"Black sheep" albums you like

Cheap Trick - All Shook Up. Big commercial and critical letdown after their late-70s period, but several great songs on it.
Good call. Also produced by George Martin and it shows. I like that they continued to experiment instead of simply building on commercial success.
 
Albums from 1997 tend to be underrated for some reason ;) :
Megadeth - Cryptic Writings
Queensrÿche - Hear in the Now Frontier
Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity
I put them in each band's top 5.
 
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Megadeth - Cryptic Writings
Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity

I must say that Cryptic Writings is a strong album, as every song has redeeming qualities save for Have Cool Will Travel and I'll Get Even. She-Wolf and Secret Place are two of my favorite Megadeth songs. David Ellefson's bass tone (e.g. on Mastermind) is also really metallic and cool. That song always reminded me of the giant Spider Mastermind from DOOM.

Falling Into Infinity is another good call. It has some of the most atmospheric and haunting DT songs, like Peruvian Skies, Lines in the Sand, and Trial of Tears. There's a few clunkers (You Not Me, Burning My Soul, and to a lesser extent Take Away My Pain), but the album is criminally underrated because it wasn't wank-fest DT or Kevin Moore crying-into-his-piano-because-of-a-chick-he-saw-in-a-magazine DT. I also loved Derek Sherinian in DT and wish he was never replaced with Jordan "pull on my space monkey" Rudess. Anna Lee, which was basically Sherinian's Space-Dye Vest, is one of my favorite DT ballads.
 
the album is criminally underrated because it wasn't wank-fest DT
Still, it contains one of DT's "wankiest" moment: the guitar and keyboard solo in "Just Let Me Breathe", which I find amazing personally, as if they meant: "ok this song is catchy and simple, we just have 30 seconds to prove we can still disgust everyone :) "
 
No Prayer-IM
A -Tull
Systematic Chaos - DT
Final Cut, Momentary Lapse-Pink Floyd
Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking - aRoger Waters
Test For Echo - Rush
The Hunter - Mastodon
S/t, Tapehead - Kings X

To name a few...
 
Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Megadeth - Risk
Iron Maiden - No Prayer for the Dying
Black Sabbath - Born Again, Cross Purposes, Dehumanizer, Technical Ecstasy
Judas Priest - Nostradamus, Demolition

Completely agree with Risk and Skunkworks

Also, nice Avatar!
 
Just off the top of my head?

SKUNKWOOOOOOORKSSSSSSS. Possibly top 20 record of all time for me, and there's probably 2/3rds of the Maiden catalog I don't even entertain as being something I appreciate more. Probably all but 3 Maiden albums actually.

Hold Your Fire - Rush (probably right behind Grace Under Pressure for me in their catalog)
Outside - David Bowie
Hazards of Love - The Decemberists (well maybe not a big deal around here but a concept album fell like a wet fart amongst the twee I know)
Sex & Religion - Steve Vai


And it may not be a black sheep, but I love me some Dance of Death. I know what I want and I'll say what I want and no one can take it away. Okay?
 
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Judas Priest - Turbo and Nostradamus
KISS - Unmasked and Asylum
Saxon - Destiny
Krokus - Heart Attack
Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
 
Judas Priest - Turbo Lover
Jethro Tull - Under Wraps
Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity
Rush - Test For Echo
Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks
Alice Cooper - Dada
Iron Maiden - NPFTD
 
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