3 Underrated Albums of the 2010s That Deserve More Love

The 2010s gave birth to some great albums that don’t get enough hype, either in their prime time or today. Here is my love letter to three particular underrated albums from that era, from Gerard Way’s only solo album to the precursor to heavy metal Poppy.

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Run The Jewels 2 — Run The Jewels

I haven’t listened to Run The Jewels in 10 years, but including them here is a no-brainer. Run The Jewels 2 in particular was an awakening; my friends and I were in New Orleans in 2015 when the hip-hop duo came through Buku Fest, and we bought tickets on a whim.

Run The Jewels 2 had been out for a year, and Run The Jewels 3 was another year away, but Killer Mike and El-P performed standards from their first and second albums. This was my introduction to Run The Jewels; tracks like “Close Your Eyes (And Count To F–k)”, “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry”, and “Lie, Cheat, Steal” were the soundtrack to that Mardi Gras weekend.

As soon as we got back, I went out and bought both Run The Jewels albums on CD. Run The Jewels 2 features the entire masterpiece “Early” and killer lines like “My business card says you’re in luck / I do two things I rap and f–k.” Overall, the often underrated album Run The Jewels 2 doesn’t waste any space and is singularly sending me back down memory lane.

Hesitant Alien — Gerard Way

In 2014, My Chemical Romance was on hiatus, and frontman Gerard Way released his solo album Hesitant Alien. All things considered, there wasn’t much love for this album. However, from its discordant opening track “The Bureau” to the evocative “Brother” to the clairvoyant closing track “Maya The Psychic”, this album had a similar tone to MCR’s 2010 album Danger Days.

Still, there was a distinct Gerardness to it that set it apart from his main project. I would put Hesitant Alien on the level of Soul Punk, Patrick Stump’s 2011 solo endeavor during Fall Out Boy’s hiatus. This album, though, is a little heavier and messier, with more of a concept as well. Gerard Way followed Hesitant Alien with a string of singles like “Baby You’re A Haunted House”, which has a particular lightness that differentiates his solo work from My Chemical Romance.

Am I A Girl? — Poppy

Following her stint pretending to be an android on YouTube (I’m still kind of not convinced she’s a real person) and before she went heavy metal, Poppy released Am I A Girl? in 2018. This is often an underrated album in favor of I Disagree from 2020, but it’s still crucial listening.

Am I A Girl? still touched on Poppy’s old persona, but also took her to new realms of self-image. The title track paints a questioning picture of gender and identity, addressing complicated labels and assumptions. This album also finally brought Poppy and Grimes together for “Play Destroy”, which gave us a taste of heavy metal Poppy.

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