I recently came upon Prince’s Lovesexy at a thrift store on cassette (!) for a dollar, and figured I was getting a fair deal. In reality, I wuz robbed. Granted, 1988 was after he peaked, but hell Sign O’ The Times was only a year or so earlier- didn’t he have any decent tracks left over from that? I mean, when the lead single from your album is Alphabet Street, which wouldn’t be in the Prince top 50, somethings wrong. Actually, there’s not a song on the whole album that would be his personal top 50. Add to it an usually large dose of his idiosyncratic silliness and religous drivel, and you get a thoroughly wretched listening experience. This got me to wondering, what other major artists have released real stinkers while reasonably in their prime? I have been told both Dylan and Mccartney had a real stinker, but can’t recall which albums these were.
Dylan - Self-Portrait
McCartney - Everything since Abbey Road 
Actually Dylan’s real stinker was the one simply titled Dylan, also known as “Columbia’s Revenge”–it was the album they put out when Zimmy switched over to Asylum. It consists of the stuff that wasn’t good enough to go on Self Portrait. :eek: Then Dylan came back to Columbia, who in turn took Dylan off the market.
George Harrison–“Living in the Material World”
Bruce Springsteen–“Nebraska”
Yellow Submarine.
Eric Clapton, Pilgrim. The guitar god does elevator music…
Wow, really? I’m not into Springsteen, but it seems like everybody I know just loves that one.
At the time it was released, Marvin Gaye’s “Here My Dear” probably would have qualified. It was an incredibly personal album that chronicled his love, marriage and (then-ongoing) divorce in detail, with his wife receiving a big portion of the proceeds. I think the album’s standing has improved over time, though.
I strongly disagree. I think most people who know Springstreen through “Born in the USA” or “Born to Run” feel cheated because it’s acoustic and has no backing from the “E Street Band.” Yet it has a number of strong cuts (e.g., “Atlantic City” and “State Trooper”).
Anyway, since this thread will likely start numerous arguments, I’ll add to the controversy by nominating the Rolling Stones’ misbegotten psychedelic foray, “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” While I’ll grant it does have its moments (“2000 Light Years from Home” is one of my favorite Stones’ tracks), this attempt to sound like Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd noticeably stands out as the only clinker in a streak of great Stones albums starting with 1966’s “Aftermath” and ending with 1972’s “Exile on Main Street.”
Also, is it fair to count the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”? To me, that was a de facto greatest hits collection serving as a soundtrack album.
Yeah, that one, as originally released, was a side of Beatles songs, some of which (including the title track) were reruns, and a side of George Martin instrumentals. And it did have “Hey Bulldog,” which rocks.
Not controversial at all – in fact, it’s what I came in to nominate.
Fair enough - I withdraw the nomination. But I figured that Weather Report’s Mr. Gone wasn’t major enough to be nomnated. 
Given that Self Portrait and Satanic Majesties have already been chosen …
Mike Oldfield’s Heaven’s Open. It was his last contractually obligated album for Virgin and Branson, and to save money he did the singing himself. :eek: It can be listened to as one long rant against Virgin and RB.
Oddly enough, the album before, Amarok, designed to be totally uncommercial - 60 minutes long and one track, is a masterpiece.
Well I think he’s major!
R.E.M. followed up the mega-huge Out Of Time with the nearly perfect, career defining Automatic For the People. Then, apparently having collectively had their brains trans-reversed by aliens, they decided that what they really wanted to be was a pseudo-grunge, Patti Smith-stalking glam band. I challenge you to walk into any used CD store in the land and not find at least five copies of Monster. At least from then on they were consistently excreble.
Belle & Sebastian have never made anything better than their first two albums, but they were so good that good will carry-over sustained them through the only OK Boy With the Arab Strap and the pretty-not-good Fold Your Hands… Now they sound like a B&S tribute/parody band.
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who liked the last Talking Heads album (Naked, was it?).
Other’s probably considered them past their prime, but I thought Wish was the best album the Cure ever made (incredibly awesome concerts for that period, too). They followed it up with the decidedly crappy Wild Mood Swings. They don’t seem to have recovered.
I like it. It’s pretty clearly not their best work, and I’m not sure you can really say that they were at their prime when they did it, but I like it.
Classic Example: Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music – he wrote it to kiss off his record company and nearly wrecked his career. It is unlistenable. Reed is quoted as saying “Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am.”
“Yellow Submarine” was a soundtrack album. Originally it was one side of movie music by George Martin with six Beatles songs, four of which were new. “Hey Bulldog,” “All Together Now,” and “Only a Northern Song” are all worthy entries to the Beatles’ song list.
Similarly, Pink Floyd’s “Obscured by Clouds” was only so-so, but was also a soundtrack.
Jefferson Airplane’s “Bark” cost them a lot of credibility.
The fun part is arguing “peak” as opposed to “lousy album.”
Bark, for example, was definitely well after the Airplane’s peak. Satanic Majesties was right in the middle of the Stones most fertile period.
Nebraska, however, is a masterpiece.
I was going to argue against this, now I’m not so sure. Monster was certainly a 180 shift from Automatic but I think they made the album they wanted to make (and I happen tolike it well enough). I guess your point regarding the OP is arguable, I disagree with the “consistently excreble”, as New Adventures in Hi-Fi is one of my favorite REM records and is certainly less different style-wise than Monster.
I have a soft spot for Reveal (soundtrack for my South African vacation), but I
have to agree about Monster.
Fleetwood Mac after enjoying a huge success with their “Rumours” album, then released the long-awaited and hugely disappointing “Tusk”.
Tusk was good. It was moody, complicated music in the age of the Late Disco Era. And it did sell remarkably well, multiple platinum during a recession, just not the uniquely high sales of Rumours.
You want crappy Fleetwood Mac? Try anything after, say Mirage. Especially Behind the Mask.
You want really crappy Stevie Nicks? Avoid, at all costs, the abomination known as Street Angel. In fact, avoid anything after Bella Donna and The Wild Heart.