Are there any albums that got slated by the critics, fanbase or even disowned by the artists themselves that you nonetheless like?

I’d put KISS’ Music from “The Elder” in this category. Also, rather more obscurely, the 1980 album Dressed for Drowning by Sailor. They’d lost their main man and brought in a boy-girl couple to replace him. The band’s fanbase absolutely hate this album. But I think it deserves some respect, if for no other reason than that it contains this incredible Queen homage:

edited 23rd Jun '11 12:09:09 AM by Bananaquit

The Mars Volta - Octahedron
I cannot possibly conceive why the fanbase hates this album the way they do. They managed to tone down their sound while still sounding amazing.

also

Sonata Arctica - Unia
Their last good album, IMO, yet everyone claims that this is their low point. People say that Days of Grays is a step up and is more Power Metal, but only in the fact that it has 4 good songs and they're the only Power Metal ones. But Unia is so much more enjoyable as a whole. Every song save one is enjoyable.
[[youtube:vc9ypqfP7LQ]]

edited 22nd Jun '11 12:37:42 AM by iamathousandapples

Radiohead's Pablo Honey.

I understand that Tormato was the album that killed Yes' comeback, but I still can't hate it because Rick Wakeman plays a Birotron on it.

I've spoken with otherwise-intelligent Starflyer 59 fans who try to insist that I am the Portuguese Blues doesn't count as a Starflyer album. It's a fun album, and I still believe that the first track, "Wake Up Early", is one of the better songs in Sf59's discography.

Massive Attack's Protection.

I have no idea why it's considered inherently inferior to Blue Lines.

Dream Theater's Falling Into Infinity (I'm one of those rare fans that enjoys every last bit of their discography), Opeth's Orchid (unoriginal, but still way better than a lot of other bogstandard 90s melodeath), Kamelot's Siege Perilous (not discredited per se, but as one of their earlier albums it does raise eyebrows), a lot of modern In Flames and Soilwork albums and in perhaps the best example of my opinions completely opposing that of a band's established fanbase, my favourite Sonata Arctica album is Unia, which many of their fans reject for not being power metal.

And appropriately enough, another prog fan likes Unia. Very much agreed regarding its consistency compared to its follow-up, which I do like but is far patchier with too much of its best material concentrated in the first half.

edited 22nd Jun '11 1:58:37 AM by AsTheAnointed

Like everyone else at the time, I fell for it. Like them, I lost a great deal of respect for the artists.

But I do not lose any additional money if I continue to listen to Milli Vanilli's Girl You Know It's True, and the fact that those two guys didn't write or sing the songs doesn't make the songs any less listenable.

Since everyone else is doing it... Another Unia fan here. I still like their other albums more, but Unia doesn't deserve most of the flak it gets- the songwriting is more varied, and everyone that calls it "pop" (any metalhead's favorite insult) needs to be slapped.

@apples - I like Octahedron. Though I do think it's their weakest album... their weakest is still better than just about any other album that got released that year, though. And 2009 was a good, good year.

Also, perhaps taking this a step further, a lot of Brand New fans seemed pretty displeased with Daisy but loved the older stuff... I'm the complete opposite. I'm not really a fan of old Brand New but think Daisy is a cracker of an album. They took on the post-hardcore sound and totally nailed it.

Tormato actually does have 2 or 3 songs on it that I think are decent. There's no way I could call it a favorite album overall, though.

Said it before, but: Rush's synthesizer period seems to get dismissed a lot, but I love it. In particular, Grace Under Pressure is one of my favorite albums even though critics etc. seem to pay little or no attention to it.

Yeah, when I did my Mars Volta discography livebloggage, that one ended up being one of my favorites.

For me, I highly enjoy Megadeth's So Far, So Good... So What?, despite it being considered their weakest album. Same goes for Def Leppard's On Through the Night and Ozzy's The Ultimate Sin, despite the artists themselves disowning them. Even though it may be their least ska-oriented album, Reel Big Fish's Cheer Up! is my favorite album of their's, by far.

From what I've read, I get the impression that the critics think Stereolab's Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) was some kind of brilliant, while Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999) was the point where the band disappeared up their own collective anus.

I'm certain that if those two albums had been released in the opposite order, critical opinion of their value would be completely flip-flopped.

Oh yeah, So Far, So Good...So What is underrated. I think it's mostly good even though it has a few missteps (like the completely ill-advised Sex Pistols cover).

Allmusic, of all review sites, actually thinks that one's their best effort because it's the least ska-influenced one they've done.

I loved FLAvour of the Week.

Goats Head Soup.

It would have been nice if you could actually hear it. Wakey's blaring, screeching Polymoog drowns it out most of the time. I think you can hear a second of the choir sound at the end of "Rejoice" and a few of the string chords at the end of "Don't Kill the Whale" and that's it, as far as to what's actually audible.

If you can find a copy, I recommend picking up Earthstar's*

^{cosmic synth band from upstate New York on the German Sky label}

Atomkraft? Nein, danke! as a better example of the Birotron's sound. To my knowledge, Earthstar keyboardist Craig Wuest was the only other Birotron user to have a recorded example of the sound.

The songs do kind of grow on you but the production is absolutely deplorable. I don't hate it, but the other Khan albums are indeed better (and, more to the point, sound better).

I think I'd also put Radiohead’s Amnesiac in this category. I actually prefer it to Kid A.

Adema's Kill The Headlights.

Amnesiac isn't well liked?

Huh. News to me...

This has been mentioned before, but I think Brand New's Daisy is their second-best.

NYC Ghosts & Flowers by Sonic Youth is an awesome album, too. Sure, it's not one of their best, but it's not a big stumble or a complete failure like everyone else seems to think.

Bazooka Tooth

Not everyone hated it, but a lot of people did. Because "it went too far".

Real forward thinking, folks.

Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork. Much better than the music press made it out to be.

Saint Anger - the only Metallica album I really like. Sure it's an unholy mess, but that dingy, grimy production is part of its charm to me, and the chaotic outpouring of genuine, raw feeling is quite brilliant. And no solos? Don't care.

Oh yeah, and "Ignorance is Bliss" by Face to Face - a great, daring album of melodic and slightly gothy template-shredding punky alt. rock. Head and shoulders above their usual brand of slightly by-the-numbers speedy punk.

edited 23rd Jun '11 10:19:15 PM by Jonny0110