Great albums with no great songs?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by NettleBed, Dec 2, 2018.

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  1. KarlFarbman

    KarlFarbman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fargo
    Someone Saved My Life Tonight, great song. Captain Fantastic, great song.
     
  2. pokemaniacjunk

    pokemaniacjunk Forum Resident

    Location:
    south paris maine
    John is way ahead of you on that aspect
     
  3. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    You don't think "Hand of Fate" is a great song? I do! :)
     
  4. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    It is excellent or very, very good in my view but I can't put that up at some ceiling of songwriting.
    Great is Beast Of Burden, Jumping Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, Gimme Shelter, Paint It Black etc.
    I guess we are arguing definition.
    Anyhow iam guessing we both feel it to be a superb album no?
     
  5. Vic333

    Vic333 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I agree about Captain Fantastic. All the songs sound great when listening, but quickly fall out of your head once the album is done.
    Tumbleweed, though, has some of my favorite Elton songs: Country Comfort and Burn Down the Mission. Oddly, they don't ever feature on any of his compilations. But, he's had so many hits that his 'best of' albums do usually focus on chart position, and neither of those were hits for him.
     
  6. RBell

    RBell New Member

    Location:
    Palo Alto CA
    Agreed, could the whole genre of punk rock fit this description? Very few great songs, but many great albums? I mean, come on, most punk rockers love the genre for the attitude, energy, Etc... Not because it is great music.
     
  7. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    No! :D

    I think "Black and Blue" is a spotty album with a few good songs, and only "Hand of Fate" acts as a standout.

    Not wild about any of the 3 Stones albums between 1972 and 1978!
     
    John Fell likes this.
  8. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover

    Location:
    Michigan
    Thanks for turning me on to Rain Parade brother :righton:
     
    thematinggame likes this.
  9. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover

    Location:
    Michigan
    I couldn’t pick that one, I love Tribal Gathering and Artificial Energy. Although I guess you might not call those classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man” or “Turn! Turn! Turn!”. Hmm...
     
  10. DavidP

    DavidP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Absolutely not. Unless by great, you mean unlistenable.
     
  11. Andreas

    Andreas Senior Member

    Location:
    Frankfurt, Germany
    Todd Rundgren - A Wizard A True Star somehow falls into this category, the sum is far more than the individual pieces.
     
  12. NaturalD

    NaturalD The King of Pop

    Location:
    Boston, Mass., USA
    Sandinista by the Clash. I still play the whole thing at least once a year, but there is no top Clash song on it.
     
    Hammerpeg likes this.
  13. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    The playing, the groove, the commitment & of course the recording & production are all standouts.
     
    Ray29 likes this.
  14. Jonesey

    Jonesey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Bristol, UK
    I think the Who's Tommy fits into this. There are some good songs but none especially "great"
     
    All Down The Line and Chew like this.
  15. KarlFarbman

    KarlFarbman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fargo
    I think Tommy is generally overrated as an album because of songs like Pinball Wizard, which is so well known, and Quadrophenia is generally underrated. Not surprisingly I think Quadrophenia is a great album which I listen to a lot more than Tommy, which I would classify as a very good but not great album. In fact, the closing, We're Not Gonna Take it/See Me Feel Me tracks I would call great, but not the whole album.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2019
    All Down The Line likes this.
  16. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I agree on Black And Blue. Hand of Fate is great but I don't care for the majority of the tracks.
     
  17. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    Sometimes the power of the performance and inspired arrangement elevates the song
     
    All Down The Line likes this.
  18. KarlFarbman

    KarlFarbman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fargo
    Yep, I remember when Black and Blue came out, feeling it was a huge step down from the /Beggars Banquet/Let it Bleed/Sticky Fingers/Exile run, there is no way it's a great album on that level. In fact I would call it average to good.
     
    John Fell likes this.
  19. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I think it was a step down from Goats Head Soup and IORR as well.
     
    KarlFarbman likes this.
  20. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan

    Location:
    USA
    Radioactivity by Kraftwerk is the only from them that
    I don't think is groundbreaking, or up to par with their
    other albums.

    The title track is good, but not great, and nor is any
    other song on the album. I like the other remixes
    and newer versions of the song.

    However, taken together as a whole, and theme, much
    like all their albums, it is great.

    That and some other electronic albums are the only ones
    I can think of.

    later
    -1
     
    newelectricmuse likes this.
  21. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan

    Location:
    USA
    The Title track 'Autobahn' is one of the all time greatest songs in electronic
    history.

    So no, I don't agree at all with that.

    later
    -1
     
  22. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    As is the case with most of Eno’s ambients. The only ambient album of his I could cherry pick from (that I can think of) is Apollo. Maybe also some of the Music For Films.
     
  23. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    REM - Murmur
    Let's Active - Cypress
     
  24. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    There we disagree. As much as I've tried over the years, I've never been able to embrace those 2. I just think they're uninspired.

    "B&B" isn't much better, but at least it has one song I love! Can't say that about the other 2...
     
    Hammerpeg likes this.
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