Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/6-albums-that-were-ripped-apart-by-critics-but-are-now-called-masterpieces/
Music history is full of strange reversals. An album gets released, critics sharpen their pens, and the record gets buried under a pile of dismissive reviews. Then, sometimes decades later, that same album resurfaces as a touchstone, studied by musicians and reissued with fanfare it never got the first time around.
What follows are six records that suffered exactly that fate. Each one was mauled, misunderstood, or simply shrugged off when it came out, only to be rediscovered and reclaimed as essential listening. The gap between first reaction and lasting reputation says as much about the limits of criticism as it does about the music itself.
The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground (1967)
When this record appeared in March 1967, it barely registered. The Velvet Underground & Nico sold poorly and was mostly ignored by contemporary critics, but later became regarded as one of the most influential albums in rock and pop music. The subject matter, drug use, sadomasochism, the seedier corners of city life, made the album a hard sell at a moment when psychedelic flower power dominated the airwaves.
Distribution problems and outright bans compounded the commercial silence. The album’s controversial content led to its almost instantaneous ban from various record stores, many radio stations refused to play it, and magazines refused to carry advertisements for it, and…
—-
Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-08-19 05:47:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
—-
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8