thread to go to bat for maligned albums/songs/bands

[Shakespeare]

im not talking cult favorites no one knows about, rather stuff that folks here dig that has a mediocre critical rep at best

inspired by my listening to metallicas st anger recently, which i think has a lot of good stuff going for it (and sure, a lot of bad)

[Shakespeare]

i also dont think weezer has made a truly terrible album yet

[Iowan]

I like the Foo Fighters a lot. I don't think that journalists/pro reviewers are too hard on them, but a lot of critically inclined musical folks (read: 3DD crowd) dismiss them as next door to Nickleback.

[Iowan]

i also dont think weezer has made a truly terrible album yet

There are some real gems hidden in their generally maligned post-Maladroit albums, but some of those albums have been one and done listens to my ears.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I like the Foo Fighters a lot. I don't think that journalists/pro reviewers are too hard on them, but a lot of critically inclined musical folks (read: 3DD crowd) dismiss them as next door to Nickleback.

I don't dislike Foo Fighters at all. They're solid musically, have some nice hooks from time to time and the song are solid in general. I guess if I have an issue is that I don't like them enough to remember them when I'm searching for things to listen to. If I hear them on radio or whatnot I always enjoy them. Plus I just plain like Dave Grohl

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

i also dont think weezer has made a truly terrible album yet

There are some real gems hidden in their generally maligned post-Maladroit albums, but some of those albums have been one and done listens to my ears.

I need to give the newest album a return listen, as the first few left me bigly underwhelmed. Big fan but this one was pretty weak as I remember it

[Shakespeare]

i liked pacific daydream but its not one i'll really push on people as proof that rivers still has it. its a mess and im not sure what audience he was even chasing there, but it worked for me

death to false metal is the only one id truly call bad, and its not really a proper album. every album post-maladroit is at least solid, and a few of them rise to legitimately great (which doesnt mean there arent dud tracks here and there)

im not really a playlist guy but ive always felt like i could wrangle a few inarguable classic albums out of weezer's post-maladroit songbook. im content taking the albums as they are but it bothers me that a lot of people miss out on the gems cuz of a few indiscretions

[Iowan]

I like the Foo Fighters a lot. I don't think that journalists/pro reviewers are too hard on them, but a lot of critically inclined musical folks (read: 3DD crowd) dismiss them as next door to Nickleback.

I don't dislike Foo Fighters at all. They're solid musically, have some nice hooks from time to time and the song are solid in general. I guess if I have an issue is that I don't like them enough to remember them when I'm searching for things to listen to. If I hear them on radio or whatnot I always enjoy them. Plus I just plain like Dave Grohl

And beyond Grohl, the rest of the guys in the band are really solid dudes. Chris Shiflett (lead guitar) in particular is a massive proponent of Americana/alt-country/whatever the hell you want to call it, and has used his platform well. Walking The Floor (his podcast) has lots of artists that show up here regularly, and his last solo album was one of my 2017 Top 10. Definitely in the board's collective wheelhouse.

[Iowan]

I haven't listened to Pacific Daydream (last Weezer album) either, but thought the White one, and the one prior to it were solid listens. Death to False Metal and Hurley didn't glance a second listen from me. Raditude, Red, and Make Believe all had a couple of great tunes on them.

Weezer was my favorite band for a few years in high school. I loved "Buddy Holly" as a little guy, and suddenly when I heard they were coming back, I dug back into the Blue Album and Pinkerton and was blown away by both. Green and Maladroit had some great tracks, but were not on the same level as the initial classics. I kinda lost interest with Make Believe, but will usually give them a few cursory listens for nostalgia's sake when they release an album.

[Flea]

Meat Loaf. I will cut anyone who disses "Bat Out Of Hell". If you want to have a go at his other work, fine - it's deserved. But "Bat" was pure lightning in a bottle.

[beantownbubba]

Meat Loaf. I will cut anyone who disses "Bat Out Of Hell". If you want to have a go at his other work, fine - it's deserved. But "Bat" was pure lightning in a bottle.

A brave stand, flea, and proof that Shakespeare is on to something w/ this thread.

The problem is that I've learned the hard way not to comment, especially in dismissive fashion, on albums I haven't listened to in years/decades. So I'll just say this surprises me. The question is whether I'm intrigued enough to actually listen again. As a starting point, my impression of the album is that it's fun, which is different than good, but like i said, it's been a while.

[Iowan]

Flea, I got your back on that one too.

[dogstar]

Meat Loaf. I will cut anyone who disses "Bat Out Of Hell". If you want to have a go at his other work, fine - it's deserved. But "Bat" was pure lightning in a bottle.

A brave stand, flea, and proof that Shakespeare is on to something w/ this thread.

The problem is that I've learned the hard way not to comment, especially in dismissive fashion, on albums I haven't listened to in years/decades. So I'll just say this surprises me. The question is whether I'm intrigued enough to actually listen again. As a starting point, my impression of the album is that it's fun, which is different than good, but like i said, it's been a while.

My missus is a big fan. The first time I played her Jungleland she asked me if it was Meatloaf.

[scotto]

So some friends and I had a similar party game that involved a few of us standing around in a circle and drinking beers--as friends do at a party--and offering up our notion of a musician or band that could be totally banished from the face of the earth (including their past history) without any of us giving a shit. The catch was that it had to be a unanimous decision, which made it harder than you'd think: Lionel Richie? No, then you'd have to also give up the Commodores. OK. The Eagles? Yeah, but I liked that one song in high school. OK. Bread? No, "Down on my Knees" is actually a pretty good song. OK. Alabama? No, my mom used to play that album all the time. OK. Etc., etc., etc.
We never could find a consensus pick that didn't have at least one defender among the five or six of us. With the exception of Lee Greenwood--we were all like, Yeah, fuck 'im.

[Rocky]

Meat Loaf. I will cut anyone who disses "Bat Out Of Hell". If you want to have a go at his other work, fine - it's deserved. But "Bat" was pure lightning in a bottle.

A brave stand, flea, and proof that Shakespeare is on to something w/ this thread.

The problem is that I've learned the hard way not to comment, especially in dismissive fashion, on albums I haven't listened to in years/decades. So I'll just say this surprises me. The question is whether I'm intrigued enough to actually listen again. As a starting point, my impression of the album is that it's fun, which is different than good, but like i said, it's been a while.

My missus is a big fan. The first time I played her Jungleland she asked me if it was Meatloaf.

Well Steinman is obviously a Springsteen fan and they do share a few players in common.

[Shakespeare]

bat out of hell does indeed own. all the other loaf ive heard (and steinmans bad for good solo album) is garbage though

ive tried to put my finger on what makes bat out of hell work but i cant quite get there. it isnt just rundgren, i can say that much. its something in the level of self awareness and pure commitment to the schlock that sells it for me. its a fine, fine line

[beantownbubba]

its something in the level of self awareness and pure commitment to the schlock that sells it for me.

Dead on. Whether one thinks the album is "fun," "a lucky one off" or "really great" this has to be central to the explanation.

[Beebs]

bat out of hell does indeed own. all the other loaf ive heard (and steinmans bad for good solo album) is garbage though

ive tried to put my finger on what makes bat out of hell work but i cant quite get there. it isnt just rundgren, i can say that much. its something in the level of self awareness and pure commitment to the schlock that sells it for me. its a fine, fine line

Heard an interview with Rundgren in the last few years (maybe WTF? with Marc Maron) and upon realizing what a despicable human he is I can't decide whether to dislike this album more as it's one of his projects or to like it more to support Meatloaf, who Rundgren repeatedly referred to as "that fat sweaty idiot" (or something like that).


I still think The Colour and the Shape is a really great album. Nothing Foo Fighters did beyond that caught my ear in the least and not for lack of trying.

[Flea]

bat out of hell does indeed own. all the other loaf ive heard (and steinmans bad for good solo album) is garbage though

ive tried to put my finger on what makes bat out of hell work but i cant quite get there. it isnt just rundgren, i can say that much. its something in the level of self awareness and pure commitment to the schlock that sells it for me. its a fine, fine line

There are a few ponies hiding in the turd piles of Bad For Good and Bat II. Not enough to justify their existence, though.

[lotusamerica]

Heard an interview with Rundgren in the last few years (maybe WTF? with Marc Maron) and upon realizing what a despicable human he is I can't decide whether to dislike this album more as it's one of his projects or to like it more to support Meatloaf, who Rundgren repeatedly referred to as "that fat sweaty idiot" (or something like that).
.

Rundgren is cocky, cutting and sardonic, but I wouldn't say a despicable human being. The Meatloaf thing was an intentional imaging of using 50's era hunk imagery and then putting Meatloaf in it, and at the time he truly was obese and very sweaty and they played that up for the marketing, however nasty it sounds to talk of it that way now. I don't think Rundgren thought much of Meatloaf largely because he didn't write the songs or play any instruments and they're both prima donnas, but mostly because Meatloaf essentially fucked the project over by quitting his record label contract the day before recording was to begin with the studio and players booked and ready after ten days of rehearsing as the record was mostly a live recording, leaving Rundgren to finance the whole project when he had only intended to be a hired producer and leaving him hoping he'd get his money back (which he obviously did in spades and eventually sold off his royalty rights to get his place in Hawaii), and in the studio Meat became demanding of how the songs should be recorded and played and kept interrupting to make musical suggestions, which would obviously piss off a producer who was now paying hourly out of pocket costs. That doesn't mean Todd shouldn't be nicer about it interviews, but playing nice is not really his thing, just like with Isbell who has that same cut to the bone thing. Rundgren did the whole thing as a Springsteen spoof and Rundgren didn't tell any of the people involved that he thought of it as a sppof, including the E-Street guys he got to play on the record. They also got Phil Ruzzuto to do the Yankees-style play by play calling without telling him it was about sex. Anyway, in the end, Todd and Meat got along well enough for Meat to have his wedding at Todd's house.

[Iowan]

I'll go to bat for the Eagles. I didn't grow up in a time where they represented something I was supposed to hate, so I've only ever judged them for the music, and a lot of it is pretty good with a couple of legitimately great songs speckled in.

To me, they're another band that was on classic rock radio all the times, or the stereos of my parents, aunts and uncles, etc.

A certain generation hates them for what they represented, and whose opportunities their success seemed to come at the cost of, but I've never had that baggage in my ears when they come on.

[Zip City]

Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" gets slagged for being (basically) a Roger Waters solo album with Nick and David along for the ride. The band was breaking up, Rick had already been fired, etc., but there are some really amazing songs on that record

[blessedcurse]

Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" gets slagged for being (basically) a Roger Waters solo album with Nick and David along for the ride. The band was breaking up, Rick had already been fired, etc., but there are some really amazing songs on that record

For me, the Waters/Floyd question has never been an issue. For some reason, The Final Cut resonates deeply with me. I only put it on when I know I can listen all the way through without distraction. Its a journey for me - a novella - not a collection of songs. Painted landscapes distant and familiar.

[Shakespeare]

i also think the eagles are a perfectly fine band. i'll never seek them out but if i come across one of the hits i typically enjoy them. i get the baggage for the generation that lived through them as it happened but i kinda wonder how much of the yougner/my generations dismissal is due to the big lebowski (just the other day i overheard a guy in a record store say he loves joe walsh but cant listen to the eagles due to lebowski), and whether theyll ever be in line for a fleetwood mac/steely dan level reappraisal. those bands are far better than the eagles, but its interesting to me that theyve gone from uncool dadrock to a pretty major influence on the modern indie scene.

one ive been listening to recently:
oasis - be here now

in which the gallaghers become so convinced theyre the worlds greatest pop band that they forget to actually be a pop band. its the textbook definition of a bloated mess, with every song about three times as long as it needs to be, with an unnecessarily dizzying wall of guitars behind it, but the moments where it all comes together are transcendent in that populist way that few bands have ever done better

[Iowan]

i also think the eagles are a perfectly fine band. i'll never seek them out but if i come across one of the hits i typically enjoy them. i get the baggage for the generation that lived through them as it happened but i kinda wonder how much of the yougner/my generations dismissal is due to the big lebowski (just the other day i overheard a guy in a record store say he loves joe walsh but cant listen to the eagles due to lebowski), and whether theyll ever be in line for a fleetwood mac/steely dan level reappraisal. those bands are far better than the eagles, but its interesting to me that theyve gone from uncool dadrock to a pretty major influence on the modern indie scene.

one ive been listening to recently:
oasis - be here now

in which the gallaghers become so convinced theyre the worlds greatest pop band that they forget to actually be a pop band. its the textbook definition of a bloated mess, with every song about three times as long as it needs to be, with an unnecessarily dizzying wall of guitars behind it, but the moments where it all comes together are transcendent in that populist way that few bands have ever done better

"Don't Go Away" is top shelf Oasis. I love the treatment it gets here:

[Iowan]

I've beaten this horse many times, but "A Blessing and a Curse" is the best DBT album outside The Holy Trinity (SRO/DD/TDS). The Isbell tunes would be in the top 25% on any of his solo albums.

This is my island, damn it.

[Shakespeare]

i was pretty intrigued by the mustique sessions on the be here now reissue but havent heard them yet. i gather theyre a bit less...stuffed?

the basic material on that album is mostly strong, its just a matter of how much is strong enough to overcome the bloat

[Iowan]

i was pretty intrigued by the mustique sessions on the be here now reissue but havent heard them yet. i gather theyre a bit less...stuffed?

the basic material on that album is mostly strong, its just a matter of how much is strong enough to overcome the bloat

That's a good way of putting it.

[Smitty]

I'll go to bat for many 80's/90's mainstream country songs that are most certainly deemed uncool in hipster/critical circles.
There's also a lot of 90's/00's alternative rock that gets shit on that I still enjoy.
Ditto John Cougar Mellencamp, especially his late 80's/early 90's stuff (Key West Intermezzo, Human Wheels, Dance Naked).
I listened to the Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang the other day for the first time in years and was astounded at how great some of it was. What more could you possibly expect from a band that's been doing this shit for half a century? A- record.

In the less controversial category, I think Wilco's run from SBS through Star Wars has been treated unfairly harsh. Same goes for DBT's TBTD & GGB.

[Iowan]

I'll go to bat for many 80's/90's mainstream country songs that are most certainly deemed uncool in hipster/critical circles.
There's also a lot of 90's/00's alternative rock that gets shit on that I still enjoy.
Ditto John Cougar Mellencamp, especially his late 80's/early 90's stuff (Key West Intermezzo, Human Wheels, Dance Naked).
I listened to the Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang the other day for the first time in years and was astounded at how great some of it was. What more could you possibly expect from a band that's been doing this shit for half a century? A- record.

In the less controversial category, I think Wilco's run from SBS through Star Wars has been treated unfairly harsh. Same goes for DBT's TBTD & GGB.

FWIW, I'm starting to see begrudging respect for stuff like John Anderson or Sawyer Brown.

I definitely forgot how good some of that stuff was and how much I liked it when I was 9-10 years old until I went with some buddies to a bachelor party in Nashville. All the downtown bars are full of cover bands, but they mine that era pretty hard and hearing it stripped down and live drove home that these were really good songs in and of themselves.