# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/61 "2011-06-05T06:16:24Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > I may be alone in this, but the album “Merriweather Post Pavilion” by Animal Collective (Metacritic score of 89; made many critics’ 10-best lists of 2009) induces mild nausea in me whenever I try to listen to it all the way through. And I’m not saying this in a metaphorical “this stuff is so bad it makes me sick” way – I experience actual physical nausea. So this happens to other people, then? I experience an unpleasant physical reaction to the song “Happy New Year” by Oneida that makes me wonder if a song could induce seizures… And count me amongst the people who don’t get the aclaim over Animal Collective. I cannot believe that the cd has appeared on so many top ten lists, and feel like its inclusion is some sort of shared private joke for the reviewers. I hate Tom Waits’ voice, so I find all his music unlistenable as well. And I can’t even put a finger on why of the dozens of Sonic Youth songs that have been inflicted on me over the years, only one of them “umade bed” has grabbed me enough to ever want to hear it twice…and from the play count, it might literally be twice. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/62 "2011-06-05T06:35:09Z")
Radiohead lost me after _OK Computer_. I find most of their later stuff unlistenable. I have a great deal of difficulty listening to any Nine Inch Nails after _The Downward Spiral_, also. I may have to give it another try, though, since it’s been a few years. It’s not that I mind when a band switches direction or does the experimental thing (Ministry and Pantera are two of my favorite bands, and their early stuff is night and day from where they started), but with Radiohead that wasn’t the direction I was going. I’m surprised R.E.M. hasn’t shown up here, Most people I talk to say that they’ve been no good since _Up_, with a few holdouts saying that it’s been since _Automatic For The People_. I like their later stuff, myself. As with everything, tastes vary. I think we’re seeing that here. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/63 "2011-06-05T15:41:54Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I’m surprised R.E.M. hasn’t shown up here, Most people I talk to say that they’ve been no good since _Up_, with a few holdouts saying that it’s been since _Automatic For The People_. I like their later stuff, myself. As with everything, tastes vary. I think we’re seeing that here. To be perfectly honest, while I haven’t liked more than a song or two by them after _Monster_, I also haven’t heard any critical acclaim for albums after that either so I didn’t even think of them. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/64 "2011-06-05T16:14:20Z")
_ **St. Anger** _ by Metallica. Bad songs, produced with no guitar solos and so that Lars’ drum kit sounds like a bunch of tin cans. The only good thing that came out of this pile o’crap is the documentary **Some Kind Of Monster**. I remember that it (St. Anger) actually got some very good reviews when it was released, maybe from Rolling Stone. They must have not listened to it. ETA: [Yep, RS gave it 4/5 stars](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/st-anger-20030603). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/65 "2011-06-06T17:06:14Z")
By the way, I would have to say that it may be stretching it a bit to call _Metal Machine Music_ “critically acclaimed”. Yeah, Lester Bangs praised it, but I doubt he actually threw it on the turntable on a regular basis… I think he liked the _idea_ of the album more than the album itself. And I don’t know if any other major critic gushed over it. ---
**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 6, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/66 "2011-06-06T18:28:19Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Speaking of Bob Dylan… Surely an album or two of his has to make the list. The live album with the Dead I think would. Dreadful from start to finish, and that he put his very worst “protest” song, Joey, on it just figures. The religious ones seem to have at least a few reasonable tracks, though I’m biased against them and don’t listen to them much. Even **Self Portrait** has its moments. I don’t own the revenge album from Columbia, but I don’t think you can count it. ---
**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 6, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/67 "2011-06-06T18:31:13Z")
> [@inkling](#): > > I’ve heard other people say much the same, but if you make the patience to listen to it, all that “messing around” is incredibly tight. FZ was pretty famous for rehearsing a LOT and requiring musicians in the band to basically be superhuman. Anyone who wants to hear what real drunk (or stoned) messing around sounds like should check out the long “party” track on “His Satanic Majesties Request.” I am not responsible for brain damage. Possibly the worst track released by a major band, and I am definitely saying Revolution Number 9 is far, far better. ---
**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 6, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/68 "2011-06-06T20:20:17Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > …Speaking of Bob Dylan… Surely an album or two of his has to make the list. That would be his 1973 offering, [“Dylan”](http://www.allmusic.com/album/dylan-1973-r6428). I own it on LP and CD (don’t know why). mmm (ETA: Again I am taking liberties with the OP - it is not quite “unlistenable”, and it certainly was not critically acclaimed) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/69 "2011-06-06T21:01:25Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > That would be his 1973 offering, [“Dylan”](http://www.allmusic.com/album/dylan-1973-r6428). I own it on LP and CD (don’t know why). To be fair to Dylan, it wasn’t his “offering” – it was released without his permission. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/70 "2011-06-07T19:37:22Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > By the way, I would have to say that it may be stretching it a bit to call _Metal Machine Music_ “critically acclaimed”. Yeah, Lester Bangs praised it, but I doubt he actually threw it on the turntable on a regular basis… I think he liked the _idea_ of the album more than the album itself. And I don’t know if any other major critic gushed over it. That’s what I was going to say. Just about everyone acknowledges that MMM is unlistenable. It’s a mistake to look for deep meaning in a record that’s sole purpose was as a “fuck you” to his record company. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/71 "2011-06-07T22:06:35Z")
I’m actually surprised I’m going to be the first to mention Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire. Every hipster critic’s darling when it came out. I found it unlistenably dull. Not quite “argh, my head is dying” unlistenable, but…generally unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/72 "2011-06-07T23:32:43Z")
> [@5-HT](#): > > That’s what I was going to say. Just about everyone acknowledges that MMM is unlistenable. It’s a mistake to look for deep meaning in a record that’s sole purpose was as a “fuck you” to his record company. Metal Machine Music is precisely as unlistenable as a Jackson Pollock painting is unviewable. If Lou Reed mean it as a fuck you, he would hardly have toured, and released a live album, i[nspired by it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Machine_Trio) a couple of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/73 "2011-06-08T01:36:20Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Metal Machine Music is precisely as unlistenable as a Jackson Pollock painting is unviewable. If Lou Reed mean it as a fuck you, he would hardly have toured, and released a live album, i[nspired by it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Machine_Trio) a couple of years ago. Metal Machine Trio is very loosely based on MMM, it’s closer to freeform jazz than it is experimental noise music. The album has become famous for its weirdness though, so from a marketing standpoint it made sense to connect the two. Its been a decade since he last released an album that wasn’t live or a compilation or a gimmick so this fits right in. Even if one is to take Reed at his word that this was a serious attempt at something artistic, it still falls flat compared to the contemporary works of more serious noise/industrial groups, not to mention being several years behind the hipster trend he was imitating. The story that he was attempting to break his record contract might indeed be false, only he knows. When you look at his various statements at the time where he makes ridiculous claims about how influencial MMM was, or the massive list of musical instruments he claimed he used on it, only to later admit the list was made up, it all looks like a big gag. Especially considering that his music really was influencing all sorts of people at the time, specifically the music he made with Velvet Underground. Post-Underground his career was trending more and more towards commercial success rather than artistic greatness. And then he comes along and releases the least commercially viable record he can think of, after which his music goes right back to the way it was. And let’s not forget what Lou himself said about it. “Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am.” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/74 "2011-06-08T05:40:11Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > 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. I saw the Flaming Lips in concert several years ago (they opened up for Candlebox, of all people), and had never heard of the band prior to the concert. HATED them. Like Jewish people hate Hitler. Haven’t been able to stand them since, though that “Do You Realize?” song is okay. I’ll have to list Jewel’s _Pieces of You_. It has many fine songs on it, and I’ve said before that, if you listen to essentially every other song, it’s a damn fine album. But as a whole, it’s not nearly as good as the critics made it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/75 "2011-06-08T15:37:47Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > 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. The best thing about Title TK was a video they posted of the debut listening party, it was at a small VFW hall in rural/suburban Ohio. Very kitschy and yet I sat there and watched/listened to the whole thing. They’ve actually had 4 albums, Pod, Last Splash, Title TK, and Mountain Battles. The first 2 are best and the last 2 are…odd. But there are some good musical moments in there. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/76 "2011-06-08T16:37:56Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned PJ Harvey. She could queef into a microphone and get lauded by critics. A lot of people find Rid of Me unlistenable. I love her though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/77 "2011-06-08T17:26:12Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > _ **St. Anger** _ by Metallica. Bad songs, produced with no guitar solos and so that Lars’ drum kit sounds like a bunch of tin cans. The only good thing that came out of this pile o’crap is the documentary **Some Kind Of Monster**. I remember that it (St. Anger) actually got some very good reviews when it was released, maybe from Rolling Stone. They must have not listened to it. > > ETA: [Yep, RS gave it 4/5 stars](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/st-anger-20030603). Well, I’ll be. I guess _somebody_ had to like it. And, I’ll be damned, [Metacritic](http://www.metacritic.com/music/st-anger) gives it an overall 65. In addition to RS, apparently Spin and NME liked it, too. Wowza. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/78 "2011-06-08T22:58:53Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I saw the Flaming Lips in concert several years ago (they opened up for Candlebox, of all people), and had never heard of the band prior to the concert. HATED them. Like Jewish people hate Hitler. Haven’t been able to stand them since, though that “Do You Realize?” song is okay. They have done some stuff I don’t like so much. But if you find [Turn It On](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4En-PRK3x5c) unlistenable, well, you’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/79 "2011-06-08T23:19:13Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Radiohead-_Kid A_. I know they’re the critic’s darlings but I disliked it. Definitely _Kid A_. It turned me off of Radiohead for years. It took _In Rainbows_ for me to consider listening to them again. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202/80 "2011-06-09T11:22:06Z")
What about some [Einstürzende Neubauten](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einst%C3%BCrzende_Neubauten)? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsIW3M5p1o&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsIW3M5p1o&feature=related) I don’t know any of their albums, but I do know that they are: a) usually unlistenable b) critics’ darlings [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critically-acclaimed-albums-that-are-unlistenable/584202.md?page=5)