Worst album by our favourite Bands.

Well being my favorite band Genesis, I have the sad duty to admit is very hard to choose the worst album, the 80's and 90's have a lot stuff to choose from, but I'll go with the self titled Genesis .aka. Shapes, I hate Mama and Invisible Touch has at least one good track with The Brazilian.

Some others:

Focus...."Focus Con Proby":  PJ Proby and Focus members are great musicians, but this album sounded inferior to everything they did.

Kansas...."Vynil Confessions": Not only the absence of Walsh, but the trying to change Kansas into a religious band was a mistake, I'm a religious man, but there's a place for everything.

STYX...."Kilroy Was Here": STYX always played in the limit, but this album was an aberration

Triumvirat....."A La Carte": The Rat turns POP (Some POP is good, this one sucks).

Hackett and Howe...."GTR": Not a favorite band for me, but surely my favorite prog' guitar players, this thing stinks.

Yes.....Big Generator: 90125 was bad (Not terrible) but this one is even worst, maybe Onion is even worst but having Wakeman and Bruford together with Yes deserves some attention.

ELP....."Re-Works": Dance and Prog together? This album makes Love Beach sound as a masterpiece.

ELO...."Discovery": The name says it all Discovery = Very Disco.

Iván

I was SO disappointed with Rush's Vapor Trails' but i'm not sure its their worst album Caress of Steel is probably close.

Sometimes though you just grow out of a band, maybe this has been the case for me and Rush.

There are some very interesting replies, inviting the proverb"one man's meat is another man's poison."

Of the one's we all seem to agree on, the question has to be: how does it happen?

Our heroes go through the process of composition, recording and mastering, lovingly crafting their art and then release a turkey. If the album is an early release or the last release ever before a rift because of "musical differences" then one can probably understand eg "Caress Of Steel" or "The Final Cut" are probably good examples of this (though judged with the benefit of hindsight.)  Presto (by Rush) is probably a good example of a mid-career hiccup, Tormato and Animals too in my opinion. It is too easy to believe that groups as professional as Rush,Pink Floyd and Yes had become sloppy (although you always had the personal tensions in Yes and Floyd.)

Then you realise that it could be our fault. I buy most albums without prior audition so the sales will be racked up regardless of artistic merit. Whilst art is not like a meal you can send back in a restaurant if you dont like it, most of us never bother to write to the bands to express our opinions (and I doubt whether  Neil Peart or Jon Anderson read this humble forum!) Rush claims to have a special relationship with its audience, but when you analyse this you realise that we stick by them through (mostly) thick and (occasionally) thin, and that we dont actually connect with any personal feedback.

I was really disappointed with Mezquita's "Califas del Rock", but I guess that doesn't count, as they only had one other album.

Blacksword wrote: Raindances - Camel (Boring, dreary and a massive dissapointment after Moonmadness)

Well, it at least has 'A song within a song', 'Rain Dances' and 'First Light', wich are good in my opinion. It is certenlly worst (and Latimer own less appreciate work) 'The Single Factor', with just a couple of decent tracks. 

Jim Garten wrote: Have to disagree, there - Tull's real nadir was definitely 'Under Wraps'; Peter Vetesse deserves to be shot for the damage he did to Tull in that period (my own humble opinion, of course)

Just a bit more info on the subject: In the 'Walk into Light' CD notes, Anderson states that he was at the time very interested in synth music, citing people like Thomas Dolby as an influece (by the way, Dolby is the 80s synth musician that I think could appeal more to proggers). That means he embraced gladly Vetesse influence in the sound of Tull. Ironically, this solo album pre-under wraps has more co-written tracks than any Tull album, making it a Anderson-Vetesse combo effort. Then came under-wraps, and the (almost total) disaster.

I agree that Rock Island and Catfish Rising are not great records, but they still have some good tracks. And Kissing Willie....

Been listening to Rush back catalogue as the European tour hoves into view and have to say Hemispheres is one dreadful record

well half a dreadful record - The Trees and Villa are cool but side one? puh-lease!

What were they thinking. I believe from reading interviews that this was the most difficult aldbum they ever made, with a lot of tension involved between the three and it sure shows on side one - it's half-baked, ill-conceived, about 18 minutes too long and utterly directionless.

Rush, tho' i genuinely love them (and have done since first hearing them on the release of Permanent Waves) have, in between the gems, released some real stinkers over the years. How about 'Grace Under Pressure', which contains just the one good tune in 'Kid Gloves' or even 'Caress of Steel' which features the plaing awful 'Fountains of Lamneth', a desperate attempt by three sophomores to stretch an idea so that it would meet their desire for a one-song side. Ohh boy, it's rank.

Just as well they made up for them with 2112, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures (all almost perfect records)

I wouldn't say I completely love Caress (it's no Hemispheres), but it was my intro to the band and I think it stands up pretty well...anyway, at the time it was their best album yet

I don't think Rush really has a 'worst' album (except maybe that first one that was somewhat less than 2/3rds Rush)...even the cringe-inducing moments on the later stuff is often redeemed by moments of excellence (sometimes, as in "Roll the Bones", in the very same song!).