Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

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Holden
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Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Holden »

Haven’t posted a question like this in a while, so thought it’d be fun!

So what albums do you all think have been overly acclaimed on the greatness of only 1-3 songs on them while the others aren’t that great, or the album itself isn’t good as a whole? For me, an album that comes to mind is Oracular Spectacular, where I feel like while Kids, Electric Feel, and Time to Pretend are really the only truly great songs while the others are much less good. So what albums do you think suffer from this?
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Romain »

Holden wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:24 am Haven’t posted a question like this in a while, so thought it’d be fun!

So what albums do you all think have been overly acclaimed on the greatness of only 1-3 songs on them while the others aren’t that great, or the album itself isn’t good as a whole? For me, an album that comes to mind is Oracular Spectacular, where I feel like while Kids, Electric Feel, and Time to Pretend are really the only truly great songs while the others are much less good. So what albums do you think suffer from this?
It's funny because you pick one of the very few album these two last decades, for me, which is perfect from the first to the last song, and with almost nothing but huge hits (minus one song). The first listen to the album was a succession of uppercut, as if they were never going to stop. It was for me an instant classic like I haven't heard since.
And I never understood why these three songs were put forward when all the others are of the same qualitative level! :mrgreen:



And for me, but I've been saying it for years, it's Pets Sound... I may have tried to listen to it 50 times, but I can't find any great quality in it, except of course for the extraordinary song God Only Knows. Nice album with some nice melodies, not bad for sure but meh!
It's still a huge mystery. Especially since it's often compared for me to the Beatles of the same period who are stratospherically above in quality, in my opinion of course.
Last edited by Romain on Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Henry »

I think that Talking Heads "Remain In Light" (number 34) appears to fit this overly acclaimed description as well.

The top song, Once in a Lifetime (67) is ranked pretty high.

But the other ranked songs are low in number and not so high: Born Under Punches (2037), Crosseyed and Painless (5726) and Houses in Motion (BU).

My ranking for the album is much lower (777). Perhaps fans of this album can tell us which unacclaimed songs on the album rank among their favorites.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Henry »

Another album that seems to fit the too few acclaimed tracks so potentially overly acclaimed description is Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" (94). The acclaimed songs include: Respect (11), I Never Loved a Man (599), Do Right Woman - Do RIght Man (2749) and Dr. Feelgood (BU).
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Nassim »

Romain wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:41 am
Holden wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:24 am Haven’t posted a question like this in a while, so thought it’d be fun!

So what albums do you all think have been overly acclaimed on the greatness of only 1-3 songs on them while the others aren’t that great, or the album itself isn’t good as a whole? For me, an album that comes to mind is Oracular Spectacular, where I feel like while Kids, Electric Feel, and Time to Pretend are really the only truly great songs while the others are much less good. So what albums do you think suffer from this?
It's funny because you pick one of the very few album these two last decades, for me, which is perfect from the first to the last song, and with almost nothing but huge hits (minus one song). The first listen to the album was a succession of uppercut, as if they were never going to stop. It was for me an instant classic like I haven't heard since.
And I never understood why these three songs were put forward when all the others are of the same qualitative level! :mrgreen:



And for me, but I've been saying it for years, it's Pets Sound... I may have tried to listen to it 50 times, but I can't find any great quality in it, except of course for the extraordinary song God Only Knows. Nice album with some nice melodies, not bad for sure but meh!
It's still a huge mystery. Especially since it's often compared for me to the Beatles of the same period who are stratospherically above in quality, in my opinion of course.
I'm on Holden side on this one, that album directly sprung to my mind when I read the topic's title, I find most of the rest of the album pretty terrible.

Never Mind the Bollocks belongs here too, though it's 3 songs AND a huge influence AND cultural phenomenon.

I'd put Weezer's first album in there too though it's half an album of great songs more than just a few but the gap between the great half and the rest is pretty wide.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Rob »

Henry wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:48 am I think that Talking Heads "Remain In Light" (number 34) appears to fit this overly acclaimed description as well.

The top song, Once in a Lifetime (67) is ranked pretty high.

But the other ranked songs are low in number and not so high: Born Under Punches (2037), Crosseyed and Painless (5726) and Houses in Motion (BU).

My ranking for the album is much lower (777). Perhaps fans of this album can tell us which unacclaimed songs on the album rank among their favorites.
I think this is mostly a case of Once in a Lifetime being the very clear consensus pick and not a sign of other tracks being weak. Remain in Light is an album with only great songs to me.

I always thought Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was the textbook case of this. Most reviews agree that it is uneven. It's status is mostly supported by the big impact of Anarchy in the UK, God Save the Queen, Pretty Vacant and Holidays in the Sun. {Edit: Nassim beat me to it]

For me personally the best example would be The White Album. Somehow The Beatles have had the luck that the uneven quality and the existence of more than a few bad songs on it have not given it the status of minor album, but as "challenging and experimental" or something along those lines. I agree that the highlights are great, but as an album I think it doesn't work at all.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Romain »

Nassim wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:34 am

I'm on Holden side on this one, that album directly sprung to my mind when I read the topic's title, I find most of the rest of the album pretty terrible.
Yeah, I seemed to remember you didn't like him very much. But I admit I'm listening to it again right now and I don't see any difference in quality between the three songs highlighted and the rest of the album, which is just as exceptional in my eyes. :mrgreen:

Me, who often looks for the melody as the centre of a song, they all have incredible melodies with great developments and electronic madness treatments that I'm very fond of (future reflections is the exception).
WeekEnd Wars, Youth, 4th Dimensional Transition, Of Moons, Birds and Monsters, The Handshake are all superbs for my ears ;-)
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Remain in Light: I prefer The Great Curve over Once in a Lifetime.

What's Going On is my go-to example ( the three acclaimed songs are waaay better than the others), though I appreciate that the album flows smoothly from song to song.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

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Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses.
I feel like that
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by mileswide »

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs That Aren't As Good (no offence, Layla fans). As far as I can see, it's the album on the AM top 100 with the fewest entries on the top 10,000 songs- only Layla's listed, while Bell Bottom Blues is BU.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Holden »

Romain wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:41 am
Holden wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:24 am Haven’t posted a question like this in a while, so thought it’d be fun!

So what albums do you all think have been overly acclaimed on the greatness of only 1-3 songs on them while the others aren’t that great, or the album itself isn’t good as a whole? For me, an album that comes to mind is Oracular Spectacular, where I feel like while Kids, Electric Feel, and Time to Pretend are really the only truly great songs while the others are much less good. So what albums do you think suffer from this?
It's funny because you pick one of the very few album these two last decades, for me, which is perfect from the first to the last song, and with almost nothing but huge hits (minus one song). The first listen to the album was a succession of uppercut, as if they were never going to stop. It was for me an instant classic like I haven't heard since.
And I never understood why these three songs were put forward when all the others are of the same qualitative level! :mrgreen:



And for me, but I've been saying it for years, it's Pets Sound... I may have tried to listen to it 50 times, but I can't find any great quality in it, except of course for the extraordinary song God Only Knows. Nice album with some nice melodies, not bad for sure but meh!
It's still a huge mystery. Especially since it's often compared for me to the Beatles of the same period who are stratospherically above in quality, in my opinion of course.
Alright Romain, just relistened to Oracular Spectacular and it was actually a lot better than I recalled from my previous listen.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by acroamor »

Big fan of the song "The Youth" off of Oracular Spectacular, never got why that one wasn't as acclaimed as the big ones.

Funny to see Weezer's first album mentioned - for me, that's an album of ten perfect songs in a row.

Definitely agree though with What's Going On, Layla, and Appetite for Destruction. I would also include VIsions by Grimes as a more modern example.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Harold »

prosecutorgodot wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:00 am Remain in Light: I prefer The Great Curve over Once in a Lifetime.

What's Going On is my go-to example ( the three acclaimed songs are waaay better than the others), though I appreciate that the album flows smoothly from song to song.
These would be the exact two I would think of (particularly since this thread can also be thought of as "most overrated highly ranked albums"). The three singles from What's Going On are masterpieces, but I've never really been able to get into the rest of the album.

As for Remain in Light, the late musician Scott Miller (Game Theory, The Loud Family) hit the nail on the head (albeit somewhat snarkily) in his book Music: What Happened when he wrote something along the lines of "I'd heard they came into the studio without any songs, which might explain why I didn't hear any songs." I don't dislike the album; I think everything right through "Once in a Lifetime" is pretty great. But the rest has always been a slog for me, and other than its undeniable influence on bringing new sounds and textures into rock formats, I have never understood why this is the Talking Heads album that is always ranked so highly above all the others.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

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Jethro Tull's "Thick as a brick"
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Jackson »

panam wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:20 pm Jethro Tull's "Thick as a brick"
And now "Microphones in 2020"
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Maschine_Man »

I feel Random Access Memories is plagued with below average songs, but the ubiquitous of Get Lucky propelled it to the top of the EOY lists. Combined with a decade long absence, I'm sure critics didn't want to miss their chance at fawning over them.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Jackson »

prosecutorgodot wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:00 am Remain in Light: I prefer The Great Curve over Once in a Lifetime.
I am in this club. I think a lot of others on here are "Great Curve" fans as it won a bracket for unacclaimed songs from acclaimed albums a couple of years ago. To me Remain in Light is a clear example of an album where the first half is much better than the second, but not sure if that fits this thread as it only has 8 songs so it's more of a track sequencing issue. Can's Tago Mago is another example of this.

Grimes' Visions is a great example. I've gone back to it a number of times with the thought that there must be some interesting songs besides Genesis and Oblivion, but it's never worked as a full album for me. To make matters worse, the track sequencing puts both of those songs at the beginning back-to-back, so the album really drags over its second half.

Some early rap albums fit this thread well:
Eric B. and Rakim - Paid in Full
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Listyguy »

I think at least half of the tracks on Remain in Light are pretty strong. And like prosecutorgodot said, "The Great Curve" is a master piece. It's exclusion from the AM list has always confused me.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Romain »

Holden wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 1:41 pm
Alright Romain, just relistened to Oracular Spectacular and it was actually a lot better than I recalled from my previous listen.
Ahaaah... soon it's going to become one of your favourite albums... your eyelids are heavy, you hear my voice and just my voice... your mind is soothed... Oracular is Spectacular...I repeat..Oracular is Spectacular. :mrgreen:
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by DaveC »

Thriller: Three great tracks surrounded by... well I forget.

I agree with most mentioned especially Visions and The White Album, but not Remain in Light. The Listening Wind being my favourite track probably is part of that, but I also rank The Great Curve (which I agree is a great track) as the fifth best on the album. Only The Overload is skippable for me.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Henrik »

I think when Remain in Light really click with people, it isn’t because of Once in a Lifetime, but for the hypnotic energy and moods of the rest of the album.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Harold »

DaveC wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:41 pm Thriller: Three great tracks surrounded by... well I forget.
Which is the third, for you? I'm guessing "Wanna Be Startin' Something," but some people might say "Human Nature." (Not the title track, presumably, which would be nothing without Vincent Price and John Landis.)
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by Bang Jan »

Neu!'s eponymous debut: Two amazing songs (Hallogallo & Negativland) plus a lot of filler. How it's more acclaimed than Neu! '75 (which is IMO all killer, no filler) I don't know.
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Re: Albums Acclaimed Based on Only a Few Songs

Post by DaveC »

Harold wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:02 pm
DaveC wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:41 pm Thriller: Three great tracks surrounded by... well I forget.
Which is the third, for you? I'm guessing "Wanna Be Startin' Something," but some people might say "Human Nature." (Not the title track, presumably, which would be nothing without Vincent Price and John Landis.)
I was thinking of the title track, which I guess has stuck because it was so ubiquitous at the time. "Wanna Be Startin' Something" is best of the rest, but not a song I would choose to listen to except when giving "Thriller" another chance - which I do every few years.
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