Most unlistenable album you spent good money on...

Phil_aka_Pip

ICBM said:

HAL9000 said:

And strangely, Lord David of Gilmour's On An Island which I know lots of people love but does absolutely nothing for me.

I actively disliked it - bland to the point of irritation. Then again I don't like the post-Waters Pink Floyd, despite thinking that Gilmour contributed some of the best bits in the proper Floyd. They needed each other - even though I do like Water's solo writing, it still lacks the musical power that Gilmour provided.

I wanted to like it but it's a bit like eating cheap ice cream - you can tell the flavours are chemicals and not juices from the fruit. Bits of it sounded very "digital" and rather un-natural.

Moss

http://eil.com/images/main/Rolf-Harris-Greatest-Hits-231696.jpg

scrumhalf

Teo Greens Make a Blues.

Supposedly featuring Peter Green and Mick Green, it has more in common with Tony Green the darts announcer and Nigel Green who was an engineer I used to work with. Truly some of the worst cack ever to have been set to vinyl.

ICBM

Samgb said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Samgb said:

Skarloey said:

Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

Not to my tastes at all I'm afraid.

*Splutters in outrage*

Astral Weeks is awesome

Thats what i meant

Much as I detest Van Morrison, I'd never actually heard this supposedly amazing album so I thought I really should give it a go...










I agree with Skarloey. I don't hate it quite as much as I expected - I did manage to listen to all of it - but I really don't get the fuss about it, I don't really hear any memorable songs and if I have to hear his whiny nasal rambling again it will still probably be too soon.

Gagaryn

Skarloey said:

Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

Bought out of curiosity since it's always in those "50 albums you must hear before you have a dump in the morning" type lists.

Not to my tastes at all I'm afraid.

Astral Weeks is brilliant, one of my favourite albums , although the first song on the second, 'The Way Young lovers Do' always seems out of step with the rest of it - a good song though. 

The most disappointment I've ever had with a new record is with the Clash's 'swan song', Cut The Crap. Clash were my absolute favourite band at the time, and was really excited to get the album although I never thought it would be as good as the stuff they had already released, Mick Jones had already departed. Still thought it would be good though, was still The Clash, right? I was in my local record shop every week asking if they had it in yet. When I eventually got my hands on it I could have cried, it's an embarrassment! 

dchwhite

I generally quite like Floyd, but I have a copy of Ummagumma with a £9 price label on it; every time I see it, I think of so many other things I could have done with that money.

frank1985

Samgb said:

Im probably going to get some flak for this, but...

Captain Beefheart : Trout Mask Replica

Now, thats not because i dont like The Captain - i like almost all of his other albums. But its his worst album by a mile and everyone raves about it. The spoken bits in between songs make it worse because he sounds like a right smart arse who thinks he is hilarious and he isnt. Put me right off him for a good few years until a mate set me straight. 

I fuckin' hate that album. I haven't heard any of his other stuff though - any recommendations?

Gagaryn

frank1985;665319" said:

Samgb said:

Im probably going to get some flak for this, but...

Captain Beefheart : Trout Mask Replica

Now, thats not because i dont like The Captain - i like almost all of his other albums. But its his worst album by a mile and everyone raves about it. The spoken bits in between songs make it worse because he sounds like a right smart arse who thinks he is hilarious and he isnt. Put me right off him for a good few years until a mate set me straight. 





I fuckin' hate that album. I haven't heard any of his other stuff though - any recommendations?

Safe As Milk is a good Zappa introduction.

xSkarloey

ICBM said:

Samgb said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Samgb said:

Skarloey said:

Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

Not to my tastes at all I'm afraid.

*Splutters in outrage*

Astral Weeks is awesome

Thats what i meant

Much as I detest Van Morrison, I'd never actually heard this supposedly amazing album so I thought I really should give it a go...










I agree with Skarloey. I don't hate it quite as much as I expected - I did manage to listen to all of it - but I really don't get the fuss about it, I don't really hear any memorable songs and if I have to hear his whiny nasal rambling again it will still probably be too soon.

Right, I have just listened* to it again, and my opinion hasn't changed (and bear in mind these are purely my opinions). 

I don't like the instrumentation on it. Yes, I know it features members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, but I never liked them much either. 

He keeps confusing shouting with singing. 

You could grate cheese on that voice. 

The songs go on endlessly and Dylan-like with barely a token glance in the direction of a key change, middle eight or anything else to relieve the disappointment. 

His most annoying vocal mannerism is to keep repeating phrasing like "no, no, no, no, no" and "never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, never, ever". 

When he stops sounding like Boris Johnson on a bad day attempting to start a sentence, his attempts at lyrics remind me of Dylan Thomas, who I also take a dim view of. 

Sorry if this offends, but c'est la vie. 

*As in called it up on Spotify and reprised a few tracks by dragging the slider across at random intervals to get the 'feel' of the disc. 

UnclePsychosis

BloodEagle;664740" said:

Dont want to upset anyone but ..



Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon. So so boring self indulgent bullshit. The track that has the woman wailing on it is one of the most annoying things of all time

Wisdom. It's dreadful from start to finish. Floyd are absolutely, hands down, the single most overrated band ever.

ICBM

UnclePsychosis said:

Floyd are absolutely, hands down, the single most overrated band ever.

No, Steely Dan are.

Rocker

There are lots, too many to list.  One was a double CD by Whitesnake, a well considered album by Satch and more of the same.  They all made their way to the local charity shop.  Hundreds and hundreds of Euro down the drain.  Mainly the result of reading and believing album reviews in the guitar press.

Maynehead

Phil_aka_Pip said:

... And Justice For All (Metallica)

I did actually buy this one, because someone told me there was classically-influenced guitar solos on it. At the time I was listening to Yngwie. So was there anything on this album that I actually wanted to hear?


No.

HOLY BLASPHEMOUS BATMAN!!!1

Phil_aka_Pip

Orlando Gibbons "Hymnes and songs of the Church" by Tonus Peregrinus

"The complete Orlando Gibbons melodies as published in 1623 with new realizations (sic) and original settings by L'Estrange and Pitts"

which being translated means

"The original - listenable - Orlando Gibbons stuff, interspersed with modern takes on it which contains shitloads of dissonance just for the hell of it which Gibbons himself would not have written and which renders it unlistenable".

I felt well cheated after hearing that CD. :x

Grunfeld

Some Eric Burdon album, can't remember the title, something like, "Eric Burdon Gets Totally Pissed - Live!"



Oh and as if Eric wasn't bad enough, on this clip at about the 2:40 mark there's the horrible sound of a guitarist trying to do a guitar solo.  Fucking awful.

This is why punk was necessary.  And autotune had to be invented.  And the Priory was set up. 

Phil_aka_Pip

UnclePsychosis said:

BloodEagle;664740" said:

Dont want to upset anyone but ..



Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon. So so boring self indulgent bullshit. The track that has the woman wailing on it is one of the most annoying things of all time

Wisdom. It's dreadful from start to finish. Floyd are absolutely, hands down, the single most overrated band ever.

Blasphemy. Heresy. light the bonfire, get the pitchforks out

xSkarloey

@grunfeld. ;

Oh my goodness, that Eric Burdon track is vile. 

Haven't laughed so much in ages. Cheers. 

Basher

I've got a lot of electronic albums that sound like someone kicking an old toaster about a bathroom but as I sort of expect that kind of thing from the artists concerned, I can't get too upset.
Plenty of great LPs mentioned in this thread, which shows it's all relative.

Ones that really upset me were Robben Ford's Blues Connotation (it's not blues and the main connotation for me is of how bad jazz trombone improvisation can sound) and Danny Gottlieb's Aquamarine which is about the worst Fuzak I've ever heard (in a collection positively brimming with the stuff).
Not sure what I expected from a solo LP from the drummer in the not-very-good late era Mahavishnu Orchestra but I was beyond underwhelmed. I wouldn't mind but I think I paid quite a bit for it as an import. Do we still do that "epic facepalm" thing these days?

ICBM

Grunfeld said:

Some Eric Burdon album, can't remember the title, something like, "Eric Burdon Gets Totally Pissed - Live!"

[Eric Burdon murdering One More Cup Of Coffee]

Oh and as if Eric wasn't bad enough, on this clip at about the 2:40 mark there's the horrible sound of a guitarist trying to do a guitar solo.  Fucking awful.

This is why punk was necessary.  And autotune had to be invented.  And the Priory was set up. 

Good grief. I just decided to watch that with a late night glass of whisky, and I think I need another much larger glass now to remove the memory of it.

I'm really not sure what the worst part of it is… it's all utterly appalling.

Bucket

Possibly "Honor Found in Decay" by Neurosis... I knew I liked "Through Silver in Blood" but I'd never heard this more recent album. I assumed it'd be good so I bought it, but I was wrong. I think it was mainly the vocals, I just found it pretty much impossible to enjoy.

Most unlistenable album of all time has to be "Death, Pierce Me" by Silencer. The sound of a mentally unstable man having a complete, psychotic breakdown, set to bleak black metal. I don't mean the usual idiot's criticism of metal "IT'S JUST SCREAMING OMG HE SOUNDS LIKE HE'S DEPRESSED"... this is serious. Apparently he was self-harming while recording the vocals, which consist of very high-pitched shrieking that kind of sounds like King Diamond or Rob Halford, except monotonous and off-key. That is an extremely unsettling and incongruous sound, and it'd be hilarious if I wasn't so acutely aware that it's the sound of a mental breakdown.

There's a lot of rumours surrounding it, some obviously bullshit. I do think the situation has been exaggerated, but I'd be surprised if the vocalist wasn't genuinely mentally ill and cutting himself while recording the vocals. I've listened to a couple of tracks, once, and I've never been able to repeat the experience. It scared the ever-loving SHIT out of me.

I think part of the aim was to portray depression, and they nailed it. As someone else puts it:

"I love Death - Pierce Me. It's got this droning, monotone quality to it that completely captures depression. It's empty, cavernous and grey - without any romance. Just buzzing meandering noise - with distant screams. It's good."

Maybe it is good... but I can't stomach it.