Top 10 Underrated Songs

[bwboy]

Curious to see what folks here think. I’m sure we’ll all have different definitions of what makes a song underrated. For me, it might be a song that under performed as a single or never or rarely is mentioned on a favorite songs list.

1) I Don’t Want to Know- pop perfection yet never performed live; I suppose it’s hard to stare daggers at each other when performing a song that makes you smile from ear to ear.

2) Battle of the Dragon- I used to think this was a throwaway song, as it originally appeared on the soundtrack to the dud American Anthem, but later realized what a beautiful and haunting song it is.

3) Blue Lamp- how did this song not become a concert staple? Quintessential Stevie!

4) Think About It- one of only two songs from Bella Donna that wasn’t remastered for her Enchanted boxset, nor did the live version appear on the Bella Donna reissue. Upbeat song written for Christine that would sound great live today.

5) Planets of the Universe- the track with the longer version is worth tracking down, as Stevie edited out some lines she thought were too harsh; the lyrics are more sophisticated and metaphorical than usual, and it works great here.

6) Secret Love- one of the few songs I really love from her more recent years. She sounds incredible on this song.

7) Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind- an example of a single not charting as high as it should have. It likely would have performed better if it had been released at a time when her career wasn’t in the crapper.

8) I Will Run to You- I’ve always thought record execs and fans didn’t like this song because it didn’t live up to the expectations of Stop Dragging My Heart, but I love it. Tom Petty sounds fantastic here, and he clearly wrote the song for Stevie.

9) Ooh My Love- it my be a little overproduced, but I love it. Switching from third person to first person near the end of the song, before switching back to third person, is Stevie at her most honest and vulnerable.

10) Thrown Down- probably gets overlooked because it gets lost on an 18 track album. A rare song about Lindsey that isn’t about their breakup but about moving on. Too bad it didn’t last.

[Steviegirl]

1. Smile At You
2. If You Were My Love
3. Violet and Blue
4. The Highwayman
5. Nothing Ever Changes
6. Sable on Blonde
7. I Will Run to You
8. Think About It
9. Ooh My Love
10. Thrown Down

[Villavic]

10) Thrown Down- probably gets overlooked because it gets lost on an 18 track album. A rare song about Lindsey that isn’t about their breakup but about moving on. Too bad it didn’t last.

Even though it was played in a Friends episode.

[Steviegirl]

Oh, yes--I'll drop out Sister Honey for Thrown Down. LOVE.

[jmn3]

I Don’t Want to Know
Think About It
Blue Lamp
That’s Alright
Smile at You - the angry version
If You Were My Love - Mirage version
I Will Run to You
Rooms on Fire - not sure it’s truly underrated as much as it’s lost to history
Thrown Down
Running Through the Garden

[GypsySorcerer]

No order:

Kind of Woman
Sable on Blond
Nothing Ever Changes
Trouble in Shangri-La
Street Angel (haunting song on a dud album)
Garbo
Planets (original demo)
No Spoken Word
That's Alright
Twisted (soundtrack version)

[Macfan4life]

You guys came up with good songs. Bella Donna is like Rumours for me so I cant say any of those songs are underrated. How can someone say a song on Rumours is underrated? Its on one of the best selling albums of all time and everyone knows every song even if they are not really a big fan. Rumours is a complete package which is why people cant really pick a favorite. Anyway, I will get off my soap box.
IMHO an underrated song is not commercially known or on an album that people forgot about or a soundtrack song from long ago.

Blue Lamp
Running Through The Garden (RAL version)
Smile At You (any version but I prefer the angry one)
Sable on Blonde (re-issue version)
Bombay Saphires (one of the few songs I like on TISRL)
Needles and Pins with Tom
Everybody Finds Out (pure perfection)
Listen To the Rain (there's no Beauty and the Beast here)
Love is like a River
Jane (chimpanzee and all)
Greta (rhinestone collections ALL the time)
Two Kinds of Love (Kill me. I get this song. Its about falling for someone you can never have which is the story of my life)
Escape From Berlin (Brilliant)
Ooh My Love
That's Alright (not what people think about when they hear Mirage)
Desert Angel (Stevie yelling actual military operations. OPERATION DESERT STORM!)
Sometimes Its a Bitch (sometimes its weeds)
What has Rock N Roll Ever Done For you (probably the song that describes Stevie's excess of the 80s perfectly. Totally arrogant esp with the cat call whistle. Probably written after doing 5 lines in a row. French Champagne baby!)
Freedom (the prequel to Desert Angel)
One Big Time Rock and Roll Star (its so bad its good. Craziest bridge ever... Undah covahhh music luvahhhhhhhhh I was anyone's fantasy ..oh the arrogance again. LOVE IT)
Garbo (pure acoustic heaven only song to ever have the word silvery in it)
Thousand Days
Mirror Mirror (breaking news/weather alert version Love that Joe Walsh on guitar)
No Questions Asked

[aleuzzi]

Gold and Braid
That's Alright
Sable on Blonde
Gate and Garden
Violet and Blue
Imperial Hotel
Sometimes It's a Bitch (I know she didn't write it, but...)
Illume
Everybody Finds Out
For What it's Worth (from In Your Dreams, not the cover)

[aleuzzi]

Planets (original demo)


The Rumours demo of this is crazy good. What a waste that it never appeared on Tusk, which I think should have happened.

[Macfan4life]

I would also add Love's A Hard Game To Play
She did not write it but does a good job especially for the klonopin years. A song like this could have really improved OSOTM.

[Villavic]

I just found this article about Stevie’s underrated songs. While checking if it was discussed here in the past I found this thread but it didn’t include this article.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-10-most-underrated-stevie-nicks-songs/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIqj7xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHb7Uk6Ofnpk334zbx9CJSRiY3L0jxtBTjUrjBiMs6s4OFTEa6KHzsd7LWw_aem _vjam6yRQp1XG_Gy2vyJxLA

I’m not sure if Leather and Lace was really underrated. I remember it was often played on radios here, and can’t remember bad critics about the song.

But Storms may have been underrated. Never heard it on the radio. I discovered that song when I bought the cassette, mid 80s, and loved it from the first time. Interesting (but no surprise) what Ken and Carol Ann told in their books about Lindsey being critical of the song. It is mentioned in its wikipedia's song page.

Carol Anne Harris recalled that her former boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham, was critical of "Storms" when Nicks played her demo to the band, which led to an argument between Nicks and Buckingham. Producer Ken Caillat described the demo as "a somewhat depressing song with only a few chords". However, when the band revisited "Storms" in autumn 1978, both Caillat and engineer Hernán Rojas were surprised at Buckingham's willingness to dedicate his efforts toward the song. Buckingham later expressed his approval of "Storms" in 2015, calling it "a very strong song in terms of its form".

[Macfan4life]

I just found this article about Stevie’s underrated songs. While checking if it was discussed here in the past I found this thread but it didn’t include this article.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-10-most-underrated-stevie-nicks-songs/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIqj7xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHb7Uk6Ofnpk334zbx9CJSRiY3L0jxtBTjUrjBiMs6s4OFTEa6KHzsd7LWw_aem _vjam6yRQp1XG_Gy2vyJxLA

I’m not sure if Leather and Lace was really underrated. I remember it was often played on radios here, and can’t remember bad critics about the song.

But Storms may have been underrated. Never heard it on the radio. I discovered that song when I bought the cassette, mid 80s, and loved it from the first time. Interesting (but no surprise) what Ken and Carol Ann told in their books about Lindsey being critical of the song. It is mentioned in its wikipedia's song page.

Carol Anne Harris recalled that her former boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham, was critical of "Storms" when Nicks played her demo to the band, which led to an argument between Nicks and Buckingham. Producer Ken Caillat described the demo as "a somewhat depressing song with only a few chords". However, when the band revisited "Storms" in autumn 1978, both Caillat and engineer Hernán Rojas were surprised at Buckingham's willingness to dedicate his efforts toward the song. Buckingham later expressed his approval of "Storms" in 2015, calling it "a very strong song in terms of its form".
Yeah. I dont consider Leather and Lace and Sara underrated. Both are fine songs and got the respect they deserved. Each was a substantial top 10 hit that you still hear on the radio today. Stevie played them in concert during her early tours. Not sure how one could say they are underrated. The other ones on the list, maybe.
I suppose we must define what it means to be "underrated." Personally I would not define a song that was a big hit commercially "underrated."
Most of her early stuff is all underrated IMHO.

[BLY]

1. I Don’t Want to Know
2.Kind of Woman
3.I Will Run to You
4.If I Were You
5. Battle of the Dragon
6.Two Kinds of Love
7.Everybody Finds Out
8.Desert Angel
9.For What It’s Worth (cover)
10.Planets of the Universe (extended version)

[mitzo]

Beauty and the Beast
Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You
Nightbird
Blue Eyes
When I See You Again
The Second Time
Illume
Somebody Stand by Me
Everybody Loves You
If You Were My Love

[WatchChain]

1. That's Alright
2. For What It's Worth (In Your Dreams)
3. Sleeping Angel
4. Think About It
5. God's Garden
6. Secret Love
7. I Don't Want To Know
8. Rose Garden
9. If You Ever Did Believe
10. Watch Chain

[UnwindedDreams]

The Second Time

No song is better than this one for a cremation service.

[HomerMcvie]

No song is better than this one for a cremation service.

I always imagine my own funeral. It begins with about 30 seconds of some sad funeral dirge, then Think About Me kicks in, with the volume on 11. Followed by East Bound, and Down, with the volume on 12.

Not joking. That's how I want it.

[UnwindedDreams]

I always imagine my own funeral. It begins with about 30 seconds of some sad funeral dirge, then Think About Me kicks in, with the volume on 11. Followed by East Bound, and Down, with the volume on 12.

Not joking. That's how I want it.
Funeral For a Friend by Elton and Bernie Taupin to start it off.

[HomerMcvie]

Funeral For a Friend by Elton and Bernie Taupin to start it off.

I forgot to mention the keg of beer....

[cbBen]

I'll post my list in due course but, preliminarily, two things:

1. No criticism of anyone using it (see below), but IMHO "underrated" is not the correct term (the correct term would be "overlooked" or "ignored"). (This has been a longstanding pet peeve of mine.) Underrated would be something widely criticized as poor when it is actually good. Overlooked or ignored is something that is good, but fails to receive the attention it merits. A great song or album that receives little to no praise isn't "underrated" – it isn't "rated" at all. That said, I understand "underrated" is the standard/accepted lingo so I'm not criticizing the OP for using it.

2. "Sleeping Angel" is one of my favorite songs of Stevie's and will be high on my list.

[Macfan4life]

I'll post my list in due course but, preliminarily, two things:

1. No criticism of anyone using it (see below), but IMHO "underrated" is not the correct term (the correct term would be "overlooked" or "ignored"). (This has been a longstanding pet peeve of mine.) Underrated would be something widely criticized as poor when it is actually good. Overlooked or ignored is something that is good, but fails to receive the attention it merits. A great song or album that receives little to no praise isn't "underrated" – it isn't "rated" at all. That said, I understand "underrated" is the standard/accepted lingo so I'm not criticizing the OP for using it.

2. "Sleeping Angel" is one of my favorite songs of Stevie's and will be high on my list.
I agree with you on both points. Overlooked is a better word than underrated. Sleeping Angel was left on the cutting room floor during Rumours. Its demo was really good. When it was given to Fast Times almost as a throw away song that was not going to be released as a single. It deserved to be on one of her solo albums. Although it is played at the perfect time in the movie when the girl is very vulnerable and devastated. It fits really good. It was released when just everything Stevie was touching turned to gold. Its such a great song for 7 seconds in a teen movie. Just like for Bella Donna by 1982 she still was digging up and using some of her best material. Its wonderful that she performed it during the Enchanted tour.

[cbBen]

Still working on my list but, my word, after 1983 the whole rationale for her solo career (too many songs) is out the window. On Rock A Little she writes just three songs by herself, and they're all bad.

[Villavic]

I don't want to know is mentioned several times here. I LOVE the Early Take version included in the Rumours: More From The Recording Sessions [Disc 3] of the 2013 Deluxe edition. It rocks so much more than the one in the original release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=582Mzw0Fjz4