Overrated albums

[Guest Incandenza]

Rather than just have another average "who's overrated?" thread, list off records that are praised (though you didn't care for) by bands you like. I'll start:

 

Elvis Costello's My Aim is True--I've addressed this before (in this thread). I will say that, having seen him perform some of these songs live, it comes off a lot better than their studio companions (except "Allison," but whatever).

 

Talking Heads' Remain in Light--Considered by many to be the finest of many fine moments in their discography, this album, quite simply, bores me. As I tried to analyze why this disc failed to strike a chord in me, I was initially troubled to think that the shapeless songs are a major factor. That it is the most adventurous album the band ever released is undeniable, yet I found myself wishing for more structure, something tighter and more concise. Once each song starts, it goes nowhere (and the album opening "Born Under Punches" feels like it goes nowhere forever). I can appreciate unconventional things, but Remain in Light is not able to grab my attention like many other Talking Heads albums. There may be a piece of music here or a snatch of lyric there that captures my interest, but whatever song it is--much like the whole of the album--keeps moving, but leaves me behind.

[Guest meanmaisch]

U2's Zooropa. I know that U2 supermarks will swear up and down how great this album is, but I don't see it. I loved it when it came out nine years ago, but I can see the flaws in the album now. This was during the time period when they were really diving into the dance culture. The electronic touches on the album are interesting, but the album lacks the songs that their previous album, Achtung Baby, had. Songs like Numb, which I thought was great when it was released, haven't aged well. It seems like they wanted to show how much they understood and liked dance music, but they lacked the songs to back up the music. I look at this phase in their career as a mistake and I hope that they don't revert back to it or do anything as embarassing again.

[Guest Incandenza]

Your avatar reminds me that Radiohead's Amnesiac warranted none of the praise it received. A dull retread of the superior Kid A .

[Guest godthedog]

conversely, i'll say that 'kid a' was way overrated. the overall sound isn't very good, & songs like 'kid a' and 'treefingers' are just boring.

 

i worship the beatles, but 'sgt pepper' isn't the be-all, end-all of popular music. though it does come kind of close.

 

anything by U2 after 92.

 

i never even listen to 'nevermind' anymore. it's a really good album, it just doesn't have anything to offer me anymore, and 'in utero' & 'unplugged in new york' are far superior.

[Guest Anorak]

REM -- 'Document'. They might be one of my favourite bands ever but I never thought this album was among their essential five star records. It always felt like they spent more time writing the politicised/confrontational lyrics and forgot to bother with enough decent tunes. The opening few tracks are just too bland to start off a supposedly classic album and although 'Exhuming McCarthy' is at least somewhat catchy it still seems totally throwaway. 'Strange' sounds like a goofy B-side, 'The One I Love' is one of the dullest singles they ever released and 'Lightnin' Hopkins' is just horrible. There's some fine songs on the rest of the album which hark back to the 'Fables' era sound and 'It's The End Of The World' rules but to me its just half a good album, not a classic. I wouldn't put it in my top 5 REM albums overall.

 

Grandaddy -- 'The Sophtware Slump'. This album tends to get both underrated and overrated by different people but personally I felt this album got all the praise its predecessor deserved more. 1997's 'Under The Western Freeway' was a tremendous album which saw a band finding a sound that was distinctively theirs and writing great songs as well. On 'Slump', songs like 'Chartsengrafs' and 'Broken Hosehold Appliance..' could have been written by any half decent alt. whatever bands, the album felt slightly laboured in parts whereas 'Freeway' seemed to flow perfectly. Even a lot of stuff on the early EP's comp 'The Broken Down Comforter Collection' sounded better, there were little touches of sound/instrumentation before 'slump' that kept the songs both dreamy and unpredictable whereas 'Slump' began to sound almost formulaic in comparison.

 

Flaming Lips -- 'The Soft Bulletin'. This album does have a unique sound and some fantastic songs but I always found a fair chunk of it very patchy and underwhelming at the same time. Songs like 'A Spoonful Weighs A Ton' and 'The Spark That Bled' irritate quickly when Wayne Coyne's whiny voice has no great melody to carry it and too often the songs drift off into the horrible background 'jazz muzak' bands like Stereolab and Tortoise inflict upon us. When they get it right on tracks like 'Waitin' For A Superman' or 'Feeling Yourself Disintergrate' its brilliant but I find it a frustrating listen. Almost every critic voted it best album in 1999 but Lambchop's 'Nixon', which seemed to recieve the same accolade in 2000 is definately better IMO.

[Guest Banky]

conversely, i'll say that 'kid a' was way overrated. the overall sound isn't very good, & songs like 'kid a' and 'treefingers' are just boring.

 

i worship the beatles, but 'sgt pepper' isn't the be-all, end-all of popular music. though it does come kind of close.

 

anything by U2 after 92.

 

i never even listen to 'nevermind' anymore. it's a really good album, it just doesn't have anything to offer me anymore, and 'in utero' & 'unplugged in new york' are far superior.

Any Radiohead record after OK Computer

 

Weezer - Maladroit. Fuck that CD sucked. Bloody rubbish I tells ya.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Amnesiac ruled the school, but couldn't touch the three albums that came to it previous.

 

A lot of morons tried to tell me that Orgy's Vapor Transmission was better than Candyass. Same with people trying to tell me that Issues was better than the other previous three Korn albums.

 

Almost everything else I like is universally hated on this board, so I'll decline further comment.

[Guest redbaron51]

Black Album

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

**echoes redbaron's sentiments**

[Guest redbaron51]

and Powerslave as well, that is not Maiden's best album nor one of Maiden's better albums

[Guest LooseCannon]

A lot of good one's have been listed, so I'll go with Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and to an extent, Weezer's Pinkerton , although I don't really like Weezer that much anyway. I am a fan of the blue album, however.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

red, Maiden's 2 best albums were right next to each other:

Number Of The Beast and Piece Of Mind.

 

Of course, my favorite is Brave New World, so what do I know...

[Guest The Metal Maniac]

You know, seeing this, I literally had to think about whether or not I could fit any Maiden albums in here...

 

And I just now realize, upon seeing that it's already been said, that Powerslave probably is overrated.

 

I mean, hey, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Aces High, the title track and 2 Minutes to Midnight...that's all that I can name from the CD. Compare that to the literal Maiden classics before and after it, and I think we have a winner.

 

And Corey, Brave New World rules the school.

[Guest redbaron51]

Seventh Son of a Son is one of Maidens better CD's, and I agree with Number of the Beast.

[Guest converge241]

Monster- REM

Metallica- Metallica

The Real Thing - FNM (angel dust and king put this to shame)

Dark Side - Pink Floyd. sure its good but most people dont even know why they like it

Persistence of Time _ Anthrax they sounded like they were dying.. thank god Bush came in for SOWN

 

 

I dont get the Powerslave thing either

my favorites are Seventh Son and Time and FOTD ( i will admit Fear is not a great representation of what they are but i like it so screw!)

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

Metallica fans blow their loads over Ride The Lightening, however i just fail to see how it even compares to Kill 'Em All & Master of Puppets. I'm afraid im not a huge fan of that album, whereas most other Metallica fans are...eh...oh well.

 

BUT if we're gonna talk Guns N' Roses...well...they rule hands down

 

Yep, so im obsessed...

[Guest Smark Hammill]

U2's Zooropa. I know that U2 supermarks will swear up and down how great this album is, but I don't see it. I loved it when it came out nine years ago, but I can see the flaws in the album now. This was during the time period when they were really diving into the dance culture. The electronic touches on the album are interesting, but the album lacks the songs that their previous album, Achtung Baby, had. Songs like Numb, which I thought was great when it was released, haven't aged well. It seems like they wanted to show how much they understood and liked dance music, but they lacked the songs to back up the music. I look at this phase in their career as a mistake and I hope that they don't revert back to it or do anything as embarassing again.

I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say "Zooropa" is a great album.

"Auchtung Baby", while not a bad album, is very overrated, IMO.

 

My favorite album is "Unforgettable Fire." This is a great album, and it's Bono's favorite (that's not why it's my favorite, if that's what you're thinking). Nothing will probably ever replace "Joshua Tree" as their signature album, but I think as time goes on, "Fire" becomes more appreciated. Just my 2 cents.

[Guest cabbageboy]

Well, Ride the Lightning has a better overall sound to it than either Kill Em All or Master of Puppets. Kill Em All especially has a mediocre production and songs that are some insanely complex that they almost buckle from the strain. Master of Puppets is one where I mainly just listen to the title song and maybe Battery, but very little else thrills me.

 

An overrated CD by a band I like is Soundgarden "Superunknown." It's still their best CD I'd say, but there's quite a bit of wanking on it that knocks it down from being the all time classic it's reputed to be.

[Guest La Parka Es Mi Papa]

"Weezer - Maladroit. Fuck that CD sucked. Bloody rubbish I tells ya."

 

Wow, we actually agree on something.

 

The most overrated CD ever is Back In Black by AC/DC. It's KILLED by Highway To Hell and Powerage.

 

I also find SOAD's debut to be overrated, since everyone thinks it's better than Toxcity. In my opinion, Toxicity has much supereior musicianship and songwriting.

[Guest Incandenza]

Is Maladroit really overrated, though? I think it sucks, too, but it didn't earn anywhere near the praise that Pinkerton did.

[Guest treble charged]

Wasn't Pinkerton slagged by the critics when it first came out, though?

[Guest Incandenza]

Yeah, but 1) there's been some revisionist criticism on it in the ensuing years, and 2) practically every Weezer fan worships it.

[Guest Cerebus The Aardvark]

...and 2) practically every Weezer fan worships it.

For good reason, my friend.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Every album by Nirvana...sorry, but that's the truth. I still enjoy "Nevermind" though.

 

About "Pinkerton"...does everyone love it just cause it's the only one they made that didn't go over well commercially?

[Guest treble charged]

About "Pinkerton"...does everyone love it just cause it's the only one they made that didn't go over well commercially?

Maybe for some people, but as far as I go, it's their album that I enjoy the most. IMO, there's really not a weak track on there. I like the Blue Album as well, so it's not like I'm a hopeless Pinkerton devotee, it's just that, over time, Pinkerton has just held up better.

[Guest Cerebus The Aardvark]

Every album by Nirvana...sorry, but that's the truth. I still enjoy "Nevermind" though.

 

About "Pinkerton"...does everyone love it just cause it's the only one they made that didn't go over well commercially?

Agreed on Nirvana...mainly because they were maybe the 4th best band on Sub Pop.

 

I love Pinkerton because it's better than the other albums musically and lyrically (by far). The songwriting is just better, IMO. I am indifferent to how many copies it sold.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I've yet to hear Pinkerton, I will soon though I imagine.

 

I know it's the weakest selling of the 4...didn't have a lot of MTV power, not saying that it's the case here, but when someone puts out a cd that doesn't go over well there's usually a bunch of people that praise it just so they can sound like they're into something that a lot of people aren't.

 

Hard to put into words...like I said, have yet to hear it...so I can't comment on it really.

[Guest Cerebus The Aardvark]

I've yet to hear Pinkerton, I will soon though I imagine.

 

I know it's the weakest selling of the 4...didn't have a lot of MTV power, not saying that it's the case here, but when someone puts out a cd that doesn't go over well there's usually a bunch of people that praise it just so they can sound like they're into something that a lot of people aren't.

 

Hard to put into words...like I said, have yet to hear it...so I can't comment on it really.

I know what you mean. I had a friend who would dislike all bands who were popular merely because they were popular. He stopped liking Metallica when they broke out, and Korn, etc.

 

That thought process (and the one you are referring to) makes 0 sense to me. It's music; like it for its own sake, not because liking it (or disliking it) will make you look cool.

[Guest Smark Hammill]

I'm a huge Weezer fan, and I hate "Pinkerton."

 

I'm not trying to be contrary; those are just my honest feelings.

[Guest LooseCannon]

I used to not hate Pinkerton, but over time, it's overratedness has grated on me and grown to the point where I can say that I do hate it. I recall thinking it was a semi-pleasant little album with a couple of nice tracks, but now, I hear "I'm dumb she's a lesbian..." and I want to put my fist through something. I hate Pinkerton.