"The 100 Most Middling Albums Of All Time!"

[non capisco]

 Strangely, when you think that's fairly common for second albums by British indie-pop bands, the second Supergrass album is cracking.  Far more consistency than 'I Should Coco'.

I haven't listened to either of them in quite a while but I remember thinking all the good stuff on 'In It For The Money' was towards the start of the album and there were quite a few tracks that sounded a bit jaded and knackered compared to the giddy rush of the first one. I'll have to dig it out and see if my opinion changes. I've always loved 'Late In The Day', the chorus is gorgeous.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I'd love to be pointed in the direction of the song on the second Supergrass album that's the equal of 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy).

Likewise, I'd love to hear an (admittedly belated) defense of Run For Your Life.

[easytarget]

Troublegum by Therapy?. It's a coherent and well-compiled album, it has a consistent sound and there are some truly great songs on it. But roughly half the songs are a bit lame (the longer ones, or maybe it just seems that way), and the quality really tails off at the halfway point so by the time you reach the end it's starting to feel really monotonous. Anger starts to feel forced after fourteen tracks.

Nah, it's ace. All 45 minutes of it.

Infernal Love was so much better.

It was just harder to listen to, doesn't make it better :)

[hopes that lankinpark will return to the board to argue about this]

[CaledonianGonzo]

Comeback?  Comeback my arse!   



(But Slipping Away is the latter-day Keith ballad par-excellence.....)

[CaledonianGonzo]

Queen - A Day at the Races. Sandwiched between A Night at the Opera (Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend) and News of the World (We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions), it throws out a couple of second-rate classics and lots of pointless prettiness. It's like Night with the edges trimmed off - where Night took in about a million genres in ten songs with lengths ranging from just over one minute to eight-and-a-half, Day sticks firmly around the 3-5 minute mark for its ten songs and - apart from a couple of rock-out moments - is virtually all piano ballads with varying degrees of schmaltz. The theatrics are toned down, the whimsy is mostly absent, the hooks are blunter, and even the cover looks washed out next to the vibrant pinks, blues and oranges of Night. There's only one bad song on here (White Man), giving it a 90% hit rate, but I only ever listen to it because I'm sick of the better stuff.

While it's almost a middling album, lankinpark (if that is your real name), your defence of a News of the World renders your entire philosophy open to debate.  In fact, it's difficult to see how The Millionaire Waltz doesn't satisfy all your Queen-related criteria...

Curiously, the current Teenage Fanclub message board experts reckon that the third track on A Day At the Races (Dr Brian's 'Long Away') is the most TFC-like composition in the history of popular music that's not a TFC track (and, yes, that includes Big Star, The Byrds, CCR, Love, N. Young, The International Submarine Band, The Raspberries, etc).  They're right as well - try it.  It's amazing...


Edit:  In fact, just Googling The Millionaire Waltz offers up this nugget:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh7hwAo8L68

Edit 2:

And check this out:

Queen were over-fond of medleys, but the fade into Bring Back That Leroy Brown at the end is off the dial:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eIH6xxcIl4g

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Southpaw Grammar.

[trotsky assortment]

Did the re-issue of that ever happen?  It was mentioned a couple of months ago as being in the pipeline.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Did the re-issue of that ever happen?  It was mentioned a couple of months ago as being in the pipeline.

Now put back to January, as is the new album.

[trotsky assortment]

Cool.  I hope the new album proper is better than 'Ringleader of the Tormentors'.  Does that qualify as being middling?

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Cool.  I hope the new album proper is better than 'Ringleader of the Tormentors'.  Does that qualify as being middling?

Yes. You Are The Quarry, however, was bad.

[23 Daves]

I'd love to be pointed in the direction of the song on the second Supergrass album that's the equal of 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy).

Yes.  I don't have a copy of "In It For The Money" anymore, but that's for a reason - I don't feel the need to own it.  I had one copy on cassette, and I think it got turfed out when my tape player died, never to be replaced.

"I Should Coco" is just fantastic in comparison, a total headrush of ideas.  It's not exactly "Sergeant Pepper Part Two", but it is one of those adrenalin-fuelled albums that defines part of my youth for me.  And "Sofa" is a fantastic closer (well, almost - until "Time To Go" kicks in as a little endpiece).

A more recent middling album - The Last Shadow Puppets "Age of the Understatement".  "Yes, we've got an orchestra".  Do something interesting with the sounds instead of just bunging them on the back of some vaguely memorable sixties-styled ditties then, you lazy fuckers.  There are flop albums from the sixties with sales barely into four figures which are more interesting.  Not that this makes AOTU bad, just rather disappointing given all the critical gushing.

[purlieu]

Oh yes, I'd say In It For The Money.  Despite how highly rated it is, and how much I think I'll really enjoy it, I can barely be bothered to listen, a couple of singles aside.  If I do listen, I always end up quite enjoying a few songs, but afterwards I just wish I'd put on I Should Coco or Road To Rouen.

Controversial choices... OutKast - Stankonia.  Most forgettable thing they've done, I reckon.  And Dark Side Of The Moon.  Time is absolutely wonderful, and it's such a well segued album that it kind of hides the dullness of most of the songs.  But I'll probably be killed for that.

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth.  I really want to hate it, but I can still listen start to finish, I just rarely get round to it.  See also: Amputecture by The Mars Volta.

Previously mentioned I'd also agree with: A New Morning (definitely more consistent than Head Music but without the highlights.  Songs like Lost In TV are so lovely, until I realise that I could actually be listening to The 2 Of Us or Still Life)... on The Bluetones I'd personally go with self-titled, which has nothing awful but I actually can't remember a note of other than My Neighbour's House.  Their least catchy record.

[Lanky]

[hopes that lankinpark will return to the board to argue about this]

I will, but under a different name.

Really good/great songs on Troublegum: Knives, Screamager, Nowhere, Die Laughing, Trigger Inside, Turn.

Good/average songs on Troublegum: Hellbelly, Stop It You're Killing Me, Isolation, Femtex.

Pointless filler on Troublegum: Unbeliever, Lunacy Booth, Unrequited, Brainsaw.

That's not a classic album to me. What pushes it firmly into the middling category (as opposed to Infernal Love, which sits some way above middling) is the fact that even the great songs are a bit samey. Infernal Love, for all its faults, has some variety. 'Epilepsy' is forgivable because it's the only piece of tuneless shouting on the album. Whereas 'Brainsaw' is the last in a long line, and its become boring by that point.

I like Troublegum for its raw energy. It's definitely the best of Therapy?'s early shouty albums. But I think they truly arrived when they started writing more complex songs.

[Lanky]

While it's almost a middling album, lankinpark (if that is your real name),

It used to be.

your defence of a News of the World renders your entire philosophy open to debate.

Haha! Yes, I let myself down with a daft opinion there. News of the World is, of course, crap. But that doesn't make A Day at the Races any less middling. It's too over-reliant on schmaltzy ballads. It's the only classic era Queen album that doesn't have enough variety. Ok, so News of the World and Jazz are clogged with mediocre songs, but at least they're varied mediocre songs. And since A Day... is such an obvious companion piece to the most eclectic and vibrant album in the Queen canon, it's always going to seem a little subdued in comparison. I'd say they titled them wrongly. A Night at the Opera, for all its theatrics and God Save The Queen-ing, is a very summery, music hall, end-of-the-pier affair, whereas A Day at the Races is far more subdued and evening-y.

In fact, it's difficult to see how The Millionaire Waltz doesn't satisfy all your Queen-related criteria...

Curiously, the current Teenage Fanclub message board experts reckon that the third track on A Day At the Races (Dr Brian's 'Long Away') is the most TFC-like composition in the history of popular music that's not a TFC track (and, yes, that includes Big Star, The Byrds, CCR, Love, N. Young, The International Submarine Band, The Raspberries, etc).  They're right as well - try it.  It's amazing...

I adore Long Away. The Millionaire Waltz, on the other hand, is a bit dull.

[purlieu]

But I think they truly arrived when they started writing more complex songs.

It's a shame they sort of unarrived shortly afterwards.  Infernal Love and Semi-Detached are lovely, in a slightly cheesy way (well, it is Therapy? after all), Suicide Pact has its moments and since they've really lost it.  Shameless is one of the worst things I own, and the last two have been a case of forgettable verse + title repeated four times as a chorus, repeat fourteen times and end. 
I'm always a bit bitter about them because I used to love them and these days find them a bit embarrassing to listen to.

[Egyptian Feast]

Having listened to it again this morning, I'd have to nominate Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere. It's perfectly listenable from start to finish but, aside from 'Crazy' - which sticks out like a sore thumb - most of the songs fade from the memory as soon as they've finished. It's not a bad album, but I very rarely could be arsed to listen to it.

I like the tag about 'lots of people who haven't heard Help!'. I'm surprised it didn't come up earlier in the thread, but then it is an easy album to forget about. I'm a huge fan of the film, so I obviously love Side 1, but I've just checked out the track listing for the album on Wikipedia and I've realised I can't remember half the songs on Side 2 despite owning the album for nearly 20 years. That's the very definition of middling right there. To be honest, the US version sounds like more fun.

[trotsky assortment]

Yes. You Are The Quarry, however, was bad.

What?  Is that sarchasm?

[Pepotamo1985]

Led Zeppelin's much vaunted, supposed magnum opus IV (or Zoso/Zofo/whatever you cunts can make of those ludicrous symbols which adorn the inner sleeve) strikes this particular waste of gametes as a strong contender for a high ranking on the ziggeraut of mediocrity flecked indifference.

As far as I can ascertain, Led Zeppelin aren't overly popular with you verbwhores, but I love them, and that's all that matters, really. IV, however, bores the Primark boxers off of me. Much like Sgt. Pepper, the album seems to have been structured to give the listener the impression that what they're pleasuring their ears with is a faultless, compelling epic, but when you take a step back and actually analyse the fucker, it's decidedly lacking. Black Dog, Rock N' Roll and, yes, Stairway to Heaven are fucking splendid, and the closing When The Levee Breaks is absolutely incredible, but the rest of the album falls short by a considerable margin. The Battle of Evermore and Misty Mountain Hop are somewhat...'cute' I suppose (I label them thus because they inspire such a lack of discernible feelings in me that I'm stuck for better adjectives), and reasonably enjoyable to listen to, but really they're meaningless fluff. Four Sticks is plain awful, and, I don't care what any Zephead says, Going to California is as drearily dull as it is hopelessly twee. It's a fun album to listen to, and the lowlights drift by fairly innocuously, but it lacks the punch of the preceding three records, and much of the soul. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it comes across as a fairly soulless greatest hits collection, rather than a cohesive album.

[trotsky assortment]

The big problem with 'IV' for me is that 'Houses of the Holy' and 'Physical Graffiti' are superior, but get overlooked due to their lack of 'Stairway...'  'Physical Graffiti' is an odd rag-bag of stuff recorded at different sessions (in some cases five years apart), but still feels complete.



[size=9](Bluetones.)[/size]

[confettiinmyhair]

The National - The Boxer
Cat Power - Jukebox
Campbell and Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt

Not horrid but you can daydream through them without missing a track. Extraordinary on Power's part considering it is a covers album and by definition things should be a little varied.

[alexl]

Troublegum by Therapy?. It's a coherent and well-compiled album, it has a consistent sound and there are some truly great songs on it. But roughly half the songs are a bit lame (the longer ones, or maybe it just seems that way), and the quality really tails off at the halfway point so by the time you reach the end it's starting to feel really monotonous. Anger starts to feel forced after fourteen tracks. Infernal Love was so much better.

I think Troublegum is brilliant runs out of steam a bit near the end but most tracks are great with decent lyrics and music. There's only the odd track I would call filler: Turn, Unrequited maybe Brainsaw. Iconic album cover as well. I think it sounds a lot more polished than Nurse - they basically took that sound and ideas and cleaned it up (in a good way). Haven't heard Infernal Love because it's been deleted and can't really be bother ordering it online; Stories and Diane are excellent songs though.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Campbell and Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt

I was about to nominate this myself. Like you say, there's nothing really wrong with it, a lot of the songs are perfectly nice, it just lacks ... something.

Lanegan's other collaborative effort this year, Saturnalia also falls into the middling category for me, although it's more of a half and half sort of middling. The Lanegan led tracks are mostly ace but the Dulli ones are, well, dull. His voice just strangles the life out of them.

[non capisco]

on The Bluetones I'd personally go with self-titled, which has nothing awful but I actually can't remember a note of other than My Neighbour's House.  Their least catchy record.

I love 'The Last Song But One' and 'Hope And Jump' off that album too but, yeah, there is a lot of in one ear and out the other stuff on it. One of the ones in the middle sounds like 'Rotterdam' by The Beautiful South. 'My Neighbour's House' is possibly my favourite Bluetones song though.

Mark Morris' solo album is pretty middling and all. All the songs on it sounded much better when he put them out in semi-demo form as Fi Lo Beddow. I really want the Bluetones to put out another album like 'Science and Nature', or full of songs as good as 'My Neighbour's House'.

Elvis Costello's newest one 'Momofuku' is middling as fuck, considering its more or less the official followup to the awesome, late career best 'The Delivery Man'. It's got two really good songs on it, 'American Gangster Time' and 'Go Away', and a load of others that are just kind of alright, if you like Elvis Costello and what he does.

[trotsky assortment]

'Momofuku' is on my current 'to listen to' pile.  For me, as you know, Costello can do very little wrong, but from the mixed reports I've heard over the past couple of months, I can't help but think I'm going to be a little disappointed. 

(EC is also on the new Jenny Lewis LP, but I've not heard that either.  Hope to soon).

[non capisco]

'Momofuku' is on my current 'to listen to' pile.  For me, as you know, Costello can do very little wrong, but from the mixed reports I've heard over the past couple of months, I can't help but think I'm going to be a little disappointed. 

Listen to the first two tracks and the ace last track and pretend it's an EP. I can't hum you most of the others now and I've had it months. There's a track called 'My Three Sons' which could be quite a touching song about fatherhood were the lyric not attached to the most perfunctory tune possible. Likewise 'Flutter and Wow', where he sounds dreadfully bored singing about being giddy in love. It's proper middling. Conversely, I listened to 'The Delivery Man' after posting about this yesterday and it blew me away all over again.

[jaydee81]

I've had a think about this and I'd like to nominate Basement Jaxx's Remedy.
Coming out in 1999 when everyone really thought dance music was the future, here was a band loved by the press and hitting the top ten with their first single, the not bad 'Red Alert'. Exciting times indeed.
They went on to plough a furrow of quite good singles with slightly humourous videos, and this album is packed full of similarly okay tracks 'Rendez-Vu', 'Bingo Bango' and 'Yo Yo' as well as slightly disappointing filler tracks like 'Jazzalude' and 'Jaxxalude'.
A solid 6 and a half out of 10.

[lipsink]

'The Red Thread' by Arab Strap. It's not a bad album at all. It's just completely forgettable.