Mojo's "Unloved" albums

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Dave Gilmour's Cat, Feb 13, 2018.

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  1. C6H12O6

    C6H12O6 Senior Member

    Location:
    My lab
    Pretty good list - they generally have at least one choice cut or something that makes it worth visiting (or at least including in a homemade compilation).

    Ones I know best:
    1. Band of Gypsys – Jimi Hendrix: "Machine Gun" is a classic. "Message of Love" is worth saving too.
    2. Black and Blue – The Rolling Stones: actually a good album. Not great, but it's pretty solid compared to its two studio predecessors, several tracks that are truly excellent on their own, and as a whole it sets up Some Girls pretty nicely.
    3. Cut the Crap – The Clash: "This Is England" is often cited as the last great Clash record - the one keeper.
    4. Earthling – David Bowie: "Little Wonder" is fine and "I'm Afraid of Americans" is excellent - even better in the "V2" remix done by Trent Reznor
    5. Empire Burlesque – Bob Dylan: "Dark Eyes" is beautiful.
    6. The Final Cut – Pink Floyd: I like "Not Now John," excellent angry Floyd rocker.
    7. Hard Nose the Highway – Van Morrison: "Warm Love" is excellent, but the excellent (maybe even great) LP this could have been was left mostly in the vault - most likely the best of those outtakes were released on Philosopher's Stone.
    8. Hot Space – Queen: "Under Pressure" is probably my favorite Queen track ever.
    9. In Through the Out Door – Led Zeppelin: "In The Evening," "Fool in the Rain," "All My Love" are excellent - it might've turned off a lot of longtime fans, but this wasn't a bad album. Maybe uneven but it opened new doors (pun not intended) that could have led to a different but fruitful path for the band.
     
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  2. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Keep in mind, these are albums the writers were willing to defend -- and maybe that's why Album X that you think is way worse than the album they wrote about isn't there.
     
  3. davesmoked

    davesmoked Forum Resident

    Black and Blue, Final Cut and Band of Gypsies are my loved ones!
     
  4. ampmods

    ampmods Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Maybe it isn't. But just recently I read a piece about them that mentioned that their debut album was the only album that they did that was worthwhile. It's a great album nevertheless. I especially love "Never Tell."
     
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  5. Ziggy Stardog

    Ziggy Stardog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene, OR
    The only one of these that's in my collection is In Through the Out Door, so that got my vote. I would have nominated Presence or Coda if I felt the need to put a Zep album on the list.
     
  6. I think Bowie's Earthling is a fine album. The usual rap against it is that it (supposedly) sounds dated, given its electronica-leanings. To heck with that, it's a great album, top to bottom (far as I'm concerned). I'm not even any sort of particular fan of electronica in general (though I do think it's kind of interesting on occasion). If anything, my only criticism of Earthling is that other than quite a variety of remixes, there are practically no non-LP b-sides associated with the album (seemingly of any sort, far as I'm aware). My point being that my only real complaint about Earthling is the lack of Earthling-related rarities that aren't just remixes of album tracks.

    At present, I think I'd probably rank Earthling as my #5 all-time favorite Bowie album, and although I'd rank most of the albums that followed it even higher (everything except Hours), I do often recommend Earthling as a good entry-point for post-'Tin Machine'-era Bowie (my favorite of all of Bowie's eras).
     
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  7. Also, I'm no fan of Roger Waters solo stuff, but The Final Cut is really one of his very best 'solo' albums, and by some margin.

    I don't need to hear it but about twice a decade any more (and I haven't owned a copy in over 20 years), but looking more objectively - it may not sound much like a Pink Floyd album, but it's one hell of a good Waters solo album.
     
  8. NaturalD

    NaturalD The King of Pop

    Location:
    Boston, Mass., USA
    A few albums I like on that list: Stones, Hendrix, Wings, John&Yoko. But the only one I thought was strong enough for a vote as truly underrecognized was Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.

     
  9. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    I haven't read the entire thread, so I'm not sure if I'm the first to comment on this, but what the hell is Band of Gypsys doing on this list? I know that it may not be as well regarded as his Experience albums, but come on, it's still a classic. It certainly doesn't belong alongside the likes of Cut The Crap. . .
     
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  10. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    "Black and Blue" is one of my favorite Stones albums, because it's trying so many different things
    "In throuZep's worst album- which means it's better than 95% of everything else, and still has some wonderful moments
    "Songs from The Capeman" is perhaps Simon's most underrated work. I think "Satin Summer Nights". "Quality" and "Adios Hermanos" are among Simon's greatest songs
     
  11. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    It seems like they wanted to include a Jimi Hendrix album and maybe "Crash Landing" was too obscure.

    Few albums belong alongside Cut The Crap...
     
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  12. pig bodine

    pig bodine God’s Consolation Prize

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY USA
    I don’t remember ever seeing Band Of Gypsies or Got To Find a Way getting panned, and Trans was reassessed almost immediately.
     
  13. Dave Gilmour's Cat

    Dave Gilmour's Cat Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Agree with this. It’s a strong album. He has done some great work since Graceland that is often overlooked.
     
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  14. Crispy Rob

    Crispy Rob Cat Juggler

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    I own 9 of these. Band of Gypsies is amazing, I have never thought of it as being unloved. Hard Nose the Highway, Black & Blue, In Through the Out Door, the Final Cut, and Trans all have a lot of good things going for them. Wildlife is slight but a fun listen. The ones I own but couldn't vote for were Sometime in New York City (I bought as part of a box set and admittedly haven't spent much time with it yet) and Empire Burlesque, which has some great songs and a couple clunkers, but is mostly brought down by the dated production. I still enjoy it for what it is, but couldn't call it a favorite.
     
  15. jeffrey walsh

    jeffrey walsh Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, Pa. USA
    Dylan, Stones, Queen, Zeppelin, Morrison & Hendrix!
     
  16. matthew2600

    matthew2600 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    Curtis Got To Find A Way is 3 star critic score but 4.5 for user ratings. Only 2.2% in the poll here but it's like his best solo release other than the first album.
     
  17. Graham

    Graham Senior Member

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    It’s not, it’s brilliant.
     
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  18. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Everything I've heard by him from the 70s and with The Impressions in the 60s is. I have most of the Curtis 70s albums but Got To Be A Way and There's No Place Like America Today have eluded me.
     
  19. Graham

    Graham Senior Member

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    I’m listening to the latter right now. It’s his last great studio album proper, with the Short Eyes soundtrack from 1977 also top flight.
     
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  20. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    Bravo Mojo, the latest brave, tough guys to pick on the awesome Cut The Crap. Mojo, like most of CTC's other detractors, knows nothing about punk. This is the best Clash album since Rope, and a welcome earwax-rattler after the interminable, self-indulgent stoner gibberish of the previous 3 unjustly lauded snooze-fests. GET WOKE!
     
  21. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I picked up 'Something To Believe In' from 1980 in a charity shop a few years ago not expecting much. I don't play it a lot but when I do I really like it.
     
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  22. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I like Black and Blue and Earthling quite a bit. Plants isn't something I listen to often, but I think it's interesting.

    A lot of these really are crap though. Hot Space is pretty bad, though (although I think it's still better than most of The Miracle), and L.A. is one of the worst things with the Beach Boys' name on it, and that's saying a lot.

    Kind of surprised no one nominated Be Here Now or Music From The Elder for this article.
     
  23. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    This is an excellent list of albums that were critically reviled when they were first issued.

    If you weren't around when these albums were first issued, then you don't have the perspective to understand why they are on the list.

    Some of these were missteps that would hardly remain the worst misstep of an artist's career (e.g. Stones Black & Blue), but seemed pretty bad at the time.

    Most of them were--at the time they were released--major disappointments.

    Of the list, I'd say that Secret Life of Plants is the one I like the best. Hard Nose the Highway wasn't Van's best, but in retrospect seems decent enough. The Final Cut isn't what anyone was looking for in a Pink Floyd album at the time, but as a Roger Waters project, it's at least interesting.
     
  24. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    I own all of those and like all of them, but I tried to keep my vote total low to make it more significant--it's pointless to vote for most of 'em.

    So I went with just four:

    The Rolling Stones - Black and Blue
    David Bowie - Earthling
    Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
    Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

    For the Stones and Bowie, those albums are actually one of my top 3 for the artist.

    I probably should have voted for Band of Gypsys, too, but I don't quite love that album as much as the four above. Now if they'd listed Midnight Lightning instead . . . :p
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  25. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    In Through the Out Door is a decent effort. It's the only one of these I own though!
     
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