# What's the Highlander 2 of music albums? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 23, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977 "2023-10-23T21:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/61 "2023-10-25T08:14:38Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Not sure you’ll find many others thinking it is the one Radiohead album to give a pass. Did you like the other Radiohead albums? They were one of my favourite bands for a while, seen them live a couple of times. But Kid A just felt like self indulgent nonsense. I’ll dig out the CD and give it another go! ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/62 "2023-10-25T10:05:58Z")
I think a lot of people wish U2’s Songs of Innocence never existed. Or they wish it never existed in their iTunes library, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/63 "2023-10-25T14:14:09Z")
Dream Theater has been one of my favorite bands for more than 30 years. They started going downhill after Mike Portnoy left the band. The first two albums after he left were ok, but nowhere near the level of their previous stuff. But those albums aren’t my nominations. When they started working on their third post-Portnoy album, word came out that it would be a concept album, and a double album to boot. How exciting! They are finally returning to form! Nope. _The Astonishing_ was utter dreck. I tried to like it, but sometime during my third listen I stopped and never tried again. I think they’ve put out two albums since then. I’ve never bothered to check them out. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/64 "2023-10-25T15:25:33Z")
Oh man, how did I forget this one? After the Velvet Underground disintegrated, one member was left standing. Was it Lou Reed? No, it was Doug Yule, and he made one last VU album. This album is still widely hated by VU fans, though it did later lead to the naming of a great band. > **[Squeeze (The Velvet Underground album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_(The_Velvet_Underground_album))** > > Squeeze is the fifth and final studio album by The Velvet Underground, recorded in the autumn of 1971 and released in Feb 1973 by Polydor Records. The album features Doug Yule from the Lou Reed-era lineup of the group, who wrote and recorded the album almost entirely by himself. Yule had joined the Velvet Underground (replacing founding member John Cale) in October 1968, prior to the band recording their self-titled third album, and Yule had also contributed significantly to the fourth album, L... ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/65 "2023-10-25T15:45:48Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Oh man, how did I forget this one? After the Velvet Underground disintegrated, one member was left standing. Was it Lou Reed? No, it was Doug Yule, and he made one last VU album. > > This album is still widely hated by VU fans, though it did later lead to the naming of a great band. That album is extremely out of print, and it may have even only been issued in the U.K. As a Velvets fan (not fanatic, but still serious) I looked for it for years, and _finally_ found the CD while on a trip to London. I got it home and…it wasn’t awful. Not a patch on _Loaded_, doesn’t sound at all like the VU, but a passable if unmemorable piece of plastic. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/66 "2023-10-25T16:13:48Z")
“Squeeze” is a great example. I’ve known about this album long before I even had the regular VU albums, but I never bothered to look for it, and also never saw it in the old days of record stores when browsing for records was one of my favorite pleasures. So I’ve never listened to it, but I just checked if it’s on the streaming service I’ve subscribed to (Deezer), and indeed they have it. Must give it a try some time when I’m really bored. And this album reminded me of the two post-Morrison Doors albums with Ray Manzarek on lead vocals. I never cared much for the Doors, but has any Doors fan even bothered to listen to them? ETA: and I just learned that the band Squeeze named themselves after that obscure VU album. Thanks, @Maserschmidt, for this nice piece of trivia! ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/67 "2023-10-25T16:59:24Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And this album reminded me of the two post-Morrison Doors albums with Ray Manzarek on lead vocals. I never cared much for the Doors, but has any Doors fan even bothered to listen to them? In the same category are the records Big Brother and the Holding Company made after Janis left. There are probably many examples of lousy records being made after some of the original members left, like Cut The Crap, mentioned above. Also, don’t forget Mardi Gras by Creedence. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/68 "2023-10-25T17:10:37Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > _Van Halen III_ released in 1998 and the only one with Gary Cherone (of Extreme) as the lead vocalist is derided by Van Halen fans. Raises hand - I am a die-hard VH fan and I deride this effort. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/69 "2023-10-25T19:00:33Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Squeeze” is a great example. I’ve known about this album long before I even had the regular VU albums, but I never bothered to look for it, and also never saw it in the old days of record stores when browsing for records was one of my favorite pleasures. So I’ve never listened to it, but I just checked if it’s on the streaming service I’ve subscribed to (Deezer), and indeed they have it. Must give it a try some time when I’m really bored. I’m just listening to it, and actually it’s quite cool. Of course it was ridiculous to release it as a Velvet Underground album, but if it had been promoted as a Doug Yule solo album, I think it would have a much better reputation today. It’s really not a bad album. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/70 "2023-10-25T20:53:55Z")
After reading the rest of the thread, this is now my vote. Many of the others are intentionally poor contractual-obligation or label-defiance albums. VHIII was genuinely intended to be great, by a band with a terrific winning streak–4 number 1 US albums in a row prior to this. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/71 "2023-10-25T23:53:38Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Very few tracks that make me get up and fast-forward to the next \*, let alone skip the rest of the album. I skip the entire fourth side. It’s become obvious over time that “fascist Pink” is actually Waters’ idea of the hero. As for The Final Cut, I think The Gunner’s Dream and the title track are some of “Floyd’s” best songs. Despite ol Rog’s best efforts to make a political screed album. ---
**Author:** ![martyg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@martyg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martyg)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977/72 "2023-11-02T21:48:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How does Metal Machine Music fit in? No one ever says anything nice about it. It’s the big introduction of long-form process music dressed up as rock music. I have big ears for that sort of music, and I would think of this as easy listening as I do the Beatles “Revolution 9.” This is not a spritzo. I mean that 100%. I heard all the hype and halfway through the second side i thought, okay, this is not going to get nearly as ugly as people think it is, and it never did. It just sounds like processed tapes of a funny noise a guitar makes to me. When “Revolution 9” hit, those who were familiar with process music shrugged and said “oh the Beatles are doing it now.” Those who hadn’t wrote an awful lot of bullshit about it. Same thing with Reed, except it was an entire album. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-highlander-2-of-music-albums/991977.md?page=3)