The middle 1970s was a period when the decade finally got over the ’60s and started catching up to the music it was calling its own. Glam rock, soul, funk and fusion all came of age at this time, as you’ll see in the below list of 25 Under the Radar Albums From 1974.
While the year was marked by scene-stealing and diverse albums from Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway), Kraftwerk (Autobahn), Bob Marley and the Wailers (Natty Dread), Joni Mitchell (Court and Spark), Gram Parsons (Grievous Angel) and Steely Dan (Pretzel Logic), the outskirts were filled with equally exciting and varied works.
Some of the names bubbling below the surface are familiar: Miles Davis, Funkadelic, King Crimson, Santana, Frank Zappa. But others have remained obscurities decades after their best work was released, such as avant-garde noise-makers Henry Cow, Chicago bluesman Fenton Robinson and the Spanish folk-rock group Canovas, Rodrigo, Adolfo y Guzman.
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The records uncovered here offer hours of enlightenment, whether it’s Brazilian pop, German electronic music or African R&B. Sometimes it’s familiar sounds in new forms, like the Residents throwing traditional rock music against a wall and then scraping it off in new arrangements and a Miles Davis collaborator reworking the Jimi Hendrix songbook alongside a jazz template.
Overall, the 25 Under the Radar Albums From 1974 may not supplant the classic records we all know and have worn out over the years. They’re not meant to. Think of them as additional pieces to the puzzle as the mid-’70s fitted itself together.
25 Under the Radar Albums From 1974
It’s time to go deeper than the Genesis, Steely Dan and Neil Young records that get much of the attention.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
