Albums people always rag on...

Stole this idea from another board I was on. What are some albums that are constantly ragged on? Do you think those albums deserve the negative remarks or do you think they are unjustified?

Here are some I came up with:
Queensryche - Promised Land
I didn't like it initially either, but like it quite a bit now.

Metallica - black album
I see this one ragged on constantly by metal fans. It's not thrash, but I still enjoy it. A heavy album with a commercial appeal that obviously worked at it sold like gangbusters.

Guns N' Roses - The Spaghetti Incident?
I like cover albums myself.

Judas Priest - Jugulator & Demolition
No, it's not Halford. No, these are not Priest's finest hour, but I don't think they suck. I really like Jugulator actually. A few songs on this CD rule! Cathedral Spires and Bullet Train are both great and should be resurrected with the Halford line-up.

Aerosmith - Rock in a Hard Place
Another one that has a bad rep simply because it doesn't feature the "original" line-up. Regardless, there are some great songs here! Lightning Strikes, Jailbait, Bolivian Ragauffin, Jig is Up and the title track are prime 'Smith IMO.

Ted Nugent - Nugent
I think it's a classic, but most fans seem to dismiss it. Not sure why. This one saw the return of original vocalist Derek St. Holmes.

Deliverance - River Disturbance
OK, this one is melodic and a move away from the thrash, speed metal, etc. but...well, I like it.

Anvil - Strength of Steel
People claimed this album was a sellout! I just don't hear it. Sounds like Anvil to me! 'Cause I'm a mad dog, a mad, mad dog!

Raven - The Pack Is Back
Yea, ok, this one sucks! However, with the next album the band was back IMO. People just didn't care.

Twisted Sister - Love is for Suckers
Not their best for sure. They were following the crowd instead of being themselves, but it's not bad.

Savatage - Fight For the Rock
This one I agree with. Never could get into it.

KISS - Dynasty
Often pegged as Kiss' disco album. For sure the band had lost their edge, and the single from the record 'I Was Made For Loving You' was a stab at the disco cat, but this is just a rock and roll record. I like it, but then again, I'm a bit of a Kiss fanatic.

Motörhead - Another Perfect Day
Back in the day fans HATED this album. Being a big Thin Lizzy and Motörhead fan, I loved it! This was a different Motörhead, but still great! Funny thing is, two decades later and now people list it as a classic. Go figure!

Motörhead - March or Die
No, it's not their best. Sony was obviously pushing the band for a more commercially acceptable release. Still, it's Motörhead! There's still plenty to like about it. I like Motörhead's version of Hellraiser better than Ozzy's.

Celtic Frost - Cold Lake
Yes, Frost's big commercial sellout. What was with those band photos? The band looked like they were trying to be Motley Crue's big, ugly sisters. However, the music really isn't that bad. Actually, I quite like this album. Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone.

Rose - Crazy Little World
Yup, this is crap.

Quote :

Judas Priest - Jugulator & Demolition
No,
it's not Halford. No, these are not Priest's finest hour, but I don't
think they suck. I really like Jugulator actually. A few songs on this
CD rule! Cathedral Spires and Bullet Train are both great and should be
resurrected with the Halford line-up.

I love JUGULATOR but never liked DEMOLITION at all. I pull it off the shelf every so often to listen to "Machine Man" and "Bloodsuckers" and then it goes back to gathering dust....

Quote :

Anvil - Strength of Steel
People claimed this album was a sellout! I just don't hear it. Sounds like Anvil to me! 'Cause I'm a mad dog, a mad, mad dog!

Count me in as a fan of this one too. It might have slicker production values than most Anvil records but it's still pretty good stuff. I was kinda bummed that they didn't play "Mad Dog" the one time I saw Anvil.

Quote :

Raven - The Pack Is Back
Yea, ok, this one sucks! However, with the next album the band was back IMO. People just didn't care.

I have a love/hate relationship with this one. The title track rocks, as does "Rock Dogs" and "Youngblood." However, most of the remaining tracks are just "meh."

Howzabout...
Overkill, I HEAR BLACK -- the one Overkill CD I could never get into. Sounds like an odd merger of Black Sabbath and Soundgarden to me. A total departure from their signature sound.

Dokken, DYSFUNCTIONAL - for some reason a lotta Dokken fans seem to hate this one. Dunno why, it's one of my favorite discs in their catalog.

Stryper, AGAINST THE LAW - another "love or hate" kind of album. A lot of their hardcore Christian following hate this one because they saw the image and lyrical changes as the band "turning their backs" on God. I happen to love this record and think it's their absolute best, most mature offering.

Kiss, CARNIVAL OF SOULS - otherwise known as "the KISS grunge record." Some of it is quite good though (Gene's songs "Hate" and "In My Head" frickin' rock!). I could've done without the overbaked ballad "I Will Be There" and Bruce Kulick's lead vocal debut on "I Walk Alone" though.

I'm sure I can come up with some others but I'm not sufficiently caffeinated right now.

Demolition Hammer Time Bomb - really is crap. After the first two albums, wow--what a letdown. A really wimpy letdown.

The Beatles Let It Be - not their finest hour, but The Beatles' worst album is better than most other bands' BEST albums.

Metallica s/t - like ult said, it's not thrash, but it's a pretty solid rock album. If none of us knew it was Metallica, and thus were not expecting Master of Puppets, we would all probably consider it to be a pretty good album. After 18 years, I still can't make myself fork over the $8 for a used copy.

I will only address the albums I own or heard my take on the following CD's

Queensryche-The Promised Land-I like this CD, not the best in their discography but certainly not their worst. Very good album that differs from Empire and moves away from their metal roots to a more modern rock sound with hints of prog. Very underrated album

Guns N Roses-The Spaghetti Incident-I love this album!!! G n R covering the Dead Boys, Fear, and Axl doing Nazareth's Hair of the Dog is so fitting.

Judas Priest-Jugulator-When I first heard it I hated it, but that maybe due to the fact that it wasn't Rob Halford, now I think it is a great CD even with the very dumb lyrics, as far as Demolition, this album is a dog and the worst Judas Priest album.

Aerosmith-Rock In a Hard Place-As I stated in another thread this album is classic, kicks ass and Steven Tyler's pre Betty Ford stream of conscience poetry is brillant.

Ted Nugent-Nugent-I used think this album was horrible, thanks to No Life til Metal website I went back and revisited this album and have come to the conclusion that I did too many drugs during the 80's because this album is very cool. Yes it is a little too commerical but still a great album featuring Derek St Holmes and more hooks than a tackle box.

Raven-The Pack Is Back-To quote Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now " The Horror...the horror"

Twisted Sister-Love is for Suckers-I actually like this album even if it is a Dee Snider solo album in name only, the opening track 'Wake Up (the Sleeping Giant)' is worth the price admission alone.

Savatage-Fight for the Rock-They should have fought harder, they lost because this album sucks. The only blackmark in an otherwise brillant career.

KISS-Dynasty-I actually like this album, even "I Was Made for Loving You" is a good song. Anyway KISS never claimed to be purist.

Motorhead-Another Perfect Day- The best Motorhead in their discography, and Brian Robertson kicks so much ass, that only a tone deaf Emo loving, Slipknot worshipping Korn fed nu metal fan could deny its greatness.

Metallica-s/t- Great album, very commerical, sure, but personally I am sick to death of it, I have heard it way too many times.

There is slamming on Fight for the rock, but another sava disc that gets WAY to much dumbing down is Streets. What the heck, you would think that everybody would have took there hate out on Gutter ballet for the band going prog. Streets is one of their best albums IMO and sports the bands best ballad not to mention the lyrics being in best form.

Stender wrote:

There is slamming on Fight for the rock, but another sava disc that gets WAY to much dumbing down is Streets. What the heck, you would think that everybody would have took there hate out on Gutter ballet for the band going prog. Streets is one of their best albums IMO and sports the bands best ballad not to mention the lyrics being in best form.

Prog? I don't hear that at all.

Queensryche's Promised Land is a killer album. It's wicked underrated.

Eyesore wrote:

Queensryche's Promised Land is a killer album. It's wicked underrated.

Agreed! Love the song "Disconnected".

Eyesore wrote:

Stender wrote:

There is slamming on Fight for the rock, but another sava disc that gets WAY to much dumbing down is Streets. What the heck, you would think that everybody would have took there hate out on Gutter ballet for the band going prog. Streets is one of their best albums IMO and sports the bands best ballad not to mention the lyrics being in best form.

Prog? I don't hear that at all.

Queensryche's Promised Land is a killer album. It's wicked underrated.

Maybe not on streets so much, but every album after HOTMK was prog right? Thats the point I was trying to make.

Metallica's Black album is killer, even though it's not up to par with the thrash cd's we were used to its still heavy and killer with tones of groove.

Overkill's I hear black is probably my 3rd favorite overkill disc. It's heavy, groovy, and has tons of hooks.

Judas Priest's Jugulator is my favorite JP disc. Its so freakin heavy, So shoot me..

Others that i feel get ragged on that dont deserve it are:

Megadeth - Cryptic Writings
Anthrax - Stomp 442
Korn - S/t, this is one of the best debuts ever. I dont care for Korn that much but this cd is killer.
Fear Factory - Digimortal - The best FF cd IMO...

One thing I have learned over the years is that people seem to be very negative to certain bands. Without even listening to the music they seem to put the band and it's music down. I always say "How can you say you dislike a band if you heard one song?"

KISS-Carnival of Souls-I love that album, "Childhood's End' is a great song, and I like every song on that CD will expect for I will Be There, but even that song is OK

Dokken-Dysfunctional-IMO the best Dokken album, with Don Dokken's more mature lyrics and songwriting, nothing like their 80's material ( which I am fan of), and George Lynch's guitar tone is killer.

Overkill-I Hear Black- Good album but not one of their better moments but better than 99% of what was released that year that was labeled as metal/hard rock.

Stender wrote:

Maybe not on streets so much, but every album after HOTMK was prog right? Thats the point I was trying to make.

Depends on your definition of the word "Prog".

Savatage added piano on Gutter Ballet, but aside from the extra instrument the songs don't sound much different than their earlier work (a little more mature maybe). So I definitely wouldn't classify them as Prog.

Black Sabbath - Seventh Star
Not sure if people still dismiss this album, but this one took a pounding when it was released. I loved it then and still love it now. Brilliant album IMO!

I love Black Sabbath-Seventh Star, Glenn Hughes is an excellent vocalist, also their is song about Tony Iommi's father who passed away during the making of this album and the song 'In Memory' has a special meaning for me, here are the lyrics:


In Memory...
No one told me the way I should feel
You left an aching heart
Lost and lonely, the feeling goes on
You were the one friend I had
You gave me so much love
Now the tears remind me you're gone

It still haunts me there's a silence
Where you used to be
It still haunts me
Just an empty space in history
It still haunts me
But life must go on, on and on

It's still haunting me
It's still haunting me
Haunting me
Haunting me

Seventh Star is a brilliant album, I was one of the few that loved it when it first came out and still do. The song Heart Like A Wheel contains some of Iommi's most tasty blues playing.

MetalRob331 wrote:

Megadeth - Cryptic Writings

Right on! There's a few commercial-modern type songs, but most of it is classic Megadeth!

Living Sacrifice - Conceived In Fire

Okay I'm just gonna say it. If I was forced to make a choice of which LS CD I can keep forever but never have any others....it would be Conceived. I love this CD, yes it's got some breakdowns in it...but man I love this very harsh and brutal CD. But it seems most see this as a huge crash from greatness. Yes, the S/T was a classic, but I never seem to find room on the iPod for it when it comes to picking between the two.

St. Anger

I've said it before, but I think St. Anger had some good ideas and would have been a good batch of demos. The only problem is that Metallica released it as a "finished" album.

I really liked Frantic (could have used a guitar solo, though). The opening for Invisible Kid always gets my attention. Overall, St. Anger had some good ideas that needed to be developed a little bit more.

Kreator's Renewal, Outcast, & Endorama
Dissection's Reinkaos
My Dying Bride's 34.788%... Complete
Demolition Hammer's Time Bomb
Forbidden's Green
Manilla Road's Out of the Abyss
Sepultura's Against
Darkthrone's Soulside Journey
Belladonna's Spells Of Fear
Nuclear Assault's Something Wicked
Rotting Christ's A Dead Poem
Dismember's Massive Killing Capacity

just to name a few. all good/great albums imho.

Stender wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Stender wrote:

There is slamming on Fight for the rock, but another sava disc that gets WAY to much dumbing down is Streets. What the heck, you would think that everybody would have took there hate out on Gutter ballet for the band going prog. Streets is one of their best albums IMO and sports the bands best ballad not to mention the lyrics being in best form.

Prog? I don't hear that at all.

Queensryche's Promised Land is a killer album. It's wicked underrated.

Maybe not on streets so much, but every album after HOTMK was prog right? Thats the point I was trying to make.

I wouldn't call it prog at all. Definitely more symphonic and epic, but not prog.

xyz wrote:

St. Anger

I've said it before, but I think St. Anger had some good ideas and would have been a good batch of demos. The only problem is that Metallica released it as a "finished" album.

I really liked Frantic (could have used a guitar solo, though). The opening for Invisible Kid always gets my attention. Overall, St. Anger had some good ideas that needed to be developed a little bit more.

I agree. There are some great parts on that album, but overall it's trash and deserves all the negativity it receives. But it's one thing having bad songs--that happens all the time. Metallica went and made those bad song nearly unlistenable with that horrendous production, and especially that pinging snare. I imagine St. Anger would get a spin now and then if it actually sounded good. At this point, I've not even bought the album, and the reason is because it'll never be an album I dislike but later find myself digging. It's actually painful to listen to.

I don't generally like being negative about albums or bands, but St. Anger is the one album I make an exception to. It deserves all the flack. That album actually pisses me off. Haha.

mc666 wrote:

Forbidden's Green
Nuclear Assault's Something Wicked

Both are great albums.Also Forbidden's Distortion.

Coroner - Grin

Guardian - Bottle Rocket
and yes, it deserves all the negative criticism it gets!

thrasher73 wrote:

mc666 wrote:

Forbidden's Green
Nuclear Assault's Something Wicked

Both are great albums.Also Forbidden's Distortion.

Being a Nuclear Assault fan AND a TT Quick fan, I thought that "Something Wicked" was great! I really enjoy it. It's not thrash, although there are still some thrash leanings, but it's still a strong heavy metal album.

thrasher73 wrote:

mc666 wrote:

Forbidden's Green
Nuclear Assault's Something Wicked

Both are great albums.Also Forbidden's Distortion.

Totally agree on the Forbidden discs. Green, in my opinion, is flat-out killer. I love the drum work on that one, too.