commercially disappointing major label rock/alternative albums of 1996

produced by Adrian Belew!

xxxpost:

Nope. I like 'Mint Car', and I like 'Return' too.

pinkerton

wild mood swings was bought out of loyalty. The point where I ceased to look forward to new Cure albums (unimaginable to my teenaged self). They have done good stuff since tho.

produced by Adrian Belew!

presumably called after jerry harrison said he was busy

dammit, I was actually going to get some studying done today before Some Dude had to go and post a list of alternative rock albums

on that 'time and place' tip it's really striking to me how many of these albums I can remember being absolutely ripped apart in the NME - like obviously most of this wasn't their bread and butter in the mid 90s but I think that being a huge-but-faltering American alt-rock band was just the worst thing you could be from that perspective

Whigs and S. Trees exempt from this iirc

underperforming major label debuts are a different category re: Sammy

I don't know that could've possibly underperformed. Pretty sure I bought it sight unseen because the tape was selling for, like, four bucks brand new. Pretty decent album, too.

oh c'mon like Jerry Harrison wouldn't have accepted the chance at carving more throwing copper.

i said "busy," not uninterested

was there actually a Screaming Trees album that sold 'well'? xp to Dorian

dammit, I was actually going to get some studying done today before Some Dude had to go and post a list of alternative rock albums

― da croupier, Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:25 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol i started the thread against better judgment on a busy work day, if it's any consolation

Sweet Oblivion was a pretty minor blip as far as grunge's boom years go, but it still sold probably several times more than any other Screaming Trees album before or since

incidentally the only year i went to Lollapolooza was '96, where i saw Metallica and Soundgarden and the Trees work these albums

i think this is the first time I've heard "Mach 5" in over a decade. It kicks harder than I remembered!

these guys could have been alt-rock's ZZ Top if they weren't such fucking goofballs

never cared for the screaming trees after they left sst. a few good songs on uncle anaesthesia, i guess, but it's mostly dull. didn't care for sweet oblivion at all, and never heard dust.

i think this is the first time I've heard "Mach 5" in over a decade. It kicks harder than I remembered!

these guys could have been alt-rock's ZZ Top if they weren't such fucking goofballs

― da croupier, Thursday, May 3, 2012 1:35 PM (6 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i half like the first album, but the second is disappointing. "volcano" is great, "ladies and gentlemen" has an awesome chorus, "mach 5" and "supermodel" are okayish. no need for the rest.

^ based on memory. just tried to listen to "supermodel". so painful and bad.

wtf why I am listening to WMS

"Strange Attraction" is so terrible, I wish I had back the time I wasted trying to convince myself I liked it

Win a eulogy from William Greider
A car crash, ptomaine, disposable lighter
A bus plunge, avalanche, RV, vinegar cider
Free-fall, motorcycle, hang-glider

Trying to figure out what percentage of these albums were recorded while wearing sunglasses

xpost Jars of Clay is from Nashville, which is where Adrian Belew has a studio/lives. It's weird to think of King Crimson jamming away in some weird corner of Music City.

"Dust" is actually a pretty solid album, like "Black Love" pretty much what you'd hope from its predecessor (which is very underrated, that "Sweet Oblivion")

I've grown to enjoy the Superunknown stuff but I think "Pretty Noose" was the first and last Soundgarden song I liked at the time it came out

Trying to figure out what percentage of '90s alt albums are in any way defensible once you've read the lyrics.

first PUSA album is a classic. maybe it hasn't held up all that well but it's at least as good as "Nevermind" isn't it? I cannot seperate that album from Domino's pizza and Mountain Dew and Goldeneye 64 and the Ice Age Magic set, it all goes together to me.

IMO the one that got half-deleted "Freaked Out and Small" was actually very good. I still like 'em..

lol frogs

Trying to figure out what percentage of '90s alt albums are in any way defensible once you've read the lyrics.

I CAUGHT THE MOON TODAY
PICK IT UP
THROW IT ALLLLL AWAY

I would just like to note that apparently the title track of Wax Ecstatic is actually "Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)"

lol that and the bad religion and cure songs are the ones on your playlist that i was like "what does this sound like again? woah, i totally know this"

want to be pedantic about you including a song from Neil's '95 album instead of Broken Arrow, though

haha oh wooops

they're both short titles i got confuuuused

Here's something that is automatic
It's Wax Ecstatic
When life is nothing less than tragic
It's Wax Ecstatic
When life has lost all it's magic
It's Wax Ecstatic
When life can't promise the fantastic
It's Wax Ecstatic

('ecstatic' pronounced 'astatic', of course)

i'm just going to remove neil entirely then cuz broken arrow has great stuff but he kind of stopped being "alternative" after mirror ball, imo.

the first POTUSA record was the first CD i owned when i was a kid iirc

i'm listening to "tiny music" right now and this is OTM:

"Tumble in the rough" -> "big bang baby" - > "lady picture show" is a pretty awesome 3 in a row.. "Ride the Cliche" is great also.

― billstevejim, Thursday, May 3, 2012 2:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i forgot how good "lady picture show" is

the first POTUSA album is what should be played at a party of screaming 9-year-olds running around hopped up on caffeine and sugar

well that was me in 1995 so yeah

the first POTUSA record was the first CD i owned when i was a kid iirc

I went to a PUSA show two years ago and literally everyone I saw was in their mid-20's. "People born in 1986" is basically their whole audience.

i'm just going to remove neil entirely then cuz broken arrow has great stuff but he kind of stopped being "alternative" after mirror ball, imo.

― da croupier, Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:57 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

i'm pretty sure i saw the "This Town" video on 120 Minutes. i'm also pretty sure it's the single worst song on any of these albums.

i had 17 of these

yeah, Neil was still headlining horde and doing crazy, post-sonic youth versions of "Like A Hurricane" in Jim Jarmusch directed footage, but if I was going to put a song from Broken Arrow on this it would be "Big Time" or "Music Arcade" and neither have anything to do with the other shit on the playlist while "I'm The Ocean" at least has Pearl Jam on it.

I'll rep for No Code start to finish -- still my favorite PJ album

yeah yeah yeah, shocking right

oh man i never realized how much of a "Purple Rain" lift "Hey Jupiter" is until just now

Three Snakes & One Charm is great too, Johnny Fever otm

re: Factory Showroom, I pretty much only know the 3 songs they did on their live album a year or 2 later, but "SEXXY" "XTC Vs. Adam Ant" and "Til My Head Falls Off" are all decent IMO

I forget which one of those Neil records had slap bass

wtf why I am listening to WMS

"Strange Attraction" is so terrible, I wish I had back the time I wasted trying to convince myself I liked it

― I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Thursday, May 3, 2012 8:41 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I keep forgetting that song exists!

xpost to alfred

Mirror Ball, thank Jeff Ament on "Scenery"

a friend of mine said that Mint Car was her favorite Cure song

I'm still debating whether or not this proves or disproves that she likes the Cure at all