50 Genuinely Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists
I like some of these, i.e, Changes by The Monkees and Music From the Elder by KISS.
St. Anger should have been ranked #1, IMHO.
50 Genuinely Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists
I like some of these, i.e, Changes by The Monkees and Music From the Elder by KISS.
St. Anger should have been ranked #1, IMHO.
Interesting - thanks for sharing!
Not a lot here that I'm familiar with, probably for good reason. I can understand the selection of Madonna's American Life and Liz Phair's eponymous album, though I have major soft spots for both (or in the case of the latter, the self-penned tracks...the Matrix contributions are execrable).
Feel like U2 should have made an appearance here, even if it required stretching the concept from "genuinely horrible" to "horribly boring".
I don't think 'genuinely horrible' is an apt headline, since this list pretty much runs the gamut from lukewarm-to-lazy efforts (except of course for Latest Record Project Volume 1, which is pretty awful).
Last edited by botley; 02-16-2023 at 11:33 AM.
i will go to bat for the first half of never let me down any day of the week. agree that it loses steam and falls flat after "glass spider," but it has some truly brilliant moments.
i also love the self-titled liz phair album and think it's a lot of fun for what it is... that joni record is pretty good too, i don't mind the trope.
Yeah, the original mix of Never Let Me Down is definitely pretty weak. There's some good lyrical content sprinkled throughout, but the production is pure 80s cheese. The re-recorded version that was released a few years ago sounds really good though. Not perfect by any means, but it gives it some much needed edge.
This list also doubles as a showcase of generally terrible cover art.
I can't believe that Styx's "Kilroy Was Here" isn't anywhere on this list.
@botley , do we go with Outland or Machine + Soul for Gary Numan?
I love how they always include KISS "The Elder", when they have SO MUCH worse albums than that (Monster, Sonic Boom...), RS makes me Yawn...
I always hated "Forever." I looked at the credit and saw it was co-written by Michael Bolton, so it all made sense. I friggin' love The Elder, or "a bad Genesis album" as Gene calls it. Hot in the Shade isn't that bad, just overly long and the songs are okay, but not great, except for "Forever," which is their all-time worst.
I like Liz's self-titled. "Funstyle" however...
I feel like binging some "Trainwreckords" now.
Last edited by poinoup; 02-22-2023 at 11:19 PM.
G and I saw Dennis DeYoung at Taste of Chicago for free (Styx originated in Chicago) and he actually put on a great show. People forget how many hits Styx had!
But, sadly Miss Marodi, that album is when Styx jumped the shark. Tommy Shaw left because of the cheesy tour and it broke up the band (for a while).
Styx was, indeed, a brilliant band.
@marodi - this is just for you:
Last edited by allegro; 02-24-2023 at 09:32 PM.
Last edited by allegro; 02-25-2023 at 06:08 PM.
Awww thank you, darling @allegro ! I do still love Dennis. Last year, there was a special on PBS where he sang a lot of Styx' songs and even at his age, he's still got the most incredible voice.
Of course you're right about Kilroy. DDY went on a rock opera fantasy and that was not what Tommy Shaw and JY wanted. JY is a mellow Scorpio, like me so he didn't raise too much hell (his wife died a few months ago, by the way; DDY posted a very lovely tribute about her on FB, on his and Suzanne's behalf) but Tommy, as a good Virgo, was not having any of it. Never underestimate the short guy with a doll's face; there's a volcano underneath that face.
Anyway, I've always felt that Styx peaked with The Grand Illusion. That album never gets old. I have a their albums on vinyl, from Styx to Kilroy Was Here. I'm quite proud of that. I may post a pic of it someday.
I also think that a lot of people have forgotten the amazing vocal harmonies that Dennis and Tommy were pulling. Pure candy for the ears.
And now, for some reasons, I'm craving some KFC; huh.