Worst musicianship on an album ever?

starwarsnosebleed

Whats the worst example of musicianship on an album you have heard?

The worst i can think of is 'Philosophy of the World' by The Shaggs.

I have it on my itunes, and whilst i dont really listen to it very often, it always makes me laugh. It has a strange innocent charm to it, even though all 3 of them are seemingly playing out of tune/time on every song.

The story behind the album is actually quite interesting, and apparently its a bit of a cult indie fave.

ICBM

Wow. That makes my suggestions -Talulah Gosh, and The Pastels - sound like Steely Dan…

But here's some Pastels anyway .

I saw them live once - they were truly dreadful, but in a completely endearing and enjoyable way. Although I haven't repeated the experience yet .

richardhomer

(Whispers) Definitely Maybe?

starwarsnosebleed

I didnt think that Pastels song was too bad actually. At least they are all playing the same song, at the same time.

UnclePsychosis

The Pastels are bloody brilliant. That is all. 

You could go and hassle Stephen from the band any time you like @ICBM ,I'm fairly sure he still works in the record shop next to your guitar shop  

ICBM

UnclePsychosis said:

The Pastels are bloody brilliant. That is all. 

You could go and hassle Stephen from the band any time you like @ICBM ,I'm fairly sure he still works in the record shop next to your guitar shop

He's one of our customers .

I do love them too - just that polished musicianship is not the point, at all . Seeing them play live was a whole new experience in artistic chaos .

Sporky

starwarsnosebleed said:

The worst i can think of is 'Philosophy of the World' by The Shaggs.

It's like a musical version of The Young Visiters.

lasermonkey

I've always had a soft spot for the Pastels.

Octahedron

Arctic Monkeys on their first album... "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" 

I feel like a lot of people held off labelling them as utter shite, after all, whatever people said they are/were, that's what they're not.

monquixote

Octahedron said:

Arctic Monkeys on their first album... "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" 

I feel like a lot of people held off labelling them as utter shite, after all, whatever people said they are/were, that's what they're not.

Are you out of your mind?

Their rhythm section are insanely tight. 

dtr

lasermonkey said:

I've always had a soft spot for the Pastels.

I've got a soft spot for them now.  Was obsessed with them in 1984.  They nailed magisterial wall-of-noise neo-pshychedelia years before the shoegaze thing happened...

hugbot

I was gonna say the The shaggs when I saw the title but you beat me to it. Their music is interesting because they're not just playing normal songs badly, the songs have their own bizarre internal logic. Like "my pal foot foot" the guitar and backing vocals are definitely following and supporting the melody, but the melody makes zero sense.

tabbycat

shaggs always good. and there's a bizarre forlorn philosophy behind it all. totally feral.

nice call on tallulah gosh, i had a few in mind but they trump everything. all the charisma and vitality of an old cardigan soaked in cat pee. all that sickly twee c86 crap. sarah records et al.

this one is a bit of a cheat, since although bdatb recorded enough singles to fill an album, they imploded magnificently before anything so tiresome and predictable as an album could be organised. very much a case of those who burn twice as bright burn half as long. poetry in motion.

as a side note, if you want to understand why they broke up, the original rows and rivalries are still blazing wildly twenty years later in the comments sections of their youtube videos. as is only right.

i've got this one and paul power t-shirt (a pressie from john peel) tucked away for those moments i feel like smashing windows.

steamabacus

Maybe not the worst ever but I remember being given a ropey cassette of this to learn by my old bass player - and it left a permanent scar on my memory.

Bruce Baxter Orchestra recording of the Hawaii Five-O theme - I think they must have been down the pub in their lunch break.

"What does this little box do? Ooooh, fuzz guitar - how difficult can that be?"  >:D<

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCSwVLbj0A

Bucket

Wow, never heard anything like the Shaggs before.

Jesus.

thomasross20

Hahahha

Plectrum

starwarsnosebleed said:

Whats the worst example of musicianship on an album you have heard?

The worst i can think of is 'Philosophy of the World' by The Shaggs.

I have it on my itunes, and whilst i dont really listen to it very often, it always makes me laugh. It has a strange innocent charm to it, even though all 3 of them are seemingly playing out of tune/time on every song.

The story behind the album is actually quite interesting, and apparently its a bit of a cult indie fave.

Was that produced by Les Dawson by any chance?

equalsql

The benchmark for bad playing without a doubt 
)

RobDavies

starwarsnosebleed said:

Whats the worst example of musicianship on an album you have heard?

The worst i can think of is 'Philosophy of the World' by The Shaggs.

I have it on my itunes, and whilst i dont really listen to it very often, it always makes me laugh. It has a strange innocent charm to it, even though all 3 of them are seemingly playing out of tune/time on every song.

The story behind the album is actually quite interesting, and apparently its a bit of a cult indie fave.

Sounds like The Breeders....

ICBM

tabbycat said:

nice call on tallulah gosh, i had a few in mind but they trump everything. all the charisma and vitality of an old cardigan soaked in cat pee. all that sickly twee c86 crap. sarah records et al.

Since I forgot to post it earlier, here's Talulah Gosh… with 'Talulah Gosh' of course.

I'm not sure it qualifies though - it's actually quite well-played really, with the tempo changes and stuff. Just slightly 'off' in places, but actually much more competent than they're trying to give the impression of .

You might like this too - The Spook School, who I have recently discovered…

Octahedron

monquixote said:

Octahedron said:

Arctic Monkeys on their first album... "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" 

I feel like a lot of people held off labelling them as utter shite, after all, whatever people said they are/were, that's what they're not.

Are you out of your mind?

Their rhythm section are insanely tight. 

No no, I'm sane. I've taken my medications, I promise. They were fucking awful on that first album. Album #2 onwards they took a huge leap.