There are spectacular bands and solo acts who occasionally make lesser-received albums. Not everything can be Who's Next, Led Zeppelin IV, Moving Pictures, or Aja. The bar is set high, and then for whatever reason a particular work just does not quite reach the typical standard. The critics may not like it as much as usual, or the selling numbers just don't peak, or it does not have a hit single, or the group itself went through some cataclysmic change. Back in the day, some of these types of albums would end up in the cut-out rack at the record store for a discounted price.
No matter what the reason, I have found that some of these less played albums land amongst my favorites. Not always, but sometimes the offbeat album can have some more experimental offerings that are fun to listen to. And other times, it is unlistenable and sheer dreck.
So today, let's talk about what you consider to be albums worth listening to (or at least great songs worth listening to) from some of the lesser known recordings from any great artist. Or feel free to say, "No! That album was horrible!" There are no limitations on your opinion here at BITBA. Take the conversation where you will and to whatever songwriter, band, or musical act you prefer. Here are some records from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that you may want to consider as you ponder the question. Have fun and cheers!
19 comments:
Wings' BACK TO THE EGG was the first thing that crossed my mind. . . and by golly, there you have it pictured-!
My own musical tastes during the vinyl-buying era were so Beatles-centric (and still are, to some degree, I suppose) that, while so many of those other album covers are dead-familiar, I don't think I have a single one of them. And I haven't listened to any of my lps in decades, so memory is certainly on the fuzzy side. BUT. . .
I know that I rather liked BACK TO THE EGG!
It was stylistically kind of all over the map, with Paul going, "Look I can write THIS kind of song! And I can write THAT kind of song!", and doing some pretty clear trend-chasing, IIRC. And you definitely want to avoid reading the liner notes (or possibly interviews at the time?), 'cause he goes on & on with this sort of prefabricated "getting back to our roots" sort of promotional schtick-- which seems to have nothing at all to do with the material you're listening to. BUT the thing is, his ear for catchy musical hooks was still darned strong, and you'd find yourself humming any number of tracks from this album when you weren't thinking about it. I much preferred this album to the previous year's LONDON TOWN, which I found dull as dry toast. To my fan-boy ear, BttE is almost more like a prelude/companion album to the wildly-successful (grammy-nominated) TUG OF WAR that he released a couple of years later.
Let me toss in a different example from another artist, though, eh?
Harry Knilsson's a huge personal favorite of mine, and man did he ever release some brilliant albums at the height of his popularity. But-- during a protracted drunken spree w/ John Lennon in the early 70's, he foolishly burst a vocal cord (which he tried to hide??), and despite later claims to the contrary, that lovely, lovely voice was never, ever the same again. But he did continue to release albums, nearly all of which did not do well at all. One of them, which I found in a cut-out rack, and had never heard of, was called, ". . . That's the Way It Is", from 1976. I remember picking it up in amazement, buying it, and upon the first listening, thinking "Oh my GOD--WHAT did he do to his VOICE??"-- and checking into his history. And yet, in spite of that shock, that particular album has a wonderful appeal all its own-- especially with the help of contributing friends like George Harrison and Randy Newman. If you forget that it's Harry, and just assume it's some other broken-voiced singer like Dylan or Tom Waits, say, you've got a bit of a lost-emerald in your hands.
HB
A Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles Davis.
Oft oerlooked in the immense Miles canon, A Tribute to Jack Johnson still rocks like little else. A single improv funk jam consuming each vinyl side, it's music to get lost in.
Wow! Such a vast subject for someone who stayed up way to late to watch Interstellar which is way too long, just to prove to the family I was capable of staying up past 10 PM...
All I'll say, until my head clears, is...
HB - You mention Sir Paul which does make me think of his "Ram" album which I rather enjoy (though John Lennon said it wasn't so inspired). I will head for my Uke in a moment to strum out "Ram On!" THen I will play "Too Many People" and "Uncle Albert" and "Ram On" off the PC until I am threatened with bodily harm!
Colin B - About the only Jazz album I can say I like is Miles's "Kind of Blue" which is quite famous and released before any of us were born, I suspect. So, I will need to give"Tribute" a shot! THanks for that!
HB I agree with both of your choices. I did not know that story about Harry Knilsson's vocal chords. And Colin, I particularly like Mikes Davis' 1986 release "Tutu". A lot of folks really dislike that album with its electronics and drum machine beats, but I like it a lot. It may just be my nostalgia for the era in which I first heard it, but I enjoyed the experimentation and the transition between musical genres. I am not familiar with the album "Tribute to Jack Johnson" but I will have to give it a listen. And I second that "Kind of Blue" is great!
For me, "Goat's Head Soup" by The Rolling Stones is overlooked. It came out after "Exile on Main St." and it tends to be overshadowed by that classic - though I honestly listen to the latter album much more frequently. It was recorded during the time that Mick Taylor was with the band and I like his guitar work on "Doo doo doo doo doo (heartbreaker)" which I think really anchors the album (even moreso that "Angie"). It is a little more cleanly produced than their earlier efforts but I rank it much higher in their canon than most would.
And I know that "Pretenders II" was a rushed follow-up to the band's stellar debut, but I find it just as energetic and fun. And I think it is a much better album than the reformed band's later efforts (just my opinion). The deaths of Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott shortly after the release left the band forever changed. There are a number of tracks from "The Adultress" to "Bad Boys Get Spanked" to "Jealous Dogs" and "The English Roses" that I like better than their hit single "Talk of the Town". And I think "Message of Love" is great. A solid album.
For me Monster is the last good album from R.E.M. I was with them from their beginning with Murmur on the IRS Records label and shocked by Green their Warner Bros debut. Monster still feels like an album to me where one song leads into the next. Overall a very good listen.
Gents - Rachel Petro is me. My charming 20 year old daughter who had been logged in to her google account, on the PC, when I commented on the blog. I did raise her and her brother on Archies, Beanos and Dandy's, Beatles and such... but the very second I put on 70s / 80s radio she and her brother beg to stop! I get it... There is an instantly distinguishable 80s New Wavish Sound that often the younger ones don't care for.
Wasn't much into a lot of these bands when I was younger (and still not into some of them), but I loved Kilroy Was Here; everybody knows Mr. Roboto from that album, but all the songs were good, especially Heavy Metal Poising and Cold War. I guess it was a concept album, based on a movie--which I never saw--but I thought the individual songs were pretty good.
Marti and Rachel - Kind of Blue, Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain, Bitches Brew - they are all great. It's just...Tribute to Jack Johnson is always the first I turn to.
And Goat's Head Soup - thanks Marti, I had never heard it before today. Clearly my bad since it's a fine late-night-after-the-party record.
Charles Horse Forty-Seven-- that is REALLY hilarious that you were posting w/ your daughter's profile! (Which means that was you the last time as well? Kinda bummed, 'cause that post made me think we had a new female voice in our ranks. Ah well. . . )
This morning I was trying to figure out why my FB profile had shifted into this utterly incomprehensible "Pyrate Speech" template-- it took me five minutes to realize that I had pulled up my son's profile by mistake.
HB
Ah, I read Charlie's comment as meaning his daughter had posted comments on his suggestion! Well that does explain her uncanny knowledge of Paul McCartney...
Colin B! HB!
Well, my daughter and son thoroughly enjoy Archies and Beano/Dandy/Dennis the Menace from the UK as far as comics go. "Yo! Ho! Ho! And a bottle of Soda Pop!" as Dennis the Pirate would say!
But, alas, with each generation they have their musical tastes that differ from the previous one's.
Marti's prodigious posting of 70s and 80s stuff certainly has its own genres within that posting.
E.g., for us 80s dudes, there was the Heavy Metal crowd, and then those of us with refined tastes like Aztec Camera, Echo and they Bunnydudes, Culture Club, Heaven 17, Human League, etc. (Not sure where I'd put Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" in that, though, LOL.)
One of these days, I can relay when Rachel met Alex Ross at Chicago Comic con about 12 years ago at his booth. He was wondering why my little kids would read comics since the industry knew by that point that kids had stopped reading them and the future wasn't pretty.
The self-titled "Boston" to me wasn't the raw garage-band sound that its liner notes wanted us to think--for that, you'd have to look to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Boston's music on most of its songs tended to blend together in a way that Petty's sound never did. Still, Boston had nothing to complain about; at the time, that album was selling like hotcakes.
"Can't Buy A Thrill," on the other hand, was a stand-out LP in every sense of the word. Steely Dan's sound was usually a bit unorthodox anyway--but that album's songs caught my ear, from start to finish, and I still enjoy listening to it.
I'll agree with the general assessment on Miles Davis. "Bitches' Brew" virtually knocked me off my feet, in a good way. It was so, so different from what I'd been exposed to at the time.
A friend of mine once told me in no uncertain terms that "Presence" was Led Zeppelin's greatest album.
Reasonable and honest people may differ on this, but he had an argument. "Achilles' Last Stand" was truly the hammer of the gods, in sonic form. Listening to it is like riding a chariot with a spear in your hand, something that is high on my bucket list.
A lot of good music mentioned here.
I regard "Who's Next" as the Who's single greatest album, but I would heartily recommend "A Quick One While He's Away" which is not often mentioned. It's different! And I'm apparently the only guy who liked "Face Dances."
"Cellocellocellocello..."
"Mexican Radio", mentioned above, is one of my brother's favorite songs. I like the video where the singer's head emerges from a bowl of baked beans.
Great topic! Everybody loves a record that nobody else seems to get. I'm enjoying this post. Kudos!
M.P.
Great comment M.P. And I for one liked Face Dances a lot. I think "Another Tricky Day" is the best track, even better than "You Better You Bet," but I also like "Don't Let Go the Coat" and "Cache Cache". Many lamented Kennedy Jones on drums following the death of Keith Moon; it was different but I liked the new direction.
And yes - Stan Ridgway rising out of the baked beans was great. I liked much of his solo work after he left WOV; he worked with Stewart Copeland on a song for the "Rumble Fish" soundtrack that was quite good.
And Comicsfan, I liked "Can't Buy A Thrill" also though I think "Aja" is their best album.
Kenney Jones. ... not Kennedy. Does anybody else think autocorrect is more hindrance than help?
I could go on for days about Miles Davis and his music.....just an incredible innovator many times over. In fact, I've been listening to Milestones for a couple of days now. I think his early 70's album, On the Corner, is highly underrated and was even panned by many upon its release, but now has come to be more highly regarded. Jack Johnson is pretty impressive, too. I've come to appreciate his post-Bitches Brew work a lot more in recent years....having started out with his 50's recordings.
Years ago, Back To The Egg was one of my favorite Wings discs. I also really liked Venus and Mars.....not just for the Magneto and Titanium Man song. Those both tend to get lost in the shuffle.
When I started reading this post, the first album that popped into my head was, "Back to the Egg," but loads of people have beaten me to it. I shall therefore opt for, "Pipes of Peace." Everywhere I go on the internet, people seem to agree that, "Tug of War," was McCartney's solo masterpiece and, "Pipes of Peace," was a disastrous plunge off a musical cliff. But, if that's true, how come I like nearly all the tracks on, "Pipes of Peace," and I like hardly any of the tracks on, "Tug of War?" There's clearly something wrong with me.
Agreed on all the comments on 'Back to the Egg'.. love the neo-concept album approach to it.., kind of a tense swagger to it, almost as if Paulie was trying to impress the new band members (I conversed with Laurence Juber a little once and got some great autographs..). Loved the opening of it.., sure wish they would have had 'Goodnight Tonight' on it, certainly would have fit, and would have helped sales greatly. 'Arrow Through Me' is awesome, subtle simpleness, and I've performed 'Baby's Request' several times at gigs.., love doing the jazzy guitar solo bit in the middle.
While most fans have regarded Paul's attitude as being bored with Wings by this juncture, and even attribute his lack of interest as the motive for his Japan bust, this is of my favorite, 'have-to-be-in-the-mood-but-still-awesome' Macca albums. Most of you should have the 'Last Flight' bootleg CD, I got a high-qual copy of it years ago, he plays several of the 'Egg' tracks on it, along with an even better 'Wonderful Christmastime', done live with the great Mr. Juber doing the jazzy guitar bit. Any late-period Wings fan NEEDS this gem.
As for 'Pipes of Peace', these were indeed left-over ideas from the 'Tug' album, 'So Bad' was still played at my wedding, and literally reduces my wife and I to tears every time it's played.
On the Stones side, I fully agree with the lesser-albums having some of the best tunes. Heartbreaker's an awesome track, it would have done much better if Angie wasn't released first. Angie **totally** overshadowed the album release and many believe it caused the lack-of-interest. Hearing Taylor doing the Heartbreaker guitar solo's live is truly remarkable.
Another criminally-underrated Stones gem from this category..? 'All About You' closing the Emotional Rescue album. One of the greatest 2am Keith Richards piano songs ever made. Ever. He sucks you right into the mood.
Bitching and complaining about some ex-lover, then the vulnerable, emotional question at the end, 'So how come I'm still in love with you..?'
I first heard The Who By Numbers played in its entirety on a radio station circa 1981, at which point the only Who albums I had were The Kids Are Alright (the 1st one I bought, after seeing the movie) and Who's Next, which I still regard as the Who's best. Within a few years I'd collected nearly every Who album, and while I'd rate The Who Sell Out as my 2nd favorite, I'm a bit hard-pressed to say which I'd rank as 3rd best. Still, I really like the more muted pleasures of By Numbers -- no grand epic concepts, but a mix of raw emotional anguish and humor, as exemplified, respectively, by How Many Friends and Squeeze Box, and even some quiet contemplation and lovely ukulele playing in Blue, Red and Grey.
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