You're on My List: The Unloved Music
May. 5th, 2020 10:56 amFor fun, I took ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
defrog 's list of Bad Albums by Good bands and made my own list.
His list is fantastic and made me enthusiastic to listen to bad music. That's how good he was!
Anyway, I had to throw in my opinion.
I wanted to do something similar so I decided I would make a list of albums that were listed with 3 stars or less on Allmusic, so it's kind of the same idea.
So here goes, albums I like that no one else does.
Chumbawamba Readymades - You know that i think this band is sorely underrated, so I had to put in a good word for them. Allmusic has been fair to them though. This album got low marks and it does suffer from the songs sounding 'same'y. That said, it is an odd album (even by this band's terms) though a nice listen. The concept of taking samples ("ready made") from classic folk artists and running with it to make new songs. Hated by Christgau and Rolling Stone - that likely means they're overthinking it.
Havana 3AM Havana 3AM Joe Strummer eventually made it back to making good music, but the Clash was sadly missed in the 90s. I don't know what Paul Simonon's role in Havana 3AM was (He did got top billing) and I suspect Gary Myrick and the rest of the band were just as responsible for making an album that does StrummerMusic better than Strummer was at the time -rockabilly, Latin, Spaghetti Western. A great lost gem.
Morrissey Kill Uncle- Morrissey had a bit of adjustment going from the Smiths to eventually finding his longtime band featuring guitarists Boorer & Whyte. He worked with a variety of collaborators (including ex-Smiths who were at the time suing him). So Mark E Nevin's contribution is often overlooked. Critics hated it, but I like the mood of the album. There are clunkers but when it's good, it's very good. When Boorer and Whyte came along, they turned these songs into great rockabilly tunes, which should go as commendation to Nevin, not criticism.
Pixies Head Carrier - Frank Black's solo career is sadly overlooked, but I have to pick an album. Most of the recent Pixies albums have been savaged, and even among fans, I don't think anyone is defending this effort. Still, I like this one quite abit, even more than the more acclaimed follow up. Produced by a guy best known for his work with Ghost (of all people), the addition of Paz Lenchantin seems to make things gel. In any case, the rockers finally hit the mark and the slower "All I think about now" could be the Ballad of the Pixies.
Prince and 3rdEyeGirl Plectrumelectrum - Almost all of Prince's releases from 95 on were considered "comebacks" and they rarely hit their mark. In 2014, he released two albums- Art Official Age and this one co-credited with the band. It was exciting as he had been in years. This album got largely dismissed, but it' my favorite of Prince's last albums. I think he was helped considerably by collaborating and working with a band. The songs were awesome live too showing the guitar wizardy of the Prince and Donna Grantis. Plus, Prince had Lizzo on this album (in 2014!)
The Ramones Animal Boy - Allmusic dumps on the Ramones's 80s albums. Like their buddies Motorhead, who needs more than one album by the band really? But fans know, and albums like Animal Boy and Brain Drain found the band in an environment where the record company thought they might sell them as Metal- teaming them up with producers like Jean Beauvior of the Plasmastics and Bill Laswell. A case of 'it doesn't make sense if you weren't there', but once in a while start-to-finish listens. I don't see why not.
REM Reveal - It looks like I have a choice of REM albums. Even with Monster (3 years) being given some reappraisal over the years, 2.5 star ratings on Up and Out of Time seem especially critical, if not just ridiculous. So I am going with Reveal, an album no one loves. It is sort of a Beach album which is not one expects for this band, and I just like it. I won't pretend to make a case that it is their greatest work, but so many songs on here are enjoyable and I can listen to end to end.
The Stooges The Weirdness- This is definitely candidate for bad albums. No one loves the Stooges reunion material, and even if you can find fans of the Mk 2 band with James Williamson (Ready to Die), the Mk1 album is largely unloved. Iggy is someone who has been up and down and hard to appraise. Like the Ramones above, he got the Metal Laswell album treatment (the 2 star Instinct might make my list as well).I suppose this is one you can overthink, but as an Iggy album, it holds up better than some of his recent work in my eyes.
U2 October - I am a big fan of the band still and would have no problem putting the band's recent work here, which is truly unloved (and while not essential, I still enjoy) or Pop which has a stigma to it. I am going to go with the band's second album, though ,sandwhiched between the classics Boy and October. Famously, blamed on Bono losing the lyrics midway through recording. I would suggest it stands with a Boy, except this time contemplative and not rebellious. Perhaps since none of the songs (but Gloria) sound like "singles", it gets shunned.
Neil Young Americana - I figured Neil was a no-brainer. I know that I love some of his recent (last 20 years) albums more than other people do. I expected discrepancies. Allmusic gives him a pretty fair shake. They are fairly harsh on Americana- which is a weird album (which Neil album isnt)- it's Crazy Horse ripping through American standards. I actually consider this a highlight in the Young 21st Century discography. Neil and Crazy Horse doing what they do, and if it sounds basic, well, it's because it is.
defrog 's list of Bad Albums by Good bands and made my own list.His list is fantastic and made me enthusiastic to listen to bad music. That's how good he was!
Anyway, I had to throw in my opinion.
I wanted to do something similar so I decided I would make a list of albums that were listed with 3 stars or less on Allmusic, so it's kind of the same idea.
So here goes, albums I like that no one else does.
Chumbawamba Readymades - You know that i think this band is sorely underrated, so I had to put in a good word for them. Allmusic has been fair to them though. This album got low marks and it does suffer from the songs sounding 'same'y. That said, it is an odd album (even by this band's terms) though a nice listen. The concept of taking samples ("ready made") from classic folk artists and running with it to make new songs. Hated by Christgau and Rolling Stone - that likely means they're overthinking it.
Havana 3AM Havana 3AM Joe Strummer eventually made it back to making good music, but the Clash was sadly missed in the 90s. I don't know what Paul Simonon's role in Havana 3AM was (He did got top billing) and I suspect Gary Myrick and the rest of the band were just as responsible for making an album that does StrummerMusic better than Strummer was at the time -rockabilly, Latin, Spaghetti Western. A great lost gem.
Morrissey Kill Uncle- Morrissey had a bit of adjustment going from the Smiths to eventually finding his longtime band featuring guitarists Boorer & Whyte. He worked with a variety of collaborators (including ex-Smiths who were at the time suing him). So Mark E Nevin's contribution is often overlooked. Critics hated it, but I like the mood of the album. There are clunkers but when it's good, it's very good. When Boorer and Whyte came along, they turned these songs into great rockabilly tunes, which should go as commendation to Nevin, not criticism.
Pixies Head Carrier - Frank Black's solo career is sadly overlooked, but I have to pick an album. Most of the recent Pixies albums have been savaged, and even among fans, I don't think anyone is defending this effort. Still, I like this one quite abit, even more than the more acclaimed follow up. Produced by a guy best known for his work with Ghost (of all people), the addition of Paz Lenchantin seems to make things gel. In any case, the rockers finally hit the mark and the slower "All I think about now" could be the Ballad of the Pixies.
Prince and 3rdEyeGirl Plectrumelectrum - Almost all of Prince's releases from 95 on were considered "comebacks" and they rarely hit their mark. In 2014, he released two albums- Art Official Age and this one co-credited with the band. It was exciting as he had been in years. This album got largely dismissed, but it' my favorite of Prince's last albums. I think he was helped considerably by collaborating and working with a band. The songs were awesome live too showing the guitar wizardy of the Prince and Donna Grantis. Plus, Prince had Lizzo on this album (in 2014!)
The Ramones Animal Boy - Allmusic dumps on the Ramones's 80s albums. Like their buddies Motorhead, who needs more than one album by the band really? But fans know, and albums like Animal Boy and Brain Drain found the band in an environment where the record company thought they might sell them as Metal- teaming them up with producers like Jean Beauvior of the Plasmastics and Bill Laswell. A case of 'it doesn't make sense if you weren't there', but once in a while start-to-finish listens. I don't see why not.
REM Reveal - It looks like I have a choice of REM albums. Even with Monster (3 years) being given some reappraisal over the years, 2.5 star ratings on Up and Out of Time seem especially critical, if not just ridiculous. So I am going with Reveal, an album no one loves. It is sort of a Beach album which is not one expects for this band, and I just like it. I won't pretend to make a case that it is their greatest work, but so many songs on here are enjoyable and I can listen to end to end.
The Stooges The Weirdness- This is definitely candidate for bad albums. No one loves the Stooges reunion material, and even if you can find fans of the Mk 2 band with James Williamson (Ready to Die), the Mk1 album is largely unloved. Iggy is someone who has been up and down and hard to appraise. Like the Ramones above, he got the Metal Laswell album treatment (the 2 star Instinct might make my list as well).I suppose this is one you can overthink, but as an Iggy album, it holds up better than some of his recent work in my eyes.
U2 October - I am a big fan of the band still and would have no problem putting the band's recent work here, which is truly unloved (and while not essential, I still enjoy) or Pop which has a stigma to it. I am going to go with the band's second album, though ,sandwhiched between the classics Boy and October. Famously, blamed on Bono losing the lyrics midway through recording. I would suggest it stands with a Boy, except this time contemplative and not rebellious. Perhaps since none of the songs (but Gloria) sound like "singles", it gets shunned.
Neil Young Americana - I figured Neil was a no-brainer. I know that I love some of his recent (last 20 years) albums more than other people do. I expected discrepancies. Allmusic gives him a pretty fair shake. They are fairly harsh on Americana- which is a weird album (which Neil album isnt)- it's Crazy Horse ripping through American standards. I actually consider this a highlight in the Young 21st Century discography. Neil and Crazy Horse doing what they do, and if it sounds basic, well, it's because it is.
