An American Songwriter feature picks out one overlooked album from each year of 1970 to 1974, arguing that these releases deserved far greater commercial success and recognition at the time. The writer highlights records spanning folk, prog-folk, progressive rock and psych-rock, noting how several have since gained cult followings despite performing poorly on the charts on release.

The selections are Vashti Bunyan's "Just Another Diamond Day" (1970), whose commercial failure led her to quit music for years before it was rediscovered; Comus's dark prog-folk record "First Utterance" (1971); Gentle Giant's "Octopus" (1972), which only reached No. 170 on the Billboard 200; Ofege's "Try And Love" (1973), made by Nigerian teenagers and now seen as a landmark of Nigerian psych-rock; and Kansas's self-titled 1974 debut, overshadowed by their later hit "Leftoverture" and never reaching the Top 100.