Q magazines "15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost The Plot" (poll)

I don't agree with all the choices on this list (for example, I think Prince's Batman was an excellent album), and I'm sure they'll be others here that disagree with some of their choices too, nonetheless, I think it'll make for a fun poll.

You've got 3 votes.

 

Prince, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed. At least out of the ones I've listened to.

 

The Lou Reed album wasn’t meant to be mainstream it’s more like Two Virgins and doesn’t belong on the list.

 

For Metallica and Lou Reed Lulu takes the cake. I love De La Soul Is Dead.
Lou knew what the was doing with Metal Machine Music (sort of). Some of these are just bad or boring albums. I think Neil had a reason to do Trans. I'm only voting for The Elder. I have no idea what they were going for there.

 

Kiss barely had a plot to begin with, Michael Jackson tried making Thriller 3 but the public had already moved on because by that time he was a freak in a side show, and Blondie lost the plot for about 17 years but luckily for them and us since "Maria" in 1999 they've redeemed themselves.

 

I quite like Self Portrait but I’d accept that it probably does belong on a list like this. I’ve only heard a handful of the others and some of those can be seen as mediocre or phoned in records but the artists involved almost certainly knew what they were doing but just didn’t care enough to make a proper fist of it.

Monster shouldn’t be here, though. It’s not REM’s best album but it’s a competent sets of songs and mostly succeeds as a reinvention. I haven’t heard any of their subsequent records (I was at university for NAIH and Up, and preferred to spend my money on beer; by the time I’d entered the world of work, I’d lost interest in them), but from what I understand, they produced several more fitting candidates.

 

IMHO, "losing the plot" has nothing to do with whether an artist is going for mainstream or not, it's about whether the creative progression is a good one or a bad one.

 

the Stones, for sure. The Clash, yes. I'll go with Neil young also.

 

Michael Jackson's Invincible isn't an album so much as it's a desperate cry to be relevant.

I voted for Michael, Prince, and Metallica.

 

I like Mojo and Q Magazine.

However, I do have problem with the bashing Rolling Stones "Their Satanic Majesties Request" seems to get. In my opinion a great experimental album just a little weak in the songwriting department as compared to what the they did later.

Yeah it was late in the game for psychedelic rock but no one mentions for example how the majority of blues rock albums in 1969 were kind of late in the game as well. My pick was Michael Jackson Invisible a very sad downhill in my opinion.

 

I think The Clash is the standout from that list. They should never have made the album.

Monster is one of my favourite REM albums.

 

Haven't heard too many of those.

However, The Elder, Hot Space & the Floyd album are excellent.

 

Kiss, Neil, and Metallica.

REM Monster is my favorite album by them.

 

I've always got the impression that Mojo in particular is more down to earth than the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine and NME.

 

The Stones had already lost the plot as far back as Aftermath, trying to be like The Beatles. TSMR was the logical progression of that pursuit but for me, they pulled it off brilliantly. I play it far more often than Pepper or Piper.

 

I love the Stones album. It's probably in my top 5 of all their albums. I'll take Satanic Majesties over anything post Exile. Self Portrait is also misunderstood. Another Self Portrait puts that album in a better light. I'm not familiar with all the albums on the list but I'm guessing they each have something to offer for their fans. It seems these are mainly albums that take a risk and do something different. All the albums I know have at least a song or two that didn't lose the plot. Cut the Crap has This is England, which I highly enjoy. I'll vote for the Metallica album.

 

Q Magazine... nearly a laugh, but really a cry.

 

It's tricky, because who defines what "the plot" is? Neil Young has scarcely followed any conventional career arc if you actually play his albums in order of release... and it's significant that Bowie didn't make the list. In terms of audience expectations at the time, is Low all that different to Trans? And imagine being a 1969 Man of Words/Space Oddity fan, breathlessly looking forward to his next album, and being handed Man Who Sold the World? There's a plot that was totally "lost," even if hindsight did vindicate it after a couple of years.

I agree with everyone who supports Lou Reed's decision to release MMM, and I would argue in favor of the Dylan, Kinks and Pink Floyd as well... MLoR was their "Trick of the Tail," but I see Genesis didn't get on the list either.

All that said, Queen, Kiss and the Clash got my vote, with Blondie close behind. The others, I don't think I've even heard them, so I'll just keep quiet.

 

That's crazy talk to me! I think the Stones become the Stones starting with Aftermath. It's the first album where they write all the material. Aftermath-Exile is one of the greatest album runs in history, and if you are being generous you can extend the run through Tattoo you.

 

Monster (REM) and Batman (Prince) shouldn’t be on this list. Nor should Satanic Majesty’s - the Stones hadn’t lost the plot, they were just trying to make their psychedelic equivalent of Sgt Pepper.

 

It's quite telling that the albums they picked seem to be that artist's foray into either intintionally challenging material (Metal Machine Music, Self Portrait & Trans), notoriously difficult albums (St. Anger, Preservation Act 2 & perhaps even Their Satanic Majesties Request) artists deviating from their standard formula (Monster, De La Soul Is Dead) or albums that just weren't bad but not what the public wanted from the artist at the time (Hot Space, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Batman). Aside from that Cut The Crap sucked big time.

 

Satanic is a fantastic album. I'm actually a bit surprised to see it here, as I thought it had undergone something of a critical reevaluation in recent years.

 

I don't understand why De La Soul or Prince are on this list. Bat Dance was a bit of a goof but the rest of that album is fantastic. For De La Soul, I'm really at a loss. They took what they did on their debut and just expanded and grew.

Can you post a link to the article?

 

I love Satanic...I don’t really agree with any of these. I might have put Elton John’s Victim Of Love on a list like that at one point, decades ago, but I have come around to it.

 

I got it from here. You'll have to scroll down to find it.

Rocklist.net...Q - 150 Rock Lists