My feelings are identical to yours about the Beach Boys and “15 Big Ones”... they did make a nice comeback on the singles chart that year (1976) after a seven-year drought, but “Holland” (1973) was their last great album... they didn’t need to prove anything after that.
Agreed,agreed, agreed. Mine was Dark Side of the Moon which I disliked and only realized years later that it had become the grail it remains today. I’m not alone, I know others for whom the More, Meddle, Obscured era is what we treasure.
Count me in on that one. I even saw them in concert in 1973 and they debuted DSOTM with back singers and the whole thing. Meddle was their best before these sprawling concept albums took over. I liked Atom Heart Mother a lot too. Apparently Waters and Gilmour thought it was trash. Gilmour's first solo album sounded more like Pink Floyd than Pink Floyd did.
With the exception of Combat Rock your picks are spot on. I persisted with many of those bands more in hope than expectation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 😎
Many similar sentiments here, but I definitely had a different take on Crack-Up. As an old fart I often go through artist's discographies through the back door as it were. This was my first listen to this album having loved the first two Fleet Foxes albums, so I wasn't sure what to expect after your comments. I was reading some of Fitzgerald's essay 'The Crack-Up' while listening and that hit very close to home, and the seemingly disjointed approach on the album I suppose also aligned with my own, let's say, stream-of-consciousness kind of thinking. A lot to absorb after one listen, but I will go back. Great upload.
This was a perfect list. I don't always agree with your lists but this one is a home run. When "You Better You Bet" came out, it was painfully clear that it was intended to be a pop hit with no real thought put into it. Just repeat a phrase over and over, dumb down the song (I also feel that way about Every Breath You Take by The Police)
For me as a very early fan of Queen, when they put out "Jazz" that was the last album I ever bought by them. Honestly, after "Day at the Races" they just got worse & worse. I loved the no mustache years. They were more progressive & interesting. I'm just glad I got to see them twice in their prime. 1975 & 1976.
Man I love your videos. Unique content from everyone else in the VC. And we think so much alike! You really nailed it here. Couldn’t agree more about U2 but you didn’t mention Joshua Tree. No redemption there? Or just too pretentious? Keep it up! Super fan here!
Thanks for your kind words. The Joshua Tree album defines the word “Pretentious” - They went from being something unique and special with Boy and by the fourth album they pandered to the U.S. audience with such shameless abandon that it became appalling on every level.
The first one I thought of is Nick Cave's Skeleton Tree. I'm on board for everything from Your Funeral, My Trial through Push the Sky Away - even the maligned Nocturama is pretty good in my opinion - but his last three records, which are more ambient, with more spoken word, don't do a lot for me. I plan to give them another chance at some point, but I'm hoping he returns to form with his next album and gives us another Dig, Lazarus, Dig! or No More Shall We Part.
I always remember a story Lemmy told. In the early days of Motorhead in the mid 70s they were an an unsigned band making a living doing small gigs around the UK. Then when they finally managed to get a record deal to release their first album some kid came up to Lemmy after the show and complained that they'd sold out, just because they'd released a record, and he wouldn't be following Motorhead any more after that. So it seems that for some fans a band sours on them on their very first album. It puts all the fan whingeing into more perspective.
Great video. As a fellow major Clash fan, I often tell people, "Give Combat Rock another chance." So many good songs on there, from Know Your Rights to Ghetto Defendant to Death Is A Star. Anyway, the album that signaled the end of a beautiful fandom relationship for me was Little Creatures by Talking Heads. I was and am a Talking Heads fanatic, and every album they made before that, from '77 to Speaking In Tongues, felt effortless and revolutionary at the same time. I could tell something had broken with Little Creatures. While not a bad album, it felt labored, unfocused, without a unifying vision. It just felt small (no pun intended) compared to the incredible body of work before it.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer were on a pretty good run, although the 'Works' volumes weren't all that great. But then they cemented their demise with the 'Love Beach' release. Even the album cover was pretty horrific.
Like you, I wore out those first few REM albums. I went just a little farther with them though. I think Green stands up pretty well but to this day if I hear Losing My Religion on the radio, I’ll make the effort to run over and snap it off
Another great video, I’ll know I’m in hell if I have to hear Sledgehammer as many times as I did in “87”. Need to be told how to think….just ask U2 or REM 🙄
James Gang after Joe Walsh left so post In Concert, Fleetwood Mac lost interest after Bare Trees, Grand Funk post E Pluribus Funk. I agree with on your picks especially the Who and Clash. Another good video topic
John Lennon, '' Sometime in new york city'' George Harrison,'' Dark Horse'' Joni Mitchell,''Don Juan's reckless daughter'' Traffic, Shoot out at the fantasy factory'' Jethro Tull ''Aqualung'' Steve Miller Band,'' The Joker'' The Strokes, '' Angles'' Ramones, Pleasant Dreams''
Californication. That did it for me and the Peppers. I was about 20 when One Hot Minute came out and I’m one of the few that loved it. Thought it was a good change of sound for them, but that next album…nope. Loved their early stuff too
agree on Gabriel, REM, Pretenders, U2, but I LOVED Combat Rock... Talking Heads started losing me on Little Creatures and Ture Stories, and by Naked I couldnt have cared less about them. Blondie started losing my interest in Eat to the Beat, but AutoAMerican was really were I jumped off the wagon Squeeze totally lost me with Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti
Eric Clapton is a nuanced choice for me. Such a rich history with bands, but the "Clapton is God" aura did not last very long into his solo career. I bought "There's One in Every Crowd" and even as a wide eyed teen I was underwhelmed. I did give him another chance with "Slowhand", but by then I knew I was getting off the bus too late.
I’ve never been enamored with Clapton. I do like his work with Cream, John Mayall, but always found his solo stuff dull and uninspiring, like bland bar band music. Compared to his contemporaries like Beck, Page, Terry Kath, and Jimi Hendrix who were total game changers, I’ve just never understood the hype and adulation. Just my opinion…
You should try New Adventures in Hi Fi. It’s a really good later REM album. I kind of feel the same way as you. While I still liked some of the later era albums, I thought they had a slow decline after Fables of the Reconstruction, which is my favorite. I don’t mind Green or Monster, but I find Automatic for the People a turn off. I don’t like the whiny Stipe voice either. But New Adventures is great!
Really. Combat Rock? Love it so much ..Ghetto defendant. Overpowered by funk. Straight to hell. Know your rights..Rock the casbah. Should I stay or should I go..My favorite Clash album besides Black market clash. Your opinion though..
For me, Born In The USA did it for me with Springsteen. I know his first 5 albums note for note, lyric for lyric, but I was done with anything he did after Nebraska bc Born In the USA was so fucking bad.
Good call on Peter Gabriel, The Clash and Fleet Foxes. Actually I only like the first 2 REM albums. As far as my personal tipping point of disappointment (and permanent, going forward) Two words: Hot Space
In the 70's, as a teen, I was a devoted Bowie fan. My first taste of disappointment came with 'Lodger' which is not a bad album but not on a par with earlier albums. After 'Let's Dance' he lost me. Led Zeppelin lost me with 'Presence'. 'REM' soured me a little later than you but I was out after 'Automatic For the People'. I did not like that album. Cheers.
Undercover by the Stones, that album has no redeeming features, all downhill since, Let’s Dance by Bowie, Growing up in Public by Lou Reed, dull as dishwater, like the rest of Lou’s career (never thought much of The Blue Mask, which a lot of people love). Gold Afternoon Fix by The Church from 1990, compared to their ‘80’s stuff, it was lame, and they never regained their momentum.
Agree with most of what your saying. Lou Reed however is somewhat different IMO. He didn't go from good to bad in a linear fashion like most artists. Rather he randomly released great and terrible albums throughout his career.
I would throw Traffic in there too. After the fantastic 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys' album, came 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory'. I just couldn't get into that one, and still can't.
Good choices and I agree with Peter Gabriel and Who selections. Todd Rundgren lost me on A Capella. Revisiting the album, I appreciate it more now than when it came out but I still didn't buy any more Rundgren after A Capella.
I kinda dug Todd’s “Born to Synthesize” from his 1975 album ‘Initiation,’ which he performed a cappella. Am I right in thinking the ‘A Cappella’ album is not like that song? I don’t think I’ve heard it.
Another great topic. As a huge Gabriel fan, I totally get why many had lost interest with ‘ So. ‘ It was a gigantic success, but I couldn’t hear Sledgehammer again if someone paid me 😆. And as far as modern day bands, The Black Keys come to mind. I thought their first 2 albums were stellar, deep roots material, with a raw, edgy blues sound. But then, I feel like they lost it, getting caught up in the limelight of a typical, commercial sound. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the beast in rock history.
Bowie was a bit of magpie, he liked to follows the musical fashion. When glam was in he went glam. In 1982 synth pop was the big thing and he went synth pop
As a rabid early R E M fan I ultimately mostly agree with your take on their creative demise. While I disagree with you on "World Leader Pretend," you are certainly correct in that Michael Stipe's self importance among other flaws trashed what was a great legacy. His need to enunciate increasingly cliched I'm-cooler-than-you lyrics simply exposed a deeply technically flawed voice. It is a sad state of affairs that the writer of the indescribably gorgeous "Perfect Circle"composed the wretched vomit fest "Everybody Hurts." Bill Berry-Really?
@@tomrobinson5776 Well, the song WHERE HAS EVERYBODY GONE is a favorite of the cold assassin on his Walkman early in the film and IF THERE WAS A MAN is the ballad that is played instrumentally throughout the film and is the song int he end titles. GONE also shows up as an instrumental throughout, all by the late, great John Barry in his last score for the James Bond series he helped put open the map. Of course, the title song is by AHA (the TAKE ON ME guys) and I like the song, even when I cannot remember al the lyrics. Barry did not like them much, however, but that's another story for another time. I guess you can gran the soundtrack or just watch the film, which is the last Cold war Bond, though they did not know that at the time and were just trying to establish Timothy Dalton in the role.
I'm with you about REM, although l held out for a couple more albums than you did before saying See Ya! The problem is, Michael Stipe really started to think he was some kind of mystical poet, and his lyrics took on an air of insufferable "l know something you don't know!" arrogance. Likewise, with U2, they stayed musically strong for a good spell--l LIKE The Unforgettable Fire!--but Bono's "We're gonna save the world whether you want us to or not! Am l buggin' ya?" sanctimony became unbearable. Lots of people HATE the last two Replacements albums. Not me. I love 'em. Paul did great work when he wore his heart on his sleeve, and the Mats shows l saw during that era were FIRE.
There was usually one or two good songs on every album from Document until Monster - if you took all those good songs and put them into one album, you would have a pretty good album. Too bad that 80% of those albums were lame though
I agree about the Mats. Saw those last two tours and indeed they were on fire. And those last 2 albums had great songs. People say All Shook Down is a Westerberg solo album. Perhaps, but it is a great album no matter how you slice it. They stayed true to the end IMO.
When an artist that you love starts to pander to a bigger audience, it’s like a betrayal! For example when Supertramp put out the cheesy, bubblegum single “It’s Raining Again” they lost me forever.
I'm with you on REM. I thought Document and Green had good songs contained within, but that was the end for me. I thought John Hiatt had a pretty good run in the late 80s til about the early 00s, but lost me after that. Los Lobos had a string of good albums 1984-92, then i lost interest. I liked Aerosmith's albums until the 1980s.
I pretty much agree with your assessment of REM....Save one...And it's an odd one for their later catalog: "Monster"...A big noisy kind of glam record ....Unfortunately, agree about The Who...And I never liked Moon as a drummer....But "Empty Glass" The Townsend solo album, was very cool...According to Pete, he let the other members pick the songs out of what he had and THEY PICKED THE WRONG ONES ( "Face Dances")...He took the ones they rejected and PRESTO...."Empty Glass"; Bruce Springsteen's critically lauded "Nebraska " was to me such an embarrassment ( Singing in that southern accent NOBODY has...Most of the songs are in the same key( D) in the same sequence: I-IV-I-V...They are the same song ( the old country standard "Green,Green Grass of Home") with merely different words..Nobody ever recorded on a Tascam 4-track and made a worse sound...Coupled with his inability to competently play acoustic guitar and you have a mess...And, for the record, because most who bash him these days are right wing nuts who hate his politics , my politics agree with his...And, I hate to say this because I love his book, Elvis Costello after "King of America " ,which I love 4 songs on: "Brilliant Mistake", "Jack of All Parades" ,"American Without Tears" and "Suit of Lights" the rest of the album is melodically bankrupt....There are a lot more, but not for now...Peace and Love, Terry Tutor
I basically give Springsteen a pass on Nebraska, since he has taken its songs like "Johnny 99", "Open All Night", "Mansion on the Hill", and "Atlantic City" into different, functional pieces for live shows ...
I never cared for any Springsteen after The River. Born In The USA is just appalling. Love most of Costello’s work from 77-86, but lost interest after Spike for the most part. Still a great live show though…saw him a few years back and it was stellar.
@@tomrobinson5776 We are saying the same thing..."Nebraska " was the album after "The River"....And, unlike a lot of people, many of whom weren't listening to him at the time, "The River" is my favorite of his albums...Peace and Love,Terry Tutor
chicago x with “if you leave me now” was a wake-up call to mourn not only terry kath, but the end of an amazing run of great music from the band. elton john’s swan song album was a single man. the one hit, little jeannie, was musically, lyrically, and thematically barren; the first warning of more bad things to come. jackson browne was so good until “running on empty”, then he deservedly got called “chilled white whine” by the critics. supertramp’s breakfast in america was showing definite signs of creative erosion, and they were smart to call it quits when they did. maybe a little controversial, but i stopped listening to fleetwood mac after stevie nicks dubbed herself queen of the mystic and bored us with insufferable drab horseshit like dreams and rhiannon. christine mcvie was the true heart of the group. i’m not sure how long america stayed together after “you can do magic”, but it knocked them right off their pedestal and cemented in my mind a nostalgic “remember back when” every time one of 70’s tunes came on. bruce springsteen took a big old dump with “the river” and his overworked “working class hero” schtick. yeah, bruce, why don’t you go dancing in the dark off a short pier ?
I agree with everything you said here. It’s amazing how Chicago went from a class A band with a killer guitarist to Air Supply within a short period of time. I was done with Springsteen after The River. Just pretentious drivel followed soon after. I always found it amazing how Elton was on fire artistically for about 5 years and then it was just mediocre stuff for decades to come.
Combat Rock was Clash on cocaine, supersized. Poised to be the U2 of their time, the band disintegrated instead, caught up in the trappings of wealth and fame. Ya gotta admit, it's hard to be revolutionary when you're on the gravy train. Best of the Suddenly Not So Great 01 S A N D A N I S T A Clash 02 M I R A G E Fleetwood Mac 03 B U R N Deep Purple 04 L A S T R E C O R D Little Feat 05 S T R E E T - L E G A L Bob Dylan 06 G O A T ' S H E A D S O U P the Rolling Stones 07 D R B Y R D S A N D M R H Y D E the Byrds 08 H A W K S A N D D O V E S Neil Young 09 D E E P C U T S the Strawbs 10 T O N I G H T David Bowie
You called it perfectly for the Beach Boys. From "Today" all the way through "Holland," there was always a core of goodness there. "15 Big Ones" ended it for me. I was a big fan of Donovan from the early folk days and on through his edging into rock, his flirtations with jazz and his children's albums. Then I heard "Cosmic Wheels." The song "Intergalactic Laxative" just seemed like an insult to his audience.
Maybe, everything after The Broadsword and The Beast by Jethro Tull, didn't really do it for me (Broadsword's questionable production values were overwhelmed by some excellent songwriting - I always loved The Clasp, for instance). Also in lists like this I always expect to hear "Everybody's Rockin'" by Neil Young but then I remember that it doesn't represent any kind of permanent direction change for him as he kind of snaps back into doing whatever he wants to do after that. Also I found the 1980s aesthetically upsetting and to was happy to see anyone refusing to do what was expected of them in that miserable decade of echoey high-tech overproduction and drum machines. I am so damaged from this decade that even thinking about it right now, I feel that...well what I am saying is I would like to be held, and rocked very slowly back and forth and maybe given some warm milk.
Peter Gabriel-Us (a watered-down version of So) E.L.O.-Discovery ("Hey, mates, how about we go Disco on this album?" "Great idea, Jeff!"...NOT!) Supertramp-Famous Last Words (It's Raining Again??? YECH!) U2-Rattle and Ho-Hum Kate Bush-Ariel 😴 R.E.M.-Monster (see Kate Bush) Pretenders-Get Close (I didn't get close with that album!) Linda Ronstadt-Living in the U.S.A. (a disappointing follow-up to Simple Dreams...plus, the short hair, roller skates, boxer shorts and sports jacket image didn't do it for me.) Billy Joel-The Bridge (dull, dull, dull) Bruce Springsteen-Tunnel of Love (when he became Hollywood's version of The Boss 😮) I do agree with your Beach Boys, Who, Clash and Rod Stewart choices!
Another great topic! Here is my take: I am a huge Tom Waits fan, but the album that derailed it for me was Frank's Wild Years. I found the songs to be dull and not very captivating, and the writing a little bit lazy, as evidenced by the number of references to "dreams" in the lyrics. The follow-up, Bone Machine, went off further, devolving into what one critic described as "arbitrary gravel garble weirdness." It seemed that Tom was trying too hard to be avant-garde. I couldn't even listen to The Black Rider. Mule Variations was a return to form, with some genuinely beautiful songs such as Hold On, House Where Nobody Lives, and Take It With Me, but there was still a lot of experimental-sounding material that sounded just too abrasive and self-indulgent for my ears. I still think that Tom Waits is an amazing artist and an absolute giant, and I recognize that he is continually reinventing himself and growing and developing his work, but since the late 1980s and early 1990s, I have not felt compelled to seek out any new Tom Waits music.
I love his first 4 albums. Nighthawks is an all time fave. Lost interest after Small Change. The songwriting took a backseat and the eccentricity became the star of the show.
I really like Rain Dogs. That and Small Change are albums of his I can play from start to finish. Mule Variations is just too long. If he'd cut a half dozen songs it'd be one of my favs
With Bowie, I couldn't get into the albums he made after Diamond Dogs, apart from an occasional track. I liked his later track, a version of God Only Knows, and the track Golden Years. Let's Dance was passable. But as for The Who, I liked their last studio album from 2019, just called The Who. It was different from their previous albums in that it was more orchestrated with one track having a Goldfinger soundalike intro. But Pete Townshend's songwriting was still on fire, and he was still coming out with these magical songs. But their first album since their reunion, Endless Wire, I thought had a lot of filler, as well as the much better tracks. Grace Slick was never the same after Jefferson Airplane morphed into Starship. Their contemporaries, The Doors should have stopped after they sadly lost Jim Morrison. Simple Minds made three great albums in a row up to Once Upon A Time. Their next album had about three tracks that were easily above passable, but the rest was crud, after which they were just regurgitating themselves, getting to sound more and more like old age pensioners each time, like so many others, once they were past their best. I think The Moody Blues' last great album was Question Of Balance. Their next two albums which were their last before they disbanded, to me were not as good as their previous albums. I think they got worn out by then. The last album by Cream called Goodbye Cream was not nearly as good as their previous albums, apart from their single from it, Badge, which makes me think it was as well they disbanded when they were at their peak. Yet they remained at their popularity peak for the next few years after.
Because of that damn So album, Sledgehammer is probably song the general public immediately thinks of when they think of Peter Gabriel, and that is highly unfortunate.
I have to disagree about R.E.M. Some of my favorite albums by them were after Document. And they had some great songs after that as well. But then again, I grew up in Athens, GA.
Actually, as time went on I thought Michael Stipe got LESS eccentric, not more. I got less interested in R.E.M. too, but after Bill Berry left a few years after Green.
I'm from just outside of Boston so Aerosmith is a really big band around here. I love their 1st 3 albums. I started losing a little interest on albums 4 & 5. When "Night in the Ruts" came out I was totally done with them from that point onward.
Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Queen, Yes, Rush, Judas Priest,.............EVERY band from the 70s that were at their peak has people complaining about their later work. It's such a tedious cliche. I like some stuff from the latter years of all the 70s bands. I prefer the 1970 works of virtually all bands but it's not a complete black and white contrast for me, and I think most people will like some later songs even if they don't want to admit it to their peers. I remember when Permanent Vacation and Pump came out most people in my high school liked them, and even the metalheads with the denim jackets liked them.
I was a huge Neil Young fan all through the seventies, loved everything he did, and as someone who doesn't mind artists trying different styles I stuck with him through that early eighties period and liked many of those albums, until, 'Landing On Water'. That was it. Years later people said, you've got to get Psychedelic pill, it's a return to form, so I gave it a listen, but I just couldn't get into it.
I'm shocked that nobody called out Gabriel about blatantly stealing the end of Sledgehammer from Stevie Wonder's Superstition. Yeah, his pop stuff bores me now.
Too many to count, really. I was all set to mention U2 before you beat me to it -- that first album was great, after that, no. Same thing with The Cure (actually, the early singles were best). Can't argue with your estimates of The Who, The Clash, Peter Gabriel, or REM -- you followed them longer than I did. Oh how I hated Hole's Celebrity Skin (two OK tracks), and I only listened to Elastica's second album once before giving up (the first is still one of my favorites). I did like Learning To Crawl a lot, but that was it.
@jessem470 I thought it was better, regardless of being covers, that 99% of everything on both the 'Use Your Illusion' albums. They were becoming a "cover band" with 'Spaghetti Incident' and covering 'Live And Let Die' and 'Knocking On Heaven's Door', so I get where you're coming from.
I liked the first side of Combat Rock, although it wasn't nearly as good as they were before. Side 2 is flat out garbage. So off the top of my head, here are a few: Devo- New Traditionalists, Stones- Undercover, Kiss- Dynasty, Cheap Trick- Next Position Please.
I like side two of Combat Rock. I can see how some people might not like Overpowered by Funk, but I think its pretty cool. And I love Atom Tan, Ghetto Defendant and I like Innoculated City. then Sean Flynn and Death is a Star might not be very strong individually, but in the context of the album, I think they are really solid - and add to the album as a whole.
I got high hopes for Lenny Kravitz with his first album. I was young and bought into his not necessarily genuine Hippie persona. The 2nd album was a slight disappointment, and I finally gave up by album no 3. That one was truly awful and contained only 2 good tracks.
Before I watched your video I was all ready to disagree, but man did you get it right. I've been saying "So" is a piece of crap since I first heard it. Gabriel was a hero of mine since "Nursery Cryme", I even liked the first couple solo albums, but after hearing "So", I said "So" and never bothered with him again. It totally irritates me when I talk about how great Peter Gabriel was and people mention "SO". REM used to be so cool, but they sure went down the drain fast. I saw the "Cut the Crap" tour, total Crap! Sounds like you grew up in the LA area with classic KROQ, I went to many shows at Perkins Palace and the area in the early 80's. Just wondering, Have you ever heard of Guided By Voices? they may be up your alley if you like Gabriel Genesis and old REM.
I agree about Rod Stewart. I don't like to fault someone for making a living but they shouldn't expect their original fans to follow them down the path of mediocrity. Another band that I lost interest after their first album was Chicago, their second wasn't terrible but it wasn't as good as their first. In the same vein, Blood, Sweat & Tears had a great first album, Al Kooper was replaced by David Clayton-Thomas (WTF???). The second album had some good music on it but I never cared for DCT, they lost my interest after hearing their horrible version of Sympathy For The Devil. I praise them for liking Traffic enough to cover a couple of their songs but that's all the praise they'll get from me.
Some of Neil Young's work in the 2000s were crap. I was turned off, especially Psychedelic Pill. His ventures into "noise" turned me off. Now that CH + Neil are touring I just am not grabbed by this man, so close to being 80, anymore.
I hear ya. I saw that Psychedelic Pill Tour. Pretty hard to sit through. 20 minute plus jams take a toll on your nerves. Neil’s a guy who has put out more unlistenable albums than just about any artist, but his best albums are some of the greatest ever released. He doesn’t know how to edit himself.
When N Young started releasing albums like Americana I distanced myself. Fortunately, I often check albums out via library CDs. I like Harvest Moon, Prairie Wind, Sleeps With Angels. I could not take his preachy lyrics, such as on Mansanto + the Native American causes.
Fleetwood Mac, when that self-titled album (which everyone raves about), was released I was no longer a fan of that once great Blues-Rock band. The inclusion of Buckingham-Nicks was the death nell for that band with me. I cannot stand Nicks' voice, and Buckingham was just an MOR Southern California Pop artist, and those two people (and a mountain of coke) brought down that band forever.
Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom Ah the 70's: Disco, Debby Boone, Paul Anka... a musical wasteland. I couldnt wait to get the next EC album until Imperial Bedroom. What a shock! It was so ordinary!
Interesting, I like Imperial Bedroom, but hated Get Happy. I could never find a hook or a melody that could stick. Coming after 3 solid 5 star albums I found it dull and listless. Never understood the hype of that album.
Agree with Fleet Foxes, first two albums amazing, the 3rd is just pretentious crap, he has such a great voice why waste it on songs like that, needs someone in the band to say hey this is pretentious bollocks, lets write songs with melodies again
For me, the last great Rolling Stones album was 'Sticky Fingers'. After that, with the exception of a few scattered songs on subsequent releases, things started going downhill rather swiftly. That's right, to me 'Exile on Main Street' is a pretty sorry affair compared to what came before. (It would certainly have been a better record if it was released as a single disc). 'Goat Heads Soup' was "meh". 'It's Only Rock and Roll' gets a "D". But 'Black and Blue'... jeez, that one doesn't even merit an "F". I still had a trace of loyalty within me for the band so I did buy 'Some Girls', which, though not as bad as 'Black and Blue' was too little and too late. Never again did I buy one of their albums. (With all due respect, I do like The Beach Boys' version of 'Rock and Roll Music'... I've never heard the rest of the album!)
I agree 100%. Don't know why people are raving about "Exile on Main Street". Apart from a few standout tracks it's boring and repetitive 3-chord blues rock. That type of music can work for someone channeling genuine suffering, not so much for some bratty Englishmen.
I think "Slow Train Coming" was kind of great. It had all of Dylan's anger, sarkasm and wit even as he was cosplaying a vengeful Old Testament God. Both "Saved" and "Shot of Love" were of quite low quality though.
You got that right. He along with Neil Young have released some of the greatest albums ever released as well as some of the worst. There is no editing involved with those guys.
Good picks although I'd argue that By Numbers was the last good album from The Who. Who Are You has a whole lot of filler. The Music Must Change, Sister Disco and Guitar and Pen are all pretty weak. Agree 100% on U2. Can't stand anything about them.
You are dead on with Rod Stewart! Hot Legs just soulless trash. Supertramp. After three perfect albums in a row they released Breakfast in America. What a piece of shite. But the world and for the first time critics loved it! But I’m right and everybody else is wrong. Rolling Stones. Similarly they released Some Girls to universal acclaim but not appreciated by me! Everything turned up to 11, forced nasty lyrics this marked the Stones transformation from music makers to a corporation. The Doobie Brothers. Minute by Minute. A great band putrifies instantly with this turkey. Michael McDonald is unlistenable.
My feelings are identical to yours about the Beach Boys and “15 Big Ones”... they did make a nice comeback on the singles chart that year (1976) after a seven-year drought, but “Holland” (1973) was their last great album... they didn’t need to prove anything after that.
Agreed,agreed, agreed. Mine was Dark Side of the Moon which I disliked and only realized years later that it had become the grail it remains today. I’m not alone, I know others for whom the More, Meddle, Obscured era is what we treasure.
Count me in on that one. I even saw them in concert in 1973 and they debuted DSOTM with back singers and the whole thing. Meddle was their best before these sprawling concept albums took over. I liked Atom Heart Mother a lot too. Apparently Waters and Gilmour thought it was trash. Gilmour's first solo album sounded more like Pink Floyd than Pink Floyd did.
Combat Rock is a great album and so is Learning to Crawl.
i love combat rock. Straight to hell, ghetto defender are as good as any songs theyve ever done
With the exception of Combat Rock your picks are spot on. I persisted with many of those bands more in hope than expectation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 😎
Many similar sentiments here, but I definitely had a different take on Crack-Up. As an old fart I often go through artist's discographies through the back door as it were. This was my first listen to this album having loved the first two Fleet Foxes albums, so I wasn't sure what to expect after your comments. I was reading some of Fitzgerald's essay 'The Crack-Up' while listening and that hit very close to home, and the seemingly disjointed approach on the album I suppose also aligned with my own, let's say, stream-of-consciousness kind of thinking. A lot to absorb after one listen, but I will go back. Great upload.
This was a perfect list. I don't always agree with your lists but this one is a home run. When "You Better You Bet" came out, it was painfully clear that it was intended to be a pop hit with no real thought put into it. Just repeat a phrase over and over, dumb down the song (I also feel that way about Every Breath You Take by The Police)
Indeed 😉
For me as a very early fan of Queen, when they put out "Jazz" that was the last album I ever bought by them. Honestly, after "Day at the Races" they just got worse & worse. I loved the no mustache years. They were more progressive & interesting. I'm just glad I got to see them twice in their prime. 1975 & 1976.
Man I love your videos. Unique content from everyone else in the VC. And we think so much alike! You really nailed it here. Couldn’t agree more about U2 but you didn’t mention Joshua Tree. No redemption there? Or just too pretentious?
Keep it up! Super fan here!
Thanks for your kind words. The Joshua Tree album defines the word “Pretentious” - They went from being something unique and special with Boy and by the fourth album they pandered to the U.S. audience with such shameless abandon that it became appalling on every level.
The first one I thought of is Nick Cave's Skeleton Tree. I'm on board for everything from Your Funeral, My Trial through Push the Sky Away - even the maligned Nocturama is pretty good in my opinion - but his last three records, which are more ambient, with more spoken word, don't do a lot for me. I plan to give them another chance at some point, but I'm hoping he returns to form with his next album and gives us another Dig, Lazarus, Dig! or No More Shall We Part.
I always remember a story Lemmy told. In the early days of Motorhead in the mid 70s they were an an unsigned band making a living doing small gigs around the UK. Then when they finally managed to get a record deal to release their first album some kid came up to Lemmy after the show and complained that they'd sold out, just because they'd released a record, and he wouldn't be following Motorhead any more after that. So it seems that for some fans a band sours on them on their very first album. It puts all the fan whingeing into more perspective.
Q. What's the difference between Bono, and God.
A. God doesn't walk around thinking he's Bono.
😂😂😂
Awesome 👍
Totally agree. Probably the most overrated band in music history in my opinion
Great video. As a fellow major Clash fan, I often tell people, "Give Combat Rock another chance." So many good songs on there, from Know Your Rights to Ghetto Defendant to Death Is A Star. Anyway, the album that signaled the end of a beautiful fandom relationship for me was Little Creatures by Talking Heads. I was and am a Talking Heads fanatic, and every album they made before that, from '77 to Speaking In Tongues, felt effortless and revolutionary at the same time. I could tell something had broken with Little Creatures. While not a bad album, it felt labored, unfocused, without a unifying vision. It just felt small (no pun intended) compared to the incredible body of work before it.
Look, Hear from 10cc was the beginning of the end of my love of that band. The next one, 10 out of 10, was the nail in the coffin for me!
What a fantastic video have a wonderful day also happy mother's day ❤😊
Emerson, Lake and Palmer were on a pretty good run, although the 'Works' volumes weren't all that great. But then they cemented their demise with the 'Love Beach' release. Even the album cover was pretty horrific.
Indeed 😉
Like you, I wore out those first few REM albums. I went just a little farther with them though. I think Green stands up pretty well but to this day if I hear Losing My Religion on the radio, I’ll make the effort to run over and snap it off
I hear ya. 😉
Another great video, I’ll know I’m in hell if I have to hear Sledgehammer as many times as I did in “87”. Need to be told how to think….just ask U2 or REM 🙄
James Gang after Joe Walsh left so post In Concert, Fleetwood Mac lost interest after Bare Trees, Grand Funk post E Pluribus Funk. I agree with on your picks especially the Who and Clash. Another good video topic
John Lennon, '' Sometime in new york city'' George Harrison,'' Dark Horse'' Joni Mitchell,''Don Juan's reckless daughter'' Traffic, Shoot out at the fantasy factory'' Jethro Tull ''Aqualung'' Steve Miller Band,'' The Joker'' The Strokes, '' Angles'' Ramones, Pleasant Dreams''
I’d have to agree with most of your choices here especially Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. Yikes…
Californication. That did it for me and the Peppers. I was about 20 when One Hot Minute came out and I’m one of the few that loved it. Thought it was a good change of sound for them, but that next album…nope. Loved their early stuff too
Aerosmith: Night in the Ruts. That was it for me !!
agree on Gabriel, REM, Pretenders, U2, but I LOVED Combat Rock...
Talking Heads started losing me on Little Creatures and Ture Stories, and by Naked I couldnt have cared less about them.
Blondie started losing my interest in Eat to the Beat, but AutoAMerican was really were I jumped off the wagon
Squeeze totally lost me with Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti
Ha, I jumped off the wagon after Autoamerican. One or two plays and it was obvious it was over.
Eric Clapton is a nuanced choice for me. Such a rich history with bands, but the "Clapton is God" aura did not last very long into his solo career. I bought "There's One in Every Crowd" and even as a wide eyed teen I was underwhelmed. I did give him another chance with "Slowhand", but by then I knew I was getting off the bus too late.
I’ve never been enamored with Clapton. I do like his work with Cream, John Mayall, but always found his solo stuff dull and uninspiring, like bland bar band music. Compared to his contemporaries like Beck, Page, Terry Kath, and Jimi Hendrix who were total game changers, I’ve just never understood the hype and adulation. Just my opinion…
Metallica - "The Black Album".
I think W.O.M.A.D. became Peter Gabriel's top priority.
I think you’re right. 😉
Could not agree more on the Peter Gabriel, REM, Beach Boys, and The Clash stuff!
Spot on all the way through.
Interesting. I disagree about It's Hard.. it has a middle aged, optimistic,glad to be alive vibe. One of their best IMO.. .
You should try New Adventures in Hi Fi. It’s a really good later REM album. I kind of feel the same way as you. While I still liked some of the later era albums, I thought they had a slow decline after Fables of the Reconstruction, which is my favorite. I don’t mind Green or Monster, but I find Automatic for the People a turn off. I don’t like the whiny Stipe voice either. But New Adventures is great!
Exactly. The slow decline did start after Fables. That is a great album. Green Grow The Rushes is an all time fave.
Really. Combat Rock? Love it so much ..Ghetto defendant. Overpowered by funk. Straight to hell. Know your rights..Rock the casbah. Should I stay or should I go..My favorite Clash album besides Black market clash. Your opinion though..
Combat Rock is my favorite Clash album
Love Black Market Clash. Great rendition of Time Is Tight. Armageddon Time is fantastic.
Combat Rox my fave Joe lyrics. He was @ a peak imo.
For me, Born In The USA did it for me with Springsteen. I know his first 5 albums note for note, lyric for lyric, but I was done with anything he did after Nebraska bc Born In the USA was so fucking bad.
I never liked him: Too much testosterone
I agree. Born In The USA is shit.
Good call on Peter Gabriel, The Clash and Fleet Foxes. Actually I only like the first 2 REM albums.
As far as my personal tipping point of disappointment (and permanent, going forward)
Two words: Hot Space
That’s a bad one alright. 😉
With Lou Reed it was (very nearly) Mistrial but then he made New York so I got back on until Set The Twilight Reeling.
Off for good.
😉
I guess I'm pretty loyal, I'm a completest and eclectic, so, usually except changes.
In the 70's, as a teen, I was a devoted Bowie fan. My first taste of disappointment came with 'Lodger' which is not a bad album but not on a par with earlier albums. After 'Let's Dance' he lost me. Led Zeppelin lost me with 'Presence'. 'REM' soured me a little later than you but I was out after 'Automatic For the People'. I did not like that album. Cheers.
Undercover by the Stones, that album has no redeeming features, all downhill since, Let’s Dance by Bowie, Growing up in Public by Lou Reed, dull as dishwater, like the rest of Lou’s career (never thought much of The Blue Mask, which a lot of people love). Gold Afternoon Fix by The Church from 1990, compared to their ‘80’s stuff, it was lame, and they never regained their momentum.
Agree with most of what your saying. Lou Reed however is somewhat different IMO. He didn't go from good to bad in a linear fashion like most artists. Rather he randomly released great and terrible albums throughout his career.
I would throw Traffic in there too. After the fantastic 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys' album, came 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory'. I just couldn't get into that one, and still can't.
I can’t either. They did have a great run though up to that point.
Good choices and I agree with Peter Gabriel and Who selections. Todd Rundgren lost me on A Capella. Revisiting the album, I appreciate it more now than when it came out but I still didn't buy any more Rundgren after A Capella.
I kinda dug Todd’s “Born to Synthesize” from his 1975 album ‘Initiation,’ which he performed a cappella. Am I right in thinking the ‘A Cappella’ album is not like that song? I don’t think I’ve heard it.
Another great topic. As a huge Gabriel fan, I totally get why many had lost interest with ‘ So. ‘ It was a gigantic success, but I couldn’t hear Sledgehammer again if someone paid me 😆. And as far as modern day bands, The Black Keys come to mind. I thought their first 2 albums were stellar, deep roots material, with a raw, edgy blues sound. But then, I feel like they lost it, getting caught up in the limelight of a typical, commercial sound. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the beast in rock history.
I was a Huge Bowie fan (still am) but "Let's Dance" album was it for me. Such a sell-out and his cutting-edge creativeness seem spent.
Bowie was a bit of magpie, he liked to follows the musical fashion. When glam was in he went glam. In 1982 synth pop was the big thing and he went synth pop
As a rabid early R E M fan I ultimately mostly agree with your take on their creative demise. While I disagree with you on "World Leader Pretend," you are certainly correct in that Michael Stipe's self importance among other flaws trashed what was a great legacy. His need to enunciate increasingly cliched I'm-cooler-than-you lyrics simply exposed a deeply technically flawed voice. It is a sad state of affairs that the writer of the indescribably gorgeous "Perfect Circle"composed the wretched vomit fest "Everybody Hurts." Bill Berry-Really?
Amen brother. 😉
Guess you did not like the two songs by The Pretenders in the 1987 Bond film THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS?
I don’t recall ever hearing those tracks.
@@tomrobinson5776 Well, the song WHERE HAS EVERYBODY GONE is a favorite of the cold assassin on his Walkman early in the film and IF THERE WAS A MAN is the ballad that is played instrumentally throughout the film and is the song int he end titles. GONE also shows up as an instrumental throughout, all by the late, great John Barry in his last score for the James Bond series he helped put open the map. Of course, the title song is by AHA (the TAKE ON ME guys) and I like the song, even when I cannot remember al the lyrics. Barry did not like them much, however, but that's another story for another time. I guess you can gran the soundtrack or just watch the film, which is the last Cold war Bond, though they did not know that at the time and were just trying to establish Timothy Dalton in the role.
I'm with you about REM, although l held out for a couple more albums than you did before saying See Ya! The problem is, Michael Stipe really started to think he was some kind of mystical poet, and his lyrics took on an air of insufferable "l know something you don't know!" arrogance.
Likewise, with U2, they stayed musically strong for a good spell--l LIKE The Unforgettable Fire!--but Bono's "We're gonna save the world whether you want us to or not! Am l buggin' ya?" sanctimony became unbearable.
Lots of people HATE the last two Replacements albums. Not me. I love 'em. Paul did great work when he wore his heart on his sleeve, and the Mats shows l saw during that era were FIRE.
I'm with you about REM and U2.
There was usually one or two good songs on every album from Document until Monster - if you took all those good songs and put them into one album, you would have a pretty good album. Too bad that 80% of those albums were lame though
I 100 percent agree with you about "Don't Tell A Soul" and "All Shook Down"....
I agree about the Mats. Saw those last two tours and indeed they were on fire. And those last 2 albums had great songs. People say All Shook Down is a Westerberg solo album. Perhaps, but it is a great album no matter how you slice it. They stayed true to the end IMO.
Caribou by Elton John. Loved everything before that -- turned me off so much, never got another EJ album. I even hated the album cover.
Chicago / U2 / Blondie / Pink Floyd / ELP
When an artist that you love starts to pander to a bigger audience, it’s like a betrayal! For example when Supertramp put out the cheesy, bubblegum single “It’s Raining Again” they lost me forever.
I'm with you on REM. I thought Document and Green had good songs contained within, but that was the end for me. I thought John Hiatt had a pretty good run in the late 80s til about the early 00s, but lost me after that. Los Lobos had a string of good albums 1984-92, then i lost interest. I liked Aerosmith's albums until the 1980s.
Love those early Aerosmith albums especially Rocks. I don’t like anything after Draw The Line. Their 80’s stuff is horrendous.
@@tomrobinson5776 And I tried replying to you and your last video but it wouldn't take for some reason. I saw Teenage Fanclub @ Thalia Hall, Chicago
I pretty much agree with your assessment of REM....Save one...And it's an odd one for their later catalog: "Monster"...A big noisy kind of glam record ....Unfortunately, agree about The Who...And I never liked Moon as a drummer....But "Empty Glass" The Townsend solo album, was very cool...According to Pete, he let the other members pick the songs out of what he had and THEY PICKED THE WRONG ONES ( "Face Dances")...He took the ones they rejected and PRESTO...."Empty Glass"; Bruce Springsteen's critically lauded "Nebraska " was to me such an embarrassment ( Singing in that southern accent NOBODY has...Most of the songs are in the same key( D) in the same sequence: I-IV-I-V...They are the same song ( the old country standard "Green,Green Grass of Home") with merely different words..Nobody ever recorded on a Tascam 4-track and made a worse sound...Coupled with his inability to competently play acoustic guitar and you have a mess...And, for the record, because most who bash him these days are right wing nuts who hate his politics , my politics agree with his...And, I hate to say this because I love his book, Elvis Costello after "King of America " ,which I love 4 songs on: "Brilliant Mistake", "Jack of All Parades" ,"American Without Tears" and "Suit of Lights" the rest of the album is melodically bankrupt....There are a lot more, but not for now...Peace and Love, Terry Tutor
I basically give Springsteen a pass on Nebraska, since he has taken its songs like "Johnny 99", "Open All Night", "Mansion on the Hill", and "Atlantic City" into different, functional pieces for live shows ...
I never cared for any Springsteen after The River. Born In The USA is just appalling. Love most of Costello’s work from 77-86, but lost interest after Spike for the most part. Still a great live show though…saw him a few years back and it was stellar.
@@tomrobinson5776 We are saying the same thing..."Nebraska " was the album after "The River"....And, unlike a lot of people, many of whom weren't listening to him at the time, "The River" is my favorite of his albums...Peace and Love,Terry Tutor
chicago x with “if you leave me now” was a wake-up call to mourn not only terry kath, but the end of an amazing run of great music from the band. elton john’s swan song album was a single man. the one hit, little jeannie, was musically, lyrically, and thematically barren; the first warning of more bad things to come. jackson browne was so good until “running on empty”, then he deservedly got called “chilled white whine” by the critics. supertramp’s breakfast in america was showing definite signs of creative erosion, and they were smart to call it quits when they did. maybe a little controversial, but i stopped listening to fleetwood mac after stevie nicks dubbed herself queen of the mystic and bored us with insufferable drab horseshit like dreams and rhiannon. christine mcvie was the true heart of the group. i’m not sure how long america stayed together after “you can do magic”, but it knocked them right off their pedestal and cemented in my mind a nostalgic “remember back when” every time one of 70’s tunes came on. bruce springsteen took a big old dump with “the river” and his overworked “working class hero” schtick. yeah, bruce, why don’t you go dancing in the dark off a short pier ?
i think Chicago is the all-time top when it goes from being a totally cool band to being a totally shit band...
Correct, If you Leave Me Now foreshadowed the awful David Foster era.
I agree with everything you said here. It’s amazing how Chicago went from a class A band with a killer guitarist to Air Supply within a short period of time. I was done with Springsteen after The River. Just pretentious drivel followed soon after. I always found it amazing how Elton was on fire artistically for about 5 years and then it was just mediocre stuff for decades to come.
Combat Rock was Clash on cocaine, supersized. Poised to be the U2 of their time, the band disintegrated instead, caught up in the trappings of wealth and fame. Ya gotta admit, it's hard to be revolutionary when you're on the gravy train.
Best of the Suddenly Not So Great
01 S A N D A N I S T A
Clash
02 M I R A G E
Fleetwood Mac
03 B U R N
Deep Purple
04 L A S T R E C O R D
Little Feat
05 S T R E E T - L E G A L
Bob Dylan
06 G O A T ' S H E A D S O U P
the Rolling Stones
07 D R B Y R D S A N D M R H Y D E
the Byrds
08 H A W K S A N D D O V E S
Neil Young
09 D E E P C U T S
the Strawbs
10 T O N I G H T
David Bowie
Signals - Rush
Hysteria by Def Leppard
You called it perfectly for the Beach Boys. From "Today" all the way through "Holland," there was always a core of goodness there. "15 Big Ones" ended it for me. I was a big fan of Donovan from the early folk days and on through his edging into rock, his flirtations with jazz and his children's albums. Then I heard "Cosmic Wheels." The song "Intergalactic Laxative" just seemed like an insult to his audience.
There are several but one definitely was Thick as a Brick.
Maybe, everything after The Broadsword and The Beast by Jethro Tull, didn't really do it for me (Broadsword's questionable production values were overwhelmed by some excellent songwriting - I always loved The Clasp, for instance). Also in lists like this I always expect to hear "Everybody's Rockin'" by Neil Young but then I remember that it doesn't represent any kind of permanent direction change for him as he kind of snaps back into doing whatever he wants to do after that.
Also I found the 1980s aesthetically upsetting and to was happy to see anyone refusing to do what was expected of them in that miserable decade of echoey high-tech overproduction and drum machines. I am so damaged from this decade that even thinking about it right now, I feel that...well what I am saying is I would like to be held, and rocked very slowly back and forth and maybe given some warm milk.
Ha! 😉
Peter Gabriel-Us (a watered-down version of So)
E.L.O.-Discovery ("Hey, mates, how about we go Disco on this album?" "Great idea, Jeff!"...NOT!)
Supertramp-Famous Last Words (It's Raining Again??? YECH!)
U2-Rattle and Ho-Hum
Kate Bush-Ariel 😴
R.E.M.-Monster (see Kate Bush)
Pretenders-Get Close (I didn't get close with that album!)
Linda Ronstadt-Living in the U.S.A. (a disappointing follow-up to Simple Dreams...plus, the short hair, roller skates, boxer shorts and sports jacket image didn't do it for me.)
Billy Joel-The Bridge (dull, dull, dull)
Bruce Springsteen-Tunnel of Love (when he became Hollywood's version of The Boss 😮)
I do agree with your Beach Boys, Who, Clash and Rod Stewart choices!
I prefer Document and Green over the first two REM albums.
Another great topic! Here is my take: I am a huge Tom Waits fan, but the album that derailed it for me was Frank's Wild Years. I found the songs to be dull and not very captivating, and the writing a little bit lazy, as evidenced by the number of references to "dreams" in the lyrics. The follow-up, Bone Machine, went off further, devolving into what one critic described as "arbitrary gravel garble weirdness." It seemed that Tom was trying too hard to be avant-garde. I couldn't even listen to The Black Rider. Mule Variations was a return to form, with some genuinely beautiful songs such as Hold On, House Where Nobody Lives, and Take It With Me, but there was still a lot of experimental-sounding material that sounded just too abrasive and self-indulgent for my ears. I still think that Tom Waits is an amazing artist and an absolute giant, and I recognize that he is continually reinventing himself and growing and developing his work, but since the late 1980s and early 1990s, I have not felt compelled to seek out any new Tom Waits music.
I love his first 4 albums. Nighthawks is an all time fave. Lost interest after Small Change. The songwriting took a backseat and the eccentricity became the star of the show.
I really like Rain Dogs. That and Small Change are albums of his I can play from start to finish. Mule Variations is just too long. If he'd cut a half dozen songs it'd be one of my favs
Alice Cooper “From the Inside.” Eek.
Del Amitri “Could You Do Me Good?” (Good thing it was their last album.)
Kiss “Love Gun”
The only album I really liked by Del Amitri was Some Suckers Parade. I listened to others but nothing stuck with me.
With Bowie, I couldn't get into the albums he made after Diamond Dogs, apart from an occasional track. I liked his later track, a version of God Only Knows, and the track Golden Years. Let's Dance was passable.
But as for The Who, I liked their last studio album from 2019, just called The Who. It was different from their previous albums in that it was more orchestrated with one track having a Goldfinger soundalike intro. But Pete Townshend's songwriting was still on fire, and he was still coming out with these magical songs. But their first album since their reunion, Endless Wire, I thought had a lot of filler, as well as the much better tracks.
Grace Slick was never the same after Jefferson Airplane morphed into Starship. Their contemporaries, The Doors should have stopped after they sadly lost Jim Morrison.
Simple Minds made three great albums in a row up to Once Upon A Time. Their next album had about three tracks that were easily above passable, but the rest was crud, after which they were just regurgitating themselves, getting to sound more and more like old age pensioners each time, like so many others, once they were past their best.
I think The Moody Blues' last great album was Question Of Balance. Their next two albums which were their last before they disbanded, to me were not as good as their previous albums. I think they got worn out by then.
The last album by Cream called Goodbye Cream was not nearly as good as their previous albums, apart from their single from it, Badge, which makes me think it was as well they disbanded when they were at their peak. Yet they remained at their popularity peak for the next few years after.
Because of that damn So album, Sledgehammer is probably song the general public immediately thinks of when they think of Peter Gabriel, and that is highly unfortunate.
Very unfortunate.
I have to disagree about R.E.M. Some of my favorite albums by them were after Document. And they had some great songs after that as well. But then again, I grew up in Athens, GA.
'Document' was a good album.
Actually, as time went on I thought Michael Stipe got LESS eccentric, not more. I got less interested in R.E.M. too, but after Bill Berry left a few years after Green.
I'm from just outside of Boston so Aerosmith is a really big band around here. I love their 1st 3 albums. I started losing a little interest on albums 4 & 5. When "Night in the Ruts" came out I was totally done with them from that point onward.
Love those first 4 albums. Rocks especially. Never liked anything post Draw The Line.
Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Queen, Yes, Rush, Judas Priest,.............EVERY band from the 70s that were at their peak has people complaining about their later work. It's such a tedious cliche. I like some stuff from the latter years of all the 70s bands. I prefer the 1970 works of virtually all bands but it's not a complete black and white contrast for me, and I think most people will like some later songs even if they don't want to admit it to their peers. I remember when Permanent Vacation and Pump came out most people in my high school liked them, and even the metalheads with the denim jackets liked them.
Also, any Tom Russell album after Andy Hardin quit playing guitar with him.
I’ll have to check out some of his material.
Nice to see Tom Russell mentioned anywhere. What a songwriter! I disagree however. TR still did great work after Andrew.
I was a huge Neil Young fan all through the seventies, loved everything he did, and as someone who doesn't mind artists trying different styles I stuck with him through that early eighties period and liked many of those albums, until, 'Landing On Water'. That was it. Years later people said, you've got to get Psychedelic pill, it's a return to form, so I gave it a listen, but I just couldn't get into it.
Yep, Landing on Water was where I drew the line as well. An not a big fan of his 90' s 'comeback' albums either.
Yeah, I purged Psychedelic Pill pretty quick. Saw that tour. Hard to sit through…
I'm shocked that nobody called out Gabriel about blatantly stealing the end of Sledgehammer from Stevie Wonder's Superstition. Yeah, his pop stuff bores me now.
I always thought Sledgehammer sounded like 80’s Stevie Winwood. Yuck.
Too many to count, really. I was all set to mention U2 before you beat me to it -- that first album was great, after that, no. Same thing with The Cure (actually, the early singles were best). Can't argue with your estimates of The Who, The Clash, Peter Gabriel, or REM -- you followed them longer than I did. Oh how I hated Hole's Celebrity Skin (two OK tracks), and I only listened to Elastica's second album once before giving up (the first is still one of my favorites). I did like Learning To Crawl a lot, but that was it.
I liked Learning To Crawl. It just wasn’t the same band anymore for my taste.
Their first was called Appetite for Destruction but The Spaghetti Incident made me lost my appetite for Guns and Roses
Because it was all cover tunes?
@@aisforapple2494 because its garbage
@jessem470
I thought it was better, regardless of being covers, that 99% of everything on both the 'Use Your Illusion' albums. They were becoming a "cover band" with 'Spaghetti Incident' and covering 'Live And Let Die' and 'Knocking On Heaven's Door', so I get where you're coming from.
I liked the first side of Combat Rock, although it wasn't nearly as good as they were before. Side 2 is flat out garbage. So off the top of my head, here are a few: Devo- New Traditionalists, Stones- Undercover, Kiss- Dynasty, Cheap Trick- Next Position Please.
I like side two of Combat Rock. I can see how some people might not like Overpowered by Funk, but I think its pretty cool. And I love Atom Tan, Ghetto Defendant and I like Innoculated City. then Sean Flynn and Death is a Star might not be very strong individually, but in the context of the album, I think they are really solid - and add to the album as a whole.
Simple Minds 'Sparkle in the Rain' showed a great band being corrupted by the lure of stadium audiences. They got as bad as U2 at the time.
The Unforgettable Fire. Bleh!
Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels etc.
Steely Dan - Aja
Neil Young - Broken Arrow
The Doors - Other Voices
Bob Dylan - Under The Red Sky
I liked Steel wheels. I saw them on that tour in Minneapolis
Regarding Other Voices, No Morrison , No Doors.
Don't worry. As we say in Greece, until you go to the army it will have passed...
Metal Machine Music by lou reed
I’m a huge VU fan, but Lou’s solo work is pretty spotty. Metal Machine Music is laughable.
Neil Young Greenville.
That’s a horrible record. Saw that tour. It was an exercise in patience. Like a bad school play.
I got high hopes for Lenny Kravitz with his first album. I was young and bought into his not necessarily genuine Hippie persona. The 2nd album was a slight disappointment, and I finally gave up by album no 3. That one was truly awful and contained only 2 good tracks.
I love the first two Wire albums. 154 is pretty good and that was it. Then came the techno dance period. 🤢
Elton John Rock of the Westies was pretty much the end of the line for me.
Blue Moves is one of his best to those who bothered to listen to it.
Before I watched your video I was all ready to disagree,
but man did you get it right.
I've been saying "So" is a piece of crap since I first heard it.
Gabriel was a hero of mine since "Nursery Cryme",
I even liked the first couple solo albums, but after hearing "So",
I said "So" and never bothered with him again.
It totally irritates me when I talk about how great Peter Gabriel was
and people mention "SO".
REM used to be so cool,
but they sure went down the drain fast.
I saw the "Cut the Crap" tour, total Crap!
Sounds like you grew up in the LA area with classic KROQ,
I went to many shows at Perkins Palace and the area in the early 80's.
Just wondering,
Have you ever heard of Guided By Voices?
they may be up your alley if you like Gabriel Genesis and old REM.
I have heard of Guided By Voices, but was never compelled for whatever reason to check out their catalog. One of these days…
Good god.....this episode....jesus. lots of disagreement
I agree about Rod Stewart. I don't like to fault someone for making a living but they shouldn't expect their original fans to follow them down the path of mediocrity. Another band that I lost interest after their first album was Chicago, their second wasn't terrible but it wasn't as good as their first. In the same vein, Blood, Sweat & Tears had a great first album, Al Kooper was replaced by David Clayton-Thomas (WTF???). The second album had some good music on it but I never cared for DCT, they lost my interest after hearing their horrible version of Sympathy For The Devil. I praise them for liking Traffic enough to cover a couple of their songs but that's all the praise they'll get from me.
When Blondes Have More Fun Came Out I was done
I agree 100 percent. 😉
Some of Neil Young's work in the 2000s were crap. I was turned off, especially Psychedelic Pill. His ventures into "noise" turned me off. Now that CH + Neil are touring I just am not grabbed by this man, so close to being 80, anymore.
I hear ya. I saw that Psychedelic Pill Tour. Pretty hard to sit through. 20 minute plus jams take a toll on your nerves. Neil’s a guy who has put out more unlistenable albums than just about any artist, but his best albums are some of the greatest ever released. He doesn’t know how to edit himself.
When N Young started releasing albums like Americana I distanced myself. Fortunately, I often check albums out via library CDs. I like Harvest Moon, Prairie Wind, Sleeps With Angels. I could not take his preachy lyrics, such as on Mansanto + the Native American causes.
Fleetwood Mac, when that self-titled album (which everyone raves about), was released I was no longer a fan of that once great Blues-Rock band. The inclusion of Buckingham-Nicks was the death nell for that band with me. I cannot stand Nicks' voice, and Buckingham was just an MOR Southern California Pop artist, and those two people (and a mountain of coke) brought down that band forever.
I was never a fan of Nicks either. That voice is a sheep in heat.
Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom
Ah the 70's: Disco, Debby Boone, Paul Anka... a musical wasteland.
I couldnt wait to get the next EC album until Imperial Bedroom. What a shock! It was so ordinary!
Funny. I love that album.
Interesting, I like Imperial Bedroom, but hated Get Happy. I could never find a hook or a melody that could stick. Coming after 3 solid 5 star albums I found it dull and listless. Never understood the hype of that album.
Agree with Fleet Foxes, first two albums amazing, the 3rd is just pretentious crap, he has such a great voice why waste it on songs like that, needs someone in the band to say hey this is pretentious bollocks, lets write songs with melodies again
Amen 😉
For me, the last great Rolling Stones album was 'Sticky Fingers'. After that, with the exception of a few scattered songs on subsequent releases, things started going downhill rather swiftly. That's right, to me 'Exile on Main Street' is a pretty sorry affair compared to what came before. (It would certainly have been a better record if it was released as a single disc). 'Goat Heads Soup' was "meh". 'It's Only Rock and Roll' gets a "D". But 'Black and Blue'... jeez, that one doesn't even merit an "F". I still had a trace of loyalty within me for the band so I did buy 'Some Girls', which, though not as bad as 'Black and Blue' was too little and too late. Never again did I buy one of their albums.
(With all due respect, I do like The Beach Boys' version of 'Rock and Roll Music'... I've never heard the rest of the album!)
I agree 100%. Don't know why people are raving about "Exile on Main Street". Apart from a few standout tracks it's boring and repetitive 3-chord blues rock. That type of music can work for someone channeling genuine suffering, not so much for some bratty Englishmen.
@@wilhelmhagberg4897 Same here. I don't get the appeal of Exile. Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers were great, but that was the Stone's last hurrah.
That’s interesting. Everyone has their own cutoff point for the Stones. Mine was Some Girls.
Dylan's Christian albums 😂
While I've no use for those albums, Oh Mercy is amazing.
I think "Slow Train Coming" was kind of great. It had all of Dylan's anger, sarkasm and wit even as he was cosplaying a vengeful Old Testament God. Both "Saved" and "Shot of Love" were of quite low quality though.
You got that right. He along with Neil Young have released some of the greatest albums ever released as well as some of the worst. There is no editing involved with those guys.
Stones. Nothing good after 'Some Girls'. But their previous stuff was SO GOOD!
I agree 100 percent. 😉
Good picks although I'd argue that By Numbers was the last good album from The Who. Who Are You has a whole lot of filler. The Music Must Change, Sister Disco and Guitar and Pen are all pretty weak. Agree 100% on U2. Can't stand anything about them.
By Numbers is definitely better than Who Are You. A lot of great material on there. Slip Kid, Imagine A Man, How Many Friends, etc..
You are dead on with Rod Stewart! Hot Legs just soulless trash.
Supertramp. After three perfect albums in a row they released Breakfast in America. What a piece of shite. But the world and for the first time critics loved it! But I’m right and everybody else is wrong.
Rolling Stones. Similarly they released Some Girls to universal acclaim but not appreciated by me! Everything turned up to 11, forced nasty lyrics this marked the Stones transformation from music makers to a corporation.
The Doobie Brothers. Minute by Minute. A great band putrifies instantly with this turkey. Michael McDonald is unlistenable.
I usually just outgrow certain artists. I cant think of one..
🥲LP.