Worst Albums by Great Bands

[aTOMiC]

I started out as a pretty big U2 fan but the band seemed to lose something that I really liked after "The Unforgettable Fire". "Joshua Tree" was very popular and filled with memorable songs but the band was transforming into what it has become today and I just couldn't go along for the ride. My preferences, not the bands dedication or talent that finally got me off the U2 train. I could say almost the same thing about The Police except I wasn't as turned on by their early music as I was with U2 but "Synchronicity" did me in just the same. And it was about the same time that The Cars released "Heartbeat City" that I was beginning to see that band drive away from it's roots and become pretty much what Ric Ocasek always wanted but that's really not what I wanted. Still a fan though.

Oh and by the way Rush's "Grace Under Pressure" is by far the thinnest sounding cd I've heard from anyone but especially Rush. I'm always trying to boost the mids and bottom when I listen to that cd. It doesn't help that the songs in general seem to wander aimlessly as though the band wasn't really sure of the material they had ready to record. On the other hand GUP is very much like the thin, electronic 80's songs that shared the airwaves at that time. 1984 wasn't my favorite year for music. Easily my least favorite cd from my favorite band. IMHO of course.

[danlo]

Pity to hear that "Heartbeat City" is not that great an overall album. I've never listened to it, but the title track is my favorite Cars tune...

[aTOMiC]

Pity to hear that "Heartbeat City" is not that great an overall album. I've never listened to it, but the title track is my favorite Cars tune...

Well, Heartbeat City isn't great to me because it seemed to be going the wrong way. Sure it gave The Cars unprecedented popularity (especially due to the 4 or 5 music videos it spawned) but I could tell that control of the band's entire sound was gradually being given over (possibly unwillingly) to Ric. Though the Cars have never been what I'd call "organic or earthy" sounding, with Heartbeat City and Door to Door the overall feel had become very "processed". I really like a few of the songs off of HC and even a couple from DTD but I didn't love every freaking song on the disc like I did with the previous albums.

[Cail]

Heartbeat City is a marvel in terms of production....It's an absolute masterpiece. Door to Door, not as much, but "Strap Me In" is my favorite Cars song by far.

Ram It Down was a very disappointing outing from Judas Priest. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden just plain sucked.

[CovenantJr]

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden just plain sucked.

Seventh Son doesn't quite work as an album, but it does feature some of my favourite Maiden songs (Infinite Dreams, for instance). For me, it'd be Piece of Mind. It has The Trooper, and Flight of Icarus is ok, but most of it is pretty forgettable - and that song about cavemen is fairly dire.

The New America, by Bad Religion. This was the first album Bad Religion released after I discovered them, and I had such high hopes. I was sorely disappointed. Listening to it now, it's not a bad album and it has some good, maybe even great, songs - but a lot of it is quite mediocre, and when high hopes are met with mediocrity, disaster can only ensue.

[Mortice Root]

Van Halen 3

This looked good on paper, at least to me, and it should have worked. I like Eddie, Alex and Mike. I like VH with Roth singing and with Hagar singing, and I liked Gary Cherone with Extreme. It should have worked. But, God, was it bad.

Cherone's voice sounds absolutely terrible. The songs are in keys that don't work for him, and the recording of his voice was really poor. The guitar sounds very muddy throughout, which might have been ok as a change of pace, but not for a whole album. And the last track, with Eddie and Gary singing what could be loosley called "harmonies"..... is just awful.

Now I do give them a little credit. Clearly they were experimenting and not staying in their comfort zone. It's too bad it didn't work. CovJr's comment about high hopes was certainly applicable here, for me.

[Cail]

Heh, I hated Balance, so I expected nothing from VH3 (especially since I hated Extreme).

CJr- "Quest for Fire" was pretty weak, but overall I like most everything else on Piece Of Mind. It's no Powerslave, but what is?

[The Dreaming]

DIIIIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON!

YOU'RE GONNA DIE GONNA DIE!

[stonemaybe]

Dead Milkmen - Soul Rotation
They had had some blah albums before that, but several of the songs grew on me and I came to like. I never took to that album. Then again, they let Joe Jack Talcum take lead through most of the album, and Rodney do a song or two. I always loved the Joe songs on the other albums, but these were all uninspired, and the one or two Rodney songs were the best on the album.

Pogues - Waiting for Herb
The first album without Shane MacGowan. Aside from one kickass Andrew Rankin song ("My Baby's Gone"), the rest of the album was quite a letdown. Then again, I think they made a big mistake with sticking Spider Stacey as frontman. Never liked his voice. He sounded too much like Dee Dee Ramone, and all of the other songs were very lackluster, which is a damn shame as some of my favorite Pogues songs are not written by Shane MacGowan. It just felt like they had cold feet. At least until I bought the album after it, and it all sucked.

I have quite a few of these actually, but mostly it is bands succumbing to the law of twos. So many bands I could name have two especially fantastic albums, all solid goodness always released back to back, and a few good songs sprinkled among the rest. But I really hate it when I get so excited about a new band, and then find out they only have two good albums.

Wow! where do i start?

Once upon a time as a 17yo I heard a few tacks by the Dead Milkmen and loved them. Haven't heard of them since. Give me a good album to get hold of, Cag please!

And then, Pogue-wise, I've never even heard of the one you mention, and I thought I had their whole back catalogue. If i ever see it as a rarity, I will avoid - thanks!

[Cagliostro]

Dead Milkmen - Soul Rotation
They had had some blah albums before that, but several of the songs grew on me and I came to like. I never took to that album. Then again, they let Joe Jack Talcum take lead through most of the album, and Rodney do a song or two. I always loved the Joe songs on the other albums, but these were all uninspired, and the one or two Rodney songs were the best on the album.

Pogues - Waiting for Herb
The first album without Shane MacGowan. Aside from one kickass Andrew Rankin song ("My Baby's Gone"), the rest of the album was quite a letdown. Then again, I think they made a big mistake with sticking Spider Stacey as frontman. Never liked his voice. He sounded too much like Dee Dee Ramone, and all of the other songs were very lackluster, which is a damn shame as some of my favorite Pogues songs are not written by Shane MacGowan. It just felt like they had cold feet. At least until I bought the album after it, and it all sucked.

I have quite a few of these actually, but mostly it is bands succumbing to the law of twos. So many bands I could name have two especially fantastic albums, all solid goodness always released back to back, and a few good songs sprinkled among the rest. But I really hate it when I get so excited about a new band, and then find out they only have two good albums.

Wow! where do i start?

Once upon a time as a 17yo I heard a few tacks by the Dead Milkmen and loved them. Haven't heard of them since. Give me a good album to get hold of, Cag please!

And then, Pogue-wise, I've never even heard of the one you mention, and I thought I had their whole back catalogue. If i ever see it as a rarity, I will avoid - thanks!

Hell, PM me an address, and if there isn't a difference between formats, maybe I can send you some Dead Milkmen. Or check here.
I think Bucky Fellini is their best, but it was also when I was lucky enough to see them. Fantastic show that still lives in my mind as one of the best shows ever. Yeah, they aren't great musicians, but what they lacked in ability, they more than made up for in fun. Then probably their first album is next in my heart, which is Big Lizard In My Backyard. Very raw, but has some classic songs. Beelzebubba is good, and has that Punk Rock Girl song, but started to be the first album where I felt them jumping the shark a bit. I do so love the last song, Life Is Shit. I saw them live and heard this song for the first time right after a breakup and before this album was released, and it nearly brought me to tears, which I didn't expect from the Dead Milkmen.

As for the Pogues, yeah, they may not sell their post-Shane work, as it really wasn't much to speak of. As for their good stuff, it pretty much runs as Red Roses For Me, Rum Sodomy and the Lash, Poguetry in Motion (EP), If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Peace & Love, and Hell's Ditch. I think the Poguetry in Motion EP, at least in America, is now added tracks on the other CDs. The two without Shane were Waiting for Herb and Pogue Mahone. I worked with another Pogues fan at a record store, and she admitted she liked Waiting for Herb, so tastes may vary. I just could never get used to Spider Stacey's voice.

[The Dreaming]

I gotta say, I was massively disappointed with 10,000 days by Tool. Lateralus was an exciting step into a cool new direction. 10k seemed like such a damn generic sounding let-down after an awesome prog rock epic.

[Zarathustra]

10,000 Days is the best Tool. They are at the top of their game. I love Lateralus, too.

Test For Echo does indeed suck. It was the only Rush CD I ever bought and then immediately sold. I've since bought the remaster, and still can't get into it. Grace Under Pressure is amazing. If you think it sounds thin, get the remaster. It's a sonic wonder compare to Vapor Trails.

Balance is the best Hagar VH CD. Never heard VH3.

[Mortice Root]

I just listened to "Grace" again a few days ago - I love that disc! Though, I guess the guitar sound could certainly be characterized as "thin" - it is very treble-heavy. I think "chiming" is a better word for it than "thin" however.

Balance is the best Hagar VH CD.

Gotta disagree there - I think there's a handful of great tunes (7th Seal, Don't Tell Me...) but others just seem flat. Carnal Knowledge was much more consistant, IMO.

Never heard VH3.

Don't bother.

[Cail]

OU812 is the best Van Hagar, no question about it. It's thick, if you know what I mean.

Grace is a good album that I think needed better production.

[aTOMiC]

Grace is a good album that I think needed better production.

In my view Grace suffers from a variety of issues that of course include the extremely thin mix. The cd features songs that (to me) seem less memorable than other cds and Alex's guitar work is rife with overuse of his tremelo and squealing delay effects. This is the ONLY Rush cd that the guitar work actually gets on my nerves. I realize the cd is the product of the times and 80s styles so I give it a bit of a pass but it is by far my least favorite Rush cd, possibly after the first album.

Van Hagar songs are perhaps more commercially successful than those featuring Roth but I just can't get past the difference in tone with Sammy. It always seemed an odd pairing especially since Hagar was a known commodity with his own established style and following before joining Van Halen. Like Jon Bon Jovi replacing Sting in the Police.

[The Dreaming]

Falling into Infinity: Dream Theater

UHG. Still better than most other Metal Albums. (A HELL of a lot better than what Metallica was doing at the time) but man, they got screwed by their record company.

[dANdeLION]

Grace is a good album that I think needed better production.

In my view Grace suffers from a variety of issues that of course include the extremely thin mix. The cd features songs that (to me) seem less memorable than other cds and Alex's guitar work is rife with overuse of his tremelo and squealing delay effects. This is the ONLY Rush cd that the guitar work actually gets on my nerves. I realize the cd is the product of the times and 80s styles so I give it a bit of a pass but it is by far my least favorite Rush cd, possibly after the first album.

The production of the cd does suffer from the production methods of the time, but I think Rush wrote some pretty damn good songs for P/G. I have the remastered version of this cd; I'll have to let you hear it; maybe it is better than the original. I think the weakest Rush albums are:

1) Feedback, because it simply isn't necessary at all.
2) Rush, other than Working Man, it sounds like a poor Zeppelin tribute
3) Presto, other than Show Don't Tell, Scars and Available Light, I can't tell you what's on it, and I've owned the cd since it came out. I don't really like Scars, either. Wait, Superconductor was on it, right? Doesn't matter; I really don't like Superconductor!

[Endymion9]

I've really gotten into Ryan Adams in the last year, but totally hated and did not keep even one track from "29". Too country-fied for my tastes. Nothing like his other albums.

I also love The Black Crowes but didn't like any tracks off of By Your Side and Lions. I love the new Warpaint though and their early albums.

At the time I hated Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" being a young rocker, but would like to give it another listen now that I've mellowed.

[sweetbread]

Ram It Down was a very disappointing outing from Judas Priest.

Yes, but they totally made up for it with Painkiller (which is, by far, my favorite Priest album).

Thrill Kill Kult took a major turn for the worst with EVERYTHING after Confessions of a Knife, as did the Doors with everything after LA Woman (except, maybe, An American Prayer)....

Nora Jones. I really liked "Come Away with Me" but other than that, disappointing....

[Cail]

Yeah, Painkiller kicks ass.