What's the least acclaimed album you love?

For me, this might have to be the Velvet-Underground-But-Really-Just-Doug-Yule album Squeeze, which I legit enjoy very much.

The second Subcircus one, probably, although I haven’t listened to it in years.

I'll rep for their debut, but the 2nd album fell off a cliff. When you do go back to it, you may find it hasn't aged well.

not sure what acclaimed means here but idaho's "year after year" is still one of the albums i love most. i don't remember many people repping for it besides parts of the french press (libé, les inrocks).

Kula Shaker - Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts

OK, I haven't heard it in over a decade, but I used to like it a lot

FPed Fred

xxp I can believe that, still embarrassed I spent real money on it.

Fred in Kula SHOCKAH!

Moby Grape "Wow"

"VU" Squeeze is impressive. Not sure I've heard or read any positive opinion on that before.

I still can't be bothered to try it.

yeah I think that's the best answer so far

Lol what can I say, I like Yule's voice it's got some good tunes, but doomed by its context. Obviously doesn't belong on the shelf with the Velvets but ime the reasons its so bad & hated often boil down to "has no original members of the VU" and "no songs about drug-fueled orgies", which yeah, neither do a lot of albums. The 3 best songs on it could replace the 3 worst songs on Loaded imho. Forget that it says "Velvet Underground" on the cover and it's a nice enough slice of 70s singer-songwriter rock. Resigned to the fact that not even Doug Yule agrees with me :)

OK, I'll bite -- which 3 songs on "Squeeze" are better than any 3 songs on "Loaded" (and which 3)?

Heh, well here's where the "imho" part comes in. But Loaded being my least fav VU record, "Cool It Down" and "Head Held High" have always been weak links for me, and Lou's vox on "Train Round the Bend" are like nails on a chalkboard to me, the only Velvets song that I truly flat-out dislike. An alternate universe version of Loaded that replaces those 3 with "Friends", "She'll Make You Cry", and "Wordless" from Squeeze is an improved listening experience to my ears. They'd still be the 3 weakest songs on Loaded, but they wouldn't make it any worse imo. (Faint praise maybe, but hey.)

I read somewhere once that "Friends" and "She'll Make You Cry" were supposedly demoed during the Loaded sessions but not sure if I believe it.

That is bollocks, as is the idea that the best tracks on Squeeze are even halfway as good as the worst tracks on Loaded.

Squeeze is not terrible but I don't believe anyone LOVES it.

I long ago accepted the fact that I am nuts and literally no one else thinks this.

"wordless" is a decent enough song, and "loaded" is my least favorite velvets record too, but i wouldn't replace "train round the bend" with it.

i'd replace some songs on mardi gras, possibly even pendulum, with songs from "squeeze". i'd replace any of the songs on "unconditionally guaranteed" with songs from "squeeze". i wouldn't replace any songs on any beach boys albums through "keepin' the summer alive" with songs from "squeeze", even the terrible ones.

Even "Transcendental Meditation"? Ouch, poor Doug.

New Radicals

Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Liverpool is one that I really love that gets a hard time. Sure there's nothing as incredible as Two Tribes, Relax or The Power Of Love, but it's solid all the way through. For Heaven's Sake in particular is one of their best songs and Rage Hard deserved to be massive.

I used to love the first two King's X albums and still dig them out once in a blue moon.

I know it's basically Christian rock, but there's something about the pastoral airy-fairyness of it that just gets me.

I think I have quite a few of these. I've already said With Sympathy (disowned by both Al Jourgensen and a lot of Ministry fans) and DaDa (a fan favourite, but one of Alice Cooper's lowest selling and commercially unsuccessful albums and none of its songs have ever been played live) but I've been listening to Gary Numan's much maligned Warriors a lot recently, so it may just be that.

hue and cry: seduced and abandoned, and remote

wet wet wet: popped in souled out

Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony Or Damn
Xiu Xiu Nina
Eurythmics Peace

I feel like I do this with movies a lot more than albums ("Myra Breckenridge", "Southland Tales")

Oh I like "uncondit guar", but...

I LIKES "BLUEJEANS AND MOONBEAMS" MORE ahem except "Upon the my o my" is prime.

Singalong chaps.. "Captain, Captain..."

Gene - Olympian

Bluejeans & Moonbeams was the first Beefheart album I knew, my dad had it when I was young. For a supposedly terrible album it's amazing, there are a few duff tracks for sure, but Observatory Crest is just sublime.

'Observatory Crest' is a beautiful song!

I used to love the first two King's X albums and still dig them out once in a blue moon.

I know it's basically Christian rock, but there's something about the pastoral airy-fairyness of it that just gets me.

― does it look like i'm here (jon123)

i don't think an album being made by a christian, even a rock album, disqualifies it from being worth listening to. i really like an album by a band called the rock 'n roll worship circus who were really into big star. mostly i feel sorry for them. the guy from king's x for instance probably gave a good go of being christian and gay before reluctantly concluding he couldn't be both and that he couldn't not be gay.

Even "Transcendental Meditation"? Ouch, poor Doug.

― One Eye Open

i like transcendental meditation! but even so i'm not saying that the songs are _good_, a lot (all) of the statutory rape songs the beach boys loved to do are just indefensible, just that i can't imagine any of the songs on "squeeze" ever finding their way onto beach boys albums... and there's a lot of unexpected shit on beach boys albums!

Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony Or Damn

uh what? this is often called his best album, even at the time

Oh really? I think I just got clowned a couple times for thinking it was good (and it is)

The self-titled Interpol album

I love Bluejeans and Moonbeams too! Yeah it’s too “normal” for beefheart but it has some beautiful arrangements. I’m particularly fond of “observatory crest” and “further than we’ve gone”. I’d definitely sample several bits of tbis album if I were a producer.

“Same old blues” is also good. “Party of special things to do”... Yes I actually love this album come to think of it... might even be one of my top 3 CB albums.

Robbie Williams - Rudebox

A lot of people are listing a less acclaimed album from an otherwise highly-regarded artist, so I just want to give a shout to the people upthread who mentioned Phish, Wet Wet Wet, and Toto.

For me, I think it's gonna be "When I Woke" from Rusted Root, who have a whole ILM thread dedicated to how laughable they are.

I thought of Empire, New Jersey, The Wall, and various Yes and Rush albums but a quick scan suggests the correct answer is probably Metal Machine Music.

This thread did motivate me to listen to Squeeze for the first time. It hasn't made a strong impression a few tracks in.

(I am listening to Ghost now.)

i have 12 hours of live phish in my music library

that's 39 songs, i know that seems like a lot for 12 hours of phish but there are some really short jams that skew the average

squeeze never made an impression on me either, i struggle to figure out how anybody can hate it, like dude you're just hating the idea of it because i can't believe you can actually remember a single goddamn thing about that record

Making a weak impression is what Squeeze does best.

I love Kiss' Unmasked. It's a fun power pop album. "She's So European!"

Uriah Heep's Salisbury - the North American version that has "Simon The Bullet Freak" instead of "Bird Of Prey." (I prefer the earlier version of BOP.)

Robbie Williams - Rudebox

Rudebox is Robbie’s only interesting album

Ooh "she's so European" is catchy as heck, great pre-chorus.

comedown machine

Oh damn I loved the singles. Shld I listen to the rec?

wet wet wet: /popped in souled out/