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What would you consider to be the worst album of all time?  :lol
here's my top 10 terrible albums:

10. Souljaboytellem.com- Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
9. All Or Nothing- Milli Vanilli
8. We Are Young Money By Young Money
7. Metallica- St. Anger
6. Anything by Lady Gaga
5. Soundtrack of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
4. Soundtrack of Across The Universe
3. Anything by Justin Bieber
2. Anything by Skrillex
1. American Idiot By Green Day

Agree with those

The catalog of Yoko Ono, any ten will do. I love John but her.......

As far as major label releases go I would say any random Lenny Kravitz album. The albums that I've heard from basically consist of 2 to 3 singles and a bunch fillers.

Insomanic and Nimrod are far worse than American idiot.

I met one of the guys who is in her band this summer and he was pretty pompous about it. Had I known that this is the sentiment among rock fans I probably would have laughed him off.

Mike, maybe you should try the Yoko 'remix' album that came out a few years ago, called Yes I'm A Witch? She writes surprisingly beautiful songs underneath the wavering vocal style.

From the ones I own and have heard  :

Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
Aerosmith - Get A Grip
Aerosmith - Just Push Play
The Beach Boys - Summer In Paradise
Paul McCartney - McCartney II

She's not real.

Anything by Aerosmith. The biggest cheesecake catalogue in rock.

Lady Gaga ain't THAT bad. Notions of authenticity when it comes to pop music rub me up the wrong way anyway. The Beach Boys didn't play on their own records either! Yadda yadda. Just listen to Hair and be blown away by how ridiculous that song is.

And she is a p decent singer, imo.

Hype, the Beach Boys DID play on their albums! Heck, even Pet Sounds had 'That's Not Me'.

It was just the first bogus argument of rock authenticity that sprang to mind! Substitute The Beach Boys for The Monkees then, or something  ;D

Hey, even the Monkees eventually played on their own records.

Born Again by Black Sabbath is definitely a contender for worst album of all time. It sure LOOKED good on paper - Ian Gillan plus the original instrumental trio from the old days. But combined with a shitty attempt to "out-heavy" everyone else, instead of the heaviest album ever, they ended up with the sludgiest. Hardcore Sabbath fans defend this one to the death and I still don't know why.

Any number of Elvis Presley's 1960s soundtrack albums are easy shoe-ins. In fact, if you listen to the 1963-67 soundtrack albums in succession and then listen to How Great Thou Art, the sheer jump in quality is staggering.

Keepin' the Summer Alive would fit the bill.

Van Halen - 3

Brutal.

No, I mean you aren't real! It was a bit of a joke. I can't believe someone would place The Hollies' Butterfly and The Milennium on a worst albums list. Anything the Hollies did in the 60s belong nowhere close to a list of worst ANYTHING.

Yeah, that's another shitty, shitty one.

I understand, but you really have to give that album another chance. Part of it's charm is that Graham Nash wanted so hard to be like The Beatles. He probably smoked some pot and tried to come up with metaphors for getting high. It's so fun listening to Graham try to keep his group current, and the other guys probably didn't have a clue about what in the hell was going on. So you get faux-psychedelia like Elevated Observations and Try It. And then there are the pop masterpieces - Would You Believe (it's so majestic!), Postcard, Dear Eloise, and Away Away Away. I make no excuses for Pegasus, however.

without you is really good

Wow someone said McCartney II.

Coming Up, Waterfalls, On The Way, Temporary Secretary... Some of Macca's coolest songs!

I shall fight the man who said McCartney II.

Well, All Or Nothing would be the European version of the album released in the US as Girl You Know It's True. The latter album has "Blame It On The Rain," their best song, and All Or Nothing doesn't - so it makes sense to have it on here.

I'd give Skrillex a break if for no other reason than he's worked with Van Dyke.

And I gotta say that listening to the Sgt Pepper soundtrack is an easier thing to do that actually seeing the movie. Same applies to that other strange Beatle-soundtrack pic of the time, "All This And World War II." Parts of it can be seen on Youtube and you really gotta wonder what it was like to be one of the few stoners that actually caught it in a theater.

McCartney II is a polarizing record.  It's either one of those records you are going to love or are going to hate.  Personally I love it and I'm glad that the deluxe edition that came out awhile back finally expounded on all of Macca's experimental music of that period.  Some of those instrumentals, "Front Parlour", "Frozen Jap", "Blue Sway" are really trippy.  I love putting those on in the car and just driving. 

"Press To Play" isn't as bad as some people like to think it is.  Some good stuff on there although it is McCartney's attempt to create a record that would gel with the eighties record buying public was listening to at the time.

To be honest, it's been some time since I shelved it. I'll put it on tomorrow to see if anything has changed, then I'll gladly share my opinions about it.

Can anyone explain the appeal of Lady Gaga?  I got the appeal of Bieber, in that little girls who don't know any better dig his music...he's just the latest in a long time of pop princes processed by the industry.  

But some people seem to think GaGa actually has some actual value musically?  Expound please?  

I got nothing to say but it's okay...Good morning!

Who cares. It's catchy and dance floor friendly. That's about it, not my cup of tea.

10 discs that have electronically re-channeled to simulate stereo. 

Some of her melodies are fine. John rocked on those early albums of hers. It's just to my ears she has an ugly voice that drives me crazy. I used to cry as a kid if she came on. Seriously I had nightmares about it. Now if they put out her first three solo albums as instrumentals I might actually enjoy them. I can't say I've ever heard a worse singer, but I have heard worse music.

Interesting choices. The Elvis albums you mentioned are really bad for an artist of his talent, but teen idols like Fabian or Bobby Rydell couldn't hold a candle to even those. Also I don't like KTSA all that much, but I think the trio of albums the Beach Boys did from 1985-1992 are considerably worse. Still your choices aren't all that off.

Does anybody own Having Fun With Elvis On Stage?


It's a "talking only" album ...

I have it, actually Paradise Hawiian Style is a tougher listen. Not good though.

Yes - Graham was the leader of The Hollies (even though Allan Clarke was the lead singer...). It was his idea to progress with the times, and they all went along with him. Allan and Graham were really close friends, but Graham was getting a little out-of-sight. Reportedly, Allan got pissed at Graham because Graham sang all the harmonies by himself on some of his own songs on that album, not utilising the other guys in the band.

Pretty obvious, but Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water could be a viable contender worst ever.

The Millennium's Begin is one of the greatest albums ever released, I think someone misunderstood the thread title.

How would you know? I mean, if you hear a single song in a style of music you hate that you find atrocious even for its (hated) genre, are you saying you'd really listen to it in its entirety? And then, reasonable person you are, listen again to make sure you're not making a snap decision?

I'd guess the answer has to be "I have no idea" unless you retitle the thread "Worst Album You Might Have Liked Based on Genre or Band," which is admittedly a shitty title.

Also, my least favorite album that I own / have heard is probably ... uhhhh ... E's Broken Toy Shop. That is really, really terrible.

It's interesting Luther what you brought up. There are certain styles of music I am never going to like. I've tried and just disliked everything I heard. For example I cannot take Rap (outside of Blondie's decent "Rapture") , Hip Hop, Electronica, post seventies club music, and post early eighties pop. I'm not big on anything past the early eighties at all honestly though I suppose three are about three to four dozen albums I treasure that have been recorded since then.

Learning what kind of sounds I liked and didn't at a young age allowed me to explore the vintage country, folk, gospel, rock and roll, and blues, I love so much. My tastes have expanded a lot since I am a kid, but 99 times out of 100 somebody or something "new" that I get into was recorded from 1946 (Hank Williams' first recordings) to 1981 or so. This especially goes for the early fifties to  the early seventies which just has a certain feel to it that I can't get enough of. I'm hearing new things all the time, but they tend to be vintage.

I'm not completely shut off though. I think I can tell someone with real talent as opposed to someone who has been manufactured from the last thirty years. That doesn't mean I will buy anyone's work, even if they are talented, if I personally don't like the sound. I will buy any record I like though, and such retro sounds like The Coral's "In My Lonely Room" do appeal to me. I wouldn't say I love the band out and out, but I do love that song.  By the way I am only 36 but I just happen to mostly like music from before my time. I guess a lot of people who love The Beach Boys can relate.

Going Public.

what's the deal with Bruce using that photo from the sunflower gatefold?

was there no budget for a new photo?

Besides that, he just re-recorded songs he had already sung in the past, And did his own version of I Write the Songs, Not really that great of an album, But hey What about Hard to Swallow by Vanilla Ice? I Forgot to mention that.

I actually like Going Public.

I don't think McCartney II is that deserving of "worst", but I can definitely get on board why some people wouldn't like it.  It's not his most approachable album.  Songs like "Temporary Secretary"-- either you get where he's going with them and dig it, or you get an unearthly desire to punch everyone on your street corner in the face when you hear it.  ♪♫Temporary...secretary...temporary...secretary...♪♫  It's like being murdered by catchiness. 

But Harrison's Brainwashed considered one of the worst albums?  NO F_CKIN' WAY.  That thing is way better than over half of his solo albums and is easily one of the better solo albums by any of the Beatles.  

Brainwashed is a really great record, lovingly completed after GH's death by his loved ones.  I love that record.  I agree, it's in the upper echelon of GH solo albums.

Each to their own. I think it's utterly terrible and has no redeeming value whatsoever, except for maybe slicing ham...

And I shall join you!!

 :hat

I finally got the time (and will) to play McCartney II after a long time. Some things I do like better than I used to, and I may have exaggerated a bit in calling it one of the worst albums I own. But still I'm not a fan. I don't like McCartney I very much either. First of all, I'm aware that this is an experimental album that Paul didn't even want to release to begin with, and I've always loved when an artist tries new things, but this is simply not my thing.

'Temporary Secretary' is just plain annoying and not just because of the synth loop, Paul's voice also sounds extremely silly. 'Nobody Knows' has that stupid percussion effect in the background and is really nothing special. 'Front Parlour' is just boring and repetitive and really not my kind of music. 'Summer Day's Song' is decent enough, but the instrumental break almost made me fall asleep. 'Frozen Jap' is a bit more interesting than the other instrumental, but still not something I'd listen to. 'Bogey Music' is my least favourite song here and the reason is obvious : the echo in Paul's voice is just too much and makes it almost impossible to listen. Not that it would've been something special otherwise. 'Darkroom' is terrible as well. What are those, alien voices? 'One Of These Days' is not bad, but how and why does Paul manage to sound so stupid at 0:30?

The few songs I like are : 'Waterfalls', nice ballad that kind of drags on for a bit too long though, 'Coming Up', whose melody is pretty good actually, but I definitely prefer the live version and 'On The Way' because of its lead guitar (though not to keen of the vocals).

In conclusion, besides the fact that I don't like the 80's stamps, I don't think the album has much to offer, song-writing wise. It was also a huge disappointment, considering the fact that 'Back to the Egg' is one my favourite McCartney efforts.

Wow, "really, really terrible"? Do you like any of the albums he's released as EELS? BROKEN TOY SHOP suffers from a production/arrangement style designed to sound Top 40 and some overreaching songwriting, but there are still a handful of decent songs on there. "Manchester Girl", at least, is quite affecting. I would agree it's E's weakest album but it's not a spectacular drop in quality from everything else...

...and the only way to really determine the "worst albums of all time" is to compare those albums to other works by the same artists. For me, Queen's HOT SPACE is the pits, a spectacular drop from THE GAME which was already a weak follow-up to the almost uniformly-strong 70s material.

"Temporary Secretary" and "Comin' Up" are like the two best things Paul ever wrote.

totally agreed, runners. can't believe everyone's dissing Temporary Secretary.

by artist and simply imho

Beach Boys; SIP
Jefferson Airplane; Long John Silver
Grateful Dead "Live Dead"
Beatles: Let It Be
Stones :emotional rescue
Rap Music: The Rappers
Fleetwood Mac ;Penguin
Jorma Kaukonen/Hot Tuna ;barbeque king
Jefferson Starship; everything after red octupus
Pink Floyd ;division bell

hmm..seems like a lot of these were near the end of an arc if not end of a career.....

Really though, I can's say what is the worst lp because many lp's that seemed really bad never got an honest second listen

Let It Be? Ah, it's not bad at all! Explain yourself, donald!  ;D

Maybe when comparing between other Beatles albums, you'd find that one lower on the list. It's the bloody Beatles, though - their worst albums are miles better than most groups' best....

I think I actually really like Let It Be - a lot of the tracks are classic in my book (Across The Universe, I Got A Feeling, Get Back, I Me Mine, Long & Winding Road, Dig A Pony.... I like it!) apart from the title track, which I hate with vehement passion. But I just don't like the idea and the subsequent fallout, the image of Paul hectoring them to be loose and natural and don't play it like that weighs on me.

There is a very cohesive sound to that album - very rough around the edges but that's exactly what they were going for with the project. I probably like Two Of Us the best. Love those harmonies.

Listening to that right now. Love that song. Need to find me some boots of them hanging out in the studio, besides the feeling that they want to kill each other the sessions have cool stuff like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXM3hVN32co

Why aren't we discussing this in my Beatles thread?!  ;D

Mccarney 2 is an amazing album, way ahead of its time. The new deluxe version reinforces that view. Its the sound of a talented musician with enough money to have his own studio and high quality drugs. Remind you of anyone? Those synth tracks are incredible. Kind of a distant cousin of love you, it pays no heed to any trends and just shows you were he was atvat the time, love it!

What's wrong with Live Dead, donald?

My list was by group, and only IMHO. I couldnt possibly pick the worst lps of all time out of all the bad lps ever made.  And my list was groups that I know.

Let it be just my least fav Beatles lp. Some good cuts but not up to what they had done.

Live Dead?  A toss away even by the band's own admission.  I LOVE THE DEAD LIVE, REALLY LIVE and have many very fine boots.   That particular lp just badly produced and still born., half live and half in the studio, patched together.

Even so, these two lps are light years ahead better than lots of other trash that lesser groups have put out by the thousands.

Live Dead is the best Dead album. It regularly makes lists of the greatest albums of all time. Explosive, mindmelting record.

I have to agree with this. Live Dead was my initiation to Grateful Dead. At first (around ten minutes into Dark Star) I was like "what is sh*t", but by harmony vocal part of St. Stephen I started to get the beauty in their music. Then came Eleven, and my mind exploded. Then Pigpen does his thing (and he does it well), and finally, after seemingly endless Feedback, the innocent and beautiful And We Bid You Goodnight. A wonderful record, and no other GD album has managed to win me over quite so completely. No offense to anyone, but liking Grateful Dead and not liking Live/Dead is like liking Pet Sounds but not liking Pet Sounds, if that makes sense... It captures what's so great about the band. But, to each his own taste, of course!

if you guys like Live/Dead so much, check out The Complete Fillmore West 1969. It's 11 discs of the same.

Don't mind if I do! I listened Live/Dead three times today . I believe I really, really, really like that album. There's something mesmerising about a bunch of beardos extending songs to the extreme. Does anybody here have any loving for The Allmans?

Hurley by Weezer

Probably not a "worst of all time," but it's the best I can come up with.

My vote goes to Keith Moon's solo album Two Sides of the Moon

http://youtu.be/f29jcB1bZLI

No! Desmond Child wrote for that album. It's better than Raditude.  :(

You've not heard Ringo's Bad Boy album then?

I haven't listened to Raditude in years (saving myself the pain), but have you heard that song "My Friends Are All Insects" or something? I think it was a bonus track on Hurley. It is maybe one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

And the worst part: I saw them on the Memories tour, doing Pinkerton. That was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. How can they un-disown Pinkerton and play it live, but still make this Hurley-Ratitude music?  ???

Sounds more like Anthem Of The Sun, which I do agree is pretty bad in a lot of ways.

Anthem is their second best album.

Anything by Morrissey - tuneless, humorless, caterwauling twat, and those are his good points.

Victim Of Love - Elton John. You think SIP is bad ?  Actually...

Summer In Paradise - yeah, it is that bad.

Full Circle - 2nd post-Jim Doors album. It shows.

GIOMH - 'nuff said.

Recently heard the notorious "last" Velvet Underground album Squeeze for the first time - the one where Velvets manager Steve Sesnick put Doug Yule and Deep Purple's drummer Ian Paice into a studio, recorded a bunch of Yule's songs with no participation from any original Velvet still in the band (just Moe Tucker by that point), and released it as a successor to Loaded. 

It's primarily offensive because it's billed as a Velvets album. Had it been released as a Doug Yule album, it probably would have been quietly forgotten as a middling example of some slightly Grateful Dead/Poco/early James Taylor-influenced music. But a couple of the songs are probably on a par with the lesser (ie Yule-written) tracks on Loaded.

I Gotta disagree with Full Circle, I actually enjoy it, it's not that bad.
Victim of Love has only like 1 good song, other than that, it's just terrible.

Other Voices and Full Circle are much better than their reputation has it. Sure , Manzarek ain't no Morrison when it comes to singing, and even less when it comes to lyrics, but the music very solid, ovcasionally even surpassing their Morrison-era achievements. Get Up and Dance is a lost party-anthem classic, and Peking King and New York Queen is a worthy heir to LA Woman in that same fast rock epic vein.

What Andrew G. Doe said about Morrissey is very much true. I've never been that (at all) into The Smiths, either. But I'd like to take this opportunity to say that The Stone Roses' Second Coming is a lost classic and unjustly maligned.

Here's my list. Keep in mind that I sometimes download  albums by artists I don't like just to say I've heard an album all the way through, or for review purposes (and then immediately delete it afterwards). Some of these are not 'bad' albums in comparison to other people's works, just for the artist involved.  I'm going to avoid putting anything BB/BW related, to keep it interesting.

Here we go..

Stone Temple Pilots- self titled-  I loved their first five albums. This is my favorite non-BB group. I'm was very excited when they reformed in 2008 and was looking forward to this cd. Boy, was I disappointed. Weiland's vocals sound half-assed, the songwriting sucks, and the mix is absolutely horrible. There are only a couple of songs that rank among their better work, and one song ('Dare if You Dare') happens to have the worst chorus of any song I've ever heard.

New Kids on the Block- Self titled debut-  Yeah, I've heard this. No, it's not as bad as you would think...it's a whole lot worse. Here's a little known secret...Jordan Knight could actually sing pretty well when he was in his 20s. Sadly, he was like 14 here. The songs are poorly written, and are so lightweight (even compared to the rest of their releases) as to  make the Bay City Rollers sound like Throbbing Gristle.

Rod Stewart- If We Fall in Love Tonight- This was the beginning of Rod's permanent slide into complacency. It is similar to the BB 'Still Cruisin' as it is a mix of new recordings and archival recordings. Those who bitched about Rod's post-Mercury work need to eat sh*t and die, as until this album his vocals were still excellent even when the songs were lightweight. Here, it sounds like he aged 10 years since his previous album...which was only done a year earlier! The new recordings are either covers or songs written by professional songwriters, and generally all suck hard.

Jeff Beck- Flash- A guitar God known for his instrumental work makes an 80s pop album with a weak vocalist...and then sings a couple of songs himself.

Scott Walker- Tilt-  No....just no.

Any Mariah Carey release of the past 10 years.  WTF happened with her voice?! Too much crack, probably.

Depeche Mode- Songs of Faith and Devotion Live-  this is a note-for-note live recreation of their previous album...released the SAME YEAR. The only differences from the studio version are the crowd noise and the fact that Dave Gahan's voice sounds like baked ass.

IMO Hurley is their best and most cohesive album in years, not sure why you are choosing a bonus track to trash the album? Raditude isn't great but has it's moments but for me Make Believe is Weezer's worst album by far, most of the songs sound exactly the same and suck hard.

Another terrible album up for consideration - Warning by Green Day, boring, lifeless and pointless.

God, yes, Warning is the low point of their career. It's amazing they managed to get their act together and become bigger than ever after that.

But the record before that (Nimrod) is Green Day's best album. Lost punk-pop masterpiece.

"My Friends Are All Insects" wasn't written by the band and was recorded for a children's TV show. 'twas included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition.

They never really "disowned" it (especially the rest of the band), Varz was just crushed at the initial poor response it got from most people back in 1996 and spoke ill of it in a few interviews in 2001 and 2002 because of said crushingness. He'd put his all into it, it was an extremely personal record, and having it be so rejected must've been devastating. So devastating that it kinda seemed to f*** with his brain a lot considering he spent much of 97 to early 2000 in solitude trying to figure out how to write "perfect" songs and all (there have been other intensive songwriting periods since), especially 1999. As early as 2005, though, Rivers was saying he was proud of Pinkerton, so there y'go. As for playing the album live, it was simply a matter of realizing fans wanted it and giving it to them.

I like their newer stuff, though. You sometimes have to dig a bit deeper to find the better material (I won't justify them making poor choices for the standard albums, just sayin'), but it's almost always there, and the lesser material is often (not always) worthwhile in one way or another, too. A lot of people draw parallels to Weezer and the Beach Boys, most are pretty goofy, but Jack Rieley's brilliant little "they blew it" speech is probably the biggest parallel I can draw between the two.

Gah a lot of these albums are nowhere near 'worst of all time', especially not if you like a few of the tracks on an LP.

I suppose 'I am not a fan of this album' for whatever reason is a more fitting description.

If I were not a Brian Wilson kinda guy, GIOMH probably would rate as the worst album human beings have made. As I am a fan, I give it a lot of slack for reasons that in the cold light of reality I think are bullshit. And the vocals on SIP are produced better.

I didn't know they didn't write that! They just gained a lot of respect back!

You're totally right about the Jack Rieley thing, too. I think the issue is that Rivers knows it. As much as I think that maybe this is the kind of music that he wants to make now, I keep going back to this quote from the liner notes of Alone I (I think) where he says that some drunk guy comes up to him on New Year's Eve and starts singing "Say it ain't so-ooooooooo." He says he wrote in his diary that one thousand "Keep fishin's" does not equal one "Say it ain't so-oooooooooo." Even though he might just be saying that that one line has more power, I think that he really felt that his recent stuff was lightweight and couldn't stack up at all to his earlier songs.

One of the best albums ever.

Humorless? He is one of the funniest lyricists around, his stuff is full of humor. If you don't dig his voice or personality, that's cool. But he isn't Sting, fer cripes sakes.

I liked the idea more than the execution. I think that describes how I feel about Scott Walker in general, really.

Mardi Gras by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

I really wasn't trying to bash the album by saying that song was bad! I really just wanted to point out that I really disliked that one song particularly, regardless of the fact that it's a bonus track. I could have said the same thing about "Where's My Sex," (especially because that one teased me by thinking it would be like "Tired Of Sex") but I really wasn't trying to point out one song to say that the album was bad. I really just meant that that song is on the album, and I really don't like that song, but, somewhat unrelated, I also don't like the album.

I do remember thinking that one of the songs from that album (I forget which) was probably their best in years. And another one (also don't remember--sorry) I thought had uninteresting music, but a very Pinkerton vocal line, which I loved.

Does that clear anything up?

 :)

Anything and everything by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I'm sorta with AGD when it comes to Morrisey. I like the Smiths because they sound like a band but most solo Morrisey just sounds flat and lifeless to me... But maybe I should just give it another listen....

That Donovan album from 1977 with him sitting there in the white suit with that ugly greenish color scheme is pretty bad and pretty much seemed to kill his career. The preceding albums from Open Road, HMS Donovan, Cosmic Wheels, Essence To Essence, to 7-Tease were all pretty great (even if not huge sellers) and presented momentum, but this one just stopped it all dead in it's tracks (even though there is some decent stuff on it. Donovan is basically still pretty damn good even when he's bad) ....

Seriously?!

How about...every record ever released on Pickwick? Or are there good ones?' I've listened to them when I come across 'em,  tried to tell myself they were of some value- "I never know when I might need this Mario Lanza Xmas album!" or "a picture of a surfer girl on the cover of surfer girl...thats SO SURFER GIRL!" but always ended up recycling them. Creepy cover art, bad vinyl, wastes of space. Anyone?

and those K-tel compilations from the 70's with way too many songs per side.  Though, I was introduced to Larry Verne's Please Mr. custer on one called "Wacky Westerns"....a wacky classic...it's to my taste, you might say!

Yes, and no, Billy. The Chili Peppers pretty much wrecked high school for me because if you weren't a shirtless, tattooed, rapping, hacky sack playing, dredlocked (or bald) "Chili Pepper" type guy, you had to work extra hard to be even remotely cool. Oh, and worshipping The Beach Boys didn't make it any easier.... So, am I accessing The Chili Pepper's output from a fair and unbiased point of veiw?.... No.

high school pretty rough for you huh....the beach boys not making it easier and all...DAMN U CHILI  PEPERSS TATTOO SHIRTLESS BASTARDS!!  :lol

If we are listing acts ruined by starting high school, I can certainly name a few. Can't we all? "No, there are former big men on  campi round these parts, honored guests, too!"  I can't claim good taste  ,but I certainly can point to this:  fact is,  you could be the biggest Rage against the machine/Dr.Dre/other circa 2000 act fan in the world, and you'd still not be able to talk to most people. So there was no point in liking most of the new sounds, when most of the old sounds were better. the new sounds were too apt to remind you of some unpleasant aspect of going to school.

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers have gone from being one of my most beloved bands of all time to one of my most hated. The only albums of theirs I still like are Freaky Styley, Uplift Mofo Part Plan and parts of the S/T debut. Anything from By The Way onwards makes me want to vomit.

^Same here! One Hot Minute was my first RHCP record, and it blew my mind. I worked backwards from there (Uplift Mofo Party Plan being my favorite). When Frusciante returned they turned boring. Bad AOR/MOR for the 2000's. I tried to like Californication, but it never convinced me. Never bothered buying By the Way, and Stadium Arcadium was just terribly bland.

Zephyr Song has a nice melody, though, and Hump de Bump has a nice, old-school RHCP groove. Two good songs in almost 20 years. Sad.

Actually, Yule didn't write any of the songs on LOADED - they're all Lou Reed's.

What about The Ostrich?!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r998weOUiM

 :P

Yeah, pretty much  :o

All Dead is awesome in my book...... Even Built To Last

shoulda been a Dance sensation that swept the nation!

There's still time! Maybe Lou can turn it into a Tai Chi work-out!

I just realized Sebadoh based their song "Flame" on this track!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expcmtqTyC4

In response to the Grateful Dead posts, cant quote from the cell phone...Beyond a few of the hits, I could care less about their music. I think I`d go crazy with impatience during a Dead show. I`d be hitting the concession stand during Dark Star, as sacreligious as that sounds.

Aside from their two super-acclaimed studio albums (Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, both of which my parents played every single day for the first 15 years of my life, thus eliminating any objectivity I could have about them), I'd say the Dead's best album is Aoxomoxoa. After being used to the various live versions of most of the tracks, the studio stuff is pretty cool.

Pity it's taken from "Oliver's Army"...  :)

OK - Worst Album. ... Shania Twain - "Up!"

liam

My mistake. Every time I hear "Who Loves The Sun" it's such a spectacular example of sunshine pop I keep forgetting Lou wrote it.

Yule did handle more lead vocals on LOADED than on the previous album with "Who Loves The Sun" being the best. Reed seemed to be making a conscious attempt to write a more commercial album than any of the previous Velvet releases; the songs are still quite strong, but I probably prefer some of the material recorded during this period that went unreleased at the time.

Scott Walker has a new album coming out in a month, Bish Bosch. Two tracks from it are at Spotify. They're apparently the most "commercial" sounding things on the record, and they sure demonstrate that it's been quuiiite a while since Scott has had much to do with what almost any listener would think of as popular music.

It's been a long, strange trip from the days when he was working with Bruce Johnston on Sandy Nelson sessions. Or whooping it up on Shindig.

The guy was a very talented, diverse songwriter. And he knew how to write pop well from his days at Pickwick, and his previous doo-wop/pop recordings with Bob Shad.

I haven't heard 'Squeeze', but I'll just say that I love what Doug Yule brought to the band in its Lou Reed days. I don't like him as much as Cale, but he did a good job in finding his own place with the rest of the Velvets.. Plus, he's got a very, very sweet and tender voice. His vocal performance on things such as 'Candy Says' and 'New Age' is absolutely brilliant, if you ask me.

Too bad he's only remembered for being the guy who wrote a crappy album and released it under the name of Velvet Underground, even though he was the only original member left in the band (even though all of this is true, and, without a doubt, his own fault*)

*Has Doug ever openly spoke about why he did this? I'd like to hear his point of view.

I don't think Doug had much of a choice as the Velvets owed the label one more album and he was the only one left holding the bag.

Squeeze isn't bad at all if you can remove the stigma from the proceedings. The songs range from OK to quite good to nearly great, but the album is consistently pleasant to the ears. Doug has a great voice and is a great player, so in that: a crappy situation is elevated. If he'd only had Sterling and MO on the album, it would have a lot better of a reputation.

You can find the entire album over at youtube if you search around (Oh, and it has just been reissued on 180gram vinyl)

I love the Doug era Velvets. His voice/presence was a great foil for Lou's and they complemented each other greatly in the harmonies and his bass playing was always spot on.

The American Flyer album (Produced by George Martin) is also worth tracking down. It's a bit too middle-of-the-road but Doug's great on it.

Apparently, in a boxset of Yule led VU live boots (yes, one exists!) he goes into a lot of detail about his tenure.

Should really listen to Squeeze, have always been curious.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/21/SmileySmileCover.jpg/220px-SmileySmileCover.jpg)

Smiley Smile
"This is the worst album I ever heard!!!" -- or at least that's what I thought when I was ten, after saving up all my nickles and dimes to buy the album that had Good Vibrations on it.  What a let down. 


Now I love it...but I still remember the anger I felt.

Emerson, Lake & Palmers last two albums.

Love Beach is probably the worst album I've ever heard by a band that I like.

Yeah, it makes Summer In Paradise look like a great piece of work!

Plus at least with Summer In Paradise, all the principals were not present. On Love Beach, they were all there and mailed in a total piece of crap.

True. What were they thinking?!

Thyere thinking they wanted to show their packages off to the world.

Worst albums of all time?

"Hitler Is Alive and Well (and Living in You)" by The Third World, from 1971.

Man, was that awful.

That second Elastica album was pretty awful.....

Anyone remember that Village People album where they tried to go "New Romantic"?

That was horrendous.

Their other albums weren't masterpieces but were pretty tight for what they were....

Bit hard to figure out the worst albums ever, but will put in worst albums by artists I like:

The Beach Boys: Summer In Paradise
The Beatles: Let It Be (Yellow Submarine is bad too, but the few originals redeem the album)
The Rolling Stones: Either Black And Blue, Undercover or Steel Wheels
The Who: Who Are You
Pink Floyd: Ummagumma (Studio Album)
Lou Reed: Metal Machine Music
Led Zeppelin: Coda
Mike Love: Looking Back With Love

That's all I can think of. For now. And as to AGD: Full Circle by post-Morrison Doors one of the worst albums of all-time?! Them's Fightin' Words!
Seriously though, both Full Circle and Other Voices are brilliant, underrated albums. For the most part I agree with Jukka:


Seriously, so what if the two albums don't have Jim? Doesn't make them bad at all. They're still the Doors, especially with Manzarek taking over as leader. In fact, I recommend to everyone to check out the post-Morrison Doors albums. Be warned: Other Voices still sounds like a proper Doors album, but Full Circle doesn't. At all. Still excellent though, if you can get past all that!

They may be weaker by the band's usual standards, but in no way do they belong on any 'worst of all-time' list in my opinion.

I suppose you're right with at least the Beatles one and the Who one. But I noticed other people simply put the worst album of different artists, so I did it that way

  Van Halen III
  Summer in Paradise
  Metal Machine Music
  Sometime in New York City
  Having Fun with Elvis On Stage


  Very bad albums by major bands/artists.

I love Ummagumma! I still have very fond memories of listening to it stoned as a teenager with friends.

I adore the live record, but I see little of the studio work as actual quality  :P

I like Ummagumma too, even the studio stuff - especially "Groovin' with a Pict."

Worst album:

Hitler Sings Beach Boys Party!

 >:D

The odds of anyone here having even heard the worst albums of all time--unless having participated in their creations--are slim. So quickly it's just a thread about albums you don't like. Not the same thing.

What about truly sh*t albums like Summer In Paradise or Metal Machine Music?


What's wrong with Some Time In New York City? IMHO I've always considered it to be one of the better Lennon solo albums. I ignore and skip over the Yoko songs of course, but the Lennon songs are brilliant, especially Woman Is The n***** Of The World.

Now Rock And Roll I'd consider to be Lennon's worst solo album. Stand By Me aside (Which I consider to be the definitive version of that song), the whole album is awful and for the most part unlistenable. Lennon really butchered the classics...

Well first, a lot of people whose opinions I value really love Metal Machine Music. So on that, while I myself don't like it, I'd say be careful: your taste is your taste, but you might be missing something.

But as for something like Summer In Paradise, clearly it isn't anywhere near the worst ever because those musicians are competent. There are people making albums--especially in this day of home recording and self-release online--who can't play music. I don't mean you don't like their songs, I mean they don't know how to play music. Can't make chords or progressions. Can't sing on tune. Have no talent. A bad album by a popular and talented band is nowhere near the worst album of all time. It isn't even in the same league.

I don't think not being able to "play music" necessarily makes someone untalented.

Summer In Paradise is so obviously creatively bankrupt that it comes off as being "bad" despite its competent performance. It's more interesting to hear an aspiring musician at least trying on the Internet than listening to spent middle aged men go through the motions.

I think MMM is a good album conceptually, but it is no way an enjoyable listening experience.

Music is both entertainment and art. MMM fails as entertainment, but succeeds as art.

Are interesting and uninteresting synonymous with good and bad, though? I'm not sure they are--not entirely, anyway.

As for talent vs technical competence, I've written about this somewhere else, I forget which thread. I partly agree and partly disagree. In short I think technical competence is a valuable tool that is a component of musicianship. It isn't the only tool, but it is extremely helpful.

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me STINYC is the point where the politics became more important than the music. Not to mention the fact that "Luck Of The Irish" may be the single most patronizing protest song ever written. I agree that "Woman Is The N***r Of The World" is by a very long way the best thing on it. But what do I know, I prefer Walls & Bridges to Plastic Ono Band.

I don't believe you have heard these albums. If I'm correct, none of those artists have an album titled "Anything"

 This sums it up for me. WALLS & BRIDGES is just a track or two off from being a great John Lennon album. More satisfying if less consistent than POB or IMAGINE.

Completely agree with you re "Squeeze", Erik - it's mighty good! And yes, if Sterling & Maureen & even Lou had been on the album, we wouldn't talk about how bad it is (assuming Doug still be a sole songwriter of all songs & the guys sang back-up vocs & carried instruments). Love the Doug years of Velvets too!

Thanks for the tip, I'll sure check "The American Flyer".

Decided to play some forum roulette and randomly select an old thread to bring back from the dead.

Worst album of all time could easily go to Kid Rock, Nickelback, Ke$ha, Five Finger Death Punch, etc.  But I'll stick with worst albums by artists I actually like. 

#1 Worst

Metallica - St Anger - The songs are long and go nowhere.  The production is dreadful.  The whole album sounds like a bootleg.  Worst of all.  You've got one of the great metal guitarists in Kirk Hammett, and there's not one guitar solo anywhere on this overlong piece of dreck. 

Other contenders

Van Halen 3 - I'm an Extreme fan, so I thought this would work.  Wow, was I wrong.  Terrible.  And Eddie tried to sing.  Why?

Queen - Hot Space - One of the best hard rock bands of the 1970s entered the 1980s as an unrecognizable dance band????  Gone were the over the top pomp rock of the 1970s.  Replaced by synths and dance beats.  A couple of Queen like songs save this from worst of all time status, but it's far and away the worst of Queen's career. 

Deep Purple - Bananas - The first Deep Purple album without Jon Lord.  And their worst.   Paint by numbers. 

Motley Crue - Generation Swine - Vince Neil was back.  But instead of the Crue sound, we got an album mired in late 1990s industrial rock.

The Who - It's Hard - I can see why The Who was about to call it quits after this dud.  The best song, Eminence Front, sounds more like a Pete solo song than a Who song. 

Judas Priest - Demolition - The one saving grace about Tim "Ripper" Owens second Priest album was that it was so bad that it likely laid the groundwork for the return of Rob Halford.

Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain - It was apparent by the lead single I Don't Wanna Stop, that Ozzy was stuck in a world of self parody. 

I can't stand "Temporary Secretary". Loved the original lo-fi "McCartney" album, but "McCartney 2" is not one of his shining moments. I remember going into a used record store and seeing the last Wings album, "Back to the Egg", in the bins with a lovingly handwritten note taped to the cover saying "This whole album rocks way better than anything on McCartney 2".

Boston - Walk On. 

So much anticipation since it had been 8 years since Third Stage.  At this point in the game, all of the songs sounded the same.  The novelty of a wall of guitars processed through the Rockman had worn off, and they dumped Brad Delp for a new singer.

I loved the first single, I Need Your Love.  But the rest was very lackluster. 

Has anyone mentioned Self Portrait? You know, the album that prompted Griel Marcus to say "what is this $#it?" Back in 1970, it was supposed to be the worst thing Bob ever did, maybe the worst album ever. Time has softened that view, so much so that we even got "Another Self Portrait" a couple years ago. And the best SP might be made by combining the best tracks from both releases. Maybe even one or two tracks from the 1973 corporate bootleg, "Dylan".

I really like Self-Portrait, always have, even before the Bootleg re-release. I think it needs to be judged on its own terms, for what it is, without the shadow of his 60s albums. A homespun, unpretentious, humble tribute to the music Bob loved and that shaped him as an artist. The live performances are out of the place but other than that I enjoy pretty much all songs. Copper Kettle is just gorgeous.

Ugh. My sister was really into McCartney and even as when I was a kid McCartney II made me cringe and put pillows over my ears when she played it. McCartney and Band on the Run were good.

If we're talking McCartney, I could nominate almost any of his albums in the 2000s.  IMO, if you take all of the studio albums he's released in the 2000s, you might be able to put together a good 8-10 song mix....maybe. 

For one thing, he's got a great touring band, but he tends to play many of the tracks on the records himself. 

It doesn't really matter, though, if the material is not there.

This is true.  But, IMO, there were a few songs on Memory Almost Full that would've benefited from having the band on there. 

Also, I don't think it's a coincidence that Only Mama Knows, IMO far and away the best track on the album, is one of the few that features the band. 

Chaos & Creation is up there with Ram, Band on the Run, Back to the Egg and McCartney 2. All great albums methinks.

Love Beach by Emerson, Lake & Palmer got to be a strong candidate.

I've read so many good reviews of the C&C record, and I used to have a friend who was a huge Macca fan who said that the album was his best in decades. 

I listened to it 3-4 times when it came out, and I'm sorry, but I just don't hear it.  I remember reading the reviews, and I thought maybe I got a copy of the wrong record.  Maybe I'll give it another try at some point, but the songs have a certain "sameness" to me. 

The last one he did that I really really liked was Flaming Pie. 

I really had a hard time with Max Roach M Boom 1973.  Think it's on U tube and better to watch.  Legal drinking in the State just went to 18 and friends ( did I say friends) would get us beer and put this on.  Alice's Rest.  than this.

Ram has its moments; Back to the Egg is much better than its reputation: Band on the Run is flawless. The others I have no use for.

"Livin' for You" is the only song I've heard from that album, and it's total over the top early 90s AC/MOR/lite rock/power ballad dreck. The worst songs on the mediocre follow up "Corporate America" (Brad Delp had returned to Boston, but was criminally underutilized and almost seemed to play second banana to Walk On-era singer Fran Cosmo.) were still more tolerable than that musical abomination.

Boston put out an album a year or two ago.  I never picked it up.  Walk On and Corporate America kinda made me check out on them.  But I heard the song "Heaven on Earth" on the radio, and it was really good.  Maybe there's some gas left in the tank after all. 

Across genres.....any Don Ho album, John & Yoko's Wedding Album, Little Joe Shaver and Devil Dog Play the Beach Boys Songbook, The World's Worst Records  Album, The Temple city Kazoo Orchestra Play Led Zeppelin, Any Leonard Nimoy or William Shatner  album, any Lawrence Welk album,most Donny & Marie albums, I could  go on...but you see what I mean  :p

If we go across genres, I could make a neverending list.  After all, Nickelback, Kid Rock, Katy Perry, and Kanye West are pretty prolific. 

Not sure how many Def Leppard fans there are on here, but they've put out a couple stink bombs in their career. 

In 2003, the most appalling IMO was 'X.'  It sounded nothing like Def Leppard as they tried to adapt to the early 2000s when it was no longer cool to do guitar solos. 

Honorable mention is their 1995 album Slang. 

Peter, lived close to Ho"s brother in mpls.  The music drifted if that is possible.  Ever used Mr. Bubble listening to tiny bubbles?