Apologies if there is a thread for this already, but I was thinking the other day how for some of the artists I really like, there are LPs which don't rank among their best and were panned by critics that I really enjoy listening to. In many cases I listen to these records more than the ones that were the critics' darlings.

Here are the three LPs that I was thinking of:

Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue - I enjoy this LP front to back and don't skip a track when I play it.

Bob Dylan - Street Legal - I love this record. Four of the individual tracks (1, 2, 6 and 9) rank among my very favorite Dylan tracks.

Pink Floyd - The Final Cut - perhaps my favourite Floyd LP...seriously.

If anyone wants to add similar much-maligned favourites of theirs to this thread, I would love to explore the suggested LPs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-07-17 21:40 by JimmyTheSaint.

The German Edition of the 'Rolling Stone' - [iorr.org] - had in June 2020 (pg. 46-56) an article about 50 underrated Albums.
They also like "Emotional Rescue" (it got an extra article - [iorr.org] ), Dylan's "Planet Waves" and Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut".

Here's their list:

The Beatles - „With The Beatles“
Frank Sinatra - „Cycles“
The Beach Boys - „Friends“
Bee Gees - „Bee Gees’ 1st“
Jethro Tull - „This Was“
Captain Beefheart - „Unconditionally Guaranteed“
Bob Dylan - „Planet Waves“
Sly & The Family Stone - „Small Talk“
The Band - „Northern Lights – Southern Cross“
Joni Mitchell - „Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter“
Led Zeppelin - „Presence“
Roxy Music - „Siren“
Crosby, Stills & Nash - „CSN“
Television - „Adventure“
Joan Armatrading - „To The Limit“
David Bowie - „Lodger“
The Clash - „Sandinista!“
New Order - „Movement“
Queen - „Hot Space“
Suicide - „Suicide: Alan Vega · Martin Rev“
Genesis - „Abacab“
Pink Floyd - „The Final Cut“
Van Morrison - „Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart“
The Cure - „The Top“
Don Henley - „Building The Perfect Beast“
Randy Newman - „Trouble In Paradise“
Orange Juice - „The Orange Juice“
Rickie Lee Jones - „The Magazine“
John Cale - „Artificial Intelligence“
The Style Council - „Confessions Of A Pop Group“
Bryan Ferry - „Boys And Girls“
Bruce Springsteen - „Tunnel Of Love“
Swans - „The Burning World“
Prince - „Batman“
Lucinda Williams - „Sweet Old World“
Pearl Jam - „No Code“
J.J. Cale - „Number 10“
Crowded House - „Together Alone“
Element Of Crime - „Psycho“
Pavement - „Terror Twilight“
Sonic Youth - „NYC Ghosts & Flowers“
Paul Simon - „You’re The One“
Oasis - „Heathen Chemistry“
Lou Reed - „The Raven“
R.E.M. - „Around The Sun“
Blumfeld - „Verbotene Früchte“
U2 - „How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb“
Patti Smith - „Banga“
Kate Bush - „50 Words For Snow“
Garland Jeffreys - „14 Steps To Harlem“



Part 2: Reader's Poll of 50 underrated Albums - [iorr.org] .



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-09-06 12:20 by Irix.

Thanks for sharing that.

Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Radiohead OK Computer
Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
Neil Young harvest
Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
AC/DC High Voltage

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TumblinDice76
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Radiohead OK Computer
Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
Neil Young harvest
Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
AC/DC High Voltage

Were these panned by critics at first? Current reviews of at least some of these are strong.

Jimmy-All panned on their initial review by Rolling Stone magazine.

Afghan Whigs - Black Love
criminally underrated

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JimmyTheSaint

Quote
TumblinDice76
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Radiohead OK Computer
Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
Neil Young harvest
Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
AC/DC High Voltage

Were these panned by critics at first? Current reviews of at least sojme of these are strong.

This needs some explanation........

__________________________

My list is albums that upon their release were panned by critics but are now considered "classics".

Bob Dylan - At Budokan
Largely disparaged, dismissed or ignored by critics and Dylan enthusiasts alike over the years as his “Vegas” album. I feel there is rich musicality in the kaleidoscopic arrangement adopted for reinventing the material when it comes to the performances recorded and heard on this album. FYI see the customer reviews on amazon.co.uk — most of the voices are surprisingly positive.

[www.amazon.co.uk]

Mr Zimm usually just leaves me flat ....
Cant handle those live albums and that new
Contain Multitudes thingo just makes me wanna perk ....



ROCKMAN

Lou Reed - Berlin
(As far as I am concerned, his best album)

Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, and Bridges to Babylon are no masterpieces, yet they have more great moments than most reviews mention. A Bigger Bang has good moments as well, yet the album often sounds like a demo tape.

Quote
matxil
Lou Reed - Berlin
(As far as I am concerned, his best album)

1 show I saw of Lou Reed was around the time of "The Raven". Not his best work but the show I saw was great. It was in a small stadium at the Bumbershoot festival (before greedy promoters ruined it) & pretty much full. Then Lou started in on the "Berlin" material. When he got to "The Kids" people were leaving in droves, haha. Probably my favorite Lou album, too.

Some girls.................I remember the BBC's radio One hosts slagging this album off incessantly. (at the time of punk in the UK)............ "Oh, old farts trying to prove they are still 'relevant'. (Relevant to what I never understood - who's approval exactly do the Stones need to get to get a gold star off some wannabe DJ - rhetorical question).

I remember it sold pretty well..................I remember Miss you and Faraway Eyes were both popular on the jukebox in my local pubs for months............

Speaking of "Emotional Rescue": In my house, at this point, "Emotional Rescue" gets more play time than "Exile On Main Street".
However, that could be because Exile got literally tons of play time from 1972 to 1980.

I believe that the ones who do not like "Emotional Rescue" on this forum, and it is widespread from what I can see,
simply don't get it, or, have not been around very long.

How anyone could rate something like "Voodoo Lounge" or "A Bigger Bang" higher than "Emotional Rescue",
I really do not understand.

In my opinion "Voodoo Lounge" should have been a 5 song EP, and I have no comment on "A Bigger Bang".

I guess Voodoo and Bigger Bang are my own personal Critically Maligned LP's.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-07-19 06:07 by Chacho.

Quote
windmelody
Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, and Bridges to Babylon are no masterpieces, yet they have more great moments than most reviews mention. A Bigger Bang has good moments as well, yet the album often sounds like a demo tape.

Huh.

I recall them being reviewed as essentially the next EOMS with a list of words that sound as bad as the Weather Channel using storm lingo when a hurricane is coming.

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Chacho
Speaking of "Emotional Rescue":

In my house, at this point, "Emotional Rescue" gets more air play than "Exile On Main Street". However, that could be because Exile got literally tons of air play from 1972 to 1980.

I believe that the ones who do not like "Emotional Rescue" on this forum, and it is widespread from what I can see, simply don't get it, or, have not been around very long.

How anyone could rate something like "Voodoo Lounge" or "A Bigger Bang" higher than "Emotional Rescue", I really do not understand.

In my opinion "Voodoo Lounge" should have been a 5 song EP, and I have no comment on "A Bigger Bang". I guess Voodoo and Bigger Bang are my own personal Critically Maligned LP's.

HA HA! Excellent! Yeahhhh.... VL could've been, let's say, greatly reduced, to begin with, yet alone maybe one or two of the B-sides put on the LP.

BRIDGES could've been greatly reduced...

A BIGGER BANG, same thing.


Too much garbage on these LPs thanks to the CD format of releasing a new LP.

I wouldn't say "Pink Floyd"'s THE FINAL CUT is critically maligned. First off it's a Roger Waters solo album with 2 Pink Floyd tracks on it.

Second, it flat out sucks. It's Pink Floyd's DIRTY WORK.

I can think of some albums I like that have been maligned unjustly:

1) Bridges to Babylon - my 3rd favourite Stones album
2) Henry The Human Fly - Richard Thompson
3) Ragged Old Flag (album) - Johnny Cash
4) Metallica - Reload
5) Mighty like A Rose - Elvis Costello
6) Pink Cadillac - John Prine
7) Borderlord - Kris Kristofferson
8) Old Ways - Neil Young
9) Hard Nose The Highway - Van Morrison
10) Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen

Either that, or I've got shocking taste in music.

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RisingStone
Bob Dylan - At Budokan
Largely disparaged, dismissed or ignored by critics and Dylan enthusiasts alike over the years as his “Vegas” album. I feel there is rich musicality in the kaleidoscopic arrangement adopted for reinventing the material when it comes to the performances recorded and heard on this album. FYI see the customer reviews on amazon.co.uk — most of the voices are surprisingly positive.

[www.amazon.co.uk]

Yes. I would add that to the list. Street Legal-ized versions of earlier tracks. Love it!

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matxil
Lou Reed - Berlin
(As far as I am concerned, his best album)

A worthy addition to the list, for sure.

I prefer 1980s Lou myself, but do enjoy Berlin.

Quote
tomcasagranda
I can think of some albums I like that have been maligned unjustly:

1) Bridges to Babylon - my 3rd favourite Stones album
2) Henry The Human Fly - Richard Thompson
3) Ragged Old Flag (album) - Johnny Cash
4) Metallica - Reload
5) Mighty like A Rose - Elvis Costello
6) Pink Cadillac - John Prine
7) Borderlord - Kris Kristofferson
8) Old Ways - Neil Young
9) Hard Nose The Highway - Van Morrison
10) Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen

Either that, or I've got shocking taste in music.

I will check some of these out. Thanks!

Quote
tomcasagranda
I can think of some albums I like that have been maligned unjustly:

1) Bridges to Babylon - my 3rd favourite Stones album
2) Henry The Human Fly - Richard Thompson
3) Ragged Old Flag (album) - Johnny Cash
4) Metallica - Reload
5) Mighty like A Rose - Elvis Costello
6) Pink Cadillac - John Prine
7) Borderlord - Kris Kristofferson
8) Old Ways - Neil Young
9) Hard Nose The Highway - Van Morrison
10) Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen

Either that, or I've got shocking taste in music.

I think you have to look at the historical (critical) aspect when viewing a recent ie contemporary Stones album being "maligned" - it's just not very good, rightfully so, because the songs they chose to be contemporary arguably got more hype/reviews about the way they were produced than the songs themselves: Saint Of Me isn't really any kind of stunning song, it's pretty much Stones by numbers; MAWGJ and Gunface are horrible songs. Trent Reznor couldn't make those any more interesting. The songs that work, that are good or great, on BRIDGES are the ones they recorded without any doodah, like Flip The Switch, You Don't Have To Mean It, Out Of Control, Thief In The Night, How Can I Stop, Too Tight, Lowdown...

The reason U2's arc jarring ACHTUNG BABY was critically claimed was because it was GOOD. It has good songs, great songs. The production was the icing of that cake.

Such subtle things as songwriting quality overpower production and flavor of the year production values. The Stones were very late to the game with BRIDGES. Think of Beck's ODELAY - it came out in mid-1996. The Dust Brothers basically peaked that year. Beck started on that LP in 1994.

Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
It sold in tons. But the negative responses from both music journalism and general public that greeted this album are legendary.
Back in the day, most of the criticisms were seemingly pointed at The Crunge, Dancing Days and D’yer Mak’er, the ‘lightweight threesome’. However, beneath the superficiality of these often daft-sounding tracks — along with the album closer, The Ocean — therein lies an interesting attempt of intricate, odd rhythm patterns, which makes HOTH the most experimental work of their entire catalogue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-07-19 08:39 by RisingStone.

The first artist I always think of conserning this topic is 80s McCartney: McCartney II, Pipes of Peace (even better than Tug of War), Press to Play are excellent albums, but forgotten to this day.

Always been confused by Tatoo You and Emotional Rescue LPs. To me, it's a blurred period, I tend to confuse which was the first and which was the second one, maybe because of the Pathe Marconi studios, I mean they were almost living there, commututing at wee hours, nothing as exciting as Nellcote, Barbado, Kingston or Montserrat. Yes, I admit, the myth adds to to the tracks. And especially Emotional Rescue, what cover was that? Super drepressing.
I had to wait to Steel Wheel to have my satisfaction back. I guess it has something to do with the Stones going back on the road, with a better set list than Still Life tour... 1989 and 1990 were maybe too crisp as for the guitar sound, too rehearsed with backing vocals and a four-guy horn section, but what a set list.

Quote
GasLightStreet

Quote
tomcasagranda
I can think of some albums I like that have been maligned unjustly:

1) Bridges to Babylon - my 3rd favourite Stones album
2) Henry The Human Fly - Richard Thompson
3) Ragged Old Flag (album) - Johnny Cash
4) Metallica - Reload
5) Mighty like A Rose - Elvis Costello
6) Pink Cadillac - John Prine
7) Borderlord - Kris Kristofferson
8) Old Ways - Neil Young
9) Hard Nose The Highway - Van Morrison
10) Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen

Either that, or I've got shocking taste in music.

I think you have to look at the historical (critical) aspect when viewing a recent ie contemporary Stones album being "maligned" - it's just not very good, rightfully so, because the songs they chose to be contemporary arguably got more hype/reviews about the way they were produced than the songs themselves: Saint Of Me isn't really any kind of stunning song, it's pretty much Stones by numbers; MAWGJ and Gunface are horrible songs. Trent Reznor couldn't make those any more interesting. The songs that work, that are good or great, on BRIDGES are the ones they recorded without any doodah, like Flip The Switch, You Don't Have To Mean It, Out Of Control, Thief In The Night, How Can I Stop, Too Tight, Lowdown...

The reason U2's arc jarring ACHTUNG BABY was critically claimed was because it was GOOD. It has good songs, great songs. The production was the icing of that cake.

Such subtle things as songwriting quality overpower production and flavor of the year production values. The Stones were very late to the game with BRIDGES. Think of Beck's ODELAY - it came out in mid-1996. The Dust Brothers basically peaked that year. Beck started on that LP in 1994.

Might As Well Get Juiced is one of my favourite Stones tracks. For some unknown reason it reminds me of the same vibe on Electric Mud by Muddy Waters, wherein Pete Cosey etc gave Muddy some current (1967-68) backings, and a new blues album was created. I always think Might As Well Get Juiced is in the spirit of Electric Mud. Again, that's my taste.

Well yes, by Steel Wheels and it's tours they were playing with a zest, purpose and passion again. And energy. And amazing setlist And great sound, and lights and .... They realised they enjoyed being the Rolling Stones again.

A Celebration.

They even then released a standalone single the following year.

Then Bill left in '92. End of band was as a band.

Agree, VL very disappointing after this great band comeback.

And agree ER relatively lacklustre compared with SG and most 70s work.
But far, far better than VL, with which I'd never compared it.

Critically maligned?

Satanics

And I think British Out of Our Heads got a poor reception at the time (though I too young to buy albums at the time)