# Your thoughts on the 'oddball' music albums- the experiments. Total flops? Or got a soft spot for them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 22, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370 "2025-04-22T16:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/1 "2025-04-22T16:54:35Z")
Inspired by these posts in the " [My thoughts on albums everybody has already heard.(recommendations accepted)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217)" thread: > [@My thoughts on albums everybody has already heard.(recommendations accepted)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/493): > > Do not play Hot Space. It is generally regarded as the worst Queen album of all time, not even any other is close. > [@My thoughts on albums everybody has already heard.(recommendations accepted)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/494): > > Hot Space is such an odd album. Of course it does include the David Bowie collaboration “Under Pressure” and the much maligned “Body Language” There is little guitar work and a whole lot of synthesized bass and drums. The dance pop sound just didn’t work for Queen as a band and maybe should have been a Freddie Mercury solo project. What albums do you nominate as the oddball, out there, experimental efforts by bands looking to stretch creatively, and what’s your opinion of them? Do you consider them unrecognized masterpieces? Or at least appreciate their quirky charm, or the band’s willingness to get out of their comfort zone? Or do you think the album’s a total failure and embarrassment? Or something in between? I’ll get things started with The Rolling Stones psychedelic answer to the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’: _Their Satanic Majesties Request_. At the time I was introduced to the album it was as a misbegotten teenage wanna-be rock musician who was turned on to the album by a classmate who was also a misbegotten teenage wanna-be rock musician and loved the album. As a result, I developed an appreciation for it, despite the fact that, despite the one single 'She’s a Rainbow" it’s _very_ different from any other Stones album. It’s as if you told an AI program to create an album of songs as if written and performed by versions of the Stones who were also rabid ‘Lord of the Rings’ and D&D fans, or something.I don’t think it’s aged well, though. From what I understand, ‘Some Girls’ was the Stones’ foray into Disco apparently, though being more mainstream Stones than TSMR, I never realized this until I read, I think in Keith Richard’s autobiography, that Mick said to Keith one day “mate, we need to do a Disco album”, which made Keith roll his eyes. Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ was widely criticized at the time for being an overindulgent mess, though I’ve always liked the album a lot and felt it was underrated. I think it got more appreciation in later years. Then there’s Neil Young’s electronica experiment ‘Trans’ which I have no opinion on because, despite being a big Young fan and having owned most of his albums, I honestly don’t remember what I thought of Trans, or anything about it, though I’m sure I listened to it at least once. I guess that might say it all, though. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/2 "2025-04-22T17:28:44Z")
Interesting question. The Beatles’ “White Album” (actually _The Beatles_) is among the albums of theirs I like the least – but almost every album of theirs ventured into new territory, so it’s not so much about its experimental-ness, but that half the tracks could be eliminated to make a much better album. The Beach Boys’ (mainly, Brian Wilson’s) _Pet Sounds_ was experimental in many ways, and it’s fantastic – it deserves all the praise it has received over the decades. Was Jethro Tull’s _A Passion Play_ experimental? It’s the only album of theirs (between 1968 and 1978) that I truly dislike. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/3 "2025-04-22T17:46:36Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Interesting question. The Beatles’ “White Album” (actually _The Beatles_) is among the albums of theirs I like the least – but almost every album of theirs ventured into new territory, so it’s not so much about its experimental-ness, but that half the tracks could be eliminated to make a much better album. Interesting album choice. Which tracks would you cut out? For me, and likely most people, even the most ardent Beatles fans, ‘Revolution 9’ is a no-brainer to start with. I can do without ‘Wild Honey Pie’ for the same reason as Revolution 9- it’s basically discordant atonal fluff that’s not listenable more than once or twice. “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” is kind of a groovy jam, but ultimately short and pointless. Then there’s the 30s dance hall music-inspired songs by McCartney that he loved to write so much, the ones that Lennon called his ‘Granny music’, that still persist even at this late stage of their psychedelic transformation: ‘Honey Pie’, ‘Martha My Dear’. I’ve always kinda been on John’s side of that argument-- enough with the Granny crap. ‘Good Night’ is a snoozer. Like literally-- it’s basically a lullaby. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/4 "2025-04-22T17:59:31Z")
Since you asked… I don’t care for Pet Sounds. Sure, it has some good songs, but I don’t think it works as an album. I think The Beatles is just crap. Don’t own it, don’t want it. I like Some Girls. It think it works, and I like even the silly songs like Faraway Eyes. I listened to Trans once, and I thought Neil should get back on the road. (Neil would later say that Harvest “put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.”) Maybe I’d think differently now, or maybe not. Can any Pink Floyd albums be considered “oddball”, or all they all just odd in different ways? Because I think Animals is a bit much. Too specific in criticisms of real people that we in America never heard of, and are probably forgotten now. But Dogs is a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/5 "2025-04-22T18:00:44Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Then there’s Neil Young’s electronica experiment ‘Trans’ which I have no opinion on because, despite being a big Young fan and having owned most of his albums, I honestly don’t remember what I thought of Trans, or anything about it, though I’m sure I listened to it at least once. I guess that might say it all, though. The true oddball Neil Young album is _Arc_. Mrs. Martian bought it for me one Christmas, I listened for about ten minutes, then put it away for good. Kind of like a longer, noisier spin of Terry Kath’s “Free Form Guitar” from _Chicago Transit Authority_. The Wikipedia description sums it up pretty well: > The album consists of feedback, guitar noise, improvisations and vocal fragments which were recorded during various live shows on the 1991 US tour, and then re-edited into a 35-minute composition. I was actually at Neil’s show im Milwaukee that year. Sonic Youth was the opening act. Four of us were there, spend five minutes suffering Sonic Youth’s feedback-driven noise rock, then retired to toe concourse until the main act started. Along with a LOT of other people. > **[Arc (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_(Neil_Young_%26_Crazy_Horse_album))** > > Arc is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, recorded early 1991 and released in October 1991. > The album consists of feedback, guitar noise, improvisations and vocal fragments which were recorded during various live shows on the 1991 US tour, and then re-edited into a 35-minute composition. Arc was originally released with the live album Weld in a special-edition 3-CD set called Arc-Weld. Separate releases of Arc and of Weld soon followed. > According to an interview with Steve Martin of Agnos... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/6 "2025-04-22T18:03:25Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The true oddball Neil Young album is _Arc_. Mrs. Martian bought it for me one Christmas, I listened for about ten minutes, then put it away for good. Kind of like a longer, noisier spin of Terry Kath’s “Free Form Guitar” from _Chicago Transit Authority_. Yeah, that’s right, I had a vague memory that ol’ Neil’s experimental period lasted longer than just the ‘Trans’ album, but I forgot about ‘Arc’. Maybe I was mentally blocking it out 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/7 "2025-04-22T18:08:42Z")
> [@solost](#): > > For me, and likely most people, even the most ardent Beatles fans, ‘Revolution 9’ is a no-brainer to start with. I actually love “Revolution 9”. I took two semester of “Electronic Music” in college. In those days composing electronic music consisted of recording a lot of “found sounds”, toying around with a primitive analog monochromatic synth, playing with strange equalizer settings, and lots and lots of tape splicing and tape loops. Very much in the “Revolution 9” genre. For my final project I had found a recording of TS Eliot reading _The Wasteland_ and used it as the recurring theme of my piece (imaginatively called “The Wasteland”). I got an A. I still have the tape, unfortunately no way to play is since it was recorded on a four track half-inch Ampex tape recorder. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/8 "2025-04-22T18:18:12Z")
Speaking of oddball albums, Allan Sherman released an unusually sincere and non-satirical single near the end of his career titled…”Odd Ball.” It’s worth a listen. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JRbb87sJkXY/maxresdefault.jpg "Allan Sherman - Odd Ball(Single Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbb87sJkXY) ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/9 "2025-04-22T18:57:31Z")
The reaction to Miles Davis’s 1972 album _On the Corner_ fascinates me. https://www.youtube.com/embed/hfaR_lIV87M?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=OLAK5uy_nhjLHQR1Qbzw8z-6ttwwDRNLQIm-Rny90 When this funk-drenched record was released, it became “the most vilified and controversial album in the history of jazz.” > **[On the Corner | Reception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Corner#Reception)** > > On the Corner was panned by most critics and jazz musicians; according to Davis biographer Paul Tingen, it became "the most vilified and controversial album in the history of jazz" soon after its release. Saxophonist Stan Getz proclaimed: "That music is worthless. It means nothing; there is no form, no content, and it barely swings." Jazz Journal critic Jon Brown wrote that "it sounds merely as if the band had selected a chord and decided to worry hell out of it for three-quarters of an ho Rock j... Now it is considered “way ahead of its time,” prefiguring drum ‘n’ bass, electronica, and hip-hop. I don’t know anything about jazz, but I think this album rewards even the casual listener. (Especially if you like funk.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/10 "2025-04-22T19:12:33Z")
I’ve brought up The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in several music threads. He seemed to hit pretty much all the marks for odd, weird and experimental back in the 60s. The first album wasn’t a total flop, as it had the hit song “Fire”, a million seller, and a version of “I Put A Spell On You”. His onstage presence was controversial, as he would sometimes appear naked and he once set his hair on fire. Miles Davis was always challenging the status quo. I hated “Bitches Brew” when it came out. Sgt. Pepper took some getting used to. I couldn’t figure out if it was a parody or WTF. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/11 "2025-04-22T19:19:18Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > The reaction to Miles Davis’s 1972 album _On the Corner_ fascinates me. Interesting-- I was not familiar with that album. When I went through my “trying to learn to like and appreciate Jazz, with mixed results” phase, I tried to learn to like Miles Davis’ most popular album _Kind of Blue_ and couldn’t get into it. But that track from _On the Corner_ kind of slaps, as the kids would say. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/12 "2025-04-22T19:21:16Z")
Lou Reed’s _Metal Machine Music_ was castigated when it came out, though now some people find its experimentalism a precursor of ambient music. I find it unlistenable. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/13 "2025-04-22T19:39:40Z")
Well, let’s see there is _[Leon Russell’s Hank Wilson’s Back Vol 1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Wilson%27s_Back_Vol._I)._ Kind of came out of left field. Soft spot, great album with lots of legends playing on it (Billy Byrd, Johnny Gimble, Charlie McCoy) Similarly, Elvis Costello’s _[Almost Blue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_Blue)_. Great country classics (George Jones cover, Hank Williams cover) and the heart-breakingly beautiful cover of “I’m Your Toy” ([Gram Parsons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_Parsons)). Soft spot - can’t get enough. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/14 "2025-04-22T19:43:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Can any Pink Floyd albums be considered “oddball”, or all they all just odd in different ways? Good question. Since the band changed so much, in their member lineup and as a result in their sound and thematic elements, yeah it’s difficult to choose any Floyd album as the ‘odd one out’. That said… > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Because I think Animals is a bit much. Too specific in criticisms of real people that we in America never heard of, and are probably forgotten now. But Dogs is a classic. I love _Animals_. I think it’s a masterpiece of anger and sarcasm. I don’t mind that it may reference specific people that I as an American never heard of, because I always thought the overarching themes of the album were universal, not just relating to British politics or society. If we limit things to the Roger Waters era, I’d say ‘The Final Cut’ was an oddball album. Though it’s ‘officially’ a Pink Floyd album, it basically functions as a Waters album backed up by the rest of Floyd, with Waters still working through his particular childhood traumas and daddy issues that he apparently didn’t finish with _The Wall_ double album. But there’s also a historical aspect, asking the question “what happened to the postwar dream” that makes it an interesting and listenable album in my view. At least, I did go through a period of listening to and enjoying it quite a bit, though not for many years now. Apparently [its reputation has grown somewhat since its release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Final_Cut_(album)): > _The Final Cut_ received mixed reviews, though retrospective reception has been more favourable. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/15 "2025-04-22T20:01:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Can any Pink Floyd albums be considered “oddball”, or all they all just odd in different ways? Maybe not albums but certainly _Seamus_ song. A country blues song on a Pink Floyd album? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/16 "2025-04-22T20:24:15Z")
Frank Sinatra’s 1980 triple concept album [Trilogy: Past Present Future](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilogy:_Past_Present_Future) starts out conventionally enough (jazz standards), starts making some odd choices (“MacArthur Park”?) and finally goes completely off the rails: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ysqW9KKQNh4/maxresdefault.jpg "What Time Does The Next Miracle Leave?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysqW9KKQNh4) ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/17 "2025-04-22T20:59:24Z")
I like Leonard Cohen’s _Death of a Ladies’ Man_. > **[Death of a Ladies' Man (album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Ladies%27_Man_(album))** > > Death of a Ladies' Man is the fifth studio album by Leonard Cohen, produced and co-written by Phil Spector. The album was in some ways a departure from Cohen's typical minimalist style by using Spector's Wall of Sound recording method, which included ornate arrangements and multiple tracks of instrument overdubs. The album was originally released in the US by Warner Bros., and on CD and the rest of the world by Cohen's long-time label, Columbia Records. > By the mid-1970s, both Cohen and Spector w... It wasn’t the typical (for his younger years) Leonard Cohen album, and it isn’t similar to his style from his middle age or old age albums either. It’s just something different, basically Leonard Cohen meets a big band, that I find enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/18 "2025-04-22T21:22:56Z")
_Kid A_ by Radiohead was a big departure from their previous guitar-driven work. It’s experimental, more electronica- and ambient-influenced, and generally weird. It confused a lot of fans and critics when it was released in 2000. Over time, it has become regarded as one of the most influential albums. Rolling Stone has it #20 on the 500 best albums of all time list, and Pitchfork has it as the #1 album of 2000-2009. I was already more into electronica and less of a Radiohead fan in 2000, so I didn’t feel too strongly about it when it came out. Now I can really appreciate how influential it was for the time, but I don’t listen to it too regularly. Somewhat amusingly, the song from it that I listen to most often is the most guitar-driven song, [The National Anthem.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQD1QiQ9o4) Which is still a pretty weird song. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/19 "2025-04-23T00:48:50Z")
Does it count if oddball is what the artist is most known for? If so, Trout Mask Replica is probably my favorite oddball album. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370/20 "2025-04-23T01:28:10Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Trout Mask Replica > [@The horror of blimps](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-horror-of-blimps/152885): > > Last week while travelling I stopped at a Zany Brainy store and saw that they had a blimp for sale. It’s called Airship Earth, and it’s a great big balloon with a map of the Earth on it, and two propellors hanging from the bottom. You blow up the balloon with helium put batteries in it, and you have a radio controll indoor blimp. I’d seen these things for sale in Sharper Image catalogs for $60-$75. At Zany Brainy it was on clearance for $15. What a deal! Last night my wife was playing tenn… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-the-oddball-music-albums-the-experiments-total-flops-or-got-a-soft-spot-for-them/1017370.md?page=2)