The Download Spiral by Nine Inch Nails is supposed to be Trent’s masterpiece; it got rave reviews when it was released; I’ve seen polls calling it the #2 album of the 1990s (behind Nevermind), and yet other than Closer and Hurt I find it unlistenable. I own it, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it all the way through in one sitting. I need to rip the hits and sell it to the used CD store.
Count me in with the Radiohead’s-OK-but-what’s-with-all-the-worship crowd. A co-worker lent me Hail to the Thief, which was OK, but just OK.
I love the Rolling Stones, but I just can’t get into Beggar’s Banquet, outside of Stray Cat Blues, Street Fighting Man, and Sympathy for the Devil
Well, even most Radiohead fans will tell you that Hail to the Thief was “OK, but inconsistent” or “good, but not amazing”. Have you listened to The Bends/OK Computer/Kid A? Those are their best albums by far.
I feel like a traitor to my generation because I can’t get behind Dark Side of the Moon. I checked it out of the library recently to see if I’d like it any better after 30 years.
Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde. It’s supposed to be this great, classic album, but I just can’t get into it; it leaves me cold. I’m not a particular fan of Dylan in general, but I do like some of his stuff (Blood On the Tracks, Oh Mercy).
RE: What’s the deal with The Clash period?
OK, I’ll take a pop at this one. The clash were punks, but were intelligent, articulate people. They were at the spearhead of a very unusual cross-fertilisation between punk and reggae. You can see this in the dubby or reggae production on many clash songs, and of course Bob Marley wrote “Punky Reggae Party” after spending time in London and experiencing the punk / reggae scene. We could go into the whole mutual understanding between punks and Jamaicans in UK society at the time, how they both felt marginalized and wanted to fight against Babylon etc, but I’m not really qualified.
They were an alternative to the Pistols, etc. who had bags of attitude, but beyond “Never Mind….” didn’t actually do anything you’d want to listen to, like the majority of their peers, who could strut and sneer like demons, but couldn’t actually play or write music.
I personally think that the Clash write great tunes. However, songs like “I fought the Law” “The guns of Brixton” and “London Calling” are explicitly political and concern themselves with the issues facing young people, particularly Londoners, who felt excluded. “Stagger Lee” is a song that has a history as long as your arm, and its inclusion on London Calling is another example of how musically literate the band were.
Ultimately, you either like the music and find that the lyrics speak to you, or you don’t. If you don’t get that visceral appeal, fair enough.
I don’t think the studio albums do justice to The Clash. I love London Calling (the album), but the live album I have (From Here to Eternity) is much, much better.
But what do I know? I routinely get Lost in the Supermarket stuck in my head.
Another Radiohead person here. Fake Plastic Trees is a good song but everything else does hit the mark for me. The drums on OK Computer irritate me immensely, they sound awful, sort of hazy and indistinct, espesially the snare.
I’m a big prog-rock fan, and yet, other than a few songs, I’ve never been a big fan of Yes or early Genesis- which of course are two of the biggest 70’s prog groups. I mean, I love some of their songs, but overall I just greatly prefer other bands.
Everyone already said most of mine, so I’ll add P J Harvey’s “Rid of me”. What the hell was that all about? Got raves when new, but I never liked it, so I got “rid of it” on eBay.
How is Rap like Porn? Both are better with the sound turned off.
It wasn’t a CD when I had it (it was a tape), but Brain Salad Surgery by Emerson, Lake and Palmer was something I was supposed to love and was supposed to be great but I just didn’t like it.
