Bands whose supposed 'worst' album is IYO actually their best

[MacDaddy]

Saxon - Destiny.

I like it ☺️

[Chris2112]

5 hours ago, ezbass said:

Rush’s Presto and Roll The Bones are both seen as dreadful by a lot of the Rush fanbase. However, whilst not maybe their best, I find them both very pleasing and better than some of their other albums.

 

I think they're both great albums. Better than anything that came after, even though their subsequent output was generally good. Songs like 'Heresy' and 'Superconductor' are up there with their best. 

[Paolo85]

Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape

Literally people were saying it's their worst.

I agree Seventh Son is a great album and while it was criticised at the time I believe a lot of people would agree nowadays.

It's not really that provocative but Sorcerer is probably my favourite of Miles Davis' second great quintet. For what I have read most people would prefer the others at least among the acoustic ones.

I cannot think another one but I must say I think St Anger was alright for a band past their prime. I properly liked the songs St Anger and Frantic. I found the album as a whole boring but then I also find boring almost all the thrash metal albums that came out after the 80's or early 90's max (with few exceptions). Most provocative of all: I like the production of St Anger

[ezbass]

31 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

 

I think they're both great albums. Better than anything that came after, even though their subsequent output was generally good. Songs like 'Heresy' and 'Superconductor' are up there with their best. 

The Pass is the one for me. The first chords are hairs on the back of the neck time.

[Kevsy71]

Thin Lizzy, 'Life'. Slated for use of overdubs, and considered to be their worst live album, but I love it and prefer it to 'Live and dangerous'  

[Shaggy]

12 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

Going against my own nature over the last few days I've listened to Led Zep, all their albums and all the way through. In conclusion, for me In Through The Out Door is by some margin their best album and I'm not trolling for the hell of it. The reasons?

1. it features lots of tasty keyboards which flesh out their sound by some margin

2. Plant actually mostly sings with his banshee yowling/screeching that marred their other albums out of sight...kinda.

3. The production is cleaner, tighter and lighter with the plodding  heavy sound of the early albums reined in

4. I dislike Blues heavily influenced rock intensely but there's little sign of that here

 

I understand that John Paul Jones -the best musician in the band - had more input here than on the other albums so that explains the heavier keys orientation

 

So, what allegedly weak albums by well-known bands would you say are among their better, if not the best albums

 

Good call, but for me, “Presence” is no question Led Zep’s finest - also generally overlooked.

 

A couple of others to add to the great examples above:

 

The Jam - “This is the Modern World”; usually totally slated as a poor second album rushed out too quickly to capitalise on the success of the debut album.  But I like it, not least as it includes one of my very favourite Jam songs on; Life through a window. 

 

Pink Floyd - “Atom Heart Mother”; overshadowed by the massively successful ‘70’s albums that came later, but for me PF at their most unique and creative.

 

and an obscure one:

Manfred Mann - “As Is”.   Songwriting as good as the Beatles were doing at the time, with better musicianship.   Remembered now only for far inferior ‘45’s.

 

 

 

 

[shoulderpet]

11 hours ago, 40hz said:

One Hot Minute by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

Dark, brooding and psychedelic and coming from a bad place, featuring, IMO, Anthony's best lyrics he's ever written, tackling some really heavy stuff (for once). Along with Uplift Mofo, it's my favourite Chili Peppers album.

 

I think it's s*** on a bit, as unfortunately, there seems to be a bit of the 'cult of Frusciante' around the band, and anything with him not playing on, (in this case Dave Navarro) seems to be derided, completely forgetting dear Hillel was the OG.

I'm with you 100% on this, is a great album.

Loads of good songs on this album- Aeroplane, my friends, coffee shop, walkabout, falling into grace

[Bleat]

Some that I love that most others hate or dislike, but why should I care what anyone else thinks?

 

AC/DC- Fly On The Wall-  Gets judged on below par production, but some of their best songs, killer guitar riffs throughout. 

Black Sabbath- Never Say Die- I love how different it is to the previous albums, great songs, Bill Ward had a much better voice than Ozzy.

Marillion- Holidays In Eden - nice songs with a pop edge.

Camel- Breathless and I Can See Your House From Here- I just like the songs on them.

[davepb24]

The Cult's debut (as The Cult at least lol) "Dreamtime" is my favourite record of all time... have heard it slated by many people including later band members but nothing they've done since comes close for me

[Barking Spiders]

17 hours ago, borntohang said:

The steep drop in quality after Pinkerton is nearly vertical. I just pretend that they broke up in '97 and the occasional single of note after that (Hash Pipe, Keep Fishing, not much else) was just scavenged from unreleased Blue sessions.

 

IMO they still had (most of) it up to Red with green the best of the post Pinkerton albums. While none of these are quite up to blue at least half the tunes are good on each one and don't deserve the bashing , mostly from fans it seems. Check out allmusic and all their albums are at least 3 1/2 star ratings.

[prowla]

18 hours ago, ezbass said:

Rush’s Presto and Roll The Bones are both seen as dreadful by a lot of the Rush fanbase. However, whilst not maybe their best, I find them both very pleasing and better than some of their other albums.

  

12 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

 

I think they're both great albums. Better than anything that came after, even though their subsequent output was generally good. Songs like 'Heresy' and 'Superconductor' are up there with their best. 

 

12 hours ago, ezbass said:

The Pass is the one for me. The first chords are hairs on the back of the neck time.

 

I like all of their albums except Feedback, which didn't need making IMHO.

I think Clockwork Angels is their best after Moving Pictures, but a lot of folks seem to dismiss it (funnily enough I saw them on those tours too).

[Barking Spiders]

After my re-try of LZ albums I've since had other listens to the supposed best and worst albums of classic rock bands I've generally had little time for; Queen, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. OK I more or less flipped through each one giving each track around 2 mins which is ample time to make a call.

Viz PF, IMO the best supposedly DTOSM and Wish You Were Here - still bore the s**t out of me. The 'worst -which mainly seem to be Ummagumma, Division Bell, Momentary Lapse of Reason - turn up no pleasant surprises  either.

Black Sabbath - Ozzy Osbourne has one of the worst voices in music. I just don't get how he's a multi platinum album artist in the US. As for RJ Dio, I can't stand that style of cod-operatic s**t (same with Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Myles Kennedy) I forced myself to listen to 'best' ones like Paranoid, Master of Reality and the  'worst'  - Technical Ecstasy, Born Again and Forbidden. Because Born Again has Ian Gillan  - a way better singer than the other BS vocalists - it is by default their best, even though it's no great shakes.

Queen - so, Shear Heart Attack, Night at The Opera and The Game appear to be their highest rated. I've not heard SHA since I was a kid and actually it's pretty good, way better than the overrated NATO.  Also way better to my ears is Hot Space as I like its dance/pop vibe and is on a par with the well rated The Game , which I admit is mostly pretty good.

Next up, if I can summon up the strength I'll work my way through a selection of 'best' and 'worst' of  two of my least fave  big names of classic rock, The Who and the Stones. I'm not expecting any pleasant surprises, particularly with the Stones as Jagger's voice is as bad as Ozzy's and I'm too familiar with their best known tunes, few of which I even can tolerate

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

5 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Viz PF, IMO the best supposedly DTOSM and Wish You Were Here - still bore the s**t out of me.

 

Agreed. Dark The Of Side Moon never really was as good as Dark Side of The Moon 🤣

 

5 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Next up, if I can summon up the strength I'll work my way through a selection of 'best' and 'worst' of  two of my least fave  big names of classic rock, The Who and the Stones. I'm not expecting any pleasant surprises, particularly with the Stones as Jagger's voice is as bad as Ozzy's and I'm too familiar with their best known tunes, few of which I even can tolerate

 

I've seen some criticism of Jagger over the years, but that really is harsh!

[Graham]

On 09/09/2022 at 09:22, thodrik said:

I would offer the Lou Reed/Metallica Lulu collaboration with Metallica as a further bar.

Ian Astbury from The Cult loved it:
 

https://thequietus.com/articles/07865-loutallica-lulu-ian-astbury-the-cult

Frankly, there is more artistic beauty in Astbury's defence of the album than in the music itself. 

On The Cult, I actually think that Beyond Good and Evil is their best album. It was released on 2000 and they were kind of going for a harder edged sound to fit in with the nu-metal crowd. They then made a brilliant psychedelic/stoner rock album almost by accident. I still really like it. 

I love that Lulu exists, because I swear Lou Reed trolled Metallica into making it, convincing them it was a work of profound art, laughing his derrière off the whole way.

 

I will however, never subject myself to listening to it a second time.

[prowla]

36 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

After my re-try of LZ albums I've since had other listens to the supposed best and worst albums of classic rock bands I've generally had little time for; Queen, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. OK I more or less flipped through each one giving each track around 2 mins which is ample time to make a call.

Viz PF, IMO the best supposedly DTOSM and Wish You Were Here - still bore the s**t out of me. The 'worst -which mainly seem to be Ummagumma, Division Bell, Momentary Lapse of Reason - turn up no pleasant surprises  either.

Black Sabbath - Ozzy Osbourne has one of the worst voices in music. I just don't get how he's a multi platinum album artist in the US. As for RJ Dio, I can't stand that style of cod-operatic s**t (same with Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Myles Kennedy) I forced myself to listen to 'best' ones like Paranoid, Master of Reality and the  'worst'  - Technical Ecstasy, Born Again and Forbidden. Because Born Again has Ian Gillan  - a way better singer than the other BS vocalists - it is by default their best, even though it's no great shakes.

Queen - so, Shear Heart Attack, Night at The Opera and The Game appear to be their highest rated. I've not heard SHA since I was a kid and actually it's pretty good, way better than the overrated NATO.  Also way better to my ears is Hot Space as I like its dance/pop vibe and is on a par with the well rated The Game , which I admit is mostly pretty good.

Next up, if I can summon up the strength I'll work my way through a selection of 'best' and 'worst' of  two of my least fave  big names of classic rock, The Who and the Stones. I'm not expecting any pleasant surprises, particularly with the Stones as Jagger's voice is as bad as Ozzy's and I'm too familiar with their best known tunes, few of which I even can tolerate

I think a lot of those albums are really good - no accounting for taste, eh?

I used to have a thing where I'd listen to an album and not really like it so much, but then after the third or fourth listen it would be great; 2 minutes isn't really enough.

[thodrik]

1 hour ago, Graham said:

I love that Lulu exists, because I swear Lou Reed trolled Metallica into making it, convincing them it was a work of profound art, laughing his derrière off the whole way.

 

I will however, never subject myself to listening to it a second time.

My friend bought the deluxe version for about £100. The person serving him in HMV asked him ‘are you sure?’ three times before he presented my friend with the chip and pin device to enable my friend to complete the transaction.

Edited September 10, 2022 by thodrik

[prowla]

50 minutes ago, Graham said:

I love that Lulu exists, because I swear Lou Reed trolled Metallica into making it, convincing them it was a work of profound art, laughing his derrière off the whole way.

 

I will however, never subject myself to listening to it a second time.

Incidentally, I saw Lulu playing in Basingstoke town centre, just before she did the Take That thing.

[Gareth Hughes]

Aside from some/most folks opinions that anything by KISS is their worst record, and (Music From) The Elder falling into the love it or hate it camp within KISS fans, I have a soft spot for ‘Unmasked’. Not necessarily their worst in polls but definitely completely forgotten about by the band. For no logical or sentimental reason it’s a record that takes me to my happy place.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

1 minute ago, Gareth Hughes said:

Aside from some/most folks opinions that anything by KISS is their worst record, and (Music From) The Elder falling into the love it or hate it camp within KISS fans, I have a soft spot for ‘Unmasked’. Not necessarily their worst in polls but definitely completely forgotten about by the band. For no logical or sentimental reason it’s a record that takes me to my happy place.

Ah yes, Torpedo Girl. Kiss + Vini Poncia certainly did change the sound. Love that album and I also really like The Elder too 👍

[Cosmo Valdemar]

4 hours ago, Gareth Hughes said:

Aside from some/most folks opinions that anything by KISS is their worst record, and (Music From) The Elder falling into the love it or hate it camp within KISS fans, I have a soft spot for ‘Unmasked’. Not necessarily their worst in polls but definitely completely forgotten about by the band. For no logical or sentimental reason it’s a record that takes me to my happy place.

Elder's my favourite KISS album by a mile.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

On 09/09/2022 at 11:27, oldslapper said:

David Bowie “Tonight”

Generally hated by everyone including DB. Gets played by me more than any other DB album. Again, “fans” can take a leap, I love it. 

Come to think of it, if we're talking Bowie, I REALLY like Tin Machine who appear to be despised among the Bowie fan base.

I campaigned long and hard in my Bowie trib to do Under The God, but it never happened. Baby Universal nearly made an appearance too.

Singer was up for them, but there was too much other good stuff to learn 🤷‍♂️

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by hiram.k.hackenbacker

[Barking Spiders]

22 hours ago, prowla said:

I think a lot of those albums are really good - no accounting for taste, eh?

I used to have a thing where I'd listen to an album and not really like it so much, but then after the third or fourth listen it would be great; 2 minutes isn't really enough.

that's 2 minutes per track not per album! 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Barking Spiders

[Lord Sausage]

On 09/09/2022 at 08:45, fretmeister said:

I remember all the abuse Iron Maiden got for Seventh Son of a Seventh Son because of the keyboards.

 

I thought it was excellent. A band that was growing and wasn't afraid of trying things.

That's the only maiden album I like. Song writing is very good on that album.

 

[Lord Sausage]

Sex and Religion by Steve Vai

[ezbass]

21 minutes ago, Lord Sausage said:

Sex and Religion by Steve Vai

My favourite bit on that album is Devin Townsend shouting, “Shut up! We know you can play,” priceless. 😂