Fascinating discussion as to what are the most over-rated albums of all time. You are guaranteed to find a dozen or so you will violently disagree with (I know I did). But its a provocative idea -- likely purposefully, so as to generate more comments and posts -- from Jaguaro: 

Here' s their dissection of the average music fan's collection:

"We have not selected easy targets for removal -- we know that you know that the Milli Vanilli album you've got stashed away in a shoebox isn't exactly kosher. Nope, we chose critical darlings and must-have releases from the past and present. Some will bristle at our audacity for questioning the worth of any Beatles release or blithely pissing on Jane's Addiction's "masterpiece." Some will maintain that we're not qualified or that we'll never make an album as great as Dark Side of the Moon and accordingly should shut our traps. The approval an artist seeks by releasing an album is not guaranteed, even if music moguls, "tastemakers," and critics agree that it is merited. As music listeners, we've taken on the very modest project of flipping through our collections, listening to them, and separating the good stuff from the bad. If the creators of the "greats," the "classics," and the "hits" want to ensure that their efforts get the praise they deserve forevermore, they should take care that they are only accessible to sympathetic critics and fans.

The entries on this list fall roughly into three categories:

   •      Critically bullet-proof artifacts whose weighty presence on the shelf is complimented perfectly by their perpetual absence from the CD player. Critic-mandated vanity archives should be bundled up and spirited off to the used record store under the cover of night.

    •     Albums by new artists that have only their newness and the marketing efforts of music conglomerates to recommend them. Almost invariably, these recordings pale in comparison to those of the artists they imitate. Alternately, new albums by established artists that are slavishly hailed as the big comeback get high points with us. Like nature hates a vacuum, Jaguaro despises the Next Big Thing.

    •     Nostalgic favorites that maintain their place by tradition and neglect more than actual merit. These are the CDs people never get rid of because they may want to play them some time in the indefinite future (certainly not now).

I'm posting this more to spark a discussion than because I agree with Jaguaro . . . I found plenty that they are just FN wrong about.

I disagreed with their takes on:

    1.      The Clash - Combat Rock
    5.      The Beatles - Let It Be       
    22.      The Who - Tommy
    25.      Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
    28.      Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
    34.      Dave Brubeck - Time Out
    37.      John Coltrane - Giant Steps
    58.      Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever, Amen
    62.      Green Day - Dookie
    64.      Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
    65.      Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Surfacing
    74.      The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band
    91.      Sublime - Self-titled
    97.      The Doors - The Best of the Doors

Most of their criticism falls into one of 4 categories:

1)   We're young and stupid and wear our ignorance of musical history on our sleeves;
2)   Jazz? We don't know shit about Jazz;
3)  If I like melodic female vocals, does that make me gay? ;

and lastly, the general catch all:

4)   Alex, I'll take pretentious Bullshit for $100

That about covers it . . .

Source:
One Hundred Albums You Should Remove from Your Collection Immediately
edited by Wesley A. Kose
jaguaro.org, January 27, 2004
http://www.jaguaro.org/feature/archives/000007.html

Posted at 12:00 PM in Music | Permalink

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