# Really lousy albums by really good bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455 "2020-06-11T14:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/61 "2020-06-12T23:07:10Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Are you kidding? Drama is much better than Tormato. Granted Drama is harder, but very good. Machine Messiah and Into the Lens are fabulous songs. Since we’re mentioning covers, I’ve always loved the story behind the “Tormato” cover. Never actually listened to it, though. “90125” was a terrible album. The hits were great songs, and the rest was meh. ---
**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 12, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/62 "2020-06-12T23:29:05Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Many R.E.M. fans consider 2001’s “Reveal” to be their best work. MANY? Surely there are a few oddly idiosyncratic fans out there that prefer **Reveal** _to all other REM albums_ because, I mean, hell - you can find people who love Lou Reed’s **Metal Machine Music** and Neil Young’s **Arc** :D. But _many_? I mean, better than **Around the Sun**? Yeah, okay - I could but that. Best post-Bill Berry? Tougher argument, but arguable I suppose. But best is a pretty high bar. It doesn’t even scrape the top 10 IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/63 "2020-06-12T23:42:29Z")
Judas Priest’s **Turbo.** It’s like they said “It’s 1985, so we’ve got to start using synths.” it (and it’s phoned-in follow up **Ram it Down** ) pushed them to significantly overhaul their image and sound for the much better received **Painkiller.** ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/64 "2020-06-13T00:38:05Z")
I found Genesis’ “Genesis” album to have more than its quotient of good songs; even side two had “Silver Rainbow”. I came in to mention Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Love Beach” but was beaten to it. That horror _was_ a contractual obligation that they mostly phoned in before disbanding. From Wikipedia: "Writing in Rolling Stone magazine at the time of the album’s release, reviewer Michael Bloom said that “Love Beach isn’t simply bad; it’s downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/65 "2020-06-13T02:02:06Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Since we’re mentioning covers, I’ve always loved the story behind the “Tormato” cover. Never actually listened to it, though. > > “90125” was a terrible album. The hits were great songs, and the rest was meh. Just listened to 90125. First 6 songs are amazing and the last 3 are decent enough. It’s a 1980s album and definitely sounds it. It sure isn’t Topographic Oceans, but I’m glad for it ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/66 "2020-06-13T02:18:29Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Sorry, but you’re both wrong here 😃 > > _The Final Cut is not a great album, but it’s definitely not “really lousy.” Both the title cut and Fletcher Memorial Home are stellar tracks, Not Now John kicks out the jams, The Gunner’s Dream is gorgeous, and Two Suns in the Sunset_ is a pleasantly unpleasant finish. However uneven, no album with those songs on it can be considered really lousy. > > I mean, sure, if you’re not into political statements in your rock, then this album is not for you, but that doesn’t make it bad. _The Final Cut_ isn’t a bad album due to political statements. “Not Now John” is kind of okay. “Gunner’s Dream” didn’t leave any impact on me whatsoever. I’m listening to it now to remind me of it. ==\> “Gunner’s Dream” warbly whiny vocals, repetitive musical phrases, nothing particularly poignant, then @ “hold on to the dream” the vocalist stubs his toe and shrieks in pain. Definitely a track to skip. In the weeks after I purchased _The Final Cut_, I kept starting over with a fresh listen, thinking maybe my total failure to be impressed was a function of some particular mood or physical discomfort I’d been in, but nope. The one track I kept going back to and playing by itself, and liking, was “One of the Few”. Eerie and haunting. But short, damned short. Matters of taste tend to be rooted in the general mesh of what one likes and what one doesn’t. I’d say my vote for _second most disappointing_ PF album was _Momentary Lack of Reason_. It gave me nothing that I liked that I didn’t already have from _Delicate Sound of Thunder_ (the live album) which is in third place of disappointingness (the live versions are better): On DST I’d listen to the opening of “Sorrow” then skip to “Dogs of War” then “On The Turning Away” and skip the rest. MLR had less good copies of the same songs and other skippables. Another album I didn’t care so much for when I first heard it but which grew on me: _More_. Somewhat better than that but not among their very best: _Obscured by Clouds_, _Relics_. I like _Ummagumma_’s interesting & weird solo bits (“Grand Vizier’s Party”, “Narrow Way”, “Sisyphus”, and yes “Several Species etc Grooving w/Pict”) but wasn’t blown away by Yet Another Copy of “Astronomy Domine”, “Careful With That Axe”, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” and “Saucerful of Secrets”. The real winners for me are _Piper at the Gates of Dawn_, _A Saucerful of Secrets_, _Meddle_, _Atom Heart Mother_, _Dark Side of the Moon_, _Wish You Were Here_, _Animals_, and _The Wall_. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/67 "2020-06-13T02:23:50Z")
> [@mack](#): > > **Shakedown Street** is chock full of concert staples besides the title track - Fire on the Mountain, Good Lovin’ , I Need A Miracle, Stagger Lee (maybe), Minglewood Blues. Maybe the album wasn’t well-received but a lot of the songs went on to glory. Yeah, but all of those songs (plus “Dancing in the Streets”) were in heavy concert rotation BEFORE 1978. There was really no reason to release dance-beat crap studio versions. BTW, I really love “Stagger Lee,” the Garcia-Hunter rewrite of the old folk song, one of the finest examples of “old weird America” in the Dead songbook. Stagger Lee kills Billy DeLyon after Billy wins his lucky Stetson hat in a craps game. Billy’s woman Delia goes to find Stagger Lee at the bar and flirts with him, asking him to “buy me a gin fizz, stud.” Which leads to the classic lines — As Stagger Lee lit a cigarette She shot him in the balls Blew the smoke off her revolver Had him dragged to City Hall ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/68 "2020-06-13T03:01:55Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > If I had to pick one stinker by **Yes** … > > Is it _90125_? Or _Big Generator_? Nope, neither. Both of those albums have a handful of good tracks. _Tormato_? Nah, it’s not as well-liked as their classics, but it’s a decent album. _Talk_? Maybe, but “Endless Dream” redeems the album from total turd-dom. That last studio album they did in 2014, with Jon Whatshisface-not-Anderson? Well, yeah, not that great an album, but… > > No, they made an album far, far worse than any of those. It was so bad, a lot of people might not even know it exists. I do my best to pretend it isn’t in their discography. I am talking about none other than _Open Your Eyes_. > [@dalej42](#): > > Drama is by far Yes’ worst album. I quite like 90125, it’s been forever since I heard Big Generator. Thank you Thank you Thank you for not citing _Tales from Topographic Oceans_. I love that album and I love it more each time I listen to it. But then my favorite movie is _Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me_. Two instances in which the critics didn’t know what they were talking about. I was semi-disappointed—no, more than semi-disappointed, but less than fully disappointed—in _Tormato_. Sure it has some OK music, but it’s a let-down compared to its nearest neighbor, _Going for the One_. I didn’t buy any more Yes albums after that until _Keys to Ascension_ and _KTA II_. In 1978 I was fully disappointed at what had happened to Genesis with _And Then There Were Three_. I never bought another Genesis album again. So that’s my entry for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/69 "2020-06-13T04:20:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I found Genesis’ “Genesis” album to have more than its quotient of good songs; even side two had “Silver Rainbow”. > > I came in to mention Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Love Beach” but was beaten to it. That horror _was_ a contractual obligation that they mostly phoned in before disbanding. From Wikipedia: "Writing in Rolling Stone magazine at the time of the album’s release, reviewer Michael Bloom said that “Love Beach isn’t simply bad; it’s downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison.” 😃 Emerson himself apologized to ELP’s fanbase for the album. As I remember it, he said that beside everything else that was wrong about LB, the album had “a complete lack of balls” which crippled what moments _might_ have had potential. Ironic, in light of that ridiculous beefcake cover photo. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/70 "2020-06-13T04:21:11Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > MANY? Surely there are a few oddly idiosyncratic fans out there that prefer **Reveal** _to all other REM albums_ because, I mean, hell - you can find people who love Lou Reed’s **Metal Machine Music** and Neil Young’s **Arc** :D. But _many_? I, too, would be fascinated to lay eyes upon a member of this previously unknown subclass of R.E.M. fan … preferably from behind a sheet of bulletproof glass and with armed guards on either side of me, just in case said member became agitated and tried to attack. _Reveal_ is a disappointing album that benefits immensely from coming between the two crummiest releases in the band’s discography. It’s got a couple of highlights, I guess. “Imitation of Life” is a great single, and “The Lifting” is one of the few times the band really nailed the keyboard- and electronics-heavy direction they were pursuing at the time. But I’ve never heard anybody give it a great deal of love. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/71 "2020-06-13T22:22:48Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > MANY? Surely there are a few oddly idiosyncratic fans out there that prefer **Reveal** _to all other REM albums_ because, I mean, hell - you can find people who love Lou Reed’s **Metal Machine Music** and Neil Young’s **Arc** :D. But _many_? > > I mean, better than **Around the Sun**? Yeah, okay - I could but that. Best post-Bill Berry? Tougher argument, but arguable I suppose. > > But best is a pretty high bar. It doesn’t even scrape the top 10 IMHO. I like “Around the Sun” but haven’t listened to it in ages. Guess I should blow the dust off it and do so. Many of the people on one of their Facebook pages sure like it. 😕 Don’t think I’ve seen Neil Young’s “Trans” on this list. That was an early 80s foray into electronica. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/72 "2020-06-13T22:41:00Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Don’t think I’ve seen Neil Young’s “Trans” on this list. That was an early 80s foray into electronica. Still not his worst. Gotta give the man credit for putting himself on the line to try something new. Side One isn’t much to talk about, but Side Two has some good stuff on it (keeping in mind that Neil is infatuated with the vocoder on this release.) I might be a bit biased because I saw Neil on this tour and he rocked. ---
**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 14, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/73 "2020-06-14T03:24:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Still not his worst. Gotta give the man credit for putting himself on the line to try something new. Side One isn’t much to talk about, but Side Two has some good stuff on it (keeping in mind that Neil is infatuated with the vocoder on this release.) > > I might be a bit biased because I saw Neil on this tour and he rocked. “Trans” isn’t a complete success, but a bold and interesting foray of a classic rock artist into the world of Kraftwerk et al. “Landing On Water” OTOH was a disastrous exercise in 80s studio production values with synths as shlocky and unfitting to his music as could be. Neil Young did more studio albums than most, with many masterpieces and some clunkers, but “Landing On Water” was his nadir. Re: R.E.M.: “Reveal” was already bad, with “Imitations Of Life” the only redeeming song (though it actually sounded as if they were covering themselves, but regarding the title maybe that was a clever ploy or an in-joke, I don’t know), but “Around The Sun” was awful. I maybe listened twice to the album, though I I’m a great fan. I remember how disappointed I was. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/74 "2020-06-14T14:54:35Z")
ELO’s live album, “The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach,” is unlistenable on vinyl; all you can hear is snare drum and some vocals–really shitty mix. It was re-mastered for CD and it’s a 1000% improvement. Super live ELO. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/75 "2020-06-14T16:17:42Z")
It isn’t a timeless classic, but off of Reveal I like the aforementioned IoL, Saturn Return (weird whistle effects aside), Disappear, She Just Wants to Be, All the Way to Reno, & I’ll Take the Rain. Overall, I’ve found REM to have the smallest standard deviation in song quality of any artist I know of: they’ve never crafted anything mindblowingly awesome, but even their less stellar cuts typically manage to work somehow. [Floyd for ex. I would put at the other end of the spectrum] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/76 "2020-06-15T20:29:47Z")
As a Dylan fan of the period-- I drifted away when Bob became a Family Man and (briefly) a Jesus Freak-- I was disappointed with “Planet Waves” (1974). I was all the more disappointed because I’m also a huge fan of The Band, and was thrilled to attend the Dylan/Band “Before the Flood” tour show at the Spectrum in Philly. Dylan sort of repudiated, or dismissed that tour afterwards-- IIRC, retrospectively saying that the overall “sound” was too loud or noisy. I also recall criticism that the vocals were too over-the-top-- more shouted than sung. I mention the live album because it raised my expectations for “Planet Waves”. To again echo critics, The Band was crisp and tight in the studio-- the term “professional” was used-- and Bob’s vocals were OK. But there wasn’t any of the “magic”, or special chemistry, left over from the “Basement Tapes” collaboration. I guess this was when Bob entered his songwriting slump, because “Forever Young” was the only outstanding “keeper” on the album. This may well be a case of coming to an album with too-high expectations, but over the years, apart from “Forever Young” the songs seem forced and mediocre. (Yes, I know some people hate “Forever Young”, and dispute my claim that it’s a “keeper”). I won’t discuss every track, since I doubt anyone remembers them anyway, but they don’t wear well over the years. For instance, “Something There Is About You” strikes me as a ripoff (lyrical ideas, not the music) of George Harrison’s “Something”. And although some fans and critics find them sublime and exquisite, I never could get into Dylan’s stream-of-consciousness doggerel, e.g. “Dirge” and “Wedding Song”. It doesn’t compare to his relatively psychedelic poetic stream-of-consciousness period. Perhaps it’s just a case of expecting magic, and getting well-performed “meh”. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/77 "2020-06-15T20:59:10Z")
Planet Waves has two main problems: lousy material and Robbie Robertson’s guitar. He just never stops playing – over the verses, over the choruses, solos… That said, I love the bridge to Going Going Gone: Grandma says go and follow your heart/You know you’ll be fine at the end of the line/all that’s gold doesn’t shine/don’t you and your own true love ever part (from memory, might not be 100% accurate)… ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/78 "2020-06-15T21:03:57Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > _Mardi Gras_ by Creedence Clearwater Revival. That’s the one where the bassist and drummer insisted on writing songs, which are godawful. The rest is Fogerty phoning it in as his band dies, except for “Tomorrow Never Comes”, which is great. > > [Behold, Stu Cook (the bassist)'s “Take It Like A Friend”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiMjORJuRWs) > > [Doug Clifford (the drummer)‘s "Tearin’ Up The Country".](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAAqLnuuKFw) From what I’ve read, it was Fogerty who insisted that Cook and Clifford share the song writing “burden” since they had complained about Fogerty taking total control of the band and calling all the shots. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455/79 "2020-06-15T21:06:42Z")
Good band: Vanilla Fudge Bad album: The Beat Goes On [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-lousy-albums-by-really-good-bands/855455.md?page=3)