If an artist or band has been around for a while, chances are they've made an album along the way that they don't look back too fondly on. This could be because it didn't turn out the way they wanted, they were pressured somehow into delivering something they didn't believe in, they were too high/drunk/out of their minds, or maybe it just flopped pretty hard. Some of these may have been unfairly overlooked, and some may really be that bad. Any good band has one of these in their catalogue. Yes has several that they downplay. In fact, most anything not from their glory days of 1971-80 has a short lifespan. Any time they make a new album, by the time they get to the next, for the most part the previous one is history. Here's some other examples:
ELP: LOVE BEACH (1978) - still the laughingstock of the prog world (though In The Hot Seat is worse), it's actually not that terrible, but it's a far cry from Brain Salad Surgery. It tanked, and there was no tour for the album. In reality, other than Canario and maybe All I Want Is You, I can't see much of this album working out in a live setting. The album cover to this day makes some people shiver with disgust. The band never performed anything from it live and hardly ever acknowledged it.
GENESIS: CALLING ALL STATIONS (1997) - Phil certainly didn't hobble onstage with a cane to sing 'Shipwrecked' or 'Congo' on the current Last Domino tour, I'm sure. Not only did Genesis disown this album, they disowned the notion of ever writing another song as Genesis ever again. Sad how this one album finished them as a creative entity.
RUSH: CARESS OF STEEL (1975) - this flopped at the time and wasn't the breakthrough album they were hoping for (that would be their next one, 2112). Only a couple bits from it were played live back in the day, most notably Bastille Day, before eventually being phased out. Not sure if the band hated it, or they just didn't have much time for it as new and more notable things surfaced as they went along their career trajectory. But it remains their 'cult' favorite album.
JETHRO TULL: UNDER WRAPS (1984) - When one thinks of Tull, they think of a more Earthier sound, not something that sounds like Ultravox. Lyrics like 'Down at the robot factory' are something nobody would ever anticipate coming from the vocal cords of someone usually singing about minstrels or horses. But then again, why not? Doing something so out of character can often result in a train wreck so fascinating that you might even dare to like it. And I do. You don't hear a distinctive voice like Ian Anderson or the sound of a flute over top electronics and Fairlight synthesizers every day, so it was unique. Add the drum machine and its fate was sealed, and the fan base turned their backs on it. By the time Ian and his band of merry men returned after a brief hiatus in the mid 80's, Under Wraps was forgotten and dropped from all collective memory banks.
MARILLION: FUGAZI (1984) - an album never touched on by the Steve Hogarth-fronted band - other than some rare performances of Cinderella Search, a Fugazi-era B-side. Reason being, H deems the album too dark and Fish-specific to relate to, therefore not feeling able to get behind it. So don't expect them to perform Jigsaw any time soon.
What other examples can you think of? Albums downplayed, or even hated, by their own creators?
ELP: LOVE BEACH (1978) - still the laughingstock of the prog world (though In The Hot Seat is worse), it's actually not that terrible, but it's a far cry from Brain Salad Surgery. It tanked, and there was no tour for the album. In reality, other than Canario and maybe All I Want Is You, I can't see much of this album working out in a live setting. The album cover to this day makes some people shiver with disgust. The band never performed anything from it live and hardly ever acknowledged it.
GENESIS: CALLING ALL STATIONS (1997) - Phil certainly didn't hobble onstage with a cane to sing 'Shipwrecked' or 'Congo' on the current Last Domino tour, I'm sure. Not only did Genesis disown this album, they disowned the notion of ever writing another song as Genesis ever again. Sad how this one album finished them as a creative entity.
RUSH: CARESS OF STEEL (1975) - this flopped at the time and wasn't the breakthrough album they were hoping for (that would be their next one, 2112). Only a couple bits from it were played live back in the day, most notably Bastille Day, before eventually being phased out. Not sure if the band hated it, or they just didn't have much time for it as new and more notable things surfaced as they went along their career trajectory. But it remains their 'cult' favorite album.
JETHRO TULL: UNDER WRAPS (1984) - When one thinks of Tull, they think of a more Earthier sound, not something that sounds like Ultravox. Lyrics like 'Down at the robot factory' are something nobody would ever anticipate coming from the vocal cords of someone usually singing about minstrels or horses. But then again, why not? Doing something so out of character can often result in a train wreck so fascinating that you might even dare to like it. And I do. You don't hear a distinctive voice like Ian Anderson or the sound of a flute over top electronics and Fairlight synthesizers every day, so it was unique. Add the drum machine and its fate was sealed, and the fan base turned their backs on it. By the time Ian and his band of merry men returned after a brief hiatus in the mid 80's, Under Wraps was forgotten and dropped from all collective memory banks.
MARILLION: FUGAZI (1984) - an album never touched on by the Steve Hogarth-fronted band - other than some rare performances of Cinderella Search, a Fugazi-era B-side. Reason being, H deems the album too dark and Fish-specific to relate to, therefore not feeling able to get behind it. So don't expect them to perform Jigsaw any time soon.
What other examples can you think of? Albums downplayed, or even hated, by their own creators?
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