I can’t believe there are people who don’t like Anal Cunt.
Back in the seventies I was totally besotted by John Martyn, an English folkie guitarist. I had a number of his albums already when I spied one called ‘Sundays Child’. I ran home to play my new-found treasure, but it was the most atrocious thing I had ever heard in my entire life!! The music had ‘teched-up’ and the lyrics were unintelligable, sounding like the slurring of a drunk. (actually, after seeing him in concert a couple of years later, this was probably not far from the truth!!) I had wasted a whole $6.99 on something that brought tears (of pain) to my eyes.
Even now that I’ve got kids who listen to crappy music, ‘Sunday’s Child’ remains (in my list) as The Worst Album of all Time.
I think you have to keep one thing in mind when critiquing Geography…a majority of it was made in 1981!!! It’s not like they had loads of fancy synths to make it sound all refined. When you compare this album to the latter Kraftwerk albums, it sounds just about right. But if you compare it to Official Version or even Front By Front, it sounds like ass.
I love Body to Body…
Atom Heart Mother is one of Pink Floyd’s best, heathen.
The worst album I ever purchased–I’m in You by Peter Frampton. Complete with a mail order form for Peter Frampton posters and jewelry. That album ruined the nascent superstar’s career almost overnight.
That’s pretty funny if you listen to it while imagining him reading Green Eggs and Ham.
Well, I wouldnt exactly call it their WORST, but i’d say Atom Heart Mother is the second worst Floyd album, after (american) Ummagumma. Of course, I like all of them, so even Ummagumma has its good tracks.
Two most overrated albums of all time are Trout Mask Replica and The Velvet Underground and Nico. They are both considered seminal classics, and in fact both suck and blow at the same time.
Frogger’s Lament?
Do the Donkey Kong?
I’m Goin’ Berserk?
The title track?
No, no. This one’s not too back, actually.
I actually played one on air during my college days that was pretty bad. Photocopied liner notes and a casette with a typed label. Wish I could remember it now, because it was horrible.
-Myron
As someone who’s heard that Pac-Man Fever album all the way through probably 5-6 times, and enjoyed it (at the time), I’d be very open to its nomination for this thread.
Hey, I was 12.
I have to mention the single worst “soundtrack” album ever: The Dukes of Hazzard Soundtrack. Imagine James Best as Rosco P. Coltrane singing a song about his dog. Imagine the Dukes’ theme being sung by a group of barbershop quartet rejects. Now imagine spending 13.99 on it.
Thank you.
-brianjedi
Wow. I love Atom Heart Mother, pretty much the whole thing, and Acts II and III especially some of the solos when Joe is in prison. II and III may not be as funny as Act I, but musically, I find it both lush and convoluted – an odd combination if I may say so.
Far as worst, I remember a Gentle Giant album someone played for me once (mercifully I’ve forgotten any of the particulars) which was particularly putrid. When I saw Spinal Tap I was immediately jerked back to the experience during the Tap’s freeform jazz improvization.
Wow. Where’s Leonard Pinth-Garnell when you need him?
For (in)famous artists, I submit the plangent simile coined by Spider Robinson some years ago: “cleared the room like a Yoko Ono record.”
For semi-famous, I hesitantly bring up the notorius Mrs. Miller, a housewife with a nearly unlistenable warble, whose version of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” actually charted in 1966. Shudder.
For obscurities, let me second RealityChuck’s all-too-true observation. When a stack of records would come in to our little station, I would bravely listen to some of the most gawdawful crapola ever to inflict the ears of mankind. That includes stuff from major labels as well as minor labels, obscure labels and self-produced stuff.
But special mention goes to Guckenheimer’s Sour Kraut Band, which produced at least two albums for RCA (Music for Non-Thinkers and GSKB in Hi-Fi). The amazing story is told here, but the short version is that this was a takeoff German oompah band deliberately playing “sour” notes. Truly amazing stuff - tubas, reeds, accordians, etc. chugging along for several notes until – OUCH! More than 30 seconds of listening would make your back teeth ache. Yet, to find a clean copy at Amazon.com could set you back 60 bucks today, because it was so bad it extracted a sort of stunned fascination. A truly amazing experience.
The April 2000 issue of Maxim lists their 30 Worst Albums of All Time. Their number one is the soundtrack of the movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, featuring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton, among others, butchering Beatles’ tunes. Yoko Ono and Leonard Nimoy also cracked their top 10.
For me, Chaos and Disorder by (The Artist Formerly Known As) Prince is one I wish I’d never bought. Like the Lou Reed album noted above, it’s a contractual obligation album, and I have listened to it only once. Sad to see a real musical genius knocking off this level of crapulence just to get out of a contract.
As a side note, I think Mariah Carey’s Glitter album is the biggest money-losing bomb of all time, especially if you count the $28 million buyout that Sony gave her to release her from her contract.
Shee - I thought I was the only one who remembered Pac-Man Fever. Man I loved that record. Of course, I was a kid, then.
Funny that this thread got dug back up after 5-6 months. I actually listened to Atom Heart Mother since I wrote my previous post - just to see if what I said held up in my own mind - and you know what? I enjoyed a good bit of it. Huh.
Do I dare dig up “Geography”?
Nah.
Sandinista was a GREAT album astorian. Its not even the worst Clash album. That would be Combat Rock. Even the disowned Clash album Cut The Crap was better than that piece of garbage.
IMHO The worst album of all time was that Gleaming Spires Lp with"Are You Ready For The Sex Girls" Bad Stuff.
I second the horribleness of Throbbing Gristle. They make bands like Skinny Puppy or Neubauten seem as pop as Backstreet Boys.
Jon
I love Atom Heart Mother. I used to go to sleep to Side 1 frequently. Of course, I also loved Nebraska, so make of that what you will.
I’m gonna nominate Tin Machine’s self-titled first album. David Bowie joined a band. I was excited. I bought the album. I listened to it. I took it to a used record store and sold it before everybody could find out how incredibly bad it was. A pathetic attempt by Bowie to recapture his youth by joining a band and being loud.
I guess the most embarassing record in my collection is Angel: Live Without A Net. It sounds like a bad imitation of Frampton Comes Alive, which also sucks.
Worst album by a band I like: KISS: Crazy Nights.
Landing on Water by Neil Young. What a load of shite. Some artists should just stick to what they do best. Say what you want about NY’s music but he should never have ventured into the progressive rock genre.