Robot Emperor
|
Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 10:43
|
What are your favourite albums where the band wilfully threw it all away? Deliberately or otherwise left the fans behind, but oh what a glorious crash into flames.
There are differences here about how much the band was throwing away, how big they were, or seemed to be destined to be, before artistic integrity took its terrible toll but you get the idea. Or just madness, "What the fuck were they thinking?"
Never had much time for Guns & Roses but they must be serial offenders in the just mad throwing it all away category. Along with Stone Roses.
Spooky Tooths' Ceremony is a fave of mine. And Dog Man Star by Suede.
Bet MGMT were popular at Colombia when they presented Oracular Spectacular.
Although Fleetwood Mac were not sunk by Tusk, I would have loved to see the faces of the Warner Bros execs when they presented it to them.
Must be better and more entertaining examples than these.
|
The Sea Cat
|
Edited May 11, 2011, 11:15
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 11:13
|
Not quite career suicide, but nearly a solo career strangled at birth album. The worst selling record in Warner Bros entire catalogue apparently. The wonderful cover didn't help matters either for some reason. Some people just don't get it.
http://img.maniadb.com/images/album/289/289279_1_f.jpg
The album was slated by the critics of the day, despite its excellence. Typical.
|
Bov
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 11:43
|
|
Surely Neil Young's run of 80's albums from Trans onwards was one of the most concerted efforts ever to wilfully bamboozle your fanbase. That said, I've always had a soft spot for Old Ways. And Trans certainly has its moments.
|
Robot Emperor
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 11:58
|
Of course. Metal Box by PIL. A wonderful wilful act even by their high standards.
Kate Bush - The Dreaming. Glorious seizing of complete artistic control. Luckily she survived
If Mark Perry had been doing a “David Essex at the end of Stardust” when he released Vibing Up The Senile Man then his shedding of an audience he had come to dislike would have been historically heroic, rather than a footnote nobody cares about.
Neil Young, an admirable mule head, has kept various record companies on their toes by releasing albums that were, erm, difficult. High point must have been at the turn of the eighties. Giving Re-act-or to a doubtless delighted Warner Bros as a parting gift. And then Trans to Geffen. Respect. Not forgetting Arc and Weld in ‘91 for Reprise.
(Bov, wandered off to do a bit of gardening, so did the Neil Young bit before I saw your post. Nice to know someone else likes eighties Neil. Except Everybody's Rockin' of course.)
|
IanB
|
Edited May 11, 2011, 12:04
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:01
|
|
Tim Buckley did it three times. First with Blue Afternoon (where he went from being a winsome Romantic folkie into a modal chamber jazz folk thing), followed not too long after by Starsailor (which is full-on Free Jazz) and then again with Look At The Fool (which is kind of the nadir of his three Boz Scaggs album - and I am not adverse to a bit of that). An education in how to clutch commercial defeat from the jaws of artistic victory in nine hard lessons.
|
Kid Calamity
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:05
|
Alice Cooper had several goes - yet somehow still eventually got rescued from Warners.
Efforts during his overlong time with them decended into things like 'Lace & Whisky', 'The Alice Cooper Show' and 'Zipper Catches Skin' all generally dreadful bar one decent track.
|
FifePsy
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:11
|
Miles Davis - On the Corner. Apparently one of Sony's worst selling albums. I'm waiting for the box set for my birthday - yay. (I suppose most of Miles great 70s electric records could fall into this category).
Re Pil, was thinking of Flowers of Romance.
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden.
ABC - Beauty Stab. After the lush, poptastic first one, can't imagine the record co execs being too impressed with this one.
and stating the really obvious one Metal Machine Music.
|
The Sea Cat
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:11
|
|
The mighty flawed wonder that is Tales From Topographic Oceans tested the patience of quite a few Middle Earth folk, despite the fact that it's bloody good if you enter into the spirit of it.
|
Aidan
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:13
|
|
Soft Cell- This Last Night In Sodom. By far their best work. The less well-known Soft Cell material is far better than the stuff that generally gets played, particularly during their later stages.
|
The Sea Cat
|
Re: Great Commercial Suicide Albums
May 11, 2011, 12:17
|
|
FifePsy wrote: Miles Davis - On the Corner. Apparently one of Sony's worst selling albums. I'm waiting for the box set for my birthday - yay. (I suppose most of Miles great 70s electric records could fall into this category).
Re Pil, was thinking of Flowers of Romance.
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden.
ABC - Beauty Stab. After the lush, poptastic first one, can't imagine the record co execs being too impressed with this one.
and stating the really obvious one Metal Machine Music.
Spirit Of Eden - that's a very interesting one. Popular commercial suicide in order to achieve artistic greatness.
|
