10 albums that always show up on “Worst” or “Most Overrated” lists.
I share how I felt when they were first released versus how I feel now.
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Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
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I think your first reaction ti Stormbringer is like mine today. I really Like 4 songs from the album, but only 3 from Burn. Mk 2 forever
Release Release one of the best song of Yes🎉🎉🎉
Elp Love beach, They look like the Bee Gees
great show! ty Phil
Great episode, Phil!
Deep Purple's "Slaves and Masters" always ranked at the bottom. I love "S&M", in fact it was in my top 10 best Purple studio albums.
Excellent!
Stormbringer is definitely the bottom of Hughes/Cloverdale Dp lps but has its moments.
I agree completely for Never Say Die!
If you can move beyond the fact is not the simple bludgeoning of Master of reality nor the Angelic arrangements of Sabbath bloody sabbath its a very creative & rocking lp, love the intensity of Ozzy on Johnny Blade & Bill Ward delivering alot of emotion on Swinging the chain.
Hi Phil, happy New Year my friend, personally i've never cared that much for love beach ,BUT, i totally love Brain Salad, i've always been a huge H.R. Giger fan as well as i studied a lot of art etc. even prior to the "Alien" movie coming out in US theaters back in the day, so i totally knew this artist and love his work. AND, i totally agree with your reference to "entry point" into music. all of us usually got into music in our earliest years in school and our peers certainly played a HUGE part in what the "masses" deemed cool and not so cool- so listener beware!! lol… i don't think that changes regardless of where we are from be it the US or the UK and that youthful rebel in all of us at that age is what rock n' roll is all about and is it's essence. that said, i did usually go against the crowd and proudly didn't give a shit then or now, especially as i get older at 57yo.-lolol.. at the end of the day good music is good music and what ever gets you off then go for it!!! we like what we like and there shouldn't be ANY shame in that what so ever, but the world is going to hate anyway- so i respectfully say to them-FPHUCK OFF!! lolol ,
Your story and reference to DP's Stormbringer i just simply love brother!! maybe a little off topic but i think another great example of that to me would certainly be Sabbath's Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules, man!! back in the day THAT was a VERY serious and major change and the ground shook with the indifference and mind blows to all that is Black Sabbath!!! the original BS hardcores seemed to hate it BUT i along with many at that time and at our age totally welcomed Dio into the BS camp- no part due to us loving him in Rainbow as well, and let's face it, as much of a change as it may have seemed at the time, one can physically feel the new energy and excitement in Dio joining as well as Tony's playing, granted more so in Mob Rules but the same as well for H&H although it's darker in context and production. WOW!! what great days those were!!
I hope your and your family are doing well Phil, i always love your content and watch all the time as well as catching you on the other podcasts such as SOT, etc. , i don't comment as much as others due to life and i enjoy being more of an observer than a load mouth. wishing you a great 2025 brother Phil, love the content always!! ,Jerry m/ m/
I quite liked The Final Cut from the start, though I understand the view of it as a Waters solo album, just as A Momentary Laps was a Gilmour solo album. In fact, I like Final Cut better than Momentary Lapse.
I'm not a huge Zeppelin fan, but I don't think In Through the Out Door is any worse than the others, and much better than some.
I've always liked Stormbringer, and in fact I think it was one of Purple's best albums (and better than the other Mark III albums). Being in the band held back Coverdale's worst lyrical tendencies, and I didn't mind the funk aspect. (Though Hughes is irritating as ever.) I was probably helped by being exposed to Taliesin, Machine Head, and Stormbringer all at the same time (about the time Stormbringer came out), so I saw the band as very broad-based..
Never Say Die, on the other hand, is pretty bad. For that matter, I "didn't get" Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath, but Technical Ecstasy is underrated.
Can't find anything relevant about The Olive Effect…would you mind an explaination?
As usual, I agree with almost everything you say…we part on Nostradamus! I've only listened to it twice! Wud you mind giving a couple of your favorites besides 'Alone'?
And yes, I have great affection for Stormbringer, Rough Diamonds & The Final Cut. I think it was in Kerrang where the reviewer of the Final Cut said paraphrasing ,"You may not like it now, but one day, you'll think it's a masterpiece.". And now I do.
Cheers
Hi Phil, I was working in a record store when Rough Diamond was released. I admit I became a little wary of Bad Company, even though Paul Rodgers is my favourite vocalist of all time. Run With Pack I thought was good but not up to the standard of the first two albums. Burning Sky, apart from the title track, I really thought the wheels were falling off. Desolation Angels for me redeemed everything. It has become my favourite Bad Co album because it has so much swagger. Rough Diamond started with Electric Land, and I thought we were onto another winner. To me it went seriously downhill from there. Like you I have often returned to albums I previously rejected, due to the musical tunnel vision of my youth, and have re assessed them. Unfortunately, Rough Diamond still doesn't make the cut for me. Paul left soon after and it was obvious why.
Mother Focus was ideal music to study by when I was in college. I had it on 8-track and would let it loop as I studied. I still enjoy it.
Raven-The Pack is Back comes to mind for me.Love that record as "Wimpy" and "Sell Out" as it was!
Stormbringer is a fabulous album. As musicians they were firing on all cylinders and touching on lots of genres. I think albums like that were unfairly judged because it simply wasn't noisey or aggressive.
Excellent video. I used to like the Final Cut when I first heard it, not so much in recent years. Music from the elder is the same. In through the out door would have been better with two or three of the coda songs instead of some of the songs. I do listen to it more than presence, which I also like. Stormbringer took me a long time to like. Not as good as burn but better to me than who do we think and come taste. Haha.
Queen – Hot Space. Utter garbage (apart from Under Pressure) when it came out and my perception has not changed 40 plus years later. No olive effect there. I'm 55 and really dislike olives – though my partner loves them. We both like marmite. I think the passage of time and nostalgia does help us appreciate a lot of things we couldn't appreciate in our youth.
I always liked The Final Cut and I love it now. Never Say Die- I first heard this album in my teens and loved it then. I still do and now I am able to appreciate the more jazz influenced elements of some of those tracks. I still haven’t warmed up to Stormbringer, though. Guess I’ll have to give it another spin and see how I feel now.
Bennie Helder from Mother Focus remains one of my all-time favourite Focus tracks. I live in hope that one day Thijs will revive it for the current live set like he did with PS March and Focus V. There ARE some really strong tracks amongst the "elevator music" such as No Hang Ups and My Sweetheart. Great video Phil.
The Final Cut is one of the most underrated albums by anyone, personally think it’s great and did from the 1st time I heard it on release. Saw the Wall in 81 at Earls Court London , still the best thing I’ve ever seen live and seen lots of bands both large and small over the years since 1981 .
Yes – I have the vinyl ofTormato – the only thing I like about it is the album cover signed by Squire, Wakeman, Anderson & Howe _ Sydney tour Sept 2003.
Dear Phil, A very interesting video. I think the 'olive effect' you mention for the listener equally applies to the bands, only they are developing far faster than the listener as they are so immersed in the actual process of producing the music. For example, ELP progression in 5 years might take 25 years for the listener to catch up and fully appreciate what they were doing. Best wishes, Paul
Love Beach is an excellent album and you hit both problems here – 1. Godawful cover (particularly for 1978) 2. Tracklisting, I suspect record company tinkering trying to get all the commercial stuff up front when fans wanted Memoirs style
tomatoe is my favourate yes lp
I absolutely love love beach its a very good album that you should re visit. Try to clear your mind of its reputation.
Phil you’ve definitely picked bitterly disappointing releases by a number of bands I follow or used to follow. Heep an absolute shocker, Stormbringer weak but a monster compared to Purples insipid releases with Morse.
Sabbath not so bad despite the change in direction. Priest never liked that album. Wishbone Ash not their only weak album.
I have too many albums I still love to waste listening time on albums there were real duds when they came out.
I could facetiously say "I still don't like Olives" 😁 but it shows we all hear things individually. Of the albums here I am familiar with I would say Stormbringer is by far my favourite but I do remember at the time, which was around 5-6 years after it's release, I was told it wasn't worth listening to. This did get me thinking though if there was a show in albums with good songs that were less well received due to poor production? One that immediately comes to mind is UFO – No Place to Run and you could throw Sabbath Born Again in there too. I would finally add there is nothing wrong with saying something is "less good" as it keeps things real.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…Stormbringer and Never Say Die have always been some of my all time favourite albums, Stormbringer might be in my Top 5 fav albums ever. I also like Tormato quite a lot, much better imo than Tales and Going or Drama. Same for The Elder, awesome album if you ask me.
Except for The Final Cut, I like all those albums. But then again I'm not a fan of The Wall and Roger Waters in general.
I would also add to the list of albums generally hated that I LOVE: Queen-Hot Space, Uriah Heep-Conquest (it's a GREAT record!), Rush-Presto.
Hi Phil, Regarding the Wishbone entry, Locked In, yes it was a disappointment after There's The Rub. The guitars sounded quite weedy compared to previous efforts. Tom Dowd was brought in specifically to raise the band's profile at that point. However, he had personal issues (it might have been divorce proceedings) which consumed him, hence the dropping of the ball. Played live, some of these tracks take on a different feel. Martin Turner plays whole albums live, including this, and it sounds a lot better. Songs generally weren't as strong, however the Vintage Years version contains both Bad Weather Blues (an often played live song back in the day) plus a previously unreleased song called Chicago Tease. Had both of these appeared on the original album, would they have changed the overall feel? Let's also not forget the disappointment some of us had with Wishbone Four after Argus. Apparently a deliberate attempt not to make Son of Argus. Strange how bands work on occasion.
Great great..Vinil and Cds…Rock on. 🎸
An interesting review of some lesser known releases. It was very interesting hearing your thoughts and how they’ve changed over time. I like your ‘olive effect’ turn of phrase! That’s a keeper, which says so much so succinctly.
As a completist, I can’t think of many albums I’d put in this bracket. If I love a band, I generally tend to get everything.
A corollary of this concept, is bands that I only had one album by. There used to be quite a few of those, in my collection, but much less so as I’ve got older and I’ve expanded my interest as the years have gone by.
🤘😎🤘
The problem for me about Love Beach is the cover. Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman is an excellent piece of work. The cover of In the Hot Seat, for me, is much better but the music on that album suits the cover of Love Beach better.
In Through The Out Door was a great album. I understand why it upset your hardcore, but if you're listening to different genres and artists, to hate this album is to be myopic. Yes, I'm staking my claim here. Anyone is free to debate me on this.
Saw Focus not so long ago. They did Focus 4 off that album. Had a bit of grit to it. Superb
Me and my mates mostly loved Yes.
I’d seen them on the Relayer tour and the Going For The One tour and was verging on obsessed.
It was a world of the fantastic, shimmering progressive music, wonderful mysterious lyrics, artwork to feed the imagination.
Then someone in school started the rumour that the new Yes album was to be called Yes Tomatoes, and I took that as almost a personal insult.
I wanted to punch him on the nose.
But then in Sounds the rumour was confirmed and I was distraught.
How could they do such a ridiculous thing.
As it happened the title wound up slightly different but the damage was done.
To this day I still hate that album, and it was the moment the band lost me forever.
I still love everything before it, but I never bought another album.
Great video. When I talk about favorite bands and favorite albums – and yes, I'll also listen to the less popular albums. I call them "go-to" albums. The ones I actually listen to the most, and those don't always match with "the best". I also do a video called Treasure or Trash, where I investigate one "hated" album at a time and discuss is it as bad as the critics say. This is a fun topic and loved your video, as always.
Interesting. I get what you mean about digging out the less popular albums because the others are so well trod. It's almost as if you want less familiar tracks as they approach "new" tracks by favourite bands.
Not the same (but similar) but I'm ploughing through my Jan Akkerman box sets and enjoying some CDs I'd barely heard. Heartwave and Blues Hearts stood out recently.
I've still never heard Love Beach but remember my university contemporaries slating it. I wasn't as enamoured with most ELP as those guys anyway. I wonder if some of these bands tried a different approach because of punk. It seemed to have worked for Genesis and "And then there were three". Who knows?
I was late discovering Led Zeppelin. I was in 6th form in 76/77 when someone recommended them. I binge bought & listened to their output and so there wasn't a big gap until "In through the Out Door" was released with all the hype. I thought it was okay, but preferred the first six albums. Presence wasn't heard as much but I like it more each time I (rarely) play it.
Mother Focus is different certainly. Moving Waves and Hamburger Concerto are still my favourites – but I treat their output like different meals. The aforementioned pair are still a good feed. Mother Focus is a tasty salad. I still find parts of Focus 3 heavy going – like over-indulging good food. As such, the entire Focus catalogue is dependent upon what I fancy eating! I'm thankful that the menu is still increasing with Focus XII…
Technical Ecstasy was the first new album I bought by Black Sabbath and I still like it. Prior to that I'd bought Black Sabbath and Master of Reality secondhand (my schoolmate owned the former and I knew I'd get it one day).
Although I have albums by most of the bands you mentioned, I don't possess all their recordings so cannot comment on everything.
I love The Final Cut and Status Quos keyboard player Andy Bown features on it.
Picked up Mother Focus for .50 in a cutout bin in 1977…loved it from the start
Really interesting! I came to most of the core bands later as a back catalogue so I saw bands as classic or not as popular, with me just having preferences for some and not others… But didn't even think they were classed as poor by a whole raft of fans at that time! Eye opening ideas and I agree with the olive effect! .I didn't appreciate the heavier metal until later and it's opened me up to heavier and then heavier as I became more accustomed so I think it applies to whole genres also!
I thought "On Every Street" by Dire Straits was a real let down after "Brothers in Arms". More of a country album rather than Pop/Rock. Very forgettable
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts about LZ III — my understanding is that it was considered a bit of a departure at the time of release, but it's my fave LZ album, I love the various styles and That's the Way is just sublime imo
I completely agree with you on The Final Cut. I was and still am in the minority here among my friends😆 I loved that album from he start. Still do!
Love Beach & Tomato sees both trying to be something they weren't. Maybe slaughtered a little with punk around,they cut the song lengths and tried to be more hip. Tomato sounds underproduced too, White's drum sound what's going on there 🤔
My favorite part of this video is when you described being 23, staying out until 2:00am then getting up to catch a bus for work at 7:00am. "yeah, rock and roll". Rings a lot of bells.
Tormato is a real favourite of mine (as a devout YES fan) ok it’s not up there with Close To The Edge or Fragile or Going For The One but it’s got some great tracks on it, plus… some EXCELLENT Chris Squire “harmonised Rickenbacker” bass throughout! Like you, Phil, Free is my favourite rock band and to a lesser degree, Bad Co and so when Rough Diamonds first came out I bought it and instantly thought, this is a BIG disappointment, a truly naff album, with the exception of the track Electricland (which I love) It’s no coincidence then that it is the only Bad Co album not (so far) to have a deluxe edition release… says it all really. Even today I still don’t like the album, shame really… the band had run out of steam imo.