The Best Of The 50 Worst Rock-n-Roll Albums Of All Time

There is something genuinely confounding about Donovan that has to do with "seriousness" in music - eg, conventional wisdom is Dylan is better cuz he's "deeper/more authentic/serious" whereas Donovan is a silly little teenybopper trying too hard. And Donovan - if you ever read him talking about himself (not recommended) - DOES totally try to hard. Its clear he was always desperate for credibility. What's interesting is that his failure to attain said credibility is the result of writing a bunch of childlike songs that are well-constructed and well-executed and really rather charming in their naivete and silliness (there are some exceptions - Hurdy Gurdy Man and Season of the Witch both have some genuine creepiness going on).

it's as if by trying too hard and taking himself too seriously, Donovan inadvertently stumbled into creating a very satisfying but completely UN-serious body of work.

it's as if by trying too hard and taking himself too seriously, Donovan inadvertently stumbled into creating a very satisfying but completely UN-serious body of work.

totally. he took the scenic route to arrive at Tommy James.

Listening to Donovan talk about himself vs. Bob Dylan always reminds me of the "Boris Karloff is a cocksucker!" scene from Ed Wood.

Shaggs!

Shakey OTM. The conventional wisdom on Dylan and Donovan comes out of Don't Look Back, where one of the long-running jokes is "Who is this Donovan?" that they keep seeing ads for while traveling the UK. They finally meet up, jam a bit, Donovan plays "Catch the Wind" or something, and then Dylan plays "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Actually, both versions are pretty good, but in the book this thread is about, the authors say that Dylan totally showed up Donovan (after the song, everyone is quiet until Donovan says "I used to know a girl named Blue", which is a pretty silly remark). But yeah, the Donovan record is one of many silly choices on this list, but the book really is hilariously written.

(after the song, everyone is quiet until Donovan says "I used to know a girl named Blue", which is a pretty silly remark).

hahaha - imagine if the roles had been reversed and Dylan had made that remark in the appropriately sarcastic tone after Donovan played the song, everyone woulda gone "ooooh, BURN".

the "Dylan good/Donovan bad" narrative is inherently stupid, classic baby-boomer rockist posturing.

it woulda been funnier if Dylan had played "Froggy Went a-Courtin'"

Shakey again OTM

How is Aqualung in any way 'frat boy'?

Half the frat boys I knew owned that record!

Nice poll, Kevin! And you're right: pretty funny book, even though I like many of their choices and take issue with most of their assumptions. (OH NOES STEVE HOWE NOT INFLUENCED BY BLUESMEN)

It comes down to a near-tie between moody Moodies muzak and metal machine music...Days Of Future Passed takes it!

Of the 50, I currently own eight, used to own a further eight, and WISH I owned Elvis/Journey/Milli Vanilli. Maybe that second Shaggs album too, tho I suspect it's kinda redundant.

Wow, you knew some really freaky frat boys dude.

I've been looking for that Elvis record for 12 years.

I was gonna say, if Aqualung and Topographic Oceans are really considered frat boy classics, I love America! (Moving Pictures and DSOTM I don't doubt, OTOH.)

xpost

Stop and Smell the Roses is like the second best Ringo LP.

what's the first? I only have the "Ringo" one with "I'm The Greatest" on it.

Yeah, I think that one's probably the best.

Toss up among the Queen sets and Topographic. Seven Seas of Rhye and Now I'm Here are great songs!

Yes gets my vote.

Stop and Smell the Roses is like the second best Ringo LP.

What about Goodnight Vienna? It has some cool glam-like production.

Yeah, maybe. It's been a while since I've heard that one.

Ok I found and listened to Having Fun With Elvis On Stage. It is really terrible, worse than I thought it would be. Listening to it, I felt drunk, without being drunk. It's like being inside the head of a bored, boring person who has no idea what to say, and does not care. So he says a whole lot of garbage. I know, this probably sounds classic. I thought that for 12 years! Well, now I know, and knowing is half the battle. (The other half is not listening to it again. That one's easy.)

to really have fun with Elvis onstage you should just watch "That's The Way It Was" which is really great and also full of many wtf moments (did Elvis just say, in all seriousness, "I am totally insane, and have been for many years" to a sold out audience? yes he did)

see also: Elvis drunkenly falling off his chair during rehearsal, wearing his sunglasses upside down, sweating bullets before going onstage, lambasting backup singers and threatening to replace them with Mahalia Jackson etc etc

Can it compete with the master?

haha I've never actually heard that, unfortunately

You have not lived.

*kills self*

glad we got the Donovan ball rolling then! :D

I'd never heard of the Paul Stanley banter record, but I've found it. We'll see if it "tops" Elvis'.

Here we go. (The original bootleg single is from a different era than the compilation we were all freaking out over last year.)

New York, lemme hear ya! Good people! This is where it all began! There wouldn't be KISS ... without New York CITY! Without the good STATE of New York! We got a lot of stuff for ya tonight...

Yeah I just found a 70 track compilation.

That would be the one from last year. And it is a joy forever.

yeah "That's The Way It Was" = sheer insanity.

I saw it several years ago while bar-tending a super-fan hotel party during "Elvis Week" (week-long tribute on the anniversary of his death). It was made all the more surreal by weeping Europeans watching it on the jumbo screen.

yikes

DO YOO LAWK THE TAYSTE OF AWK-KO-HAWL???

that paul stanley thing is one of the top 50 best albums of all time.

Every time one of the tracks comes on during itunes random play, the world seems a little brighter. Especially when a Nurse With Wound song comes on afterwards.

YSI...?

(its okay to ask for YSIs of unofficial bootlegs, isn't it???)

I don't think anyone would begrudge you this one.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK! WE LOVE YOU ALL, INDIANAPOLIS, WITH OUR LOVE...GUNS!
cue Salt Marie Celeste.

DETROIT YOU'VE OPENED YOUR HEARTS...AND YOUR LEGS...TO US

shakey i'll try to find my cd-r i don't know where it is at the moment...

I have it at home, so I'll YSI it if no one else gets to it first.

thx - I grabbed three MP3s off of WFMU but they're only like a minute apiece

Shakey check your email.

1st degree
2nd degree
If you've got any papers will you serve them to me?

Elvis: That's The Way It Was Is

Thanks Euler!!!

I have it at home, so I'll YSI it if no one else gets to it first.

If somebody could that would be great, I've misplaced the disc it's on.