# Critically-Acclaimed Albums that are Unlistenable **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202 "2011-06-03T15:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/21 "2011-06-03T20:03:21Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Oh… and while Van Morrison HAS done some great stuff in his day, I find his most critically acclaimed album, \*\*\*Astral Weeks, \*\*\*a self-indulgent mess, a real bore of an album. I’m right there with you on Astral Weeks. I love Van, and the critics all say that this is the pinnacle, but it just doesn’t work for me. I keep going back to it, but I just don’t see the genius of it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/22 "2011-06-03T20:03:41Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > With regard to Trout Mask Replica, I honestly wonder if the critics at Rolling Stone are pulling a big \*woosh \*on us. I can hear them now: “Hey guys, have I got a crazy idea! As a joke, let’s list Trout Mask Replica as one of the greatest albums of all time, and see how many people fall for it.” Well, I prefer **Lick My Decals Off, Baby** (evidently, so did he), but “The Blimp” and “Old Fart at Play” are great songs. **ummagumma** is the reason I’m a Pink Floyd fan. Unfortunate, “self-indulgent” these days means " longer than my 3-minute attention Span." ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/23 "2011-06-03T20:05:22Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > W/r/t Neil Young - yep, another album that came to mind was NY’s \*\*Trans \*\*- his futuristic experiment. Bless 'im for trying. I don’t think that was really acclaimed by critics. But I rather like _Trans_, too. Of course, I _like_ Kraftwerk, Bambaataa and the Belleville Three. If that kind of stuff drives you up the wall, you probably won’t feel Neil Young on the drum machine and vocoder either. The later [Sonic Youth cover of “Computer Age”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ0cLPSfLrg) and [Young’s acoustic arrangement of “Transformer Man”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J2yH_6YQ0) did encourage some reevaluation. The album is idiosyncratic and uneven, but on its own terms no more so than most Neil records. I especially like the long mixes of [“Sample and Hold”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8ho8n4LCFs) and the un-electro’ed [“Like an Inca”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjC_eczKi4c) for the CD reissue. And the four songs mentioned are just all good Neil songs IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/24 "2011-06-03T20:18:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > _Trout Mask Replica_ by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band was ranked #58 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. I’m a big Zappa fan, so I bought TMR (CD format) in the early 1990s. About once a year I play it in its entirety, hoping I will finally “get it” this time. But I \*always \*shake my head when listening to it. I’ve \*tried \*to like it. I’ve \*tried \*to appreciate it. But I **just don’t get it**. And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy weird/avant-garde music. (In addition to Zappa, I love The Residents and The Velvet Underground.) But I find TMR to be utterly unlistenable. ☹ I have TMR on my Droid, and the tracks come up pretty often. I’m liking them more and more. I can see that the whole thing at once might be a bit much, try it in small chunks. As for me, famous jazz albums like Bitches Brew don’t work for me, maybe because I’m tone deaf and miss most of what is going on. However, John McLaughlin’s jazz/rock fusion albums as Mahavishnu Orchestra are wonderfully listenable, and have been played frequently since they came out. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/25 "2011-06-03T20:21:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **ummagumma** is the reason I’m a Pink Floyd fan. Unfortunate, “self-indulgent” these days means " longer than my 3-minute attention Span." Hey, me too. It’s the only Pink Floyd I own on CD. I was also going to say Radiohead’s _Kid A._ I like it and I think it is critically acclaimed but nobody I know will let me play it. My wife makes the sour face if I try to put it on in the car. For me it’s any Frank Zappa. Sure, they guy has plenty of cool but the music? Sounds to me like a bunch of drunk guys messing around. May be cool and funny if you can sit through it but who would buy more than one album? ---
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/26 "2011-06-03T20:30:54Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Hey, me too. It’s the only Pink Floyd I own on CD. > > For me it’s any Frank Zappa. Sure, they guy has plenty of cool but the music? Sounds to me like a bunch of drunk guys messing around. May be cool and funny if you can sit through it but who would buy more than one album? For FZ appreciation, I would recommend starting with Apostrophe and Overnight Sensation. Some great arrangements and superb shredding. IF you like that, then explore some of his other stuff, either earlier or later. He is a difficult artist to comprehend and he definately created his music for himself. I am one of his biggest fans, but I only like and listen to some of it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/27 "2011-06-03T20:36:23Z")
I haven’t been able to stand anything U2 has made since _Joshua Tree_, and several of those have been well-reviewed. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/28 "2011-06-03T20:51:45Z")
Sting. I can’t speak to the actual albums because, ya know, I don’t like him and I don’t know them; but everything he’s done solo that I’ve heard I just can’t get with. Pretentious Crap-Ola. mmm (Metal Machine Music) ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/29 "2011-06-03T20:53:31Z")
I own _Trout Mask Replica_, but have only listened to it once, so I suppose I concur with the general consensus here. (_Lick My Decals Off Baby_ is much more enjoyable.) Same with _Bitches Brew._ - listened once, back in the rack, collecting dust. A few that I’ve heard that aren’t necessarily unlistenable, but I don’t see the acclaim as warranted, and although I own(ed) them, I won’t listen anymore: Television - _Marquee Moon_ The Zombies - _Odyssey and Oracle_ Liz Phair - _Exile In Guyville_ Beach Boys - _Smile_ Not a big fan of Zappa either. \*Astral Weeks \*and _Forever Changes_ are two of my favorite albums. Side note: Funny, I was just thinking about starting a similar thread yesterday, along the lines of “I Love \_\_\_\_\_\_\_'s Music, But \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Is Just Too Weird For Me” ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/30 "2011-06-03T20:56:47Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Sting. I can’t speak to the actual albums because, ya know, I don’t like him and I don’t know them; but everything he’s done solo that I’ve heard I just can’t get with. Pretentious Crap-Ola. > mmm (Metal Machine Music) But I don’t think Sting’s exactly a critical darling. (Personally, I like him more and more with every critical potshot lobbed his way. But that’s just my opinion.) ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/31 "2011-06-03T21:41:30Z")
Growing up in the UK I listened to loads of US music, and was quite prepared to overlook awfulness if it came in a New York avante garde noise package. _The Swans_ spring to mind as a critically-lauded band who were a really challenging listen - get the feeling that the joke was on the listener with music journalists pissing themselves over the whole thing. _Raping a slave_, _filth_ etc - a lot of bolloxology really. I had one of their more contemplative efforts - _Children of God_, that was worth a listen though. The Swans are often grouped with Sonic Youth, just because of the whole NY noise thing. SY are in a different league though - brilliantly influential band whose 80s stuff is still worth a listen nowadays. Their awesome-ness swept along a lot of dodgy bands around that time. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/32 "2011-06-03T22:05:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh - another one that comes to mind is the CD by The Breeders - the Pixies’ Kim Deal’s side band with her non-playing twin sister on lead guitar ;). It had a big hit on it - Cannonball - but a lot of that CD is out there… The album “Last Splash” was pretty mainstream - with Drivin on 9 and One Divine Hammer, is that’s the album you’re thinking of. It was alot more accessible than anything the Pixies ever did. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/33 "2011-06-03T22:27:57Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > It was alot more accessible than anything the Pixies ever did. And wayyyy more accessible than _Title TK_, **The Breeders** even more experiemental 3rd album. Love the **Pixies/Breeders** , but that one was fairly unlistenable to me. Then again I don’t believe it was lauded by the press, either. _Astral Weeks_ is big another favorite of mine :). **Frank Zappa** and **Television** ’s _Marquee Moon_, too. But I will join the club re: _Bitches Brew_. Self-indulgent mess, even beyond that typical tendency in jazz fusion. My big failing in critically acclaimed taste is apparently **The Flaming Lips**. I’ve tried to wade through _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ several times without success. It’s my The Worm Ouroboros ( a book I simply can’t finish ) of albums. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/34 "2011-06-03T23:13:10Z")
\*\*The Beatles “White Album” \*\*. It of course has some immortal gems on it, but experimental clunkers are sifted throughout and, as an album experience, it utterly fails. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/35 "2011-06-03T23:52:41Z")
Besides Captain Beefheart’s “Trout Mask Replica”, I say Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. Never understood the huge popularity and critical acclaim for this. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/36 "2011-06-03T23:54:41Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > …Beach Boys - _Smile_… (technically, Brian Wilson) Good call. I was really looking forward to this album based on the Mountain O Acclaim it received pre-release. I’ve listened to it twice, and it’s doing nothing for me. Maybe I need some quality time with it (we’ll get a room); I’m not about to throw it on the Trout Mask pile just yet. I also love Astral Weeks, I’m leaning toward liking Forever Changes (though I don’t quite get why folks slobber over it), and I think Exile in Guyville is a masterpiece. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/37 "2011-06-03T23:55:32Z")
> [@dbx820](#): > > **Bitches Brew–Miles Davis.** I have tried and tried but can’t get through it–and I love jazz and his other stuff. That’s the first one that occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/38 "2011-06-03T23:56:59Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > \*\*The Beatles “White Album” \*\*. It of course has some immortal gems on it, but experimental clunkers are sifted throughout and, as an album experience, it utterly fails. _ **Blasfemer!!!** _ 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/39 "2011-06-04T00:13:22Z")
> [@Dietrich\_K](#): > > I find the vast majority of **Sonic Youth** ’s output nigh unlistenable, most especially _Daydream Nation_. That’s one of my favorite albums. There’s some really interesting stuff going on there, instrumentally. You just have to get past the fact that nobody in Sonic Youth can sing worth a damn. > [@WordMan](#): > > Oh - another one that comes to mind is the CD by The Breeders - the Pixies’ Kim Deal’s side band with her non-playing twin sister on lead guitar . It had a big hit on it - Cannonball - but a lot of that CD is out there… I’ve got both Breeders albums. I quite like some of the songs on them. But the musicianship wasn’t that great. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/40 "2011-06-04T00:20:02Z")
Scott Walker’s later albums. Sounds like a herd of cats being put through a meat grinder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202.md?page=3)