Mostly abysmal solo careers that get a pass based almost entirely on past successes with respective bands and / or good will

xp Yeah, it wasn't until a few songs in that they realized it *could* be Mould. But "Something I Learned Today" and "Broken Home, Broken Heart," forget it.

With a couple exceptions (i.e. the Eno collabs), David Byrne.

Robert Plant

Steve Malkmus was the first name I thought off actually, I mean I don't think he's 'abysmal' fwiw but I can't think of a single person I know who actively reps for any of his solo music

Phil Collins

Ringo

Jarvis

xp Yeah, it wasn't until a few songs in that they realized it *could* be Mould. But "Something I Learned Today" and "Broken Home, Broken Heart," forget it.

that's sad.

I'll rep for Plant. His solo career has a surprisingly high ratio of hits to misses. But the covers of the albums? Exact opposite ratio.

There are some rly interesting deep cuts on the first P Collins joint, I dunno if that's true of the later ones

shorter list would be people whose solo careers eclipse their band careers, methinks

kidding?

Steve Malkmus was the first name I thought off actually, I mean I don't think he's 'abysmal' fwiw but I can't think of a single person I know who actively reps for any of his solo music

Plenty of people seem to enjoy his solo music, but I'm not sure I've ever heard someone say they prefer it to Pavement.

Rod Stewart

― EZ Snappin, Monday, February 4, 2013 11:02 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

??? rod's early output is fucking classic as hell

Yeah solo westerberg sucks. I don't even like late Replacements if I'm honest.

PW is the definition of not getting a pass (also see Sting). I've never heard anyone praise his solo stuff.

Maybe he doesn't get a pass around here but Elvis Costello fits, in the sense that people wildly overrate almost any new album and then forget it entirely.

Robert Plant

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, February 4, 2013 1:08 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

disagree on the whole, but also raising sand didn't become a mini-phenomenon because he was the guy "from led zeppelin" & his early 80s output might have been underrated because he was the guy from led zeppelin

Malkmus absolutely

Has Rod done anything worthwhile post-1976? Genuine q.

ilm loves young turks

E-Cost is kinda pushing it

shorter list would be people whose solo careers eclipse their band careers, methinks

neil young
van morrison
michael jackson
brian eno
paul simon

there are a lot of cases of that!! but in many of those cases the bands aren't ones you would really hear much of

Buyers of No Jacket Required in '85 likely newbies; it's quite likely he became a Genesis fan as a result of NJR.

Rod Stewart

― EZ Snappin, Monday, February 4, 2013 11:02 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

??? rod's early output is fucking classic as hell

Yes it is. But he's been mostly horrible for nearly 40 years.

Bryan Ferry 's solo career at worst redundant, not abysmal

PW is the definition of not getting a pass (also see Sting). I've never heard anyone praise his solo stuff

Apparently someone gave him a pass because he was allowed/encouraged by SOMEONE to release some incredibly shitty stuff. I like a few songs on the first solo album, even the RIDICULOUSLY corny "Runaway Wind", but someone must have been out there encouraging him to "do what he does best" and that didn't turn out so well on the whole imo.

Steve Malkmus was the first name I thought off actually, I mean I don't think he's 'abysmal' fwiw but I can't think of a single person I know who actively reps for any of his solo music

prefer Malkmus solo to Pavement tbh. I didn't follow Pavement at all when they were a thing though

Never heard anything I liked by solo David Byrne. Didn't enven try Love the Giant.

I think Eric Clapton and Jeff Back probably qualify but I'm not actually going to explore their solo albums in enough depth to find out if I'm right.

I don't like solo Malkmus at all but it's def foregrounded his chops/guitar skillz, which are admirable

Alex Chilton

No, Jeff Beck fucking rules.

Christ

if Rod Stewart is getting a pass it's because of Every Picture Tells a Story not "past successes with respective bands" so he can't be an answer here. no disrespect to the Faces of course.

The Beck-Stewart "People Get Ready" a near classic

OTM. And how are you classifying Truth?

xpost re Jeff Beck ruling

I wasn't really counting Jeff Beck Group as solo but I guess it is.

Chick Corea

lennon is an insane answer

clapton's a good answer, he was in two great bands and then churned out MOR hackwork for decades

Art Garfunkel.

Solo Byrne is really, really bad. "Now and then I get horny." Ugh.

Lennon's not really that much of an insane answer... I'll give him Imagine, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band a small handful of his songs from Double Fantasty and Milk And Honey, plus '#9 Dream' and 'Mind Games' (the song)... rest of his stuff, and I include the rock'n'roll covers record and his early collaborations with Yoko here, is mostly gash.

Does Clapton get a pass though? I get the feeling a lot of Clapton fans genuinely like MOR hackwork rather than just yearning for the good old days.

Lou Reed's made some dreck but there are at least half a dozen albums that do a lot more than trade on post-VU goodwill.

xpost:

*Double Fantasy, even.

I like Clapton's work with Cream and I love the Derek & The Dominos record, yet absolutely can't stand his solo work.

I was specifically thinking of my uncle when I wrote that about Clapton fans.

Yeah, it's not totally defined who's giving the pass. Is it fans, critics, or labels? I think a lot of the people mentioned in this thread were lucky to be able to consistently release records in the '70s and '80s even though they weren't selling a lot, so they got a pass in that sense.

I don't like solo Malkmus at all but it's def foregrounded his chops/guitar skillz, which are admirable

― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, February 4, 2013 7:40 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah I'll agree w/ this based on seeing him a few years ago, that is to say I put up with some not especially interesting songs for the sake of some of his guitar parts (and Janet Weiss actually)

I think the original thread question has too many moving parts -- judgment calls on abysmalness, passes, opinion of original bands. In Garfunkel's case, did he ever really "get a pass"?

Suicaine Gratifaction...god

suicaine gratifaction is a pretty awesome record actually