It's a shame that any time anyone talks about Underground, they only talk about the cover art and not the music. I think it's one of his best albums, the last by his longest-running quartet, and with a few excellent late tunes — Ugly Beauty, Boo Boo's Birthday, and Green Chimneys — that you won't hear anywhere else. The only thing misguided about it is the last track, a version of In Walked Bud with vocals, that if I remember correctly is from a different recording session.

Belaboring the cover of the album buys into the same image-oriented discussion of Monk the writer seems to want to move away from.