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.
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."
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” and Young’s acoustic arrangement of “Transformer Man” 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” and the un-electro’ed “Like an Inca” for the CD reissue. And the four songs mentioned are just all good Neil songs IMO.
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.
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?
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.
I haven’t been able to stand anything U2 has made since Joshua Tree, and several of those have been well-reviewed.
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)
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”
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.)
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.
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.
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.
**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.
Besides Captain Beefheart’s “Trout Mask Replica”, I say Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. Never understood the huge popularity and critical acclaim for this.
(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
That’s the first one that occurred to me.
Blasfemer!!!
mmm
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.
I’ve got both Breeders albums. I quite like some of the songs on them. But the musicianship wasn’t that great.
Scott Walker’s later albums. Sounds like a herd of cats being put through a meat grinder.