Albums that made you say WTF when you first heard them

You guys have never heard of them but:

Medeski Martin and Wood
Combustication

 

Ring modulation.

 

Wtf good..Son Volt - trace
Wtf bad.. Flaming Lips - The Terror

 

Not an album, but the first time I saw the Cowboy Junkies live, I was blown away. As much as I like their albums, they don't come close to live shows. More so that any other band I've seen.

 

If I may, I'll expand on that-Love You and SIP.

 

Agree - walked into a record store in Chicago on Ashland Ave. while in college in '78 and they were playing it. Instantly bought it based on hearing Eddie's guitar work. Really blown away.

 

Age of Adz (Sufjan Stevens).
Was not sure if it was love or hate (it was love).
Another galaxy from Illinoise.

 

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

love the band and all their other albums but still don't "get" this one.

 

Robert Plant: Shaken N Stirred. I could not believe what I was hearing when I purchased this album upon it's release. It did eventually grow on me though and I love it to this day.

 

This!

 

Wondermints - "Mind If We Make Love to You" (discovered them as a result of the Brian Wilson connection)

Daft Punk - "Random Access Memories" (was not into them at all prior to their most recent album, although vaguely familiar due to my daughter being into EDM)

Springsteen - "Born to Run" (senior year of high school; was not aware of him until that album)

The Beatles - "With the Beatles" (already knew the songs, but at the age of 12 or so, the mystery of my first "import" album blew me away)

Cheap Trick - "In Color" (discovered the joys of "power pop", which was all the rage in the late 70's)

Devo - "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" (really a WTF moment when I first heard it, but really grew to like the album)

 

MC5 Back In The USA - Bought the CD expecting to kick out the jams and got a tin can version of tutti frutti instead. Love the album now but the recording sounded so weak at first.

 

Not an album specific WTF, but around the age of 13, the discovery of bootlegs was a real WTF.

Bizarre Bazaar was giant indoor mall in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago back in the late 60's and 70's that featured a ton of head shop type stuff. Included was a large wall full of what must have been the first bootleg albums available. Nothing fancy or high tech; just plain white album jackets with a piece of colored paper on the front with the title, artist, and songs. Still have some of the Beatle ones in my collection. Seemed a bit "dangerous" or "cutting edge" to me at the time.

 

Starsailor was one for me 25 years ago and has since become one of my most-listened to albums.

 

Nilsson - ***** Cats

The opening verse of 'Many Rivers to Cross' sounded like Harry's channeling of Wild Man Fischer....and perhaps he was.

 

The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

Totally too wack for my 15-year-old self. Eventually I came around, to some extent. Wee Tam is far more accessible though.

 

I could think of quite a few, but Low by David Bowie...holy crap. It expanded my musical horizons ten-fold. First time I had ever heard something so strange (that I had actually really enjoyed). Made me fully appreciate experimental and ambient music and if it weren't for this album, I probably would never had gotten into krautrock either.

 

I was about 14 or 15 and I talked my dad to take me and my friend Hubbard down to the New York Auto Show in the NY Colisseum on Columbus Circle (now the site of Time Warner's HQ). Off to one side of one of the car exhibits was a room with a light show and We're Only In It For The Money playing. Definite WTF moment. I don't remember how I knew that this was what they were playing, but I took a handful of quarters out of my bank and bought the thing the next time I was at the store. Changed my life! Lemme takaminnit ta tell you my plan. Lemme take a minnit to tell who I am. If it doesn't show, think you better go, I'm another person!

Runners up: Two Virgins (bought at some place on pre-Guiliani 42nd Street next to a strip joint) or It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest by the Fugs. Or maybe Have a Marijuana by David Peel and the Lower East Side.

 

Oingo Boingo - Good For Your Soul

The first WTF was listening to it.

The second WTF was my Dad saying he loved it.

The third WTF was when I saw Danny Elfman's name on the soundtrack for Beetlejuice (which I described at the time as an Oingo Boingo movie.)

The fourth WTF was moving to Japan, then moving back to the States six years later to discover that people (almost) young enough to be my kids worshipped the band, and looked at me with a combination of amazement and jealousy when I told them I had seen them live.

 

Freak Out.

 

'Contact High With The Godz'

major WTF album

 

Yes- Close To The Edge [at the age of 11].. If you've been raised on the Beatles (and nothing wrong with that) it was........quite an eye-opener.

 

WTF on my first listening to:

The debut album from Metal Church

"Many, many years ago on a distant shore
Men did gather secretly..."


White Zombie's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One

"Meanwhile, behind the façade of this innocent-looking bookstore"...

 

Time-Bowie.I was very young!