I like the bad later albums

Woebot

Well-known member
scritti's white bread black beer (is that what it is called?) - that's the best thing he ever did. that's my benchmark for this i reckon.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
I once had a mate who insisted Blah Blah Blah was the best thing Iggy had ever done. But he was generally wrong about pretty much everything.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
I love Pygmalion (Slowdive's final/finest record), the rest of their output I can live without.

Yeah but that's like saying you like Talk Talk's last stuff best - that's the critical consensus anyway. I thought this thread was about where most people slate the later stuff...

I think Pygmalion's fucking boring. :D I tried to like it because of what I thought it stood for, but that never really works does it?

Also, zhao, if you're talking about Holger's 'Cool In The Pool' (mid-80s) when you talk about later Can material, you should hear what he's done in the last 25 years.... the last album (that I know of) was stuff sub-par euro dance stuff.


I was trying to think of anything that might fit the thread, but most of my favourite albums are from artists who released fuck all or are early on in a long career.
 
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padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
I have a (large) softspot for hair metal Discharge (i.e. Grave New World and beyond).

absolutely can't join you all on later vs. earlier Husker Du tho. the opposite, actually, my favorite by them is Everything Falls Apart.
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
It's true that the critical consensus on Slowdive is that they got better as they went along but that did get me thinking... It seems to me the critical consensus is increasingly tolerant of Bad Later Albums (BLAs). There have been so many classic artists in recent years who've released albums that have been trumpeted as returns-to-form but have turned out to be utter shite.

I would not include the Scritti album in that, BTW. Big fan of that one. Actually, I like Cupid & Psyche a lot too, which some would probably count as a BLA.

Oh and I can't believe I didn't mention Sonic Youth. I absolutely love Dirty and A Thousand Leaves but it's really all about Murray Street, which is up there with Sister and Daydream Nation, IMHbCO. Seriously, don't sleep on Murray Street. Amazing stuff!
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Oh and I can't believe I didn't mention Sonic Youth. I absolutely love Dirty and A Thousand Leaves but it's really all about Murray Street, which is up there with Sister and Daydream Nation, IMHbCO. Seriously, don't sleep on Murray Street. Amazing stuff!

Yes! Haven't really listened to SY for ages but Murray St was always my fave by them, especially 'Rain on tin' with all that beautiful Neil Young/Television-esque guitar duelling. Stunning track and as good as anything on Sister and Daydream nation if you ask me.

 
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Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Street Legal and New Morning: Not many people have good things to say about these Dylan albums but I reckon they're both excellent. I have seen Self Portrait being critically reappraised but not these two I think.
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
Yeah but that's like saying you like Talk Talk's last stuff best - that's the critical consensus anyway. I thought this thread was about where most people slate the later stuff...

at time of release this record was panned by critics and consequently ignored by the public. i found my copy in a bargain bucket! the word did eventually catch up, but this record wasn't lauded until way after it's retail shelf life.
 

Client Eastwood

Well-known member
Can I mention Sade on Dissensus : ) Stronger Than Pride so much better than Diamond Life.

Diamond Life reminds me of Matt Bianco now.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
at time of release this record was panned by critics and consequently ignored by the public. i found my copy in a bargain bucket! the word did eventually catch up, but this record wasn't lauded until way after it's retail shelf life.

Ah OK, I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the correction.

I picked up my copy cheap too, I think it was in about 2000.
 

gnome

Active member
I've come to really like some of the cheesier mid-late 80s New Order stuff after glossing over it in my Joy Division period

 

martin

----
Not defending it as a great album, but I prefer "Cut the Crap" to most of "Sandinista". It's also a good way of weeding out the Mojo / TV retro talking head-types who want to pretend it never happened. It still makes me laugh, which is as good a response as any.
Agree with the bloke who mentioned the Fall, the Brix 84-86 era was way better than 'Hex' or the early stuff.
 
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Tim F

Well-known member
The big ones for me are:

Wu-Tang Clan - Iron Flag (2001)
Joni Mitchell - Night Ride Home (1991)
Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will (2003)
 
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