The charts don’t determine the worth of an album. While some of the best pieces of work in rock music have rightfully topped the charts through the years, far too many incredible records didn’t see much success on the charts at all before they eventually became legendary, classic albums loved by many. Let’s take a look at just a few famous albums that shockingly didn’t top the US album charts back in the day!
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1. ‘Forever Changes’ by Love
This incredible 1967 folk rock/psychedelic pop record is one of the most legendary albums of all time. In fact, we’d be bold enough to call Forever Changes by Love a masterpiece. Nobody managed to blend folk with baroque pop with rock the way Love did on this record in the 1960s.
Sadly, though, it was a pretty rough flop. It only peaked at no. 154 in the United States about a year after it was released.
2. ‘Grace’ by Jeff Buckley
We lost Jeff Buckley far too soon, and we only got one stunning album from the singer/songwriter to enjoy in the years since his passing in 1997.
Grace is a surprising entry on our list of famous albums that didn’t top the US charts. Released in 1994, it was a beautiful folk-rock contrast from the parallel eras of grunge and Britpop at the time. However, since the album didn’t exactly stick to the trends of the time, it flopped pretty hard in the US. It only made it to no. 149 on the charts after it was released. Fortunately, people began to give the album a chance in later years, and it has had a few decent sales boosts since then.
3. ‘The Stooges’ by The Stooges
This entry isn’t exactly surprising. The Stooges’ self-titled album from 1969 was quite ahead of its time and a certified proto-punk masterpiece in itself. And records that are ahead of their time rarely chart well in their respective era. Plus, 1969 was a busy year for rock music. The Stooges only made it to no. 106 in the US.
4. ‘Loaded’ by The Velvet Underground
Out of all the famous albums that didn’t top the album charts on this list, Loaded by The Velvet Underground is the least surprising. Brian Eno famously recalled Lou Reed telling him that the band’s first album sold a measly 30,000 copies in its first few years.
That debut is a now-legendary piece of work, and it only peaked at no. 171. Naturally, Loaded was the band’s fourth record and failed to chart altogether. And it’s a fan-favorite, massively influential album today.
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