to go for a shoegaze sound, it just ended up sounding similar enough to get them thrown into it. Nowadays they're seen as a unique voice within the movement, with clearer vocals and more aggressive, poppy delivery you don't find in many other bands. |
| 123 | ** 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. |
| 124 | ** The entire "darkgaze" 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. |
| 125 | ** Any shoegazing band that use synthesizers or computer software to emulate the sounds created by the pedals also got written off for not being created by guitars, being seen as inferior. There were some exceptions (such as M83), but many of the bands took 10+ years to get recognized as equals to their guitar-playing counterparts. Some listeners even prefer these projects, as they create more unique tones and textures that guitars just can't match. |
| 126 | * Music/TheChurch were highly under-appreciated in their early days. Even with the hit song "Under the Milky Way", they were just considered a OneHitWonder. Enter into the 2010s with a new appreciation emerging from DreamPop revivalism, The Church have been embraced by many music lovers. They are often labelled as being the band that innovated Australian AlternativeRock (like what Music/TheSmiths did for the UK, and Music/{{REM}} for the US). |
| 127 | ** 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. |
| 128 | * Music/TheStoneRoses: |
| 129 | ** The band's debut, ''{{Music/The Stone Roses|Album}}'', was given a disappointing 6/10 by NME when first released in 1989. In 2006, it was given the crown of Greatest Indie Album of All Time by the same publication. |
| 130 | ** Their second album, ''Second Coming'', (aka [[Film/ShaunOfTheDead "The 'I Like It' album"]]) was panned by both critics and fans when it first came out. It didn't help that a contract dispute stalled the band from performing and recording for four years, resulting in the long wait between the albums. Subsequently, when the album was released, the British music scene changed drastically with the popularity of rave and Britpop acts, while grunge and alternative music revolutionized music in America, leading to ''Second Coming'' losing its luster. The Stone Roses broke up in the shadow of the Britpop bands that the band influenced, but both their first and second albums are hailed as British post-Beatles classics. |
| 131 | * Music/{{Jellyfish}} made only two unsuccessful (or moderate successful) albums and was not a precursor to a commercially successful nor critically acclaimed musical movement, but many modern acts associated with Alternative PowerPop can claim to be influenced by the band, so much so that a boxed set (''Fan Club'') and an all-star tribute album (''Sensory Lullabyes: The Ultimate Tribute to Jellyfish'') were released in the years following the band's break-up. The band's two studio albums have since been remastered and re-released on vinyl by an independent label. |
| 132 | * 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. |
| 133 | * Mark Kozelek spent much of his career in obscurity and commercial under-performance. While always critically acclaimed, many of his albums made by Music/RedHousePainters and Music/SunKilMoon went under the radar of many music listeners. However, after having his music talked about by devoted fans on /mu/ and The Lost Media Wiki, many listeners started to catch on. Then, in 2014, Sun Kil Moon's album ''Benji'' was lauded with critical praise (most notably by Pitchfork, who gave it a 9.2). People listened to it out of curiosity and realized how emotionally deep and genuine the performance was. Listeners took a listen to not just the rest of Sun Kil Moon's discography, but Red House Painters as well and found themselves captivated. While ''Benji'' is still well-loved, albums like ''Ghosts of the Great Highway'', ''Music/SongsForABlueGuitar'', and especially ''Rollercoaster'' have been seen as some of the best albums '''ever''' created. To put things into perspective, take a look at how ''Rollercoaster'' was originally ranked at around 22 or 23 in the year 1993 on Website/BestEverAlbums.com, but has since been climbing at a rate that is faster than most albums climb on the list. |
| 134 | * Temple of the Dog: |
| 135 | ** Their only album, ''Temple of the Dog''. When it was first released, no one noticed it. Later in the year, the two bands which had members in Temple of the Dog, Music/PearlJam and Music/{{Soundgarden}}, achieved mainstream success with ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}'' and ''Badmotorfinger'' respectively, so the label reissued the album along with a video for single "Hunger Strike". It worked, the album eventually sold a million copies, and is now considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the greatest grunge records ever made. |
| 136 | ** Temple of the Dog was a tribute to Mother Love Bone, whose lead singer died of a 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. |
| 137 | * Music/TheyMightBeGiants departed from their signature guitar/accordion/drum sampler sound during the mid-1990s with the release of two albums: 1994's ''Music/JohnHenry'' and 1996's ''Factory Showroom'', both of which showcased the duo working with a full, conventional band lineup of guitars, bass, and drum kit. The albums were initially released to middling-to-negative reviews, and despite ''John Henry'' rendering the group's highest Billboard album charting (Until 2009's ''Join Us'') neither album was particularly successful commercially. Cut to decades later, when both albums have rendered live staples out of tracks, ("New York City", "James K. Polk", "Meet James Ensor", "The End of the Tour", and others) entire concerts have been dedicated to performances of the albums themselves, and guitarist/vocalist John Flansburgh has since gone on record to name ''Factory Showroom'' as his favorite of the band's discography. |
| 138 | * Despite being their lowest charting single at the time, performing so poorly that plans for a third single were scrapped the day before shooting for the video began, Music/DuranDuran's "Serious" is now recognized by most fans as one of the best songs they've ever written. |
| 139 | * When Music/KeithUrban premiered, he was a radio favourite but critics found his music either boring or derivative. Come the end of the decade, he was being hailed as one of the most important CountryMusic artist of the 2000s. |
| 140 | * On its original release, Music/ToadTheWetSprocket's 1990 album ''Pale'' was largely ignored and considered "weak and amateurish" compared to ''Fear'' and ''Dulcinea''. As years have passed, its been re-evaluated as one of the 1990s greatest albums and has become a cherished indie classic, mainly for the introspective lyrics, Glen Phillips' mind-blowing vocal performance, and wide use of dynamic range. Its vinyl pressing, something it only has one print of, runs for a pretty penny on eBay and is said to be one of the best albums ever engineered for the format. |
| 141 | * 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. |
| 142 | * 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|Album}}'' 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. |
| 143 | * Music/{{Megadeth}}'s 1994 album ''Youthanasia''. Upon release, the album garnered a fair amount of fan backlash for its slower tempos and more straightforward heavy metal sound (notice the parallel between this and the criticism lobbied at ''South of Heaven'' six years prior). Over time, however, the album's popularity with the metal community increased significantly. Many Megadeth fans now consider it to be one of the band's best albums. Similarly, ''Cryptic Writings'' was considered too alternative at the time, but is now hailed for its eclectic selection of genres. |
| 144 | * Music/{{Autopsy}} released their first two albums into the obscurity of the early DeathMetal scene. Years later, as the movement expanded and other bands listed them as an influence the albums were rediscovered, and are now often called [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic classics of the genre]]. |
| 145 | * Music/{{Slayer}}'s ''South of Heaven''. Upon its release, the album was criticized for its slower tempos and more melodic style, a deliberate decision as they felt they could not top the speed of ''Music/ReignInBlood''. Today, its regarded as one of the band's best and one of the better (if not necessarily "best") thrash albums of the 1980s. |
| 146 | * 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 way more smoothly and producer Rob Cavallo (well-known at the time for working with Music/GreenDay) intentionally giving it very 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 far 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. |
| 147 | * 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 its release were Pitchfork and NME. |
| 148 | ** Besides ''Pinkerton'', many Weezer albums get this years after release. ''Maladroit'', ''The Red Album'' and ''Hurley'', for example, are now generally seen as good, if not great, albums in their own right, despite them initially having mixed-to-negative reception. |
| 149 | * Music/KylieMinogue's DarkerAndEdgier offering, ''Music/ImpossiblePrincess'', was critically and commercially reviled upon its release in 1997, as she had been previously known for her cheerful image and sound. Once she returned to the spotlight with a sleeker dance-pop sound, music critics and fans revisited ''Impossible Princess'' and found it to be much better than it was first perceived. The vindication only seems to be getting stronger as the years go on. ''Impossible Princess'' is now being seen as one of the greatest pop albums of all time by some listeners and publications. It foresaw several pop tropes that would be explored over the next 20 years (i.e. the further sinking into the EDM sound, the exploration of world music, etc.). It's only a matter of time before it's seen as the ''Thriller'' of its generation. |
| 150 | * The Auteurs' song "Future Generations" is about this trope. Whether any of Luke Haines and the Auteurs many non-hits will actually be vindicated by future generations remains to be seen. |
| 151 | * Music/TheMarsVolta: They were mostly popular in South America with a strong cult following in North America. Now that the band has broken up in early 2013, more and more people are discovering their music. Most videos of their performances have comments by people who claimed they discovered them, right at the time they broke up. |
| 152 | * The Japanese reggae-turned-dream-pop band Fishmans remained relatively obscure in their home country until they were discovered on Website/FourChan and Rateyourmusic, with word of mouth leading to their albums, especially 1996's ''Long Season'', as being some of the best of Japanese rock and even of all time. |
| 153 | * Music/BeachHouse's third album, ''Teen Dream'', was praised by some critics, but was called boring and meandering by many more others. The album also suffered mediocre sales (though it's the only charting release the duo had up to that point) and by the end of the year most Indie fans were decrying it as overrated. As 2010 came to a close, the album barely scraped "Best of the Year" charts and was labelled as being part of a "passing fad". One year later, people who were just discovering it started praising it and the album hit a second wave of acclaim and love. It doesn't look like it's about to fade back any-time soon. Part of the reason for its failure to scrape the charts was because of it being {{overshadowed by|Awesome}} Music/KanyeWest's ''Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy'' and most notably, Music/ArcadeFire's ''Music/TheSuburbs''. ''Teen Dream'''s subtlety got it labelled as "boring" in the wake of the other two albums' bold, loud sounds. |
| 154 | * Music/{{Kiss}} had a few cases. |
| 155 | ** ''Destroyer'' took an experimental route and had mixed reviews, sales that fell off after a strong start, and the only track off it to chart was a BlackSheepHit, the PowerBallad "Beth". With time, helped by "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud" being concert mainstays, it ended up being considered the band's best album. |
| 156 | ** 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 - The50s-inspired tune "Christine Sixteen" - has fallen into obscurity and is remembered only by die-hard Kiss fans. |
| 157 | ** Vinnie Vincent was the divisive replacement of Ace Frehley. The release of demos on the internet and live recordings vindicate him as a fairly talented guitar player and songwriter with a smooth singing voice and knack for melodic ballads, but hard for KISS to work with because of his showy style, and a NiceGuy in real life who suffered from financial circumstances, a miserable lonely marriage and a belief nobody cared about him that led to a deep depression and avoiding the public until he was back on the streets in 2018. |
| 158 | * Music/SimpleMinds' early albums did not sell massively well in their prime, but are now viewed as seminal influences on electronic music and post-punk. For many years the public thought of them as U2 copyists, known for their mid-to-late '80s work, i.e. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and "Alive & Kicking". In particular, bands like Music/ManicStreetPreachers and Music/TheKillers have mentioned them as influences and the instrumental track "Theme for Great Cities"" became a dance hit when remixed as "The Real Life" - it was already played in Ibiza for years despite not being a single. Jim Kerr had spoken to Italian dance producers who were big fans of the band's early work which encouraged him to return to their early influences for ''Black and White 050505''. They also released a box set of the first five albums called ''X5'', which got rave reviews and sold out very quickly. |
| 159 | * The Gibson Les Paul line of electric guitars, particularly the 1958–60 "bursts". Considered heavy and overpriced for their day, they were replaced in 1961 with the simpler, lighter, cheaper Gibson SG line. In the mid-'60s, British blues musicians such as Music/EricClapton, Jimmy Page, and Peter Green rediscovered the guitar's sound through newer, more powerful high-gain amplifiers, causing Gibson to reactivate the line before the end of the decade. |
| 160 | * Music/{{Radiohead}}: |
| 161 | ** The album ''Music/KidA'' was at first polarising to listeners due to introducing [[NewSoundAlbum a new experimental sound that diverged from its former rock/electronic taste]]. It was already picking up praise by the end of the year, and in a few years people began deeming it one of the greatest albums of all time. |
| 162 | ** ''Music/InRainbows'', at first, turned off listeners due to a more mainstream sound, but quickly regained acclaim. |
| 163 | ** Their debut album ''Pablo Honey'' got the short end of the stick from ''everyone'' ([[OldShame including Radiohead themselves]]), with many believing that the album's only worth was "Creep", the band's first hit. However, other tracks started getting noticed, and the album is now considered to be one of the greatest debut albums of recent times, although most of the Radiohead fanbase wish to believe that the album [[FanonDiscontinuity never happened]]. |
| 164 | * Music/{{Jewel}}'s debut album ''Pieces of You'', upon release, garnered mostly SoOkayItsAverage reviews from critics and was largely ignored by the public. A whole two years later, the album unexpectedly shot up to the top of the charts after "Who Will Save Your Soul?" became a radio staple. The album continued to sell like hotcakes, eventually reaching ''Diamond'' certification in the United States (a rare feat for any album, let alone a debut). Critics have also retrospectively looked at the album more favorably, with [=SputnikMusic=] giving it a 5 Star "Classic" rating in a 2011 review and [=AllMusic=] Guide also retrospectively reviewing the album positively. |
| 165 | * At one point, Music/HilaryDuff was one of the most hated Disney artists in existence, and after the release of a "best-of" compilation in 2008, vanished from the public radar. While it's probably just the NostalgiaFilter speaking, she is much more well-liked by the public than she was before, and is often praised for not only for her catchy music and personality, but also in that she chose not to take a HotterAndSexier direction when she ended her relationship with [[Creator/{{Disney}} the Mouse House]], as "Reach Out" bombed almost completely. |
| 166 | * Music/{{Tool}}'s ''Lateralus'' was seen by both fans and critics at the time of release as a weaker album compared to ''Music/{{Aenima}}'' which put the group on the map, commercially. The music was noticeably further on the "progressive" side of ProgressiveMetal, and where ''Aenima'' had [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds a song talking about Los Angeles getting drowned by a flood]], ''Lateralus'' had songs talking about [[LighterAndSofter forgiveness, working together, and understanding]]. Years later, the album grew in popularity, and is now seen by many fans as the group's best. |
| 167 | * The DoomMetal band Music/{{Pentagram}} was ignored for most of its existence except by die-hard doom fans; a fact not helped by frontman [[IAmTheBand Bobby Liebling]]'s rather severe drug addictions and [[SmallNameBigEgo difficult personality]]. Come [[TheOughties 2001]], with the release of the demo compilation ''First Daze Here'' and the proliferation of the Internet, the band is now regarded as the {{Trope Maker|s}} for DoomMetal as well as one of the most underrated bands of all-time. |
| 168 | * 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. |
| 169 | * 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''. |
| 170 | * Music/{{Pantera}}'s [[CanonDiscontinuity "missing" discography]] became reevaluated later on, as today's audiences have no reservations about acknowledging their existence and even listen to them along with the band's "normal" output. |
| 171 | * Music/TheSmashingPumpkins' fourth album, ''Music/{{Adore}}'', has undergone reevaluation, just as bandleader Billy Corgan predicted it would. At the time of its release it barely sold a million copies, making it a relative commercial disappointment, but over time its stature improved to the point where many fans came to regard it alongside ''Music/SiameseDream'' and ''Music/MellonCollieAndTheInfiniteSadness'' as one of the band's classics. Review site Pitchfork commented on the occasion of the album's reissue (in a review that gave it 8.5 and Best New Reissue) that it's called "underrated" so often that it can no longer be true. |
| 172 | * Music/{{Pavement}}'s ''Wowee Zowee'' was dismissed by critics at the time of its release, but its more experimental nature has since been embraced to the point where it's now generally considered nearly as good as the band's first two albums. |
| 173 | * 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. |
| 174 | * While a commercial success, Music/{{Santana}}'s 2002 album ''Music/{{Shaman}}'' received lukewarm reception from critics when it was first released, largely because of the large abundance of guest artists that didn't make it feel like a Santana record. Quite a few reviews put it like this: "''Supernatural'' felt like the other artists had a jam session with Carlos, while ''Shaman'' felt like Carlos had a jam session with the other artists." Nowadays, the album is seen in a much more positive light and is seen as a diverse, well-made record on its own merits. |
| 175 | * Music/IronMaiden: |
| 176 | ** Fans were initially displeased when Paul Di'Anno was fired from the band and replaced by a singer who'd only been in a few small projects. The backlash was partly because Di'Anno was then viewed as one of the aspects that shaped the feel of the first two albums, and having some nobody sing his material while on tour didn't help. Nowadays, Music/BruceDickinson is considered by the overwhelming majority of Maiden fans to be the best vocalist the band has ever had, with ''Music/TheNumberOfTheBeast'' (the first album he sang on) cited by many fans as the band GrowingTheBeard. By contrast, Paul Di'Anno has not been doing quite so well. |
| 177 | ** The two albums that Maiden put out during Bruce's absence from the band were originally almost universally panned, owing largely to the very different vocal style their then-singer employed.[[note]] For the sake of clarity: Bruce is a tenor, Blaze is a baritone[[/note]] Later on, however, these albums (and Music/BlazeBayley as an artist all around) gained newfound appreciation, with retrospective reviews praising the darker tone and Bayley's heavy, emotive delivery on ''The X Factor'' in particular. |
| 178 | * In 1998, Music/NeutralMilkHotel released their follow-up to ''On Avery Island'' to somewhat decent reviews. ''Music/InTheAeroplaneOverTheSea'' is now considered the greatest indie record ''ever''. |
| 179 | * 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 TheNew10s, and was reissued in 2015 to even further acclaim. It's now hailed by many as an underrated classic. |
| 180 | * Music/{{Metallica}}: |
| 181 | ** The ''[[Music/MetallicaAlbum Black Album]]'' was hated by a lot of fans who claimed they "sold out" by abandoning their ThrashMetal roots by changing to a traditional metal sound, but over 20 years later, many metal fans regard it as one of their best albums, especially when compared to ''Load'', ''Reload'', ''St. Anger'' and ''Lulu''. |
| 182 | ** ''Load'', when it first released in 1996, dealt with a lot was hanging on Metallica's shoulders: it had been five years since the release of Black, which had itself alienated a number of fans but made them into mainstream superstars. During that waiting period, metal had (with a couple [[Music/{{Pantera}} notable]] [[Music/{{Sepultura}} exceptions]]) taken a massive nosedive in mainstream relevance, thanks the rise of genres like grunge and hip hop. Many hoped that Load would herald the return of metal into the mainstream spotlight... only for the band to [[ImportantHaircut cut their hair]] and play a style of music that was much more akin to bluesy hard rock than heavy metal. Fans were furious! Many accused Metallica of simply following what was trendy at the time, and the term SellOut became almost synonymous with them. For a while, Load was one of the most hated albums in all of metal. However, the mess that was St. Anger and even the decided fan pandering of Death Magnetic led many to go back to Load with an open mind... only to discover that, despite its near complete abandonment of the classic Metallica sound, it was actually a pretty solid hard rock album with several songs that translated quite well into a live setting (such as "Bleeding Me" and "Ain't My Bitch"). Not to mention that a number of younger fans got on board with Metallica through the album, and thus, have a sense of nostalgic fondness for it. Today, while still having its share of detractors, Load is looked at a lot more favorably than before and (along with its twin [=ReLoad=]) is seen as the last time Metallica really made something unique and experimental. |
| 183 | ** Originally THE ReplacementScrappy in a musical context, the reputation of Music/JasonNewsted has grown dramatically more positive as years go by, with fans fondly remembering his extremely active stage presence and regarding him as the best of the band's backing vocalists. Once hated for the mere crime of not being Cliff Burton, Newsted is now regarded as a worthy successor and hate for him is now rare to come by. |
| 184 | * Music/FallOutBoy's 2008 album, ''Folie à Deux'', while being appreciated by critics, had a very divisive reaction from their fanbase that started after their 2007 album, ''Infinity on High'' was released. It's even, apparently, received something close to OldShame status on the part of Patrick Stump, as the initial fan reaction towards the album's songs left a negative impact on him. While you'll still find fans that only like their first two albums, and nothing else, or those who don't care for it, more people have grown an appreciation for it in the years since, especially since it's more consistent with their previous works than their later releases since 2013. Their later albums have had ''very'' divisive reactions by their fans, fracturing their fanbase even more than their post-''From Under the Cork Tree'' albums have for unabashedly going more Pop than they probably should. Thus, ''Folie'' stands out more for actually being ''Rock'' music. |
| 185 | * Music/AllTimeLow's ''Dirty Work'' was seen by most fans and critics upon its release in 2011 as their weakest album, due to a lot of ExecutiveMeddling at the hands of the people of Interscope and poor experimentation into a more Pop sound on the part of the band, due to using too many co-writers and producers, resulting in an overall weaker album than what came before. Even the band had some CreatorBacklash towards the album, since it didn't come out as they wanted. 6 years later, ''Last Young Renegade'' came out to an even ''more'' divisive reaction from their fanbase, with only the fangirls really defending it, as it's been seen by most as just a collection of terribly-done Pop songs that aren't really of their usual quality. This has prompted some fans to re-evaluate ''Dirty Work'', as, while it's not perfect, it was still be consistent with their earlier works and has some truly inspired moments in the songwriting and musicality sprinkled throughout. The fact that they signed to Fueled by Ramen to release the album rather than stay at Hopeless doesn't help, as they [[HistoryRepeats repeated pretty much every mistake from]] ''Dirty Work'', only without much material that's consistent with their prior albums, didn't help either, as the label has developed a growing reputation to overexpose some artists, while not giving others on the label proper exposure, and is seen as why many bands that now sign to them have watered down their sounds into some kind of weird Pop/light-Alternative sound that's not that distinct from other Pop acts. |
| 186 | %%** Their 2015 album ''Future Hearts'' when compared to ''Last Young Renegade'' for some, though that album was definitely a better attempt at going more Pop than the last time, only having a few songs that weren't really that good. |
| 187 | * Steve Tucker's run as Music/MorbidAngel's lead singer was seen as lukewarm at best by fans, and by the time they started warming up to him, he left the band, and at the time, it seemed like the band's future was looking up, since David Vincent (no, not [[Creator/DavidVincent the voice actor]]), the lead singer on the band's first 4 albums, was his replacement. Then in 2011, the band released ''Illud Divinium Insanus'', their first album with David Vincent since ''Domination'', which on top of suffering from massive HypeBacklash[[note]]probably not helped by the fact that on top of being the first [=MA=] album with David Vincent singing since 1995's ''Domination'', it was also the first [=MA=] album in over 8 years[[/note]], it was also widely derided as the band's worst work to date, due to having a sound more akin to what one would expect from a Music/RobZombie or Music/MarilynManson album[[note]]in fact, were it not for Music/LouReed and Metallica releasing their much-reviled ''Lulu'' in the same year, odds are the album would've been the worst album of the year for many metal fans[[/note]]. This lead to the general opinion of David Vincent going south, and as a result, many fans developed a newfound appreciation for Steve Tucker, to the point that when he replaced David Vincent after the latter left a second time in 2015, the majority of the fandom was more than happy to welcome him back. |
| 188 | * 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 [[CondemnedByHistory/{{Music}} the opposite problem]] in the UK.\ |
| 189 | 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 TheNew10s. 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.\ |
| 190 | In the UK, on the other hand, the scene enjoyed immediate critical and commercial success coming in the wake of the collapse of {{Britpop}}. HypeBacklash soon set in, however, as a growing subset of critics and listeners found the British scene that emerged in the wake of the post-punk revival's initial success to be [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks overly derivative and backward-looking]] and more focused on a {{retraux}} "classic rock" image than anything -- ironically, much the same reputation that post-grunge had in North America. Such criticisms were not unheard of in the US, either, but in the UK they fundamentally shaped mainstream perception of the genre in a way they never did back across the pond. It didn't help that the association of the genre with bands from [[OopNorth northern England]] caused [[BritainIsOnlyLondon regional]] and [[SlobsVersusSnobs class]] divides to [[http://www.clashmusic.com/features/no-the-north-doesnt-just-listen-to-landfill-indie bleed over]]. The derisive term [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/jan/04/clearing-up-indie-landfill "landfill indie"]] was soon used by music journalists to describe guitar-driven indie rock bands in the post-punk mold. |
| 191 | * Music/TheKillers' album ''Sam's Town'' was panned by critics at the time of its release in 2006, though it still sold 1.3 million copies by 2008. It has since gone on to receive much better reviews in hindsight from music critics and become a CultClassic. |
| 192 | * For years, the 1968 novelty song "[=MacArthur=] Park", written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by Creator/RichardHarris, was considered one of the worst songs of all time. Even as late as 1992, a poll by Creator/DaveBarry selected it as such. Its nonsensical lyrics have been made fun of countless times before, but nowadays the song is more regarded in a SoBadItsGood light. While you'd still be hard-pressed to find those who think the song is legitimately good, the general consensus is that the song isn't that terrible and that Harris managed to circumvent the silly lyrics with such a passionate performance as to still have an emotional impact, even if his singing voice isn't technically great. |
| 193 | * Music/{{Madonna}}'s 1992 album ''Music/{{Erotica}}'' was seen as a CreatorKiller at the time, her HotterAndSexier image (especially with her related project, the coffee table book ''Sex'') being just too much for audiences in the early '90s to take. A string of [[OvershadowedByControversy public controversies]] in the ensuing years only battered her image further, such that she had to go LighterAndSofter on her follow-up, 1994's ''Music/BedtimeStories'', in order to [[CareerResurrection save her career]]. Nowadays, however, the very things that sank ''Erotica'' in the '90s have come to be seen as its best qualities, with many critics now hailing it as, if not her best album, then certainly her most influential in how it broke down taboos around female sexuality, influencing a generation of female pop musicians in the '90s and '00s. |
| 194 | * The classic 1964 song "The Sound of Silence" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel was originally recorded in an acoustic-only version for their first album ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'', which was a commercial failure, selling only about 3,000 copies and leading to the duo temporarily disbanding. By 1965, the song had begun to attract some radio airplay, and the song's producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed it with electric instruments and drums for a single release. In this form, the song became a huge hit and is now recognised as one of Simon & Garfunkel's greatest and {{Signature Song}}s. |
| 195 | * Indie rock band Duster quietly released a couple of albums around the turn of the millennium which were either overlooked completely or shrugged off by critics. Within the next several years, their music found new appreciation through online communities and indie musicians, enough for them to reform and release a third album in 2019. Prominent indie artists of the 2010s such as (Sandy) Alex G and Snail Mail have cited them as an influence. |
| 196 | * Upon its release in 1966, the song "River Deep -- Mountain High" by Ike and Music/TinaTurner flopped, peaking at number 88 in the US Billboard Hot 100 (though the release did chart well in Europe). This proved to be a significant disappointment for producer Music/PhilSpector and was the major catalyst for his subsequent two-year retirement from the music industry. It is now universally considered to be Spector's finest work. ''Magazine/RollingStone'' and ''Magazine/NewMusicExpress'' respectively ranked it number 33 and 37 on their Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time lists, and the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. |
| 197 | * "Yakety Sax" was first recorded by Boots Randolph (then calling himself Randy Randolph) in 1958 as a single, but didn't generate much interest until Randolph re-recorded it for his 1963 album ''Boots Randolph's Yakety Sax!'' where it became a hit. Since then, it eventually became and remains one of the most recognisable SketchComedy tunes, in particular for its usage in ''Series/TheBennyHillShow''. |
| 198 | * In 1989, Tanita Tikaram's single "Twist In My Sobriety" was generally seen as a disappointing follow-up to her debut hit "Good Tradition" and failed to achieve anything close to the success of its predecessor. In the years since, it has grown in stature to the point where it has come to equal and probably overtake "Good Tradition" as her SignatureSong. |
| 199 | * Music/{{Carpenters}} were dismissed as MOR schmaltz during their commercial heights in the 1970s. At the time of Karen Carpenter's death in 1983, they still weren't considered hip or worthy of critical respect. Since then, the band's music has been reappraised, with Music/SonicYouth paying tribute to them on "Tunic (Song for Karen) and a tribute album, ''If I Were a Carpenter'', in the 1990s. Karen has been acclaimed as one of the finest pop vocalists of all time. |
| 200 | * 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. |
| 201 | * Music/PCMusic began in TheNew10s 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. |
| 202 | * For years, "We Built This City" by Music/{{Starship}} topped many "worst songs of all time" lists. Criticisms were that despite its attempt at a rebellious, anti-corporate message, [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan the song sounded as generically radio-friendly as they came,]] and despite claiming to be "rock and roll", [[NoTrueScotsman not a single non-synthesized instrument was used]]. With the benefit of the passing of time, the song has received a much warmer reception as a cheesy guilty pleasure, and the realization that when it came to '80s schmaltz, it was ''far'' from being the worst offender. The official Website/YouTube upload has over 115 million views with mostly positive feedback, with the general tenor of the comments being "what was supposed to be so horrible about this song again?" |
| 203 | * Music/LadyGaga's 2013 album ''Artpop'' was released to generally lukewarm reception, seen as overbearingly weird and running into 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. |
| 204 | * While the Music/StoneTemplePilots were hugely popular in the '90s, they had a hard time being taken seriously, with many critics considering them "[[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks grunge imitators]]", to the point that, in January 1994, ''Magazine/RollingStone'' readers declared them the "Best New Band" while the magazine's critics declared them the "''Worst'' New Band". As time went on, their albums began to be seen as beloved classics and are cited as influences by many newer bands, with Scott Weiland's tragic 2015 death leading to positive re-evaluations of his life and career. |
| 205 | * 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, [[MediaNotes/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. |
| 206 | * The NewRomantic movement in music. While the bands and artists of the genre -- especially Music/CultureClub, Music/SpandauBallet and Music/DuranDuran -- were hugely popular, many derided the artists for their flamboyant stylings, stereotyping them as "ugly pop stars" taking away the spotlight from PunkRock and PostPunk bands -- to the point that Culture Club frontman Boy George in particular was being subject to DudeLooksLikeALady jokes for many years. As time went on, albums and songs from bands in the genre began to be re-appraised, and the movement's bands and their music are now viewed much more positively, with them being cited as influences by several artists. The movement's re-evaluation even led to Boy George placing #46 on Creator/TheBBC's ''100 Greatest Britons'' list. |
| 207 | * Music/BruceSpringsteen: |
| 208 | ** His debut album ''Music/GreetingsFromAsburyParkNJ'', while not panned, was often seen as aping Music/BobDylan too much, while ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'' was seen as similarly imitating Music/VanMorrison. While they received some acclaim, they also received cynicism from music critics and radio DJ's. Over time, these two albums have become more praised for their musical creativity and looseness before his big breakthrough in ''Music/BornToRun''. |
| 209 | ** ''Nebraska'', while critically respected, generally fell under the radar as it was sandwiched between two hit albums (''Music/{{The River|1980}}'' and ''Music/BornInTheUSA''). Over time, it's been recognized as one of Springsteen's greatest and most influential albums, especially for punk musicians and those interested in the darker side of his work. |
| 210 | ** 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. |
| 211 | * The TeenPop craze of the late '90s and early '00s, fueled by artists like Music/BritneySpears, Music/ChristinaAguilera, the Music/BackstreetBoys, and Music/{{NSYNC}}, had a ''very'' vocal [[invoked]] {{Hatedom}} composed chiefly of fans of hardcore rock and hip-hop, based on views that [[RockIsAuthenticPopIsShallow pop music is soulless and artificial]]. Over time, however, more people have not only recognized those artists for their talent, but have also concluded that the backlash against them was fueled by the GirlShowGhetto, a belief that virtually any media marketed chiefly to teenage girls was trashy, inferior, and didn't deserve to rule the charts. It didn't help that many of the arguments against the teen pop stars of the time were tinged with homophobia against the PrettyBoy singers of the {{boy band}}s, and SlutShaming against the [[MsFanservice sexy, scantily-clad]] [[TeenIdol female pop princesses]]. Once casual homophobia and misogyny became less socially acceptable, views towards those artists softened, and teen pop stars who came after them haven't been judged quite so harshly. |
| 212 | * 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/Shrek1'' 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. |
| 213 | ** 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. |
| 214 | * 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. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:EDM]] |
| 218 | * When it first began, the whole genre had a hard time being taken seriously, with artists like Music/JeanMichelJarre being considered "not-music" by many and receiving negative reviews upon debut. Of course, his albums in the 70s and 80s are now beloved classics and are cited as influences by many artists. |
| 219 | * When songs from Music/{{Avicii}}, a popular EDM artist in Europe, came to North America, almost all his songs bombed the charts, with two exceptions: "Levels" and "Wake Me Up". When "Wake Me Up" became a top 40 hit, Americans started praising him as a popular dance influence, subverting [[AmericansHateTingle their poor initial reception of him]]. By the time he died by suicide in 2018, he was widely regarded as one of the most influental EDM artists ever. |
| 220 | * Music/DaftPunk: |
| 221 | ** Their second album ''Music/{{Discovery|DaftPunkAlbum}}'' garnered mixed reviews upon release, with the general consensus being that it was a solid album but not quite as good as ''Music/{{Homework}}''. Over time, however, the album became a fan favorite and critical consensus improved significantly[[note]]it probably helped that Music/KanyeWest liberally sampled it on his acclaimed 2007 album ''Graduation''[[/note]]. When it was released, Pitchfork Media's review of ''Music/{{Discovery|DaftPunkAlbum}}'' called it "grotesque but relatively harmless" and had a dismal 6.4 score; On their "Top 100 Albums of 2000-04" list it was ranked #12; On their "Top 200 Albums of the 2000s", it was promoted to '''#3'''. More particularly, the first two paragraphs of the album review viciously mocked "One More Time"; nine years later this song ended up at #5 on their "top 500 songs of the 2000s" list. |
| 222 | ** ''Human After All'' had a lukewarm reception, but the phenomenal ''Alive 2007'' tour has convinced the world that the songs of that album sound much better live. |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B]] |
| 226 | * Music/{{Aaliyah}} was a popular artist in her heyday, but there was a growing HypeBacklash that felt she owed more to her beauty and overproduction - thanks to Timbaland. Years later after her death, the enduring success of her music shows that the hype around her talent was entirely justified. She's now remembered as a great artist who died way too young. |
| 227 | * Music/SchoollyD: Mostly dismissed as nothing more but a vulgar musician, his albums ''Music/SchoollyDAlbum'' (1985) and ''Music/SaturdayNightTheAlbum'' (1986) have later been vindicated as historically important for essentially pioneering GangstaRap. Even Music/{{Eminem}} and The Music/BeastieBoys have sampled him. |
| 228 | ** Similar criticism was initially leveled at Music/TooShort, who also went on to be a major influence in the sub-genre. |
| 229 | * While Music/TupacShakur was a popular rap artist among fans of the genre, he was mostly criticized and ripped apart in the public media. He was seen as too radical and a troublemaker for his strong views against racism and police brutality, which he talked about in some of his most memorable songs. His run-ins with law furthered convinced people of this image. After his murder, a flood of low-to-high budget documentaries came out, showing how Tupac was really a bright, deep-thinker, and poet. Today, he's considered one of the most influential artists in music, and music fans of other genres see him as an icon. |
| 230 | * Music/{{Nas}}' sophomore album ''It Was Written'' was dismissed by critics as not being ''Illmatic Part II''. It has since grown in status over the years. To put it more succinctly: ''Illmatic'' is for fans, ''It Was Written'' is for other rappers -- the AP Style guide of rap, if you will. |
| 231 | * This sometimes happens to artists[=/=]groups who were "controversial" at the height of their fame. Music/{{Eminem}} references this in his song "Sing for the Moment": |
| 232 | --> '''Eminem''': "And maybe they'll admit it when we're gone. Just let our spirits live on through our lyrics that you hear in our songs and we can...('''Steven Tyler''':) Sing with me, sing for the year..." |
| 233 | * Music/{{Eminem}}: |
| 234 | ** While it was mocked for its heavy inspiration from Music/{{Nas}}' style and its sales were non-existent, people who listen to ''Infinite'' nowadays find it... really not that bad at all. While Marshall himself still views it as a OldShame, he did celebrate the album's 20th anniversary by releasing a remixed version of the title track. |
| 235 | ** While controversial, there is a growing movement of appreciation for 2004's ''Encore''. It met mixed reviews for its AlbumFiller issues, in particular a run of six [[GrossoutShow puerile comedy songs]] surrounded by [[MoodWhiplash dark love songs, earnest antibeef tracks, child abuse anecdotes and political polemic]]. Eminem also simplified his lyricism, freestyling most of the tracks in the aim of [[RevisitingTheRoots recapturing the spontaneity of his early work]]. However, ''Encore'' has undergone ValuesResonance - its shock comedy is based on ToiletHumour and satire of [[HorribleHollywood entertainment industry sexual abuse]], which is obnoxious [[KinderAndCleaner without targeting gay people and women]] like on earlier albums, and the serious songs showcase a [[RealMenWearPink non-toxically masculine]] and [[PoliticalRap politically conscious]] Marshall more in line with modern sensibilities than the [[TheGadfly slur-spewing brat]] of ''The Marshall Mathers LP''. Retrospectively, Eminem's admission in 2010 that ''Encore'' had been made [[CreatorBreakdown in the grip of an Ambien addiction]] recontextualised it as a LightmareFuel [[AddictionSong addiction album]], letting TrueArtIsAngsty kick in and highlighting [[ConceptAlbum the album's coherent suicide theming]]. Eminem's 2010s turn towards [[TechnicianVersusPerformer extreme, crafted technical flows]] also makes ''Encore'''s spontaneity and sense of play more striking in comparison.\ |
| 236 | \ |
| 237 | In 2010, Spin.com described the album as "a stunning portrait of a meltdown - especially at some of its dumbest moments. Eminem hopscotches between different accents and personas, repeating, interrupting, and contradicting himself... a virtuoso exploration of identity slippage". Billboard rated it his [[https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8071037/eminem-albums-ranked/ third best album]], putting it (as well as rap-geek-favourite ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'') above the generally canonised top-3 entry ''The Eminem Show''. XXL put ''Encore'' as his [[https://www.xxlmag.com/eminem-albums-ranked/ 7th best]] (above the initially-respected ''Recovery'') noting that it's aged well, and pointing out "Yellow Brick Road", "Mockingbird" and "Like Toy Soldiers" as standouts. ''Complex'' put ''Encore'' as his [[https://www.complex.com/music/eminem-best-albums/encore fifth best solo studio album]] (eighth including a compilation, a bootleg and an indie release) and praised its TrollingCreator attitude, describing it as "schizophrenic awesomeness" and "the most 'Marshall' music ever". Another ''Encore'' fan is Music/DannyBrown, who told ''Complex'' it was his favourite Eminem album, remarking on its over-the-top aesthetic and uncomfortable dark humour and saying he learned a lot about rapping from it, particularly the song "Rain Man", which he considered a masterpiece. And in 2022, [=TikTok=] users discovering the album made both "Mockingbird" and "Big Weenie" into charting hits. Eminem himself wrote about all this in "Careful What You Wish For": |
| 238 | --->Every CD, critics gave it a three, then three\ |
| 239 | years later they go back and re-rate it.\ |
| 240 | Then called ''The Slim Shady LP'' the greatest,\ |
| 241 | the ''Marshall Mathers'' was a classic,\ |
| 242 | ''The Eminem Show'' was fantastic,\ |
| 243 | but ''Encore'' just didn't have the caliber to match it.\ |
| 244 | I guess enough time just ain't passed yet\ |
| 245 | A couple more years, that shit'll be ''Illmatic'' |
| 246 | ** 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 name-dropping, 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 desensitizing]] 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.\ |
| 247 | \ |
| 248 | Its present fans appreciate its creative anti-commercial {{Horrorcore}} approach (while still having enjoyable GlamRap and OdeToIntoxication cuts), the depth of the MedicalHorror SlasherMovie [[ConceptAlbum concept]], and the eccentric Music/DrDre beats (most of which were ''[[DevelopmentHell Detox]]'' rejects) which have aged better than the production on ''Recovery'' and ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2''. Rap geeks also consider Eminem's beat-riding on ''Relapse'' a technical high point for him, as he used the weird beats as fuel for ConstrainedWriting, which helps some fans appreciate his [[AccentDepundent inventive use of accents to force impossible rhymes]]. As of 2020, Eminem softened his opinion towards the album, returning to his ''Relapse'' rap style and persona in some later songs like "Framed" (and its video), "Discombobulated", and "Is This Love '09". ''Complex'' called ''Relapse: Refill'' Em's [[https://www.complex.com/music/eminem-best-albums/relapse 6th best solo studio album]], praising how the accent and character work expresses anxiety and [[LossOfIdentity dissociation]], and concluded that even when Eminem doesn't know who he is, there's nobody else quite like him. |
| 249 | * During its release, Music/ThePharcyde's ''Labcabincalifornia'' was a critical and commercial failure, with the group getting much blame for creating a [[NewSoundAlbum completely different release]] compared to their previous album. Since then, it has developed quite a cult following, both for being one of the most creative and soulful Hip Hop albums of the mid-90s (when the genre was dominated primarily by various GangstaRap artists), and for a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co3qMdkucM0 landmark music video]] for "Drop", which is often included in various lists of the best music videos of all time. |
| 250 | * ''Music/PaulsBoutique'' received solid reviews upon release, but was a commercial flop and was originally hated by Music/BeastieBoys fans [[NewSoundAlbum for sounding nothing like]] ''Music/LicensedToIll''. However, it eventually came to be hailed as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all-time. |
| 251 | * During their initial period of activity (1989–95), Pete Rock & CL Smooth released one [=EP=], ''[[PunBasedTitle All Souled Out]]'', and two [=LPs=], ''Mecca and the Soul Brother'', and ''The Main Ingredient''. None of them went gold. Nowadays, they are considered one of the greatest hip-hop duos ever. Their SignatureSong, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" from ''Mecca and the Soul Brother'', is one of rap's most highly regarded. |
| 252 | * Music/DigablePlanets released the album ''Blowout Comb'' in 1994 to some critical acclaim but virtually no commercial success, likely due to the heavy political themes and lack of an obvious single to follow up the success of "Rebirth of Slick". It is now considered a Jazz Rap classic of the highest order. |
| 253 | * Music/KanyeWest: |
| 254 | ** ''[=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 TheNew10s. "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. |
| 255 | ** ''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 its 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. |
| 256 | ** ''Music/{{Yeezus}}'' is still a bit divisive, but it's much more fondly looked at than it used to be. |
| 257 | * 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 dance hall 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. |
| 258 | * For many people, Music/TPain was the face of the worst trends of mainstream music in the late 2000s with his liberal use of AutoTune, with Music/{{Usher}} infamously telling him he "fucked up music" and Music/JayZ directly insulting him in the track "DOA (Death of Auto-Tune)." In the 2020s, he's now treated universally fondly by people who grew up during his height of fame, and has seen positive reevaluation as well, especially in the wake of the backlash against TrapMusic and "mumble rap". Many factors helped with this, including showing a sense of humor by working with Music/TaylorSwift, Music/TheLonelyIsland, and WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory, [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct demonstrating that he has a genuinely great singing voice]] in live performances and on ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'', heavily influencing hip-hop, R&B and pop artists of the 2000s and 2010s, and generally being seen as a positive, friendly personality. |
| 259 | * Music/MariahCarey's 2001 album ''Glitter'' was the soundtrack to [[Film/{{Glitter}} the film of the same name]], which was roasted as one of the worst movies of the year. The movie itself hasn't been reevaluated except as a [[SoBadItsGood camp classic]], but the album is a different story, now seen as a hidden gem in Mariah's discography that was overshadowed by both the movie and her CreatorBreakdown during that time. A [=#JusticeForGlitter=] hashtag campaign in 2018 brought renewed attention to it, and Mariah herself has said that, while she was disappointed with the movie, she liked that fans had come to appreciate the soundtrack, saying the main reason she rarely performed songs from ''Glitter'' was because she thought no one liked them. |
| 260 | * J-Live is a rapper who released 2 albums that both flopped hard for opposite reasons, but are now seen as classics: |
| 261 | ** ''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 its 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 Music/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 its 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 its old-school leanings. Website Golden Age Hip Hop considers it one of the go-to albums for people trying to get into the genre. |
| 262 | ** ''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 Music/KanyeWest, the weird madman "mess with the listener's head" production that Music/{{MFDOOM}} 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. |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Experimental Music]] |
| 266 | * 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. 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. |
| 267 | * A frequent route for experimental musicians. Their music inspires ire and even violent rage in people at first before their innovations are acknowledged. |
| 268 | * 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. |
| 269 | * Music/{{Moondog}} was considered by most to be "just that guy in a Viking costume from New York". Nowadays, he's seen as an icon of outsider music, even getting a ShoutOut by Music/TheBeatles. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Eurovision Song Contest]] |
| 273 | * Italy's 1958 Series/EurovisionSongContest entry, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" ("Volare") by Domenico Modugno, is 'the most successful Eurovision song of all time', and so well-known that it's become a standard of Italian pop and 1950s pop, covered by far too many major artists to even list here ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volare_(song)#Recorded_cover_versions see The Other Wiki]]). It was the first non-Anglosphere song to top Billboard's Hot 100 and remains one of the most commonly played pieces of Italian music. It came third in the contest, well beaten by France's "Dors, Mon Amour", which, if it is remembered at all nowadays, is for beating "Volare". |
| 274 | * Verka Serduchka's "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" came second place in the 2007 Series/EurovisionSongContest; it has since gone on to be recognised as one of the greatest and most influential Eurovision entries ever, totally eclipsing the winner, Serbia's "Molitva" (a [[SoOkayItsAverage fine and solid power ballad]], if nowhere near as memorable as a song featuring a drag queen in tinfoil with a glittery star on her head yelling vaguely anti-Russia ForeignSoundingGibberish). It heavily featured in Ukraine's 2017 Eurovision semifinals, won her a cameo in ''Film/{{Spy}}'' and caused Verka to be nicknamed "Queen of Eurovision". |
| 275 | * Israel came second in 1983 with Ofra Haza's "Chai" - and in the 35 years that have followed, it has inspired several dances, and become a staple of Jewish weddings and other events. |
| 276 | * 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. |
| 277 | * Some Finnish people thought that having Music/{{Lordi}} as their country's entry in the 2006 Series/EurovisionSongContest would be a national embarrassment. They ended up winning, breaking the points record in the process. |
| 278 | * In 2013-14, when The Netherlands, who made the final for the first time in 9 years in the previous contest, sent out country act The Common Linnets (Ilse Delange and Waylon) for the 2014 iteration, and the pair released their gentle bluegrass song "The Calm After The Storm", some [[https://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/05/netherlands-jury-reviews-common-linnets/43619/ fansite reviewers]] were scathing towards it, comparing it to the silence after a nuclear holocaust, calling it a toilet break song, and labelling it sleep inducing, and the bookmakers expected it to return the Netherlands to their old fate of failing to qualify. However, after the song was performed on stage ahead of its display to nearly 200 million people, it got acclaim from the PeripheryDemographic, and rapidly became a critical favourite and genuine title contender, which went on to place 2nd out of the entire contest. 5 years later, the same fan site which gave it the negative reviews [[https://wiwibloggs.com/2019/08/29/wiwi-jury-of-the-10s-netherlands-the-common-linnets-calm-after-the-storm/240278/ re-reviewed it]], giving it praise reflecting that which it had elicited on stage in Copenhagen, and admitting they had previously got things wrong. |
| 279 | * Whilst reviews for it were quite positive, few saw Music/EleniFoureira 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. |
| 280 | * 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/DadiFreyr 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 |
| 281 | * 2022 was full of cases of this, both during, and after, the contest: |
| 282 | ** In Ukraine’s selection, as Russia was clearly intent on declaring war on them, the battle was between folk and rap hybrids Kalush Orchestra and Alina Pash. Kalush was the public’s favourite, but didn’t fare well with the jury and were overtaken. However, Alina was accused of forging documents relating to travel to Crimea, and, just the day before Russia invaded mainland Ukraine, Kalush had been elevated to entry. The own language and rallying cry natures of their own language song about motherhood “Stefania” meant that it was perfect for supporters of Ukrainian culture to rally behind. It gained a strong jury vote, which gave it the platform to win with its barnstorming televote result despite having not actually won the selection. |
| 283 | ** United Kingdom had not been in the top 10 since 2009, and only once since 2002, and didn’t even score with either the public or the jury in 2021, having sent largely male, middle-of-the-road tunes - with the British press often blaming national image problems they exacerbate - so people were hoping for something different in 2022. When it became clear that it would be the new song from a male singer-writer, Sam Ryder, that would be the entry, it was a divisive move, with people unsure if the entry was competitive, and scepticism from the cynical British press (with Evening Standard [[https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/eurovision-2022-entries-final-uk-rasmus-subwoolfer-sam-ryder-b990246.html?amp very critical]]), with talk show hosts criticising him for participating. But his excellent attitude, status as a major tiktok personality, and strong performance skills, meant that epic song Space Man, and its retro influences, was seen increasingly as a convincing contender, and it won the jury section and held up well in the televote to give the U.K. a return to its historic days as a serial runner up, the third biggest improvement within a single year in the contest’s history (only Belgium and Luxembourg earned stronger ones) and their most successful entry in charts since 1996 (as well as hosting rights as runners up to Ukraine) with acclaim and comparisons to Freddie Mercury and Sir Elton John and British faith in ESC restored. |
| 284 | ** Another out-of-form big 5 nation who were vindicated for a divisive choice in Torino 2022 were Spain, last in as much as the top 5 in 1995, and with their last 6 entries below 20th. They bought in a new selection called “Benidorm Fest”, but local viewers were disappointed when reggaeton and Rnb singer Chanel beat Galician-language electro folk act Tanxuguieras due to the jury despite getting less than 1/20th of their public tele vote and Tanxuguieras supporters claiming alleged cronyism in the jury vote. However, Chanel’s performance skills and sexual moves expressed in a strong and convincing manner, as well as the song’s beat, won her acclaim from the international fandom, and made her a key competitor, ending in 3rd place, and giving Spain unquestionably its best result since they were 1995 runners up. Her Galician opponents, meanwhile, saw France send an electronic act singing in a region-specific language place second-bottom. |
| 285 | ** When the Armenian act and song for Torino were internally selected, fans were disappointed that the country hadn’t automatically bought back popular 2020 entry Athena Manoukian, who had, like Chanel would in 2022, won a public selection due to the jury and her strong moves, memorable Rnb song, and impressive outfits, but who was never bought back to the next possible contest like many other 2020 entries were (though 2021’s top 2, Italy and France, did send different acts than they would have for 2020), and whose country abruptly withdrew from 2021, citing the social after effects of a conflict the prior autumn, before returning in 2022, with Armenia having bought back their would-have-been 2020 junior level entry and winning. Instead, the country went for a major change, with indie-folk/folk-pop singer Rosa Linn, whose gentle ballad Snap achieved little more than the minimum requirement in ESC itself, giving Armenia the return to the final but placing only 20th, and getting televotes from just 4 countries, but, after someone played it in sped up form on Tik Tok, it became a worldwide hit, being the first ever Armenian entry to chart in many major markets like U.K. and Italy, and ending up being the first ESC 2022 entry in the Billboard Hot 100. |
| 286 | [[/folder]] |
| 287 | |
| 288 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 289 | * The original recording of "Lili Marleen" in 1937 was a complete bomb. In 1941, during the German occupation of Yugoslavia, an animator of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Belgrade Radio Belgrade]] found a record inside a trash bin, liked the song, and broadcasted it; at this time, Radio Belgrade was massively listened to by German troops, and "Lili Marleen" became a huge hit, which eventually benefitted from daily broadcasts. Then, in North Africa, British troops overheard Germans regularly listening to the song from the other side of the frontline and loved it too. Authorized English translations were eventually made in 1944 because British and American troops were still singing it in German, which was frowned upon by the Allied authorities. |
| 290 | * Star of Indiana's 2nd-place farewell show in 1993 (using the music of Music/BelaBartok and Samuel Barber) was largely met by drum corps audiences with either confusion or indignation, due to the show's extensive use of body movement, choppy melodies, and harsh dissonances. Today, it's considered one of the most influential and memorable shows in drum corps history. |
| 291 | * In 1986, Greek songwriters Katerina and Amalia Giannikou published the vinyl "Milame gia ta Chromata" [[note]]English: Let's Talk About Colors[[/note]] under the LYRA label, to no success. However, after Modern Times' music subsidiary LEGEND Recordings was opened, the songs were reissued in CD and cassette form in 1998, to enough success for albums about numbers and shapes featuring Hector the Bear and Paris the Mouse (who [[BreakoutCharacter got a book series designed to]] [[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode teach children to overcome their fears]] the previous year) to be released. |
| 292 | * 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. |
| 293 | * The ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' voice bank Kaito was considered a commercial failure when he was first released in 2006. However, in the beginning of 2008 his sales rapidly increased out of nowhere, and before long Kaito became one of Crypton Future Media's top selling products, occasionally outselling the Kagamine duo. His Vocaloid3 update ended up being a success as soon as it was released. |
| 294 | * Music/TimMaia's ''Music/RacionalVols'' tanked upon release because it was a double album whose lyrics all revolved around praise to a cult, the Rational Culture, something neither radios or audiences were willing to listen to (apart from a lead single that didn't seem like an indoctrination). Once Maia himself got disillusioned with that church, he destroyed all unsold copies in his possession and outright tried to [[BuryYourArt bury that phase of his career]]. Over time, people started to ignore the lyrics and just acknowledge the impressive musicianship of a great band delivering soulful funk, and how thanks to this religious phase making him drop the drugs for a while, Maia's voice was cleaner than ever. Surviving [=LPs=] were highly sought before a re-release on CD nearly a decade after Maia's death, lists of best Brazilian albums tend to include the records, and even [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Flea]] [[https://www.redhotchilipeppers.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Flea_twitter_musica-brasil.png calls himself a fan]]. |
| 295 | * 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 its 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. |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
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