What was the last classic album you got and weren't knocked out by?

Terry Riley's Reed Streams (1966). AFAIK, the first album released by minimalist composer. Its just not very palatable compared to Poppy Nogood (1968) or A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969).

I could mention the Bowie/Eno Berlin trilogy (Heroes, Low, & Lodger), not because they're not great, but because I got to them after a decade of listening to the bands these were a central inspiration for. So they didn't carry the astonishment at art music interacting with glam, as they must have to people who heard them upon release.

Bunches of New Wave/New Romantic albums that really are just as well dissected for the singles...

Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief. Lumpen, muddy, makes me think of soggy roll-ups, split ends, sour beer, smelly feet.

The Slits - Cut

never even saw this thread until now, but yeah Pacific Ocean Blue should have stayed unreleased.

i like everything mentioned on this thread. except animal collective. i mean i really like everything except that.

i tried again with mission of burma a couple weeks ago. i try every few years. just can't hang with them! i like fight song/revolver and that's about it. did like them live though when i saw them a few years back. meanwhile i played some gang of four for the first time in a long time and it sounded awesome!

The Who: Tommy and Sell Out.

i heard the raincoats s/t for the first time today, it didn't do much for me.

This thread makes me sad. This in particular

My contribution here is If I Could Only Remember My Name - aside from that "Cowboy Movie" song, pretty bland, and nowhere near as good as the first Nash / Crosby album.

made me cringe. I think I have appreciated all the albums listed here on some level, although some hit me on a gut level more than others. I recently listened to Afghan Whigs Gentleman and found it abhorrent. I know it's not a universally regarded classic like Pet Sounds but people have been telling me I should get into Greg Dulli for years, and now I know I never will. The entire tone of the album was both misogynistic and wimpy. I just did. not. get. it.

Odessey and Oracle

Village Green Preservation Society

cosign on both of these, especially the second. maybe you had to be there? like, getting high on pot for the first time ever?

i heard some other kinks tunes the other day and i liked them WAY better than vgps

Agree with posters above that Pacific Ocen Blue by Dennis Wilson is dull dull dull.

The XX album - it's really bland!

A recent one for me is Sad Wings of Destiny. Itmostly just sounds more like plodding post blues rock to me. I can see how some elements on their could be hugely influential on modern metal, and maybe that's interesting historically, but it wasn't very fun to listen to.

people nominating Pacific Ocean Blue in this thread are getting fecal treats in their stocking come Christmas time this year

I mean rilly I have to be in the right mood for it but what other Beach Boy would we have gotten such a gloomy and dark album from? I think his unreleased album was even better.

BLACKsummersnight

I prefer even things like Brian's '88 solo album to POB. It doesn't sound dark to me - just like a really boring JJ Cale album. I keep trying to get into it but it just washes over me and I forget I'm listening to it.

i really dislike pacific ocean blue. boring songs and dennis' voice isn't great.

his voice is perfect for the music, raw and rough around the edges. he was never the shimmering smooth-voiced member of the band.

The entire tone of the album was both misogynistic and wimpy. I just did. not. get. it.

its not to everyone's tastes, but i'd argue the album hardly celebrates misogyny, and is focused instead upon dissecting/presenting fucked up male sexuality, with criticism of said sexuality implied.

i tried again with mission of burma a couple weeks ago. i try every few years. just can't hang with them! i like fight song/revolver and that's about it.

Have you listened to Vs.? It's their masterpiece, and much more interesting than Signals, Calls and Marches. Probably my favorite album from that early 80's post-punk/art-rock era.

Workingman's Dead - aside from the singles it's just kind of a sleepy, mopey album that doesn't stay with me.

gotta say Michael Jackson's Thriller. My father threw it at me but he missed.

its not to everyone's tastes,

Obviously not

xpost the album's awesome tho

It's a pretty good album, it's not awesome. It's like "Tusk", it couldn't possibly live up to the hyperbole it receives on ILM and in other quarters, and that annoys people so much they dismiss out of hand.

lol that was an xpost to my MJ's Thriller post, sorry

Oh, ha ha. Now that album is awesome!

I keep giving Trout Mask Replica a chance, but every time I do I dislike it. I like a lot of noisy/experimental music, so I feel like this should be right up my alley. For whatever reason, it's not.

The Slits - Cut

― ilxor, Friday, January 9, 2009 7:52 AM (1 year ago)

A year and a half later I've come around v. nicely to this album, it's great!

Hotel California. Always loved the title track and wanted to hear the rest of the album to see if it matched up. Boy was I mistaken, what a load of crud.

wasted time is worth a listen just to hear were i believe i can fly comes from.

where

I hate the Eagles.

Here's my current addition to this thread (sorry, Gary):

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BR-l63C-2iA/R-ZYBRjA4GI/AAAAAAAAB2k/SDsMhTmIRJ4/s320/Gary+Numan+ThePleasurePrinciple1.jpg

I love "Hotel California" and "Take It To The Limit" but otherwise I'm with you on that one.

xp

You've gotta be kidding ilxor, TPP is a masterpiece.

Trans-Europe Express. I love Kraftwerk lots, but this is the opposite of Radioactivity in that all the songs are long and lumpen.

LOL, it's uncanny how we don't agree about anything.

Going back a bit now, but "What Goes On", always struck me as a bit prissy and pretentious.

Have you listened to Vs.? It's their masterpiece, and much more interesting than Signals, Calls and Marches. Probably my favorite album from that early 80's post-punk/art-rock era.

I would second that. Scott, iirc you're a Throwing Muses fan - have a listen to 'Mica' cos it's sort of a blueprint for their early stuff as far as my ears can tell.

its not to everyone's tastes, but i'd argue the album hardly celebrates misogyny, and is focused instead upon dissecting/presenting fucked up male sexuality, with criticism of said sexuality implied.

I didn't read it as an endorsement of misogyny, I just thought it was a very trite treatment of the subject. In some ways it's certainly a subjective/taste thing as lyrics that deal directly with sex/sexual frustration never really do much for me, except for, like, Prince. I was really surprised how whiny Dulli's voice was considering he's spawned his own subgenre/cottage industry. There is some nice, moody guitar work, etc. going on but the whole thing comes off as a humorless bore of self-loathing. I'm sure the exact same criticism, with a few modifications, could be made of Mark Kozelek's work, but I adore the man. So yeah, subjectivity.

As far as classic albums: anything by Pink Floyd except Piper. I don't even know where to begin. This is a piece of the classic rock canon I will never understand.

I was really surprised how whiny Dulli's voice was considering he's spawned his own subgenre/cottage industry. There is some nice, moody guitar work, etc. going on but the whole thing comes off as a humorless bore of self-loathing.

Really? I'd describe Dulli's work as a lot of things but "humorless" is definitely NOT one of them!

the whole thing comes off as a humorless bore of self-loathing.

Oh man, seriously Dulli can be the funniest fucker in the world sometimes imo. xp

Well like I said, I'm not getting it. Keep in mind Gentlemen is my only exposure.

i dunno how anyone can hear "what jail is like" and not hear a dumptruck-sized dose of self-loathing. i'm not saying dulli's *not* a misogynist -- getting a woman to sing the album's most self-debasing song? -- but he is more complex than being *just* a misogynist.

I wouldn't say Dulli's a misogynist at all. There's a mean humorous streak running through a ton of his work. Everything from "Be Sweet" to "John the Baptist" to his cover of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" is filled with it.

He does do a lot of the obnoxious tough-guy asshole act, but underneath you can tell that he's really secretly an obnoxious weak-guy asshole. I do love him though.

http://www.kalamu.com/bol/wp-content/content/images/maggot%20brain%20cover.jpg

I have to confess I never understood why "Maggot Brain" was considered such a classic. It starts with a nice enough guitar solo, and ends with a decent groove and some funny sound effects, and between them are several vignettes of funk songs which haven't got the time to develop properly, and which have some bland group vocals. Didn't this band a have proper vocalist, or why does it sound like the whole band is shouting (pretty discordantly) on every tune with vocals?

Okay, I do understand why the guitar solo is considered great by those people who care a lot about guitar solos, but is one solo plus the funny noises enough to make an album classic?

one solo plus the funny noises

Most hilarious reduction of an entire album I've ever read.

Well, that's pretty much all I remember of the album (I haven't listened to it since I bought it). Nothing else on it was that memorable.

this thread is terrible

I tried to get into Hounds of Love after the last big 80s poll and came up totally blank.

I agree with Tuomas on Maggot Brain.

there are tons of albums i didn't get at first but gradually grew into, and tons of them are among my favorites now -- the fall, 'astral weeks,' 'in a silent way,' 'village green preservation society.' i even like some mid-70s floyd now, which i never thought i'd come around to. i'm a lot less quick to dismiss anything than i used to be. i spent years dismissing zappa (with embarrassingly little exposure to his music), but finally hearing 'we're only in it for the money' was eye-opening.

don't think i will ever come around to jeff buckley, but do enjoy the albums of his dad's that i've heard.

what's not to like/get - incredible speed of thought/deed, rhythmic intensity, beautiful moments, moments when he's taking the piss, jazzy bits, classical bits, all cecilized for yr pleasure - just so exciting! better than punk rock!

lol yeah, i get all that and do take a certain dizzied pleasure from the record, but most of the appeal is intellectual. i'm impressed by the speed, dexterity, density, etc., but i also struggle with a kind of harried frustration. suspect that this music is simply too hyper and fractured to grant the simple rewards i most appreciate: sustained and pleasing tune, beat, tone or mood. i have the same problem with arty spazz music like zorn & projects involving mike patton, most of your more "extreme" metal and punk, even some of the giants of spiritual free jazz (a genre i do often enjoy).

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

I WANTED WANTED WANTED to like this but I find the actual melody of every song/the guitar & drum-work so utterly boring that it makes what joy I derive from at least the lyrics unbearable. I honestly listened to this 6-7 times hoping it would just "happen" (like it did with that new AC album after at least 12 full-on listenings b/c I kept being reminded by the collective press that they were such a great band) but so far it hasn't happened yet. Maybe it will, or maybe it really just is literate but boring music.

The Moles - Untune the sky

Damn this is so great. CUUUUUUUUUUUUURDDDDDLLLLLLE

it says "weren't". I was intrigued by the Moles as they were compared to the Boo Radleys (I think?) but they didn't sound anything like them so I instinctly switched em off. Should try it out again.

uggh oops. yeah it's a killer album

Mary Margaret O'Hara, Miss America. Just not getting it at the moment.

luomo- vocalcity

i have such a hard time with house. the repetition grates on me. pure hypocrisy on my part because i can listen to, like, the stooges all day long, but for some reason when house does it i get really bored really quickly. :(

Annette Peacock - The Aura Years. It sounds like it was leftover from earlier in the seventies.

I wonder if the Groove is in the Heart band did anything else? *puts on World Clique* that's what I'm talking about...

but did it knock you out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3gTLXpXxtk

I'm always surprised how boring Can albums are.

― Darin, Tuesday, January 18, 2011 2:22 PM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^

Deee-Lite sorta petered out but Towa Tei's had a pretty extensive career since then. Check out "GBI" which sounds like his own attempt to make a "Groove is in the Heart" type single, but with Kylie Minogue instead.

Cheap Trick "Dream Police" rn

title track is like Sparks via Queen. "Gonna Raise Hell" is the lost Iron "No New York" track.

lost Iron Maiden.

or Judas Priest

oh fuck this is the wrong thread

this album rules. definitely not not knocked out by this

Not so much album since this was a standout track on a compilation surrounded by decent music but nothing that stood out as much to me. I heard the guitar on Skinhead Moonstomp by Symarip which is really surprising. I must have heard it before so surprised i is hitting me as a surprise but it isn't what I would have expected, though not sure what that is.
It's noisy , quasi psychedelic possibly and more about creating distortion with a clean guitar without pedals though possibly with a slide. I think it may sound like guitar of its time in 1970 when I think I might be expecting something more linear or rhythm oriented. I haven't listened to the lp in a while so not sure if there is more of this style elsewhere. Also not checked if this is the standard version or not. But really struck me as a bit other for the song it was a part of.

Had me thinking of Syd Barret or Blixa Bargeld or something . Though more compressed timewise and fitting within the music played but still like totally abstract.

yeah seeing somebody else mentioning they posted to the wrong thread further up the thread I thought this was were knocked out by but its weren't.
Only noticed when it said that four years pass since last message.

Most disappointing "classic" albums I first heard in 2023:

Aerosmith
Honky Tonk Masquerade, Joe Ely
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Flaming Lips
Next, Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Terry Melcher
Too Fast for Love, Mötley Crüe
Sommerabend, Novalis
Ten Years After

Maybe one good song apiece on each of these, at best.

maybe I should be paying about dsotm here?

...posting about...

I love DSOTM but don't care for 'Wish You Were Here'.

I just recently found a CD of Animals on the curb and listened to that for the first time, and think I prefer it to Wish, maybe even Dark Side. But I guess that's for the other thread.

Speaking of long crawls: daaamn that guitar in "Europe is Our Playground"

(I gotta get home and blast it)

wrong thread alfred

oddly wish is the only one that does it for me

wish you weren't here, last classic album that i got and wasn't knocked out by!!!

The concept-era Pink Floyd records are all very different in terms of pacing and structure, and if that doesn't appeal to the listener they can feel torpid. I got bored of Dark Side for that reason, but Wish You Were Here and Animals especially build in very satisfying ways for me.

"Animals" is my pick for this thread tbh