I was thinking about this as I was playing "This Time of Night" by New Order on Spotify; there are a good 5 tracks on Low-Life that I really, really love and would consider to be career highlights for the band, but I can't sit down and play the entire album through because the two singles are represented with abysmal recordings and "Face-Up" sets my teeth on edge.
Does this happen to anyone else? Do you have instances where an act has put out an album where you like or love more than half of the songs on it but you still dislike the source album as an overall piece of work?
― Gandalf’s Gobble Melt (DJP), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 18:47 (6 months ago) Permalink
too many to count
― nostormo, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 18:51 (6 months ago) Permalink
well, pick one!
― Gandalf’s Gobble Melt (DJP), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 18:54 (6 months ago) Permalink
neil young - psychedelic pill
― nostormo, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:00 (6 months ago) Permalink
lana del rey and usher from this year alone
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:00 (6 months ago) Permalink
For Low-Life, if the two singles were presented in their original long format, it would be a great album. Despite Face-Up.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:09 (6 months ago) Permalink
Van Halen, "Diver Down." Love the two cover songs, "Intruder," "Cathedral," "Little Guitars," but as a whole it's just not a great album, considering what they were capable of.
― C-3PO Sharkey (Phil D.), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:18 (6 months ago) Permalink
My Big Dark Twisted Sister Fantasy, I guess? When I hear most of the songs in isolation I can enjoy them but when I hear them all together I want to bite Kanye's head off and watch blood spurt out of his neckstump.
― thraeds of life (The Reverend), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:19 (6 months ago) Permalink
multiple of Montreal albums
― Roz, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:26 (6 months ago) Permalink
My Big Dark Twisted Sister Fantasy, I guess?
Ha I was going to bring that album up as a more recent example! iTunes Genius playlists have done more to extend the life of that album for me than anything else; I even like most of the songs I initially disliked on it but the idea of actually going back to listening to the entire album as a unit seems like torture.
― Gandalf’s Gobble Melt (DJP), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:28 (6 months ago) Permalink
I love "Overture," "Amazing Journey/Sparks," "Christmas," "The Acid Queen," "Pinball Wizard," "I'm Free," "Sensation," "We're Not Gonna Take It"...and yet Tommy isn't my favorite Who album by any stretch.
― 5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:29 (6 months ago) Permalink
but as a whole it's just not a great album, considering what they were capable of.
They didn't even want to make that album. They wanted to release "Dancing in the Streets" as a stand-alone single and WB wasn't having it. So they threw together a bunch of stuff to surround it and push it out to the length of an LP. "Happy Trails" at the end was actually recorded in 1978.
― Bout to go Jethro TULL on that ass (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:29 (6 months ago) Permalink
Love the songs, hate the album
Pearl Jam, Ten
I've never owned this on cd, actually, so I'm just familiar with it broken into two sections via cassette. I hardly ever listened to side two at all, and when I did, I found it pretty boring. Side one was tight as hell, though.
― Bout to go Jethro TULL on that ass (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:32 (6 months ago) Permalink
Stankonia...
― pretty even gender split (Eazy), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:56 (6 months ago) Permalink
almost any Kanye West album
― frogbs, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 19:59 (6 months ago) Permalink
The Good Will Out by Embrace. In fact pretty much any album by them.
― comedy is unnatural and abhorrent (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 20:12 (6 months ago) Permalink
This year's Friends Manifest album. Had some expectations for it based on the first two singles "I'm His Girl" and "Friend Crush".
― LeRooLeRoo, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 20:26 (6 months ago) Permalink
Walker Brothers' Nite Flights owns this. Four great songs then six unlistenable pieces of shit.
― This Is Not An ILX Username (LaMonte), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 23:45 (6 months ago) Permalink
Roman Reloaded.
― Room 227 (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 23:50 (6 months ago) Permalink
Bon Iver's Bon Iver.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 30 October 2012 23:54 (6 months ago) Permalink
i feel like i have a ton of answers for this thread and none of them are coming to me at the moment, will have to let it marinate
― Victory Goon (some dude), Wednesday, 31 October 2012 00:38 (6 months ago) Permalink
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular. Loved the singles.
― LeRooLeRoo, Wednesday, 31 October 2012 13:10 (6 months ago) Permalink
Vengaboys - The Party Album
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 31 October 2012 20:41 (6 months ago) Permalink
the lana del rey album is a good call. i like a lot of the songs, but ugh, "carmen," "off to the races," "national anthem"... no.
― lunar madness (get bent), Wednesday, 31 October 2012 21:10 (6 months ago) Permalink
I liked the 1st LDR album, but never needed the 'famous' one
― Mark G, Wednesday, 31 October 2012 21:18 (6 months ago) Permalink
Actually the Gary songs aren't that bad, if only he'd let Scott sing them
― Named locally as Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 1 November 2012 10:49 (6 months ago) Permalink
Nicki Minaj to thread.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 1 November 2012 11:54 (6 months ago) Permalink
PARADE
― thraeds of life (The Reverend), Saturday, 3 November 2012 04:49 (6 months ago) Permalink
:/
Let It Be (Beatles)
― pplains, Saturday, 3 November 2012 05:15 (6 months ago) Permalink
Animotion s/t
― pretty even gender split (Eazy), Saturday, 3 November 2012 05:22 (6 months ago) Permalink
it just occurred to me that i think this about Superunknown. there are some really good songs on there, but 'black hole sun' and its accompanying video go so far as to actually offend me.
― charlie h, Tuesday, 6 November 2012 10:09 (6 months ago) Permalink
Take it to the "love the album, hate one song" thread.
― Luchinski pourin' from the sky, let's get rich (what) (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 15:28 (6 months ago) Permalink
omg Rev NO
― Gandalf’s Gobble Melt (DJP), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 15:31 (6 months ago) Permalink
;_;
obv Prince was on fire at the moment, but it's kind of the shittiest-sounding album and all it once it is too much sonic flatness for me where is the low end?
― thraeds of life (The Reverend), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 17:25 (6 months ago) Permalink
I wouldn't have put any of Prince's material in the sphere of worrying about the low end until maybe Graffiti Bridge? Also I freely admit that "Kiss", "Mountains" and "Sometimes It Snows In April" basically make this a devastating album for me that I can't really judge impartially.
― Gandalf’s Gobble Melt (DJP), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 17:27 (6 months ago) Permalink