Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart.
Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats. For that matter, most of Zappa’s output. His only big single was “Valley Girl” and perhaps “Dancing Fool,” but that’s a very minor part of his output.
I didn’t say it was my “go-to.” I’m just pointing out that TFTO fits the OP’s criteria.
I was also considering Going For the One, but “Wondrous Stories” is their best-selling single in the UK.
As @nearwildheaven noted, “Bloody Well Right” was definitely the one “hit” song from the album that got a lot of airplay. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Crisis? What Crisis? is just as good if not better than CotC and is a better fit for the thread.
Really? Never heard “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” or “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”?
I’m sure I’ve heard both of those songs on classic rock stations, but now I’ll have to pay attention to verify that statement.
Not trying to police for the OP at all, but my interpretation of the question is that it’s looking for personal opinions about great albums without a single stand-out track that leaves the others behind, not great albums that didn’t have songs that became hits (which is more of a fact-based question).
Interestingly, when I was a kid (80s and 90s), I listened to a reasonable amount of FM rock radio, and was a huge fan of Bat Out of Hell II (first rock concert I went to was Meatloaf), I don’t think I ever heard a track off Bat Out Of Hell, except for maybe Paradise, until I bought the album myself. In my 20s I was of course subjected to Paradise a zillion times at bad karaoke nights.
For your consideration: Rain Dogs from Tom Waits. I’d listened to the album a dozen times before Rod Stewart took Downtown Train to the top. Before that happened I wouldn’t have thought the song was any better than six other songs. Pretty much every cut had something to make it special.
Now I wouldn’t classify it as having no “outstanding” songs, but the album’s overall quality tends to camouflage its strongest songs.
Zappa - Hot Rats - yes
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs - yes
My contributions - the greatest rock album ever as designated by Stereo Review’s top man, Steve Simels - Tonio K. - Life in the Food Chain - Lyrics that can cut diamonds.
Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond Can’t recommend the musicianship enough.
An “outstanding song” could be one that stands out by being very good or memorable compared to the rest of the album, or by being a big hit, popular and well-known outside the context of the album, or perhaps just by being a personal favorite. The OP wasn’t entirely specific, and maybe left it open to any or all of these interpretations.
How about a couple of Bowie albums:
Station To Station - OK, so Golden Years was a hit but I kind of agree with Eonwe’s interpretation (post 45) and I don’t think Golden Years stands out at all.
The Man Who Sold The World - true, it wasn’t greeted as a classic at the time of its original release, but I think it has been favorably re-evaluated over the years. I don’t see a standout song, and there certainly wasn’t a hit.
j
In my mind an album such as In Search of the Lost Chord by the Moody Blues fits the OP perfectly. No real hits that you ever hear on the radio but a great comprehensive album that truly sends a message. Ride My See-Saw is a great and catchy song and The Legend of a Mind (Timothy Leary) has an LSD following, but you rarely ever hear them played by themselves.
I’m not sure if I’ve listened to the whole album more than once, but have always thought the title track was a great song. The cover by Nirvana on MTV Unplugged has 436 million views.
OP here. Yes, I intended this to be about albums that are considered outstanding (opinion, obviously) overall, but do not have tracks that stand out individually. This doesn’t preclude an individual track from making the singles charts, but having a hit single for which the album is recognized tends to make me think of the track as being “outstanding.”
I didn’t intend to have a lot of guidelines or rules re this. I was just interested in what would pop into the minds of other people.
Here’s a counterexample: Boston’s Boston (first album) is generally considered to be an extremely good album overall, but “More Than A Feeling” and “Hitch A Ride” certainly stand out.
Interesting observation - there isn’t a hit on the album but there’s a cover version which…
Better ask the OP for a ruling. And BTW I like the title track too - but I’ve come to the view that actually it’s a solidly good album without a really weak track. So I like 'em all - and as I said, I don’t see a standout.
As ever, YMMV.
j
ETA: and as a BTW, Lulu (of all people) had a UK hit single with The Man Who Sold The World…(!)
For me, the obvious “hit single” (though of course it wasn’t, if even a single at all, I’m too lazy to look that up) from Astral Weeks has always been “Sweet Thing”. It’s the most approachable song of the album in a rock/pop context, though mysterious enough to never being able to make the charts. The Waterboys did a decent cover:
ETA: I also like Maria McKee’s cover of “The Way Young Lovers Do”.
As for the OP, those who mentioned Steely Dan albums were right. I would state that this applies to all their classic albums from “Can’t Buy A Thrill” to “Gaucho”. Yes, they had a few hit singles, but often these were not even the best songs on the respective albums, and their general quality level was so high that there were only stand-out songs. No filler, all killer, always.
“Songs that stand out” is a subjective condition. Saying the hits from an album weren’t as good as the other tracks isn’t expressing fact. Stating how a particular song did on the charts is.
Besides Astral Weeks, another Van Morrison album comes to mind, Veedon Fleece. It’s a thematically similar album with the same “mystic” air, and the songs all flow into one another. There’s only one exception, the only up-tempo song, “Bulbs”, a country rocker.
I’d say Dark Side of the Moon counts. An amazing, world changing, album but while there are some good tracks but nothing that stands out on its own like Shine on you crazy diamond, or Comfortably Numb.
Warren Zevon has a number of albums that fit this. His eponymous ‘Warren Zevon’ didn’t have a single chart hit on it, but is considered by many to be one of the best albums of the 70’s. 'Excitablr Boy ’ had his only hit on it (“Werewolves of London”), but the song doesn’t stand out from the other amazing tracks on the album. “Sentimental Hygiene” is another album with no hits but just a collection of great songs.