I don’t typically dabble in negative reviews – life’s too short and there’s too much great music out there to talk about - but I was caught up by a so-called “YouTube thread” this time. A thread is an idea started by one music discussion or vinyl collecting channel that gets picked up and added to by others who decide it’s a fun topic. This particular thread struck me as both fun and possibly educational, so here we go.
I have to say, right off the top, I love every band and artist on this list. They’re all musicians whose records I would have a hard time living without, and I don’t want to try. In some cases, they’re here because they made an attempt to change their sound and original vision to adapt to what was popular at the time and it wasn’t a good fit. A couple of these records were made after a key band member left, leaving the resulting album with a gaping creative hole. A couple are just clean misses, lousy for their own sake, driven by things like an unchecked ego and/or illicit substances.
• Stephen Stills, Thoroughfare Gap (1978) – I blame the Bee Gees for this one. Stephen got the inspiration for making a disco record after being invited to play percussion on “You Should Be Dancing.” Sorry, big guy, calling it “swamp disco” in interviews didn't make it sound any less clumsy. I don’t mind so much that Stephen explored a style that was out of his comfort zone, it’s the awful covers of “Midnight Rider” and “Not Fade Away” with cheesy electronic keyboards and drum machines that are unforgivable. As is the closing “Can’t Get No Booty,” a song as brain-dead as its title.
• Bob Dylan, Saved (1980) – I certainly don’t hold a grudge against Bob for finding the Lord, even if he found a particularly morose and judgmental version. I don’t mind that he filled an album with strident Christian proselytizing and overheated gospel backing singers. The man earned the right to do whatever he felt strongly about by 1980. Certainly no reason I ever have to listen to it again, though.
• The Killers, Wonderful Wonderful (2017) – I’m definitely a big enough fan of these guys to see the release of a new album as an event, something I’ll go out of my way to hear. Wonderful Wonderful is the only one that has ever disappointed. Overblown to the point of tedious, not nearly melodic enough and, worst of all, I can only hear the layers of studio murk that make up each track, not the band. The opening title track is in the running for my least favorite song they’ve recorded.
• Fleetwood Mac, Behind the Mask (1990) – If there was ever any doubt that singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Lindsey Buckingham was the spark plug in the massively successful Fleetwood Mac engine, all you have to do is listen to the record they made after he left. Mac tried to replace Lindsey with two guitarist/singer/songwriters, Rick Vito and Billy Burnette, and still ended up with an album that’s dull and lifeless. It's a good record to fall asleep to, if you need one.
• The Rolling Stones, Got Live If You Want It! (1966) – Screaming pandemonium and primitive recording equipment made capturing a mid-sixties Stones concert for a live album all but impossible. By piecing together the most usable tracks from several venues, laboring mightily in the studio to clean them up as best they could, and adding a couple of studio recordings with crowd noise dubbed in, the Stones managed to come up with a product. A barely listenable product, but a product nevertheless. For the hardest of hardcore fans only.
• Linda Ronstadt, Get Closer (1982) – Even Linda couldn’t resist the temptation to follow the winds of commerce. When it seemed like all the hit records in the early 80s sounded flat and processed, heavy on drum machines and synths, she embraced that sound, too. There are definitely some decent songs on the album, and Linda’s singing is strong, but the production is lifeless and heavily electronic. On most tracks, Linda's voice sounds like she's nowhere near the mics. Listening to Get Closer today is the definition of an album sounding embarrassingly dated.
• Dawes, Passwords (2018) – One thing I’ve always admired about Dawes is their willingness to expand their sound on occasion. They’ve made a handful of excellent records that don’t sound much like each other. They’re explorers, and I dig that about them. Passwords is the only record in their catalog that sounds like they were out of new ideas and just regurgitating old ones, in a less compelling way. A little bit of Stories Don’t End here, some All Your Favorite Bands there, and a small dash of We’re All Gonna Die. I like to think they were just regrouping for the next, much better, one.
• Bruce Springsteen, High Hopes (2014) – It’s easy to look at this one as Bruce needing a product in the market in 2014 and having no idea what to put out that would be relevant to consumers skewing younger demographically. The tight, full-body biker-dude outfit on the cover should be your first clue that Bruce was concerned about keeping his “edge,” although it comes across a little more Village People than Hell’s Angels. He didn’t have many new songs written, so he filled High Hopes with cover songs from other artists and remakes from his own earlier catalog. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello was hired to add guitars to the sessions, a definite mid-life crisis choice. The album is confused sounding in a lot of ways, and completely inessential to Bruce’s admirable catalog. Fortunately, Bruce recognized a dead end when he hit one, and followed High Hopes with Western Stars, Letter to You, and the brand-new Only the Strong Survive, a trio of very fine albums.
• Elvis Costello, Mighty Like a Rose (1991) – EC has a few bad habits that need to be kept in check during his recording sessions. He can overwrite songs, oversing them, and saddle them with unnecessarily fussy and dense arrangements. His catalog is full of brilliant records, many of them all-time favorites, because his band or producer or another collaborator helped keep his eye on the prize and his focus sharp. On Mighty Like a Rose, it’s obvious nobody’s around to keep his worst impulses under control. Even a potential catchy hit like “The Other Side of Summer” is weighted down with complicated musicianship and overwrought, completely unnecessary, melodic detours. The album lists more than two dozen participating musicians, none of whom were there to say no to the boss, apparently.
• The Who, It’s Hard (1982) – Another great band at a loss for what to do next. Keith Moon was gone, John Entwistle was in toxic shape and distracted by other musical projects. Everything was left to Pete, who was feeling the irrelevance of an aging rocker. Except for the decent single “Eminence Front,” the rest of the album is too limp, too synth-heavy, too much in Pete’s head to leave any kind of lasting impact. The melodies are scarce and the arrangements bloated and unfocused. They wouldn’t make another studio record for 24 years after It’s Hard. 2006’s Endless Wire is just Pete, Roger, and musicians for hire, and still sounds fresher and more vital than this.
• The Pretenders, Packed! (1990) – Technically, a Pretenders album in name only - hired studio pros handled the playing. But it did come out under the band’s name, so the dark stain on their discography remains. There’s no sass to be found here, and what’s a Pretenders album without it? The songs don’t have any of the ol’ Pretenders bite, they just kind of float by without sticking, even the Jimi Hendrix cover. It’s a feat to make a dull Hendrix cover, I’ll give Chrissie that.
• R.E.M., Around the Sun (2004) – Believe it or not, a mostly boring R.E.M. record, something I didn’t think they could make if they tried. The remaining trio, who always sounded a little adrift after the loss of drummer Bill Berry, are especially unfocused on Around the Sun. They don’t seem to be reaching for anything new or risky, so what’s left is R.E.M. lite – smooth, predictable, and more than a little bland. They would rebound admirably from the malaise with their next album, Accelerate, but this one is all soft edges, sleepy tunes, and lyrics that don't stick. Add the decent opener, “Leaving New York,” to a personal playlist and you’ll have all you need.
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