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Post by soundandvision on Mar 3, 2008 0:52:47 GMT -5
I'm sure this has happened to everyone. You look through your cd/record collection and there are a couple of titles that you purchased due to their towering reputation or a rave review.
Yet, for some reason you could never get past one listen and it has sat there, collecting dust -- or perhaps even has already gone the way of the used cd store as a trade in.
Here are some key selections for me, in this category:
Love: "Forever Changes" -- It's a record I'm supposed to like, given their direct influences. Considered by some to be in the pantheon of records like "Pet Sounds" and "Sgt. Peppers". Indeed, I love the era (and to be more specific 60's pop, in general) but this is one that just fell on my deaf ear with a thud. I don't get it.
Television: "Marquee Moon"-- The riff on "See No Evil" is great, but the rest of the record is meh.
Black Flag: "Damaged" -- Given my love of The Stooges, especially "Fun House", you would think this would be right up my alley. Instead, it just reminds me of Chris Spielman on local sports talk radio when he gets mad -- "ARGGGGHHHH!!".
The Prodigy: "The Fat of the Land" -- Good God. "Firestarter" was a fine single and peaked my interest. This record effectively killed my interest.
Joanna Newsom: "Ys" -- I'll let Robert Christgau say it for me: "Original is one thing, worth doing another -- and if only indie ideologues knew the difference. So much that is sprightly about the debut is subsumed here by ambition, to be kind, and privilege, to be brutally accurate." I never heard her debut, this on did nothing to encourage me to. "Ys" is easily the worst 'best' reviewed record I have ever heard. And I like Van Dyke Parks' "Song Cycle". A. Lot.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 3, 2008 3:34:37 GMT -5
I think we had a similar thread like this, but I say it again. Pet Sounds, Beach Boy - I love 'God Only Knows', that's it. BTW, Forver Changes is my 2nd favorite album, behind The Beatles Revolver. The first time I heard it I was stunned, amazed, moved, awed... and couldn't stop listening to it for hours on end.  |
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Post by Hot*Merging*Action on Mar 3, 2008 3:46:38 GMT -5
but the rest of the record is meh. "meh" is such a super adjective!! everyone who reads it, understands you implicitly.  |
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Post by Shep on Mar 3, 2008 7:01:30 GMT -5
People were crazy about those Nirvana albums, but the only one that really blew me away was the "Unplugged" CD.
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Post by soundandvision on Mar 3, 2008 9:40:20 GMT -5
People were crazy about those Nirvana albums, but the only one that really blew me away was the "Unplugged" CD. You and I have a ton in common there, Shep. I felt like I was supposed to be into those records. To this day, the only one I own and can listen to is "Unplugged", as well. If I hear something from any of the other records on radio and change the dial... It all sounds so foreign now. |
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Post by braindeadzombie on Mar 3, 2008 10:31:36 GMT -5
U2's "The Joshua Tree". Well, their entire output but I'll just stick to that one album for now. I just don't get the attraction: 2 or 3 good songs and than 30-40 minutes of filler.
And pretty much any Beatles album prior to Revolver, including Rubber Soul and the soundtracks. They're just so short and many of them are filled with cover songs.
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Post by Shep on Mar 4, 2008 6:45:12 GMT -5
People were crazy about those Nirvana albums, but the only one that really blew me away was the "Unplugged" CD. You and I have a ton in common there, Shep. I felt like I was supposed to be into those records. To this day, the only one I own and can listen to is "Unplugged", as well. If I hear something from any of the other records on radio and change the dial... It all sounds so foreign now. I was in college in the early/mid 90s so Seattle sound was huge, but I really preferred the alt rock coming out of England at the time (The Stone Roses, The Verve, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, etc.--which got me into earlier bands like Joy Division, The Smiths, etc.). Some beautiful stuff on that "Unplugged" album though. |
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Mar 4, 2008 9:11:31 GMT -5
With you there on the Nirvana stuff and U2. I'll add to that Fleetwood Mac. For all three bands I think the best way to sum it up is "I just don't get it!"
With a lot of albums, like films, when they are considered "seminal" there's a problem. For the most part hearing something now that at the time was seen to change things means it has lost its impact. I really love Forever Changes but it sounds like a pretty straight forward album thanks to hearing it forty years later, same with Pet Sounds. Plus the build up of how important this album is means that quite often it can't live up to the hype. With this in mind the next few fall into the this category, whatever was mindblowing at the time is lost on me, but what's left isn't something I particularly like:
Sgt. Pepper and The White Album: as much as I love music that has been influenced by these releases, and i do get why they are important, neither has ever quite done it for me. Much prefer Revolver and Rubber Soul.
Blue Lines by Massive Attack: I came in after Trip-hop had burned itself out so the earlier Massive Attack stuff sounds quite dated, especially compared to the almighty Mezzanine, an album that still hasn't dated in my mind.
Led Zeppelin III: Love the Zep but this just doesn't work for me at all.
A current one that people seemed to fall over themselves to praise but I found to be complete rubbish:
Cryptograms by Deerhunter: Utter toss.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 4, 2008 12:59:15 GMT -5
I love U2, but I'm with the consensus on Nirvana. I was in high school when they hit and I vastly preferred PearlJam. But even better than both at the time were the funk-alternative bands like Faith No More or the Chili Peppers.
I'm with trumpy on Fleetwood Mac. South Park was right: Stevie Nicks sounds like a goat.
The top of my list is still Bob Dylan. I've tried and tried. He just doesn't do it for me. Since the thread is for albums, I'll list both "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde". Just....nothin'.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Mar 4, 2008 14:13:11 GMT -5
Red Hot Chili Peppers! I knew there was another band I just didn't see the appeal of! Any album of theirs never fails to unimpress me.
As for Dylan John Wesley Harding's an album that I get told constantly is one of his best but I don't like it. Love most of his other 60's output but not that one. I even prefer Nashville Skyline to it.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Mar 4, 2008 23:32:30 GMT -5
I have a similar thing with U2. While I appreciate them as a band, and quite like some of their songs, I don't really understand how people are really gaga over them. They just don't connect with me so much.
Other than that, there's a lot of classic rock I feel like I should like but just can't. I'm drawing a blank on specific examples, though.
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Post by hobbesluigi82 on Mar 6, 2008 6:56:47 GMT -5
People were crazy about those Nirvana albums, but the only one that really blew me away was the "Unplugged" CD. I'm the complete opposite. Unplugged has a few good 'uns, but leaves a lot to be desired. The main albums are brilliant, though. Korn - See You on the Other SideI love almost all their work, but it baffles me as to how this appears to be a fan-favorite. Half the tracks are synthesized to Hell, and...shudder...dance-metal...? I can count all the songs on it I like on one hand...heck with it, one finger. |
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