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[sonicfan]

Bowie's Low, Heroes, and the Lodger.......

I bought them when they came out, and loved them. At the time, it seemed nobody liked them...They were failures certainly from a sales perspective, now they are condidered classics.....


I'll add a Numan one here too, I always liked his Outland album.. Sure he was ripping off Jam and Lewis, but I thought it worked.......

The followup, Machine and Soul, yeah it sucked pretty much.....

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

A lot of people were down on Liars' "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned," but I still think it's their best album.

 

[mattiewheels]

Bowie's Low, Heroes, and the Lodger.......

I bought them when they came out, and loved them.

wow, crazy to hear from an original fan. everyone i know weren't alive in the era. i bet people were puzzled at the trilogy when it first came out, but it had to have it's big supporters in the day, right?

 

[Lord Helmet]

Nice to see several people mention Iron Maiden's "X-Factor." Very underrated album. I'd also throw Megadeth's "Risk" into the mix.

 

[Staccat0]

A lot of Neil Young records.

Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
I love this album...

I recall this being well recieved!?

 

[chrissedoff]

time fades away by neil young and i guess yoko ono's season of glass since people generally consider yoko ono's entire musical career a 'failure'.

 

[ili0926]

A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party

I guess coming off of Silent Alarm, virtually anything would be a disappointment. But I really liked this album. The b-sides were definitely better though.

 

[Osaka]

But yeah, 808's is Kanye's best work. Amazing album. Mark my words, that will be an album people look back on in a positive light.

I dunno, I'm pretty sure I'm not even close to being the only one who thinks 808's is his worst. I fucking hate the autotune.

 

[Jewbacca]

I skipped everyones replies, but the first thing that came to mind is most WILCO albums... all of them are praised by most reviewers and they always flop.

 

[Vox-Pop]

A lottt of people hate Human After All by Daft Punk, but I love it. Love.

Agreed.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Their last good album.

 

[mattiewheels]

I skipped everyones replies, but the first thing that came to mind is most WILCO albums... all of them are praised by most reviewers and they always flop.

their latest album actually hit the top 5 in billboard, i'm pretty sure they're doing okay sales-wise (a ghost is born might have done poorly, even though it's my favorite of theirs)



do you neil young fans like this album? i've always loved the cover:

 

[Borman]

I like GnR's Chinese Democracy /shrug

 

[sonicfan]

wow, crazy to hear from an original fan. everyone i know weren't alive in the era. i bet people were puzzled at the trilogy when it first came out, but it had to have it's big supporters in the day, right?

It was wierd, Bowie was huge in 1975-76, Fame, Golden Years, going mainstream. Then he came out with Low, and most people went........well....OK....that was "interesting"... and went back to listening to their disco music... :lol


I really loved Low, it also got me into Roxy Music with the Eno angle...and Heroes is probably my favorite Bowie album. But then I sort of missed the whole first wave of Punk Music tho, wasn't in to it too much, more into the Bowie/Roxy etc, then New Wave with Japan/Numan etc..... But today, my favorite band is Social Distortion.....go figure.....

 

[The Interrobanger]

Most people think this album was the beginning of the end of RJD2 (The Third Hand is pretty shit), but I think it's his best album. Has a spot in my all time top 20 actually.

 

[mambadragon]

I've never been a fan of listening to Pearl Jam in album form, they're generally best listened in a concert bootleg. But this album actually had Pearl Jam doing something interesting and different from their usual (and it's not even a very ambitious album), and now they seem to just be back to making albums that spawn a few singles.

 

[SuomiDude]

A lot of people shit on Death Magnetic, but I love pretty much every song except a couple.

I've got an impression that Death Magnetic was very well received after St. Anger, both by reviews and sales.

And with that my pick is Metallica's St. Anger. Probably the most hated album in the whole metal genre, but I love it. It really helps listening to it when I'm angry or feeling bad, and not because it would suck and thus making me feel better, but because it just let's the anger out of me listening to those hard riffs and the raw production. Yes, I like the album despite the bad production and somewhat repeatative song structure and somewhat cheesy lyrics. There's only like one or two actually bad songs, the rest are ok to good to even great songs (My World, Invisible Kid, Shoot Me Again and The Unnamed Feeling being the best ones).

 

[mattiewheels]

i'll say that when i first heard this album i didn't get it at all, i was even repulsed by it a little (especially 'don't go home with your hard-on'). i've given this album another chance after the initial shock of hearing it, and it's really really amazing in a lot of ways. i'm now starting to wish that columbia would release a remaster of it, since it seems to be one of the most misunderstood but classic albums leonard cohen ever did.

i think the whole shift in style, the over-the-top production and machismo and everything was just way too much for people used to what cohen was doing. but it kind of makes perfect sense if you listened closely to the previous album, new skin for the old ceremony. he was getting very satirical in his songwriting on that one, and after listening to this one numerous times i get a sense that the whole thing is a really great satire on the male psyche. it's got that disgusting cacophony of sound that phil spector provides to counterpoint the lyrics that either alternate between banality and misogyny but cut to the core of some kind of wounded male sexuality, kind of a concept album on the whole subject.

but past all that, the songs are pretty amazing when you step back. 'memories' is staggering as a blend of decadence and banality. the title track is one of the greatest things cohen ever did. fantastic album.

 

[theinfinityissue]

Fuck the nonexistent haters.

I hate this album. I love radiohead.

I exist.

 

[elrechazado]

I love The Final Cut to this day, but most floyd fans I know hate it, as does the band.

 

[demon]

Amnesiac is a fantastic album. So many good songs. Life in a Glasshouse is one of my favorite Radiohead songs.

 

[mattiewheels]

amnesiac was like kid a without the training wheels of being a pop album, almost. i always thought that was where they did their best work. you and whose army, i might be wrong, like spinning plates, pulk pull, glass house....and the deluxe edition with the bsides make this album even more amazing.

 

[NGAMER9]

I love The Final Cut to this day, but most floyd fans I know hate it, as does the band.

Of course Gilmour hates it, but doesn't Waters like it? I remember reading that he still enjoys it other than the vocals at certain points. I love the Final Cut too, but I do prefer Amused to Death and The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking from his solo career a little more.

 

[elrechazado]

Of course Gilmour hates it, but doesn't Waters like it? I remember reading that he still enjoys it other than the vocals at certain points. I love the Final Cut too, but I do prefer Amused to Death and The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking from his solo career a little more.

I think we might be long lost music brothers.

 

[NGAMER9]

I think we might be long lost music brothers.

A fellow Waters fan? Most of the people I know range from hating him to calling him mediocre at best. I own every disc he's put out though, and probably listen to at least one full album of his a day.

 

[ATF487]

From the talk before, I liked Waiting For The Sirens Call. Vintage New Order it ain't, but it was a relatively enjoyable record nonetheless.

Other stuff:

Hope of the States - The Lost Riots
The Fall - Light User Syndrome, Middle Class Revolt, Cerebral Caustic, Levitate, Marshall Suite...basically their entire 90s output after The Infotainment Scan
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Weezer - Red Album

I could keep listing stuff forever, really. There's a lot of followup albums by bands I love that get ignored, or panned because they aren't as good as the previous ones. Usually I end up giving them some listens, and while I don't disagree with reviews that say they're inferior to other albums in their catalog, I still find a lot to like.

 

[CzarTim]

Bob Dylan's Street Legal

 

[AlteredBeast]

searched the thread for Magical Mystery Tour. Disappointed.

Awesome album. The fact that it was/is considered a failure is a joke. Not on Rolling Stone's top 500 albums list. It spend 8 frackin weeks at number 1 in America for goodness sakes!

It contains some of the greatest songs ever recorded, including one of the best pop songs ever, "Hello, Goodbye."


Your Mother Should Know and All You Need is Love are in my top 100 of all-time as well.

 

[Wads]

I've never been a fan of listening to Pearl Jam in album form, they're generally best listened in a concert bootleg. But this album actually had Pearl Jam doing something interesting and different from their usual (and it's not even a very ambitious album), and now they seem to just be back to making albums that spawn a few singles.

This album would have been so much better if the mixing hadn't been such complete shit. I still love Light Year although I haven't listened to it in a very long time.

My submissions though:

Jon Brion - Meaningless. Probably sold like 1 copy, but I love it.

Also, DMB Lillywhite Sessions. I think Dave himself considers that a failure and since it never saw the light of day (I don't call Busted Stuff an adequate replacement since many of the songs were changed) in the leaked form, I would say it would be safe to call that a failure. Although, to this day it's still my favorite.

 

[Margalis]

'X-Factor' by Iron Maiden was always going to be poorly recieved by the fans as the first album sans-Bruce Dickinson, but personally I thought it was Maiden's best album since Seventh Son.

Good call.

Unfortunately the album after was frigging awful.

 

[deleted]

I think this counts. Being the follow up to "Songs for the Deaf", probably my favourite album of the decade, this was always going to be hard marked.

Dito! I really like this album and it´s not the letdown many reviews will make you think.

 

[Yousefb]

I don't know if it's considered a "failure" but everyone on GAF seems to hate it :\
Stadium Arcadium <3

 

[Raydeen]

One of the first attempts to bring Electropop to the mainstream, bit ahead of it's time (ironic I know). If you love Kraftwerk you'll love this.

 

[elrechazado]

A fellow Waters fan? Most of the people I know range from hating him to calling him mediocre at best. I own every disc he's put out though, and probably listen to at least one full album of his a day.

Pros and cons of hitchhiking and amused to death are two of my top ten albums of all time. It's a shame how overlooked they are.

 

[mattiewheels]

i know i forgot something!

the kinks' preservation concept albums are completely disregarded everywhere i've ever seen, mainly because the concept is kind of obtuse and meandering. it's ray davies' letting his knack for storytelling run kind of rampant (the entire first album was used solely to introduce the characters in the town, kind of bold on his part but put people off). but the songs are just really cool regardless. and some of the songs are kinks classics. they were deep into their kind of southern rock/british pop amalgam, and it was done much better on the last albums, but it's great here too. these albums are hated so much that i thought i'd say their actually worth your time.


(P.S. the run of albums the kinks had before these was probably one of the best you'll ever hear, really intelligent and amazing british rock that had a kind of CCR injection somewhere along the line. Muswell Hillbillies was the peak of the southern rock influence, an unsung, completely classic rock album.)

 

[scorcho]

the Kinks died after 1971.

just saw your edit - I think their span from Face to Face through Muswell Hillbillies goes alongside the greatest stretch of the Beatles and the Stones. they don't get enough love in the US.

that said, Weezer - Pinkerton. fantastic album, shit sales, and ruined Rivers enough that he took a lengthy sabbatical and forgot how to write a song.

 

[santouras]

Momentary Lapse and Division Bell

 

[GoutPatrol]

Seen as a big step down from their previous 4, but I think it is their best.

 

[SuperAngelo64]

This album is really looked down upon by the fans/purists of the band and genre.

I loved this album though, there are a ton of gems in it. "Loveblind". "Tallulah", "Seven Days in Sunny June", and "Time Won't Wait" were fan-fucking-tastic.

I have to say though, that the singles on the album "Feels just like it should" and "(Don't) Give hate a chance" are steaming piles of ass, especially the former.

 

[biggyfries]

Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats

not many people I know like this album, but this is one of the few that I keep going back to, along with Chocolate & Cheese.

Great production, awesome songs, and the real 50's country vibe courtesy of the Jordanaires.

Oh, and I think some fans felt ripped off when there's only 10 tracks. :lol

 

[pete_townshend]

One of the greatest albums of all time but many thought it was disappointing because they wanted Born in the USA II

 

[SmZA]

it's got that disgusting cacophony of sound that phil spector provides to counterpoint the lyrics that either alternate between banality and misogyny but cut to the core of some kind of wounded male sexuality, kind of a concept album on the whole subject.
but past all that, the songs are pretty amazing when you step back. 'memories' is staggering as a blend of decadence and banality. the title track is one of the greatest things cohen ever did. fantastic album.

Came in to post this, never would have thought anyone else would ever post it. Did you know that at one point Cohen was so tired that he wanted to leave the recording studio but Spector literally forced him at gunpoint to stay?

 

[mattiewheels]

Death of a Ladies' Man

Ha! It's a great candidate for misunderstood masterpiece of that decade, and his lyrics are peerless as always.

I also read that the title track was cut at like 4:30 in the morning in one take after everyone was beyond exhaustion. I wonder if that's when Phil pulled out his gun :lol

 

[tralfazz]

Mine would be:

Kanye - 808s and Heartbreak (top5 fav album all time)
Weezer - Make Believe
U2 - Pop (Really holds up well for me, moreso as the years go by)

 

[ZeoVGM]

Mine would be:

Kanye - 808s and Heartbreak (top5 fav album all time)
Weezer - Make Believe
U2 - Pop (Really holds up well for me, moreso as the years go by)

808s isn't considered a failure. It was well-reviewed and had a couple HUGE singles.

But yes, it is amazing. My favorite album of 2008.

 

[brianjones]

 

[OutlawSamurai]

One of my favorite albums

 

[hsin]

I hate this album. I love radiohead.

I exist.

BLASPHEMY. Perhaps one of my favorite Radiohead albums.

 

[ChubbyHuggs]

Compared to:

Everyone thought Black Sun would be a new big step for them and be a lot more like the first two albums. It sounds a little mainstream which isn't the problem at all. I like the new album alot, has their unique sounds and feel to it. I hope their next album sells well, because they may call it quits if it doesn't.

 

[Red Blaster]

After their dancey first album, they role out a Led Zeppelin-inspired record and the critics vomit. Great album though. Badass guitar leads by John Squire.