Which of these 40 extremely overrated 1970s albums is the *WORST* of the lot???

this is kinda asking for trouble

Uhhhh. . . there's a lot of v. good albums on this list.

I mean, they might be overplayed. Maybe played out to someone's ears. But overrated?!?

I've only heard like 10 of these and of those I vote What's Going On which is SOOOO OVERRATED. Marvin has much better records... I feel like people hype that one up because it's "topical" and "important" or whatever... that may be true, but why do all of the songs sound the same? :| Also, Lodon Calling like only half of that album is worth listening to.

idiocy on parade here

Are you sure it's idiocy? I bet you can find several people on ILM who are not fond of each one of these albums. Overrated/overranked/overcanonized, have your pick as to the exact language but I think you can figure what I'm getting at.

The Brainwasher's post is a great example. I do enjoy Marvin Gaye, but it's nowhere near his best album.

Also keep in mind I personally enjoy a handful of these albums, but tried to select 40 that are highly canonized, widely heard and any listener with an ounce of discernment, discretion and personal taste should be able to pick out what they think is overrated here.

gis results for "challop":

http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Be_Kind_Rewind/be_kind_rewind_movie_image_jack_black_and_mos_def.jpg

Wow, you're right! All of those DO suck! I finally see it!

http://flabonde.free.fr/pix/jr/jan%20hammer.gif

http://www.movieactors.com/actors/Freezes-Characters/jfk305donald.jpeg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/SoundAndFury.JPG

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/472124207_a003dbd7cc.jpg

http://soundbiteblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/vultures.jpg

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/toilet%20flush.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i114/bozcrow/nailyale.jpg

Ramones vs Ramones

http://www.artloversnewyork.com/zine/wp-content/photos/coco_rosie.jpg

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/10/24/PH2007102401067.jpg

http://overstated.net/photos/random/harvardsucks.jpg

Wow, you're right! All of those DO suck! I finally see it!

Y'know, I asked you to vote for one album... not all of them.

http://republika.pl/blog_cm_651744/1219547/tr/garfield_nermal_1_.gif

In the last thirty years there has been much interest, conflict and uncertainty created by the idea of the 'canon'.

At its most basic, the canon is simply the collection of works or artists that have been widely accepted as the greatest in their field.

Yet such an apparently simple construct embodies a complicated web of values and mechanisms.

The canon is also usually considered to be an inherently elitist concept.

In the popular reception of rock music we are not only trying to organize the past, but also mediate the present, and any canon of rock music must now negotiate a far more pluralized culture, and possibly accept a greater degree of change than has been evident in the canons of literature and classical music in the last two centuries.

George Harrison. But this list is retarded.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/Cannon_Title_Screen.jpg

George Harrison. But this list is retarded.

― xhuxk, Saturday, 18 April 2009 18:03 (9 minutes ago)

I dunno man, when I used to read music monthlies (mid-late '80's - early '90's) it was the case that a whole bunch of shit was just taken for granted as being "great" and you'd never ever read a dissenting opinion that say "London Calling" (for instance, it being the one I voted for) is actually pretty some fucking tedious shit! It used to annoy the fuck out of me that the stuff I liked from the '70's woul;d never get a look in, just more rehashes about how Neil Young's suffering made for great art or some newly-discovered piece of Beatles trivia published for the first time ever, which is all OK, except it got very repetitive very quickly, and it seemed to go on for years. Also there was this weird cultural cringe thing going on w/r/t Britisher writers, in which they'd prop US acts to high heaven and totally ignore UYK acts for the most part. The only things I'd question are that a bunch of the titles listed I don't recall ever being canonised so in the Brit monthlies at least (plus a bunch of shit that did get canonised isn't there) and probably it's a bit late for this kind of kickback against it anyway, I mean no-one gives a shit anymore, right?

Just to make a blanket statement that all of these albums are "extremely overrated" without any justification is asking for it though. I wonder about the person who started this thread, what kind of music do they like? Because if they listen to anything that is rock-oriented, they are probably listening to bands that learned a lot from the '70s bands listed here.

Most of those are great, but of course "The Payback" isn't.

where is this list from, just ilxor's head?

one of these:

The Beatles - Let It Be
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Paul Simon - Paul Simon

i voted band of gypsys.

Hmm... "Let It Be" is pretty weak for a Beatles album. "Rumours" is pretty overrated around ILM. I'm not crazy about Paul Simon, but I'm not sure if that record's really that overrated, I rarely hear it mentioned anyway. I'd probably have to go with "Dark Side of the Moon" though.

never gotten much pleasure out of van halen (sorry, rockers) so them by a long shot.

I would vote Sex Pistols, but there are so many albums on this list I don't see any reason to pick on any one of them too much

Who the hell has ever called "Let It Be" a masterpiece?

it's a Beatles album, I'm sure plenty of people have called it a masterpice.

or a masterpiece, even

The Wall

Wow, you're right! All of those DO suck! I finally see it!

Y'know, I asked you to vote for one album... not all of them.

― ilxor, Saturday, April 18, 2009 5:58 PM (2 hours ago)

I think I better understand what was implied here.. but the title of this poll included the words "extreme overrated" which implies something different.. It means they don't deserve high ratings, which is not true. These are (almost) all very good albums. Like "Who's Next" for example.. i like every song on this record okay, but I never need to hear a note of it again for the rest of my life (except maybe "My Wife"..). The only ones here whose ratings are acccurate (IMO) are Buzzcocks and Sex Pistols, but the rest are rated very highly and probably should be rated just a bit lower.. theyre more 8's or 9's out of 10's, rather than 10's out of 10's.. and mostly overplayed.

And also The Cars is underrated if anything.

Never heard the Paul Simon album, but all the rest I enjoy. They range from good to unbelievably great.

Paul Simon might be my fave record of the bunch

These records are all so bad I'm LOLling. Led Zeppelin? The Clash? James Brown? So boring. The only people making good records in that godforsaken decade were Faust, Ennio Morricone and the experimental Zurich scene.

Reminds me of the Steven Wright gag: "I got this tape for my car, 'The Best of Music', I only like the first side..."

"Rumours" is pretty overrated around ILM.

It is? From what I can tell, ILX feels Tusk >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rumours. Not sure I've read much about Rumours on ILX, at least in the past few years, but that "Name 50 Great Things About Tusk" thread keeps bobbing up to the top of the New Answers board every so often.

We played the James Brown album at an after work party, recently. Timeless and underrated in my opinion.

I voted Marvin Gaye. I don't hate the album, but I could never understand all the universal praise it gets.

Is Band of Gypsies really that overrated? I rarely see anyone mentioning it as a Great album.

Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson

people let me tell ya 'bout my best troll

it's a Beatles album, I'm sure plenty of people have called it a masterpice.

You'd be hard pressed to find even hardcore Beatles fans who would consider "Let It Be" a masterpiece.

Well, it was the only 70s Beatles record, and he HAD to include at least one of them!

Stephen's not really a troll - I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker, like he's the official spokesperson

I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker, like he's the official spokesperson

:-x

(Me, I've heard 'em all except for "Surf's Up" and "Sail Away" and basically like the lot. "My Aim Is True" is probably my least favourite.)

I think Neu! is kinda overrated
(ducks)

there are a lot of great records on the above list, but the Cars LP is NOT one of them, and probably the most obvious "sore thumb" of the lot afaik.

The Cars LP is definitely one of them. A wonderful album sitting perfectly stylistically between new wave, powerpop and AOR, including the best of all three worlds!

I think Neu! is kinda overrated
(ducks)

Would take this LP over most anything on the above list... ;-)

imma big Can fan and Neu was the first krautrock group i checked after them. have to say i was underwhelmed. it was okay, but i haven't felt the need to hear it much.

i'd probably rather listen to the cars album than the neu album. and i like neu. but so few things sound as heavenly as the cars debut played really really loud.

I like everything on this list better than Pink Floyd. Voted Darkside.

fuck me if there's a more useless word than "overrated" - it's like a t-shirt saying "I have run out of interesting things to say"

so you're saying overrated is overrated

I mean, the same poll entitled "Worst album of these much-liked 1970's albums" would've been fine, even interesting (accounting for ilxor's taste and thus his choices), but the "extremely overrated" question-beggar is always going to cause grief. I learned that myself. The hard way.

fwiw none of the albums here truly offend me, nor are any of them albums I particularly revere (Joni Mitchell - Blue comes closest, surprisingly). Not sure I have the authority to vote in this one tbh.

Dark Side of the Moon. Ugh.

I mean, I got big problems with DSOTM, the vacuous concept, the burnished sexless sound, the hermetic head-up-ass-ness of it all, and I never listen to it these days, but it contains material of undeniable artistic worth and musical merit, like pretty much everything here...I can't hate.

let it be

wtf these people look so miserable

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/472124207_a003dbd7cc.jpg

music sucks

paul simon tends to stand out here, though i'm not all that fond of james brown or blondie either.

And also The Cars is underrated if anything.
― billstevejim, Saturday, April 18, 2009 8:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

there are a lot of great records on the above list, but the Cars LP is NOT one of them, and probably the most obvious "sore thumb" of the lot afaik.
― ian, Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:06 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I rest my case.

Polls like this do a lot of valuable work for the community in outing people who need a good SBing.

where is this list from, just ilxor's head?

Cherry-picked from Pitchfork's Top 100 of the '70s by the looks of it.

None of these are bad records; London Calling and Who's Next are probably the least great.

wtf these people look so miserable

they were probably tired--it was Sunday morning of the EMP Pop Con and (having just gotten home from an afterparty for it) it's pretty exhausting.

"Money" is in 7/8, a rare time signature for rock.

These are the only four albums in the list that are actually overrated:

James Brown - The Payback
Al Green - Call Me
The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

the cars debut is great. and stylistically not even that far from some krautrock (think of kraftwerk covering "moving in stereo" how fucking rad would that have been?). sex pistols is the only album on here i'm sick of.

oh and exile too, I don't get the love over that record, it's one of my least favorite stones albums.

Dark Side of the Moon is really the only one of these I have absolutely no love for. It's not even a case of overexposure. I've never owned it, none of my friends have really ever overplayed it. There's just something about the whole sound/mood of it that repels me.

I'd say Dark Side looks to be the frontrunner so far.

Cherry-picked from Pitchfork's Top 100 of the '70s by the looks of it.

Can't pick a better site that sums up "overrated" these days, can you?

Come to think of it... Rolling Stone might have been better, but what the hell.

Dear Ilxor,

You, you, but, oh for the love of, uh, uh, why you must be, oh come on now well you asked for it: I have never seen any merit at all in Creedence Clearwater Revival and I specifically cannot endure John Fogerty's fake-Howlin' Wolf voice. But everything else on this list is fine, fine music.

Dark Side looks to be the frontrunner so far

Never had much use for Pink Floyd (even the Syd version), so I have no problem with this. Curious though why Dark Side is so much more hated than the Wall (which is twice as long, and therefore theoretically twice as boring, after all. Not to mention a concept album = kinda sucks by definition. Though the single's okay, I guess.)

I'd go for the Sex Pistols album. McLaren's "clever" pop maniulation aside, it really is a B grade piece of shit, compared to pretty much everything else punk ever came up with.

Pink Floyd haterz unite!

If Sex Pistols hadn't had such awfully muddy production, that album would stand up better today.

London Calling was a severe disappointment to me when I tried it.

It's not as good as the two albums the Clash made before it, that's for sure. (But it's better than the ones they made later.)

The Brainwasher's post is a great example. I do enjoy Marvin Gaye, but it's nowhere near his best album.

― ilxor, Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:49 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the TS is kidding, yo. Nilsson Schmilsson for me.

Yeah, not a great thread idea, but I guess if I were going to play along and try to pick one to challop on I'd go with The Congos, because it's heavily canonized mainly by critics and ILM types, many of whom are already playing at this sort of challoppy posturing.

I don't really have anything against the record, I just find it to be a slightly boring specimen of otherwise pleasant, melodic reggae.

Most of the albums on this list are very good albums.

Band of Gypsies hasn't worn that well for me, but I can't really say it's bad.

I'm going to be the voice in the wilderness here, but of all of these Blood On The Tracks is the one I listen to the least.

SURFS UP IS AWESOME U IDITIO

I don't like Blood on the Tracks that much either, xpost

ramones s/t is one of the best albums ever so not that one. 39 to go. ask me again tomorrow

Um, Floyd or Costello?

My problem with this list is that there's nothing here I really want to should OVERRATED at, just a scattershot of old classics I can totally see people loving but personally don't have any use for.

Is it ok if I think pitchfork's 70's list was good?

Dylan vs. Harrison

Or Van Halen vs. The Wall

...I'd go with The Congos, because it's heavily canonized mainly by critics and ILM types...

I don't really have anything against the record, I just find it to be a slightly boring specimen of otherwise pleasant, melodic reggae.

― excuse me, brutality here? (Hurting 2)

here here. i was seriously wondering what all the fuss was about when i first heard that album. much as i like perry's production, there's only so much falsetto wailing i can take on one record.

Love the Stones, but could never work out why Exile is lauded (by some) as their best work. Horrid, hissy production, Songs aren't really there. Have tried many times to like this record without any joy. I'd take Goat's Head Soup over Exile. Fuck, I'd take Tattoo You over Exile come to think of it.

Easy, "The Wall"

... not that it's even overrated just the worst

But then of course there's that Joni Mitchell thing

bit 'o route-one trolling itt

This is easy: Surf's Up.

but they mostly ARE masterpieces.

It's a good thread: nothing wrong with a bit of slaying sacred cows. Arguing that they are not overrated, or that their bovine sanctity is in fact deserved is surely part of the intention.

Anyway, I voted Let It Be, but somehow passed over all the Pink Floyd albums - although thinking about it, On the Run and the Great Gig in the Sky are actually great.

Anarchy, London Calling, What's Going on ARE (or have been) overrated, but still great. Actually I think there has been such a backlash against the clash, that London Calling is probably underrated now. There's some great tracks tucked away at the end like Revolution Rock.

I say "great" too much.

This is easy: Surf's Up.

― Matos W.K.

OK, that's it - outside...now...

It probably is overrated though, not extremely though

i enjoy most of these albums, probably because i didn't really grow up listening to the radio. i'm not sure even the overrated ones are really 'sacred cows' or anything, i've heard people rip on most of these (except the nilsson and wonder albums).

anyway i'm tempted to vote for exile on main street but i've been told that you can't honestly evaluate it until you've had it playing casually in the background at least 30 times.

The Congos - Heart of the Congos

What is this and who rates it?

Oh, I hate it when people say that - "Have you really REALLY listened to it though?"

I didn't read the whole question but find myself in agreement with this part.
Frankly, I'd be a better person not to hear any of these 1970s "masterpieces" ever again.

Not because any of them are not masterpieces but because there is so much to listen to every day, why stress myself out because I haven't gone back over Houses of the Holy recently (I say this having just played Rumours for the nth time)?

The Congos - Heart of the Congos

What is this and who rates it?

― Enormous Epic (Matt DC)

amazing roots reggae produced by lee perry.

who rates it? pitchfork seems to be ilxors source.

lame thread but successful troll attempt.

xxxxpost:

overrated is one thing. but how can something w/ long promised road, feel flows, til I die + the self-titled track be worse than everything else on that list? it has more filler than some of the other albums, but it also has peaks as high as anything on the list.

The only reggae album I can stand is "Heart of the Congos"

Lots of rating (or overrating) on there.

It's on Spotify, Matt so listen. It probably is overrated, but it's also absolutely beautiful.

Oh, I missed The Wall. Yeah, that's easily my least favoutite thing here, I like the other three Floyd albums listed but The Wall lacks any of the things I like about them (basically the dreamy/spacey side of their sound).

Thanks - I genuinely hadn't heard of it before but then again I know next to nothing about reggae. I'll give it a listen.

heart of the congos is amazing!

but yeah i guess if you dont like the 'falsetto wailing' it might not do much for you

Why is it that the thought process always goes "I don't like it but others do -> everyone else is wrong, it's overrated" rather than " -> I will admit to not understanding it (yet)"? See also the "you're only pretending to like it to seem cool" arguement.

Bollocks to "not understanding it yet"

But correct on the "I don't like it = it's overrated" argument.

Not really, there's a lot of albums I like but I still think are overrated

The Specials got my vote.

The Wall or London Calling, easily.

Exile On Main Street and There's A Riot Goin' On, on the other hand, are not overrated enough!

Wall or Bollocks for me.

there's a lot of bullshit of surf's up, too. but then there are like 4 songs which are amazing, so...

heart of the congos is amazing!

― just sayin, martes 21 de abril de 2009 10:56 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

YES

Don't understand why Band Of Gypsies is on this list, and not one of Hendrix' earlier albums with The Experience if you really want to tip a sacred cow. BOG really isn't that rated, or that good. That's my vote.

The others were all released in the 1960s, and are awesome.

^ OTM

I must learn to remember thread title at top after reading all the way to bottom.

ha, just about all these albums are pretty great and i think i'd be bummed if never heard them again tbh

I really, really like Heart of the Congos, but sometimes I wonder - is it just a teensy bit boring? A crisis that the song Fisherman exemplifies. And for all of the brilliance of the 'Every morning the black sunrise' lyric the confusion of arks in Ark of the Covenant does mildly put me off an otherwise amazing song. Can anyone justify this confusion and thus liberate the song for me to enjoy unreservedly (not including lolnet analysis of type 'brilliant conflation of the two Ark stories in LSP's etc')?

*The only reggae album I can stand is "Heart of the Congos"*

That's exactly it - it sounds to me like reggae for people who aren't that into reggae.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpg

grandma never likes the records the kids are playing

xxp you must be confused

http://pasembur.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/bob-marley-legend.jpg

but anyways re: 'heart of the congos' i think it's pretty good but i do agree that it can be a little boring. tons of reggae i like a lot more, and def. a lot of LSP that i like a lot more too

The only reggae album I can stand is "Heart of the Congos"

Lots of rating (or overrating) on there.

― Jamie T Smith, Tuesday, April 21, 2009 6:24 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

lol ilm thread i started sincerely, never followed up on. since that time i have bought one more reggae album--police and thieves. it is more boring than heart of the congos imo.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Joshua_Clover_05.jpg

who is that beej?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/15700696_9a9b6873bd.jpg

Voted for Suggest Ban.

Hi.

This thread is nonsense.

(Not meaning the posts on it)

who is that beej?

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, April 21, 2009 4:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

noted female pop critic jane dark of the blog "jane dark's sugarhigh!"

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/131020731_147bb2c3c7.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/268114159_4d4fbe0c28.jpg

Joshua Clover is a UC Davis professor of English and an accomplished professional writer. He also happens to own an amazing t-shirt that says "Who the Fuck Is Mick Jagger?" on it. Clover said he bought it because he didn't understand it. Other awesome shirts include "Piece Now" (with a large picture of a gun), "I (heart) Baile Funk," and "WWCD?" (What Would Courtney Love Do).

This guy Clover is fucking serious. He doesn't mess around. the question "Who the fuck is Mick Jagger" is one that I will ponder heavily today, because it is so fucking genius. i have no idea how the lucky people at Prof. Clover's poetry reading in that picture above could concentrate on his art after having been presented with such a profound question.

clover does 'the tuck' when he writes as jane, i bet

― gear (gear), Wednesday, February 1, 2006

did 'jane dark' used to write for spin in the late 90s?

anyway this thread is easy to me:

Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson

never really dug him for some reason.

apart from Jump into the Fire who gives one shit?

oh, dark side of the moon is on this? that wins...

so then, who the fuck is Mick Jagger again???

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Im going to go listen to these albums and not vote on this.

Suit yourself.

You can pretend you like all 40 but we all know it's not true.

Compelled to challenge that ridiculous assertion, but I admit that I don't really like The Wall at all; so, uh, that. Usually, however: "Your favourite albums are awful and you're an idiot with terrible taste" >>>>>>>> "Your favourite albums are awful and you're only pretending to like them".

I just wish you hadn't incorporated my critique of your "ilxor" moniker into your NEW moniker!

Mick Jagger, dudes!!!

Disappointed at the lukewarm response to 'Heart of the Congos'. The reissue on Blood & Fire is sufficient reason not to smash Mick Huckanll's face with a brick repeatedly.

I just wish you hadn't incorporated my critique of your "ilxor" moniker into your NEW moniker!

My bad. It's gone now. :-)

Just kidding.

anyway this thread is easy to me:

Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson

never really dug him for some reason.

Can this album even be considered canonic? It kind of doesn't doesn't fit with the rest of those albums.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pink flolyd

Need to see the SB total to make a fair comparison.

Makes me a little sad how much The Wall is hated. It means a lot to alienated 14-year-olds across the land and has for 30 years. You need to listen to it with the mindset of a kid. It's like reading A Separate Peace or something.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/Chinatown.jpg

Do you all know that the oh-so-cool t-shirt is the same one worn by Keith in like 72 or something?

a worthy winner

there's a lot of bullshit of surf's up, too. but then there are like 4 songs which are amazing, so...

― now is the time to winterize your manscape (will), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 13:42 (5 days ago)

^^rong. upon reflection there are 5 great songs and 3 other pretty good ones. don't know wtf i was talking about.

Disappointed at the lukewarm response to 'Heart of the Congos'. The reissue on Blood & Fire is sufficient reason not to smash Mick Huckanll's face with a brick repeatedly.

― featuring Strawberry and the Shortcakes (Billy Dods), Saturday, 25 April 2009 10:35 (Yesterday) Permalink

Confused -- you would have liked to see more votes for it?