Amateur Rock Critics: Three Questions.

[Mike 03]

1. A rock album that really is as good as they say it is.

2. A rock album that is terrible, although they tell us it is a masterpiece.

3. A rock album that is a masterpiece (or at least damned good) that the critics told us was awful.

And feel free to list more than one if you feel especially passionate about this.

Have fun.

[flvegan]

1. I can do this.

1. Back in Black by AC/DC is better than they say it is. As is Highway To Hell, For Those About to Rock and most of the AC/DC catalog.

2. I hate Nirvana. So, anything they did that the critics love.

3. IIRC, the critics hated Pink Floyd's The Wall.

I may be wrong on #3, though.

[Shell Beau]

2. I can agree with those.

I do say though, that I have grown tried of The Wall because of it being done to death. It is a great album. But since it is overplayed, it has lost some appeal to me.

[Tikki]

3. These:

1. Axis Bold As Love...Jimi Hendrix Experience

2. Led Zeppelin IV...Led Zeppelin

3. RAMONES....Ramones (initially the critics said it was awful)



Tikki

[madinmaryland]

4. #2 - Anything by Rush.

[abq e streeter]

5. 1. Born to Run 2. Rumors ( not terrible but highly overrated) 3. Soft Parade

[LostInAnomie]

6. 1. Anything by Tool

2. Anything by AC/DC. Especially, Back in Black (seriously, that whole album could have been written and performed by a 12 year old).
3. White Zombie's La Sexorcisto. I'm still convinced it's one of the best albums ever made, but critics panned almost everything about it from lyrics, to vocals, to guitar, to sound effects. I would submit that that album and it's follow up (only slightly better reviewed) were incredibly influential in modern rock and metal.

[mitchum]

7. These three...

1) Let It Bleed Rolling Stones
2) The Joshua Tree U2
3) Berlin Lou Reed

[LeftyMom]

8. Everything U2 ever did is overrated.

Bono could fail to flush some corn-studded shit and most critics would give him 3 stars for effort.

[LostInAnomie]

9. Truer words were never spoken.

There is no band more undeservedly felated than U2.

[ghostsofgiants]

37. ...

http://allsp.com/l.php?id=e162

[enigmatic]

19. Excellent

I know we both feel the same about "Berlin" and I remember how much Lou was ripped to shreads in CREEM for that record but it really is a masterpiece.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. Here goes Nothing --

1. A rock album that really is as good as they say it is.
Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) - Pink Floyd

2. A rock album that is terrible, although they tell us it is a masterpiece.
Thriller (1982) - Michael Jackson
or Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (1977)

3. A rock album that is a masterpiece (or at least damned good) that the critics told us was awful.
Rick Derringer - All American Boy (1974)

[old mark]

14. Rick is a great guitarist, a real undiscovered treasure.

He and his brother founded the McCoys in the '60's, then went on to work with several blues bands for years.
He wrote a lot of songs for other people and has not had much favorable press over his carreer.
U2, on the other hand, sucks.
mark

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. Uhm...

I think we are agreeing. Right?

[old mark]

29. I think we are!!! I really think Deringer is way underrated

and I actually agree with you on everything else, too.

Almost shocking for DU - having people agree and all...


:wow:

mark

[Tuesday Afternoon]

30. I truly did a double - take ...

:)

I thought to myself, I hope I understand his post the way he meant it ;)

:toast:

[aikoaiko]

11. 3. not a masterpiece, but Paris Hilton's cd was much better than critics said.

that's right, I said it.

[bluesbassman]

12. I'll give it a go.

1. Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones. The bands high point IMO.

2. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac. Sold their soul to pop.

3. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd. Critically panned when released, this album defined Pink Floyd's sound and has stood the test of time.

[aikoaiko]

13. 1. Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair and Dry by PJ Harvey are really as good as they say.

yep.

[EastTennesseeDem]

16. I am an amateur

1. Radiohead's OK Computer

2. Please forgive me Lounge, but I thought Workingman's Dead was lame. I also think the concept of The Wall was overcooked; there is no subtlety whatsoever. And when Roger Waters starts screaming into the microphone, it's just...ugh. Give me Dark Side of the Moon any day, every day.

3. To Our Children's Children's Children by the Moody Blues. Every bit as hypnotic as DSOTM and Abbey Road. Beautifully composed and lavishly produced, it's typically ignored or shrugged off by critics.

[mvd]

17. OK

1. U2's The Joshua Tree (U2 is anything but overrated IMO!)

2. Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction

3. Liz Phair's Somebody's Miracle (sorry to the other poster, Paris Hilton does not qualify IMO)

Liz's self-titled CD isn't a masterpiece, but is also underrated.

[enigmatic]

18. 3

1. A rock album that really is as good as they say it is.

"Spiderland"- Slint


2. A rock album that is terrible, although they tell us it is a masterpiece.

"Zoso"- Led Zeppelin


3. A rock album that is a masterpiece (or at least damned good) that the critics told us was awful.

"The Beat Goes On"- Vanilla Fudge

[ghostsofgiants]

20. Spiderland is spec-fucking-tacular.

[enigmatic]

27. It's simple music played in a very complex way

An old girlfriend told me once while I was listening to "Washer" for about the 4000th time, "This is just jack-off music for shut-in nerds!" I laughed my ass off, it was perfect.

I never get tired of listening to it; like any great piece of music, it reveals new layers of spoken/unspoken meaning to the listener every time it's played.

[ghostsofgiants]

21. Interesting...

1) Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures"

2) Green Day's "American Idiot"

3) Fugazi's "End Hits"

[Withywindle]

23. .

:thumbsup:

[Withywindle]

22. Oh, I bet I'm getting flamed for THIS.

1. The Velvet Underground and Nico. Threw down a gauntlet - a big mean spiky one, that's for sure. But it also has heart to go with the spleen. Can still stop traffic, break your heart, and get you evicted 40 years later.

2. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles. Yup, I said it. How can one record be so pompous and so cutesy-twee at the same time? Must have been the drugs and no, I don't want any of them. Greatest rock album of all time? It's not even the Beatles' greatest stuff that week, or at least I hope it wasn't.

3. Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M. This got panned as a massive disappointment after Murmur and Reckoning. I didn't hear that at the time and I still don't - I think it's brilliantly-conceptualized, romantic, evocative, and far more flawless than the earlier two or anything they've done since.




(I was a pro rock critic for years. I'm afraid it still shows. :hide:)

[bluesbassman]

24. Agree on #2.

I'll take Revolver any day over Sgt Pepper.

[Withywindle]

25. Yup. Abbey Road, too.

Or even Let It Be.

[enigmatic]

26. I'll agree w/ you

The Beatles' best album was "Revolver", though "Abbey Road" pretty much invented Modern FM "Rock" radio, too.

[SoxFan]

32. Good call on "Fables"!

For all of the critical bitching, I think it's REM's most interesting album. Joe Boyd's folk touch helped draw out the moodier side of the band, but I think critics were looking for another jumpy-jangle Radio Free Europe/Wolves, Lower/Boxcars deal.

[Withywindle]

35. Thanks! I love that album so much.

And yeah, Joe Boyd was a great addition - how can a dose of that Fairport Convention/Nick Drake vibe ever be bad?

They were headed in that direction anyway - logical extension of "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" and "Time After Time (Annelise)," my favorite songs on Reckoning, but Fables just really reveled in that eerie, melancholy Southern Gothic vibe and expressed it in a whole new way. It's still got so much mystery. It's like a novel you can read over and over again and never feel like you fully GOT all of it.

[rucky]

41. that was my #2, as well

#1 is Abbey Road

#3 is Andrew W.K. "Get Wet"

[johnnie]

43. Sergeant Pepper's isn't the Beatles' best music but

It blew the doors of the recording world. The techniques used were pretty much unheard of at the time and set some standards for what was to be recorded next.

[Robeson]

28. The first and only rule: Don't listen to "they".

[Symarip]

31. I'll throw in on this

1. The Clash - London Calling. Every song is a masterpiece. Every song seamlessly moves into the next. Arguably the greatest album of all time. And for good reason.

2. Nirvana - Nevermind. I never found this album even remotely listenable. I enjoy the fact the band destroyed over-produced butt rock. I just would never have guessed this Nevermind would be the album to do it.

3. I have two:

First, Body Count's eponymous debut album. It was one of the first mainstream attempts at merging punk, metal, and rap. Rock critics hated it. Rap critics hated it. Kids my age loved it and listening to it now, it really is a classic.

Second, Tin Machine - Tin Machine. I have never seen a fan base attack their leader like they did when David Bowie joined a band in 1989. Bowie fans would turned into shit chucking apes when anyone would bring up Bowie's new collaboration. Everyone hated it. And despite all this hate, it's a great rock album.

[SoxFan]

33. Here we go

1. A rock album that really is as good as they say it is.

U2, "Boy"
Velvet Underground & Nico (banana album)


2. A rock album that is terrible, although they tell us it is a masterpiece.

AC/DC, "Back In Black"
This band has been re-recording the same four songs for thirty years, and they are still basically the Bards of the Burnouts.

Honorable mention to Radiohead. Not so much bad as absurdly overrated.


3. A rock album that is a masterpiece (or at least damned good) that the critics told us was awful.

Lone Justice, "Shelter". Not a masterpiece, but there are some damn good songs on here. The closing track, "Dixie Storms", is a lost gem.

[gmoney]

34. My picks at the moment...

1) Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen. The Clash - London Calling. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes.

2) Beatles - Sgt Pepper. Agreed that it has its moments, but overall, it's not one I return to very often.

3) Weezer - Pinkerton. Pretty much slagged and ignored when it first came out, to me, it's really their only start-to-finish greatness.

[Withywindle]

36. Yay, another Sgt Pepper's hater!

Maybe you had to be there. I sure wasn't, in any sense. I can think of dozens of panned-at-the-time 60s period pieces that have aged much better.

[last_texas_dem]

38. These picks will probably piss just about everyone off...

1.

2.

:hide:

3.

[madeline_con]

39. Uriah Heep. There's an oldie.

[Quantess]

40. Hi! Excellent question!

Having only thought about it for 5 minutes, here goes...

#1 Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street ...genius, through and through.

#2 Radiohead Kid A, and also the U2 album circa 1998. The critics were bombastic in their reviews. I still think both albums are highly overrated.

#3 Missing Persons. All music critics thought they were a joke at the time. Yet now they are an 80s icon, so ahead of their time.

[Jetboy]

42. 1. Appetite for Destruction- The best records feel timeless

and this one has that quality IMO.

2. Sgt Peppers- if the greatest rnr record of all time features Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite, Fixing a Hole and She's Leaving Home then I'm Lawrence Welk

3. Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks To be honest, I don't know that the critics ever even noticed this one but it is a brilliant rock-n-roll record derived straight from Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee, pretty girls and fast cars on Saturday night. The good stuff!

[SKKY]

44. Ooooooh!!! I like this...

1. U2 "The Joshua Tree"- That album is everything they say it is and more!
2. Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile" As much as I love this band, it's a bad offering.
3. None of the critics liked Depeche Mode's "Ultra", which I thought was excellent!