Ah, UK Squeeze… I heard Cale was a bit of a nutter. “Take Me I’m Yours,” of course, is a classic, as is “Strong in Reason.” Hearing Difford and Tilbrook talk about the experience is something, though…
CD: John was dangerous! He took us from being young boys nervous about recording to young lads even more nervous about recording. His ability to try things was just what we needed and often we found ourselves experimenting with arrangements, like kids in a science class. At the time I scratched my head in fear, but looking back I’m so pleased he made us do things that were way out of our depth."
GT: "I remember he threw out all the songs we had and insisted we wrote new ones! He gave us titles and things to write about. He suggested that the LP title be Gay Guys and told Chris to write a song about a muscle man. The album we made was more a reflection of John than us to be fair.
Whole heartedly DISAGREE. With the possible exception of a couple bootlegs I have, “Live at Leeds” is The live Who album. The extended remaster is awesome. “Magic Bus” alone makes the album a masterpiece - truly captured the energy of a live performance.
The relatively recent “Live at Isle of Wight” is a close second, but I still prefer “Live at Leeds”.
For worst in the Who catalogue, I’d have to go with “Endless Wire”. Although you could argue this isn’t so much a “Who” album as it is a “Pete and Roger” album.
Echoing others upthread, Bungle in the Jungle is pretty terrible lite pop for Tull, whereas Skating Away is one of the greatest songs of all time. Songs from the Wood is killer with zero filler.
Agreed as well, that Presto is Rush’s worst album - forgettable fluff. Roll the Bones sounds much like Presto, but with a little more guitars, plus rapping. Also bad.
I loved Presto and Roll the bones (though the rapping in the latter has dated a bit, it’s actually really good lyrics which makes up for it). The bass is heavy, it’s the funky end of the spectrum but still great to me. The songs are good. I sing along to their songs after listening to them.
I can see Hold your fire being held as the worst (despite me liking it). Was that the one with barely any guitar? I don’t notice such things.
Vapour Trails, however, was the last one I checked in for a long time (clearly because it took a while to make more). I now look at the track list and don’t recognise a single song.
However, I don’t remember disliking it. I tried my damndest (like listening 15 times each) to Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels, and while I recognise that Clockwork Angels is possibly better than S&A, Geddy’s voice is gone. Completely. I can’t listen to him sing. It’s like me singing Geddy after fifteen pints
While the function of time might be unfair in the rating systems, those two are albums which I will only ever listen to again “in an attempt to like a single song” and his voice might make Clockwork Angels a never again.
Looking at the discography, I can’t remember much from Test for Echo and Counterparts, but I’m pretty sure if I stick those on, I will remember them. Ok, not for Test for Echo, but yes to Counterparts.
It appears to me the last good Rush album is Counterparts and it’s just down to which one with the most bland, and purely due to voice, Clockwork Angels.
The worst Roth-era album is definitely not Diver Down, other than the cheesy cover songs it has some gems and is still better than A Different Kind of Truth.
The worse Van Hagar album is definitely Balance… again there is some great material that works better live than on the studio recordings.
Either way, Van Halen III is by far the worse Van Halen album. It was the perfect combination of drugs, alcohol, control and ego. It could have been an EVH solo album.
Hold Your Fire is an excellent, stylish, uplifting, powerful and virtuosic Prog Pop album. Power Windows is even better, among the best Rush ever did. I had to listen to that one a dozen times before I realized the truth.
I wish Geddy had returned to the badass bass sound and style of his of the 80’s before Rush ended.
I found myself quite disappointed by In for the Kill, a truly sad followup to Never Turn Your Back on a Friend which was one of the most solid prog rock albums ever released (with a delightfully ambiguous title). Really, aside from that masterpiece album, the rest of Budgie’s material tends to be a little on the thin side.
I like Tusk a lot. It was a conscious effort by Lindsey Buckingham to get away from Rumours, against the wishes of the execs, and try some lo-fi post-punky experimental stuff, instead of just continuing to crank out smooth radio-friendly hits. And I think it worked, mostly. Just a guess on my part, but I think it became a double album to accommodate Lindsey’s experimental stuff, plus the more conventional songs the other members of the band wanted to do.
I have an app that gives my average rating for each album, so many CDs now have bonus tracks that greatly reduce the average! Bands hurting their legacy. But ignoring the bonus tracks:
Yes - Union
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an exhibition (I know, I won’t be popular for that!)
Richad Thompson: Strict Tempo
The Who: Who Are You
Fleetwood Mac - Any live album (saw them live without Buckingham - very disappointing.)
Pink Floyd - Final Cut
Genesis - Abacab
@Shoeless
Richard Thompson has been around long enough and put out so much outstanding material that he’s earned the right to a dud or two. “Front Parlour Ballads” was an entire album of acoustic ballads, and boy does it get tedious after the first few tracks.
I quite like Front Parlour Ballads. you? me? us? is the Richard Thompson album that I listened to once and filed away to gather dust.
Hot Space by Queen. Except for “Under Pressure” tacked onto the end, it’s almost unlistenable. And sandwiched as it is between The Game and The Works (I’m skipping the Flash Gordon soundtrack), it really stands out in a bad way in the discography.
I also love Billy Bragg to death, but Don’t Try This At Home is a tough slog. It has two absolutely brilliant tracks (“Sexuality” and “Accident Waiting to Happen”) but the rest is a total dull drone.
