Classic albums that weren't originally so..

[David Johnson]

I have given up taking much notice of reviews. I might use them possible as a starter for ten in terms of what to listen to in the music store, but I would never buy something purely on a music review.

They often tell you more about the reviewer and/or the music paper's outlook than they do about the music.

Cheers
D

[Guilbert]

>You can always tell when writers are stretched, on the 'Yellow Brick Road' album by Elton John there is a song called 'This song has no title'

I saw one of those "Classic Album" shows on Sky Arts a week or so back about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

The album was mostly put together while they were all staying at one of those house/studio complexes where you live and work on an album. It was called Ch?teau d'H?rouville.

The thing that was amazing about the sesions for that album was that the group would write a particular song, rehearse it, and then record it, all in the space of a few hours.

Perhaps this is why a song like "This song has no title" got on the album.

[lloyd42]

IMHO 'Sticky Fingers' is the better bet.

[Deano!]

Jonesy wrote:

> All that hoo-haa over the rediscoved songs from the Exile
> sessions, and the re-release of the album for a paltry ?9.71 at
> ASDA, I thought I'd take a chance.
> Well, thats ?9.71 I blew!

I'm still angry about buying Paul Simon's Graceland album of 1986 because I liked the single (Graceland) and the reviewers raved about it in a way I'd never seen.

I still want my money back.

[Guilbert]

>I'm still angry about buying Paul Simon's Graceland album of 1986 because I liked the single (Graceland) and the reviewers raved about it in a way I'd never seen

According to Wiki it won the Grammy for Album of the year so it obviously got a lot of good publicity at that time.

Of course much of that may have been political.

The album was recorded with many South African musicians and at that time South Africa was still under apartheid.

In fact Paul Simon got much critisism at the time for breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa (you would think recording with a load of black musicians from South Africa would have been praised).

So the album may have been praised as much for its political stance as its musical quality.

Of course the music video for "You can call me Al" with Chevvy Chase also got a lot of air play at that time.

[Bob Singleton]

ravis wrote:

> I don't think the Velvet's got bad reviews- just that like
> other artists such as Buffalo Springfield & Captain Beefheart
> they never sold many records despite their talent.


For what it's worth (pun deliberately intended), there are plenty of instances of bands who rarely got reviewed in the music press, and whose album sales were pretty low but who years later are seen as seminal influences on others... Gang of Four being one that comes to mind.

While I continue to regularly buy mags such as NME (been a reader since about 1973/74), Q, Kerrang etc I have never bought or not bought an album on the strength of a review. Nowadays I admit my main reason for buying the mags is to check to see which pictures I have taken have been printed.

My local record shop (still a major vinyl seller, btw, for those interested) always allowed you to listen to an album before you bought it (and I'm sure they weren't the only one), and iTunes allows you to listen to about 30 seconds of every song it has available for sale, so no-one should really be in a position where you buy something without knowing what you're getting.

Sometimes, however, the "shock" of the unexpected can be a thrill in itself. I remember how odd yet strangely satisfying the electric/reggae sound on Bob Dylan's "Live at Budokan" was; an album that was savaged by the press at the time and yet still went platinum. I've never subscribed to the school of thought that Dylan sold out by going electric, and find many of the live versions on that album better than the acoustic originals.

[David Johnson]

Hi
I think the problem was the record hardly got any reviews when it came out. They had a big battle to get it distributed and a lot of radio stations refused to play it because of its content of drugs, sado-masochism etc. It was a critical and financial failure at the time.

It wasn't until decades later that the Velvet Underground and Nico got rave reviews and started appearing in top album charts.

Cheers
D

[max_tranmere]

I'm not hugely familiar with The Velvet Underground but I do know the 'Waiting for my man' song. Is it true that Lou Reed and one of the other guys in the band have always loathed each other and never speak?

[David Johnson]

Dunno Max!