Albums That Ruin A Discography
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Forum Name: Top 10s and lists
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=97485
Printed Date: March 03 2025 at 13:29
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Topic: Albums That Ruin A Discography
Posted By: Xonty
Subject: Albums That Ruin A Discography
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:07
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Hello, can anyone think of any single albums that completely ruin a band's discography. Struggling to think of any in particular, as most prog bands just go downhill towards the end of their careers (ELP, Genesis, arguably Yes, Pink Floyd, etc.) Albums I can think of are: King Crimson - The ConstruKction Of Light (IMO) Supertramp - Free As A Bird Led Zeppelin - Coda (could have been so much better, looking at their other outtakes) The Velvet Underground - Squeeze (compared to the others, terrible) Really stuck now, I'll edit if I think of any  As always, thanks for any feedback
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Replies:
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:16
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I also hate Famous Last Words by Supertramp. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:18
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CoL is a brilliant Crimson album imo.
For me it's Final Cut, but that's also because of the circumstances under which it got produced. I could never get into it, and that's coming from a huge Waters fan. I love 'Pros and Cons' and 'Amused to Death'. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:20
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Not to be that guy but...for me one bad album in a semi-large or larger discog doesn't ruin the whole output of the band. Now that I think about it....even if a band had two albums, one that was top notch and one that is better buried in the ground, I still wouldn't say that whole discog is ruined. ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: bloodnarfer
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:27
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ramza1316" rel="nofollow - www.last.fm/user/ramza1316 https://open.spotify.com/user/1211221845" rel="nofollow - https://open.spotify.com/user/1211221845 |
Man With Hat wrote:Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:31
qft Albums stand on their own, at least the ones that matter. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:33
Hahah ninja'd by bloodytapir! With the same acronym no less  ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:35
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Should be "Albums that ruin a good run", or sumfink. ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:48
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some fink eh? ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: bloodnarfer
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:53
bloodytapir? oh I like it! I'm having a hard time thinking of any combo breaker albums. I don't usually think of bands in those terms. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ramza1316" rel="nofollow - www.last.fm/user/ramza1316 https://open.spotify.com/user/1211221845" rel="nofollow - https://open.spotify.com/user/1211221845 |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 16:57
Hahah i am a bit beerski tonight, so bear with me. Polar bear with me? ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 17:43
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'The ConstruKction Of Light' is a great album for me. As for the topic, I say it's 'Serenades' by Anathema, because it's so lame and juvenile-sounding even in comparison with 'The Silent Enigma'. ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 18:03
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I'm willing to accept the hyperbole in good sporting fun and game spirit what ho hey now ashtray's your uncle.
Feedback by Spirit was a very shocking misstep for a band that had been nearly perfect to that point. They replaced 3 of their 5 members and were Spirit in name only. It's not rancid terrible, but ... Well maybe it was close. It only had the Spirit name on it because Cassidy was still in the band (RIP Cass <3) ------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 18:33
But then we'd only get Then There Were Three or Duke.
------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: silverpot
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 20:02
Yeah, The Final Cut, what a disappointment! No fan of Pros and Cons and Amused either, but I'm quite fond of Radio KAOS. Not many agrees with me on that one though. |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: March 11 2014 at 20:24
| Ocean is kind of a turd compared to Eloy's previous 5 albums. But some people are into turds, so that's ok. |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 02:41
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 02:51
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Those last two choices are strange to me. Ocean is not my favourite Eloy album but a 'turd'?? I would rate it 3 stars. Ra is the only album I can't listen to by them. Platinum is rather beautiful in my eys and Oldfield managed his transition from epic instrumental works to a sleeker more band lead approach absolutely perfectly imo.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 02:58
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Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 03:12
"transition"? that's very bad believe me
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Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 03:57
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What a totally negative thread...scraping the barrel stuff ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 05:31
Platinum....the perfect crossover album, one of Oldfield's prized jewel. Just shows how appalling opinions can be  ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 05:48
This is e.g. a far better crossover prog album (the term did not exist at that time, though) but extremely conspicuous as a bad album, although there are some strong tracks unlike Mr Oldfield's Platinium bullsh*tt |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 06:03
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The OP is asking for the one album in an artists discography that ruins it. That means you think Platinum is the only bad album by Oldfield. I find your opinion unfathomable. There are easily half a dozen worse than Platinum. Platinum isn't top 3, but its certainly not bottom 1. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 06:21
Maybe I misunderstood the question from the OP, but after Platinium I lost interest for further Oldfield's work, and I was not the only one. |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 06:52
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The Final Cut ruins Pink Floyds list Love Beach and the followup ruins ELP Big Generator ruins Yes Presto ruins Rush now for the flaming - theres always someone out ther in a negative thread who loves even this lot! ------------- 
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Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 06:58
You did misunderstand
I happen to agree that TB through Incantations is by far the best period for Oldfield, I still like Crises, Platinum & QE2 but after that it drops off pretty dramatically. There's the occasional good album, Amarok & Songs Of Distant Earth for example, but otherwise not so much. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 07:09
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Tangerine Dream's remake attempt of Tangram was a low point I wasn't expecting. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 07:39
Well, I was just waiting for someone to mention Love Beach and Big Generator.
Have another listen to "I'm Running" from BG and then tell me it ruins Yes' discography.
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Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 07:44
Extremely cheesy with poor production value and unmemorable compositions, whereas before they were putting out groovy hard-rocking psychedelia
The day that 1 track makes an entire album worth listening to is a sad day indeed not that I can really comment as I've never bothered to listen to Big Generator |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 11:25
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I can't think of a single album that ever "ruined a discog" for me. Yes some of my fave bands have dud albums but I think of them more as pieces of the puzzle.
------------- ...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell" |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 11:53
Yeah...I have to agree with you. One bad LP doesn't "ruin a discography''....
and as Chris S said above it's a' "negative thread scraping the bottom of the barrel".
But then that seems to be a tradition here at PA.
 ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 11:56
Big Generator, although not a masterpiece by any means, isn't quite as bad as it's reputation. On the other hand,Open Your Eyes is every bit as bad as it's reputation. ------------- 
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Posted By: Polymorphia
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 12:34
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Strange Terrain was a pretty low point for Jan Dukes de Grey. They basically took all the strengths of those wacky psychedelic tracks they did as Noy's Band and turned them into weaknesses. It's almost embarrassing to listen to. On the other hand, that hasn't tarnished my appreciation for Sorcerers and Mice and Rats in the Loft. |
Posted By: Metalmarsh89
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 15:52
That would be me. Presto is one of my favorites.  ------------- Want to play mafia? Visit http://www.mafiathesyndicate.com" rel="nofollow - here . |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: March 12 2014 at 16:02
He couldn't continue doing things that way (months and months in a studio) , it wasn't healthy for him. Transition is a bad word perhaps but he wanted to explore a different way of working. I quickly became very fond of Platinum when I strapped on a set of decent headphones and there is plenty to enjoy. I don't believe he compromised his approach he just changed that's all. BTW have you heard Amarok? It was a bit of a return to his earlier style of music. A lot of people enjoy that who like the early stuff. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 13 2014 at 07:19
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Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: March 13 2014 at 13:21
Put the bottle down, sunshine. ------------- |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: March 14 2014 at 00:28
| ^ Indeed, Ocean is a high-point in the world of Eloy (and they had many peaks with very few troughs). |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 14 2014 at 23:18
Outlandish. Ocean is a classic. ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 14 2014 at 23:19
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{Richard will appreciate this...)
Tangerine Dream: too many to list! ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: March 14 2014 at 23:21
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I stand corrected. Several people are into turds. <this post is 100% serious and you should be offended k> |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 00:00
Usually people are nice(r) and say "_______ is overrated."  ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 02:49
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I wonder if anyone actually may think their opinion could ever be wrong
(subject to insular group thought) and perhaps taking another view of
music which is not created and recorded with the idea of being awful
(Metal Machine Music possibly excepted.) I did this with The Final Cut. Never liked it and figured out why. It is largely not a rock album, it certainlly does not start that way. Ignoring the politics behind it's creation I found it to be highly intelligent but not a welcoming listen. DG gets quite a lot of solos (well five which is at least as many as TDSOTM but I've not counted those. It's not really a sequel to The Wall but more of a focus on the least pop oriented aspects - the personal (George Waters), the new (Falklands War and the relationships we have with violence, conflict and balanced if always temporary resolution. So I find the music austere but interesting and well crafted. Like I say not the usual top 40 pop prog fans claim to dislike. But it's easier to dislike something that isn't a challenge than to like something that is. Not sure why the dislike for Big Generator - oh wait - it's not CTTE Pt30 is that it. Lot's of hate and hype but no reason. Same with And Then There Were Three... what's wrong with that? No Steve Hackett? Franky I thought Rutherford and Banks did an excellent job of creating and recording some very imaginative and well depicted (lyrically) poems with plenty of atmosphere. Collins was only starting to get going but his singing and playing are exemplary. They headlined Knebworth with this album as well. They didn't get replacements but created from within. That's a bit different and worthy of some respect I think. However....I'm always in the market for someone to convince me I'm wrong about Yes' Yesshows (maybe 2 stars from me) compared to the universe I shower on Yessongs. Open Your Eyes is still the only Yes studio album I have not heard, again lots of wind around but no water in the criticisms usually. Do I have to wade through more reviews before I can find someone who can give a reasonable analysis of the content? Oh, as for the overrated bit... hw does that make the music better or worse? (Verslibre, I'm not getting at you - this over rated / under rated thing is universal). This is largely people talking about their reaction only but gives little in the way of a precis for the potential punter. If one wants to taatck and like praise needs to be justfied. Just put oneself in the place of the artist and consider how you'd like some of the Oh one thing about albums ruining a discog - if one album is so bad exactly how is the discog ruined? Has the "bad" music tricked across and infected other albums of music? Yes, a bit of a negative thread, been a bit of that here recently. Still, it's nowhere near as bad as the Vote for your least favourite sub genre. The OP there claims it gets people to think about music. original idea and not exactly sure how that is supposed to work. Some back-pedalling by saying it's "fun". It's not, it is cruel, insensitive just sophistcated juvenile attacks on people whose being went into making music for the benefit of the fans. The lack of respect shows how low fans can go. There were one or two protests at this poll but many happily waded in. I think Pink Floyd made some observations about this mentality on Sheep (Animals, 1977). With all the good these bands and artists do the least we can do is wave back at them, yes? |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 06:05
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 07:22
| Not that it ruins a discography per se, but Giant For A Day was pretty weak coming from our beloved counterpoint Kings, Gentle Giant. |
Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 07:35
Probably because it wasn't actually a VU album, it was a Doug Yule solo album. His label made him put the VU name on it in the hopes of scoring a few extra bucks. The band Squeeze was allegedly named after that album..... ------------- "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 07:39
A decent enough ambitious pop/rock album but like Tom says, hardly the sort of thing we expect from Gentle Giant. Sometimes we have the unrealistic expectation that artistic integrity can be exchanged for food vouchers but everyone has to pay the rent and everyone has a shelf life in the fickle and volatile tides of popular music. ------------- 
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Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 07:40
I've often said that TFC is basically a dry run for Waters' solo career. ------------- "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken |
Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 10:49
Yessongs has so much good material. Yesshows has clearly substandard material, but it is played so well. I would take just about every Yesshows track over their studio versions. As for Open Your Eyes, just go ahead and listen to it already. Fortune Seller has some darn good keyboard work by Khoroshev. He wasn't officially member yet but it's really good. Open Your Eyes is another good track, and listening to Universal Garden will at least prove to you this is authentic Yes for better or worse. As for the rest,ummm... well... how did you feel about the second half of Union? -------------
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Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 10:51
If I was going to name an album that ruined Pete's discography, I would probably choose the second one. Sure I hate Sledhammer and Big Time, but the rest of So is pretty good. -------------
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 11:07
| As a hypothetical discussion, at least one rank turd could be suggested for many artists who have released more than a half a dozen or so albums and perhaps some who have released fewer. But really, do they ruin a discography? I don't think so. I would rather remember great bands for the great albums they made which gave me joy rather than lament that they made ones that didn't satisfy me. Yes, there have been albums of my favourite bands that disappointed me but I don't regret that they had to make them. |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 11:26
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 15:16
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Hi,
NONE.
Even Beethoven had his bagatelles, so that's that!
No one is perfect and not every piece is loved by everyone, and as it has been said, someone's garbage is someone else's gold!
We don't sit around and say that Picasso's blue period is crap.
We don't sit around and say that Michelangelo's this or that is crap.
I don't see why we should start now with discographies for musicians, be they "pop" music or not. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 15:41
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Posted By: Kentucky_Hawkwindage
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 16:11
| I agree with all who've said Love Beach. I'd go with Conquest for Uriah Heep. For Budgie i'd go with Impeckable. |
Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 16:43
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I think it's been said already, but I think it's pretty much impossible to ruin a good discography. ------------- "Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value." Arnold Schoenberg |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 16:56
That's a pretty awful pick. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 20:15
That's a real head-scratcher, certainly. One of the best albums of the 80s. The only album better would be Melt.  I would choose: Jethro Tull -- Under Wraps (although the tendencies were clearly there in A) ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 15 2014 at 22:32
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Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: March 17 2014 at 10:33
------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: March 17 2014 at 10:59
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Posted By: skreamer
Date Posted: March 21 2014 at 11:08
| I don't believe that an album can ruin a discography. It's more like a series of albums which show a big change in musical direction that bothers me. The best example to me is post-Duke-era Genesis. Maybe we assume that a band should stick to OUR musical preferences to preserve a perfect discography. That being said (or written), just to add an album to the long list you've made, I'd say that the latest Blackfield album is way below my criteria for it to be an excellent album: only 1 song is, to me, worth listening on the cd. |
Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: April 22 2014 at 16:36
Hear hear on standing up in the face of the drubbing BG gets. For me, "Tormato" is much closer to a stinker overall. There just seems to be a pernicious anti-Rabin element on PA that I've never understood. Like he's to blame for Howe not coming back. And further on a negative note, I'm surprised it took until page 2 to mention one of the all-time turds, Love Beach. What a disaster. While I'm dissing albums, I can't fail to mention the ignominy of the last two Triumvirat releases. I didn't even finish listening to Russian Roulette. And "Octave" was a horrible return for the Moodies. |
Posted By: skreamer
Date Posted: April 23 2014 at 09:56
| Want something bad to listen to? Try Strawbs' album Hero & Heroine In Ascencia (2011)! The singing is awful! It could have been an excellent instrumental album! |
Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: April 23 2014 at 09:58
Although I much prefer their `proggier' earlier albums, `The Game' is simply a fine rock album to my ears, and `Dragon Attack' is a bit of a killer! But, for me the real issue is the front cover! Lord, it's bloody awful!!
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Posted By: skreamer
Date Posted: April 23 2014 at 10:08
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It reminds me of a Judas Priest photo in a tour promo.
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