10 Underrated Songs By The Most Popular Bands & Artists – ryan

When we look at the music work of popular bands and solo artists, it becomes very easy to get caught up in what material lands the biggest successes. The songs that get the most advertising through radio airplay and streaming services, the albums that take home Grammy Award accolades, and even the gains that come from artists finding wins through successful tracks that sound nothing like their usual approach. However, there’s also plenty to be said for the dark horse side of the coin and the underappreciated creativity that slips through the cracks.

For instance, music history has given us forgotten bands of the ’90s who deserved more success, and the albums of their time that didn’t get the respect they deserved. To boil that underrated category down even further, though, there are also the songs of these popular bands and artists that haven’t received their fully just recognition since being released. The tracks that shine when given their chance to be in the spotlight, they’ve just never quite had the chance to be featured in the same way as their elevated brethren.

10

Bruce Springsteen, You’re Missing (The Rising, 2002)

The Piercing Ache Of Loss

New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen’s 2002 album The Rising was partially built on painfully prolific roots, as several songs from the LP were inspired by the New York City terror attacks of September 11th, 2001. “My City of Ruins” was written with Springsteen’s hometown of Asbury Park in mind, though it took on a new perspective when performed at a New York City telethon for the tragedy that occurred just days later.

The track that isn’t touched on as much on The Rising as “Ruins”, “Lonesome Day,” or the title track is “You’re Missing,” which is a hammer-blow to the heart of the emotions surrounding the populace after the events of 9/11. Not only does it relate to those trying to live on after the loss of loved ones through such trauma, but “You’re Missing” also feels like a general commentary on the sadness that comes with surviving the death of someone close to you. The ways that so much can be the same, but also changed with such forever permanence.

9

Prince, Electric Chair (Batman, 1989)

A Bassy, Funkadelic Jam

Prince was approached to be a part of director Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman after Burton had used Prince’s songs “1999” and “Baby, I’m A Star” as temporary fillers in the development of the movie, and wanted to contact the Purple One for permission to use them. Prince was so excited to be involved in the production that a few songs became an entire nine-song Batman soundtrack of new material, led by singles “Batdance” and “Partyman.”

One of the underrated stars of the show on the LP, though, is the track “Electric Chair,” which doesn’t have a strong thematic tie to Batman, as it was part of multiple songs created previously that were brought in for the project. Credited to the famous Batman villain, the Joker, “Electric Chair” is Prince in his bass-thumping, rock-grooving bad boy “steal your girl” persona, which still coincides well with the snarky way actor Jack Nicholson portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime. “Electric Chair” is a slice of seriously sensual A+ level Prince funk.

8

Stone Temple Pilots, Dancing Days (2019 Purple Deluxe Edition)

A Strong Sendup To Zeppelin

Stone Temple Pilots first released their cover of the rock group Led Zeppelin’s song “Dancing Days” on a 1995 tribute compilation to the Robert Plant-fronted band, later put out on STP’s deluxe reissue of their album Purple. While Stone Temple Pilots remain a hallmark of the ’90s and early 2000s rock period, they’re also known for what might have been had lead singer Scott Weiland not been plagued by issues with substance abuse getting in the way.

“Dancing Days” is a critically underrated example of STP flexing with fire on all creative cylinders. The instrumentation has a perfectly light, bluesy tilt with a trace of Middle Eastern backbeat, while Weiland has an ever-capable vocal growl narrating the scenery without overstepping. Stone Temple Pilots’ version of “Dancing Days” deserves a much longer look than it ever received, because while it might be a cover, it’s one that the group adapted well into their style.

A Dark Trilogy Finisher

“Footsteps” is part of a trilogy of songs lead singer Eddie Vedder wrote called Mamasan when he was first auditioning for Pearl Jam. The first two tracks of that trio (“Alive” and “Once”) would appear on the band’s groundbreaking debut album Ten, while the finale would ultimately emerge as a B-side to the Ten track “Jeremy” (and later on the compilation LP Lost Dogs). While more overlooked compared to the hard-rocking impact of “Alive” and “Once,” “Footsteps” is arguably the most chilling installment, concluding a trio that begins with the heaviness of incest and murder in its first two chapters.

Gone is the sudden trauma that made this narrator, and the extreme, immediate actions taken by this person’s insanity have faded. All that’s left by “Footsteps” is the jail cell, the ghosts of unforgivable actions, and the inevitable walk to the death penalty chamber, illustrated by a slow acoustic guitar and a harmonica resembling the jailhouse siren. All that’s left for this person is anger at the mother who sent them into madness due to that incest, and the resignation that they will soon be sent into an eternal void for their resulting crimes.

6

Queens Of The Stone Age, In The Fade (Rated R, 2000)

A Smooth Duo Rock Track

One of the best albums in the Queens of the Stone Age creative catalog, Rated R is likely most known for its drug-referencing song opener entitled “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” but the track that truly steals the show is the escalating, rock attack groove of “In the Fade.” With vocals led by the late, great Mark Lanegan (with lead man Josh Homme on harmonies), the duo proves once again, as they often did over the years, just what a great pair they were when singing together.

“In the Fade” is a charge of electricity between Lanegan and Homme’s voices, with the backing, grooving instrumentation of guitar, percussion, and throbbing-strong bassline, giving “In the Fade” an ice-cold-killing sense of rock and roll grit on Rated R. The way the track begins with an almost hazy slowness and builds up into a heavy thrash rocker feels like a journey being taken by a narrator who decides, no matter their circumstances, to live out life to the fullest out of the faded feeling.

5

Kendrick Lamar, FEEL (DAMN., 2017)

Surviving Through A Harsh World

It almost doesn’t seem possible that there could be any underrated or overlooked tracks on an album like DAMN. Arriving from the pen of noted Compton, California, rapper Kendrick Lamar in 2017, DAMN. was one of the year’s best-selling and highest-regarded LPs. However, when your record includes breakout singles like “Humble” as well as features from the band U2 and acclaimed R&B solo artist Rihanna, there is room for material to be missed.

Take the song “Feel,” for instance, which has Lamar in tip-top lyrical form spinning a narrative web of cynicism about the place he’s reached in the music industry, and the doubts he’s feeling not only within himself but with the rap community and the populace at large. It feels like Lamar is reacting to so many factors he’s facing and dealing with, not only around himself but from within, boiling over into frustration and the thought that nobody prays for him. “Feel” tingles with the eloquent touch of an intense writer well-versed in fleshing out the life he sees around.

4

88-Keys (featuring Mac Miller and Sia), That’s Life (2019 Single)

A Posthumous Confessional Standout

Put out as a single by the producer 88-Keys in 2019, “That’s Life” initially went unreleased as a collaboration between Keys and rapper Mac Miller that was recorded in 2015. At some point following Miller’s death from an accidental drug overdose in 2018, singer Sia was added to close out “That’s Life” before it was officially dropped in 2019.

Posthumous songs being released can often be a delicate subject (though Keys received permission from Miller’s estate to put out the song). While there is some debate over whether the final version of “That’s Life” with Sia or an earlier leaked version called “Benji The Dog” with only Miller is the superlative version, the officially released verses from Miller, regardless, are a heartaching, poignant look at how he was struggling in his life. “That’s Life” is sorely underrated, and a hard listen knowing what happened to the late, great Mac Miller.

3

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poet’s Department (The Tortured Poet’s Department, 2024)

Moving On And Moving Through Relationships

On an album as heavy with songs as The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift (much like Kendrick Lamar with DAMN.) also has tracks that never quite receive the attention they deserve. Take the title song, for instance, which embraces a light, soundtrack-style ’80s pop-rock shell of instrumentation, with lyrics that both memorialize and cleverly take “troll-ish” shots at Swift’s brief relationship with Matty Healy of the band the 1975.

Occasionally criticized for lines referencing musician Charlie Puth, tattooed golden retrievers, and seven chocolate bars, there’s more to be understood within this aspect of the song. These are meant to be the goofy parts of young love that Swift later sums up, saying Healy’s not famed poet Dylan Thomas, she’s not punk legend Patti Smith, this isn’t the Chelsea Hotel (where both icons once dwelled), and they’re just “idiots.” There are still serious moments of lyrical standout, but these segues have their purpose in “deconstructing” Healy’s role in Swift’s feelings at the time in a very underrated, misunderstood manner.

2

Tina Turner, Steel Claw (Private Dancer, 1984)

An Iron Hard Rock Song

Tina Turner’s multi-platinum breakthrough 1984 solo album Private Dancer was a critical and commercial success, not only showing that she could succeed from outside the shadow of her former ex-husband and musical partner, Ike Turner, but that she could do it in a variety of genres. While much of the talk surrounding the album revolves around the R&B and pop-centered nature of songs like the title track and “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” Turner’s underrated rocker side goes on full display with “Steel Claw.”

Led by Turner’s razor-wire voice and deft six-string work from legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, “Steel Claw” is a muscled, full-horsepower race through the psyche of a wild up-and-down life that barely feels like there’s any room to gasp for breath. This is part of Turner’s magic, though, because no matter the environment, she never once sounded sped up or out of her element. “Steel Claw” is just one underappreciated gem in a crown bedecked by jewels.

1

Amy Winehouse, Love Is A Losing Game (Acoustic, Back To Black, 2006)

An Ache To Heartbreak

The sadly all-too-short life and career of singer Amy Winehouse came to a close when she was only 27, after the release of her studio albums Frank and Back to Black. While many of her struggles were widely publicized and Winehouse came to be unfairly associated with the demons of addiction, her most golden moments came in the quiet margins away from the paparazzi and gossip columns, when it got to be only about Winehouse and the vocal talent that brought her to fame.

That’s why “Love Is a Losing Game,” drawn down to its most gentle, acoustic roots, is such an overlooked side of Winehouse that deserves more visits. It isn’t about glorifying the controversial or living on the edge, this is just the beautifully simplistic jazz of a person who never got the time they deserved to show off their golden voice. “Love Is a Losing Game” is a pen-pouring type of final vulnerability, and the sadness is so spiritually real and alive.