Way too many albums that get critically poor reviews and are less appreciated by fans shock me as I personally enjoy them. Never one to look at critical reviews as I find critics can be biased, have tunnel vision and generally are not critiquing. At one time I would buy albums because Rolling Stone said they were amazing only to be disappointed and regret the purchase. On the other hand I would like something and then read bad reviews and feel like maybe I shouldn't like it. Paul McCartney - Back to the Egg (fantastic album that likely suffered by not including the Single Goodnight Tonight and Daytime Nighttime Suffering) Paul McCartney - Give My Regards to Broad Street (Okay not a fantastic album but great single and worth dropping the needle on, I have listed to it tons of times) Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door (Not hated but not loved as much as every other LZ record including Presence) Elton John - Blue Moves (would have been an awesome single album, there are a few duds on it) Cheap Trick - All Shook Up (classic for side one alone) Sting - Mercury Falling (Love this record, I thought it was a five star album. Shocked by the reviews) David Bowie - Tonight, Never Let Me Down (Tonight got significant air play NLMD wasn't fantastic but had some great tracks, Time Will Crawl was one of them) Elvis Costello - Goodbye Cruel World (I like it Elvis doesn't seem to appreciate his choices at the time) Prince - Around the World in a Day (I like it a lot but it get's horrible reviews) Talking Heads - Naked (I thought it was their best record for years I not expecting the bad review I saw in the crappy Rolling Stone Album Guide)
I've never understood the complaint that he got too much exposure in the '80s. So what. That's like McCartney's "Ebony and Ivory". I'm supposed to hate it because it was on the radio a lot 35 years ago. That's crazy.
I think the "problem" with Phil Collins is he has a very love or hate voice, like a lot of vocalists, both commercial and more oddball ones (hello David Thomas and Russell Mael!). Because surely most sane people would agree he and Genesis were talented musicians and writers. The other problem, at least in the UK, is the grimly legendary Another Day in Paradise, about homelessness, but not a dime donated to charity. It left a perhaps irreperable door open for subsequent abuse of him, which continues I guess to this day? I'm not offering an opinion really, just saying there is some basis for the hatred of Collins, rightly or wrongly. It isn't always just lazy bashing for no reason, although of course that does happen.
I always found his voice to be very relaxing to listen to, no Sinatra, but not as difficult to get into as Dylan, either (love 'em all, FYI ) Okay, I didn't know about the UK upset with Another Day. Now, that's a reason to dislike the man or at least be more critical towards him. Seems like a fact that got hidden quite well in continental Europe.
I don't understand the difference. Between the wide dislike of Self Portrait and the wide dislike of Lulu or Summer in Paradise (although I do not know the latter)?
Interesting I always thought Floyd purists turned a thumbs down more to the final cut , because of stuff w Rick wright and the suggestion it really was more of a "Roger solo album" ( which seems odd I thought mason and gilmour are on it) I always loved this one- way more than the other Floyd I was supposed to like more
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die ! This album seems to get panned by a lot of people but apart from a couple of duff tracks on side 2 it's excellent as far as I'm concerned.
Tin Machine, Tin Machine. Though I don't play it much in my old age- at the time, I would have traded a truckload of Glass Spiders for "I Can't Read" or "Bus stop."
Poco's Inamorata. Most fans hate it because it abandons the 'country rock' sound for 80s production. I thought it was a breath of fresh air at the time for them. But the biggest factor for me was the presence of Timothy B, Richie and George for harmonies. The vocals on that album were the best since Indian Summer. And "How Many Moons", "Days Gone By" and "Save A Corner Of Your Heart" are great songs.
I never did understand the backlash for this record. Sure they were fake artists. They won a Grammy for Best New Artist. Maybe the two guys on the cover didn't actually deserve the golden gramophone, but somebody actually sang the songs. It's not my kind of music, but, suddenly the world think it sounds awful after the it's discovered that dancers often lip-sync to songs played over a speaker. Utter nonsense.
Well, yeah. I believe it's up to him, or anyone else, what to do with their money. But personally, I'm no saint, but if I made a hit record and was an already wealthy person, about that specific subject, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night without at least making some kind of financial gesture. But there we go, it is what it was.
Yeah, it's always up to the artists - yet, you're right, singing about the horrors of homelessness and the danger of losing everything, making it a hit and not making any charity move afterwards sure makes some people frown upon that. Or we didn't hear of any things he did for the homeless - who knows. Besides, I'm careful with judgments, I know enough people who did judge me or nearstanding persons for no reason.
By coincidence, I've just played Budokan and it is a terrific album. I'm not sure if it was hated when it was released. I know I bought a copy as soon as it was available in the UK. I'd heard some tracks on the John Peel radio show and it was a fine album by me. I also saw him at Blackbushe for the first time at around this time and that is probably still my favourite gig, partly because it was the first time I saw Dylan but also for the atmosphere. It is the biggest gig I've ever attended in terms of crowd size and it was perhaps as the stickers attached all over the place pronounced "Hippies Graveyard". I think that these were put up by someone connected to Johnny G who had a song of the same name at that time. That's a fun song that's worth a listen if you have no heard it. You-tube has it!
Paul McCartney - "Pipes Of Peace" and "Give My Regards To Broadstreet" Pink Floyd - "The Final Cut" ELO - "Discovery"
Same here. Never understood why it was hated. I believe it was listed in Jimmy Guterman's pre-Internet WORST ROCK & ROLL RECORDS OF ALL TIME. To me, it didn't seem terribly different than the baroque pop of ARMED FORCES or PUNCH THE CLOCK.
I love the band-breaking-up albums, NAKED by Talking Heads and ALL SHOOK DOWN by the Replacements. I know, I know -- those records don't reflect what made their respective bands so dear to the hearts of original fans, nor the groundbreaking sounds that made their mark in rock history. But taken on their own merits, as this latecomer did, NAKED and ALL SHOOK DOWN are terrific records regardless of whether they represent "real" band albums or previews of the leader's solo career. I'm not sure solo David Byrne or Paul Westerburg ever surpassed them.
