Joe Strummer
― peepee, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:06 (eleven years ago) link
and mick jagger's abysmal solo career does NOT get a pass
if your name doesn't ride with Ron Benner.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:07 (eleven years ago) link
Idiot (n) 1. One of the Iggy Pop albums that disproves your claim 2. Expression of strong disagreement.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
do people not get "mostly"? Iggy has a couple of solid records and hours and hours of crap.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:25 (eleven years ago) link
The Postal Service
― Jamie_ATP, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:25 (eleven years ago) link
John Lennon
― it's all fuck what sit says, we'll do our own thing (Matt #2), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:26 (eleven years ago) link
I was debating Lennon. Think you're right though.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:27 (eleven years ago) link
Irmin Schmidt
― it's all fuck what sit says, we'll do our own thing (Matt #2), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, I'll rep for both The Idiot and Lust For Life (though the latter is about three good songs and a shit ton of filler), the same way I'd rep for about 50% of All Things Must Pass. But, God, after these, woof.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:35 (eleven years ago) link
post-70s Rundgren, maybe
― Dr. Alfred P. Falfa (WilliamC), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
Iggy Pop solo albums that are better than you think: New Values, Soldier, Party, Instinct, American Caesar, Beat 'Em Up.
― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:39 (eleven years ago) link
New Values is, well, kind of my favorite Iggy solo album.
― there were chinchillas, these weird little rat animals, in cages (Jon Lewis), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
Foo Fighters
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
I don't get the appeal of John Cale.
― wk, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:45 (eleven years ago) link
Do you really think that's why people are buying Foo Fighters albums?xpost
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:53 (eleven years ago) link
I believe they did for several years.
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
I bought the first one because of Sunny Day Real Estate
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:57 (eleven years ago) link
I don't get the appeal of John Cale.― wk, Monday, February 4, 2013 9:45 AM (12 minutes ago)
― wk, Monday, February 4, 2013 9:45 AM (12 minutes ago)
John Cale solo >>>> Lou Reed solo
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
truth
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
Robert Fripp
― frogbs, Monday, 4 February 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
Morrissey
― Jaap and roids (NickB), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
I can believe that they did for several years but it seems unlikely that e.g. the Foo Fighters were topping charts in 2011 because of Dave Grohl's role as Nirvana's drummer 20 years earlier.
xpost re Foo Fighters
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 4 February 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
^^^there's a funny ILM poll about this
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:00 (eleven years ago) link
Morrissey is a good answer, though I enjoy his first few solo albums.
― :C (crüt), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:00 (eleven years ago) link
Brian Wilson (discounting Smile, which is a reworking of a BB album anyway)
― it's all fuck what sit says, we'll do our own thing (Matt #2), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:02 (eleven years ago) link
was thinking about saying Ian Brown but nobody seems to give him a pass for anything these days
― frogbs, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:02 (eleven years ago) link
Rod Stewart? No! Christgau gave some late Pete Townshend albums abysmal grades, but I haven't heard them--Who Came First is good.
― clemenza, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:03 (eleven years ago) link
Christgau's never struck me as much of a Who fan. And I suspect his middling Townshend reviews were done as much to get under Dave Marsh's skin (and/or as retaliation for Marsh's zero-star reviews of Christgau's beloved X).
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:06 (eleven years ago) link
Empty Glass is great, All the Best Cowboys less so (but not as bad as Christgau says), White City better than Cowboys, and Psychoderelict is pretty much worthless.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link
ilxors otm, fucking Lou embodies this thread. You couldn't make a worse string of records on a dare.
― there were chinchillas, these weird little rat animals, in cages (Jon Lewis), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:11 (eleven years ago) link
Henry Rollins
― Jaap and roids (NickB), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:13 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, Cale was a bad example because it's not like his fans give him a pass because of VU, they just have shitty taste in music.
― wk, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
Rod Stewart and John Lennon are wrong answers
Lou Reed
― g simmel, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
Really? I found the first few solo Fripps (Exposure, Under Heavy Manners, League of Gentlemen) to be outstanding. Far more interesting to me than the Crims' pre-Larks' Tongue lps.
― doug watson, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
Also Rollins' stand-up routine has merit.
― doug watson, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:27 (eleven years ago) link
The Fripp/Eno projects were obviously great too.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
Lou Reed did not get a "pass" in this poll fwiw
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:31 (eleven years ago) link
Don't know if he truly gets a pass, but Frank Black.
― Moodles, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:33 (eleven years ago) link
john cale solo >>> lou reed solo, the velvet underground
― iatee, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:34 (eleven years ago) link
Paul Westerberg
There. I said it.
― this customer is a jerk (La Lechera), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
David Lee Roth
― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
I love some Paul solo stuff, but yeah.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
Roger Daltrey
― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
I do too, but mostly abysmal.
― this customer is a jerk (La Lechera), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:37 (eleven years ago) link
I dunno, dude wasn't exactly a solo hit machine (or critical darling).
xp
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
As much as I love Lou Reed I guess he's a good answer, depending on your definition of "mostly." Out of everything he's recorded post-VU, maybe 20% of it is classic and I guess it's surprising that his career continued so consistently for so many decades even after seemingly doing everything he could to fuck it up.
― wk, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
otoh LULU
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:39 (eleven years ago) link
I'd argue that Morrissey, Fripp and, err, David Lee Roth are the opposite of this - to me, their solo work is at least as good as that of their previous bands.
Westerberg otm, unfortunately
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
Mike Watt (including fIREHOSE)
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:45 (eleven years ago) link
steve shasta
― mookieproof, Monday, 4 February 2013 18:46 (eleven years ago) link
lol aero
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 02:38 (eleven years ago) link
I listened to the 12/12/12 Sandy Concert on the radio driving home from work, not really knowing exactly the order of who was playing when or who had already played, etc. Jon Stewart was doing this impassioned intro about the Jersey Shore and gives this big wind up and I'm thinking 'oh cool I haven't missed Springsteen' - and then Stewart says 'And who better to play for you now than the great man...' (me: YAY!)"...old Slowhand himself, ERIC CLAPTON!'
*NEEDLE SCRATCH*
I nearly crashed the fucking car I was so mad. I actually yelled at the radio 'GO FUCK YOURSELF SLOWHAND YOU C---'
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 02:41 (eleven years ago) link
Clapton video upthread takes me back to a time when videos of songs from soundtracks peppered in, err, sounds from the movie. Boy, that was a weird era, man. Try hearing that tune without the cue ball being struck = impossible now.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 05:08 (eleven years ago) link
"Plastic Ono Band" was horrible. Period.
― The GeirBot (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, February 5, 2013 1:36 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
pretty much a flawless album
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 05:11 (eleven years ago) link
my feeling is he's classic for yardbirds and cream and kinda dud for everything else. even as a 15-year-old classic rock fiend the 'layla' album always put me to sleep.
but even derek & the dominos is not really "solo" maybe. isn't most of the guitar goddery there Duane Allman anyway?
― wk, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 06:11 (eleven years ago) link
peter hammill solo >>>>>> vdgg
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 06:28 (eleven years ago) link
Did Colin Blunstone get a pass in the UK? That dude's solo stuff is pretty bad besides One Year.
― berner herzog (fadanuf4erybody), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 07:01 (eleven years ago) link
Any Wu-Tang clan member solo career, except for Ghostface and Method Man.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 08:47 (eleven years ago) link
Richard Thompson. Some of those early solo albums are pretty great, but outside of the Grizzly Man soundtrack the past 20 years seem pretty dire.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 09:23 (eleven years ago) link
hmm but I would say most of his reputation rests on those solo albums (and the Linda stuff) rather than on Fairport which was always more of a collective group thing
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 09:27 (eleven years ago) link
With richard thompson we're falling into the "artists with long careers who got less good after a decade or so" which is nearly everyone who doesn't die/retire young.
― President Keyes, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 09:52 (eleven years ago) link
@ fadanuf I'd say Rod Argent got more post-Zombies goodwill, but at the couple of recent Zombies concerts I've been to, the crowd has been clearly divided into Colin-lovers and Argent-lovers
― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:13 (eleven years ago) link
Nobody mentioned Sting yet?
It's been a while but I seem to recall his very early solo stuff to not be horrific, but certainly not befitting the genius that was The Police. And then he became a New Age wanker and I haven't cared since.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:20 (eleven years ago) link
Sting doesn't get a pass, or at least hasn't since around 1990.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:25 (eleven years ago) link
even Sting's good solo stuff never seemed to get much of a pass. maybe his first solo album but people have torn this dude to shreds for nearly 3 decades now!
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:32 (eleven years ago) link
Yet he still is constantly one of the top grossing touring artists every year he hits the road. So some people sure give him a pass.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:33 (eleven years ago) link
co-signing Jarvis Cocker.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:39 (eleven years ago) link
the list of people who were in good/popular bands who went on to make shitty solo albums is kinda endless. lotsa people think they were the genius of the group and then they are stuck in a studio with don was and its 4 a.m. and the riffs just sound really shitty and kenny aronoff is begging to go home so that he can feed his dogs.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:42 (eleven years ago) link
Karl Bartos
― moin moin hummel hummel (doo dah), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:43 (eleven years ago) link
if you are dave mason you create good will for decades with one single song!
― scott seward, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:46 (eleven years ago) link
wanna be positive and ask: who was once a member of a popular/respected/etc band who made really great solo albums that are underheard/underrated?
Not really solo albums but the two of them are practically inseparable so it's close enough, but anyway those Flo & Eddie solo records are pretty underrated.
― cwkiii, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:55 (eleven years ago) link
At this point though there are probably as many people who are there to hear Sting songs as ones who want to see the guy from the Police
― President Keyes, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 14:59 (eleven years ago) link
So at least half of his top-grossing audience gives him a pass then!
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:00 (eleven years ago) link
yeah but the "based entirely upon past successes with respective bands" part doesn't fit
― President Keyes, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:05 (eleven years ago) link
depends on what your definition of "get a pass" is. I mean Phil Collins sold a zillion albums too. as did Clapton.
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:09 (eleven years ago) link
"Richard Thompson. Some of those early solo albums are pretty great, but outside of the Grizzly Man soundtrack the past 20 years seem pretty dire."
don't understand this at all. the guy's live performance continue to be amazing and as a guitarist he's just not normal.
― charlie h, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:10 (eleven years ago) link
who gives this guy a pass
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:25 (eleven years ago) link
hes only done like two albums too, and one of them was alright (Communication??)
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:28 (eleven years ago) link
depends on what your definition of "get a pass" is. I mean Phil Collins sold a zillion albums too. as did Clapton.― frogbs, Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10:09 AM
― frogbs, Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10:09 AM
Whereas Sting was always billed as the Police guy and while still remaining commercially successful, he is still known for his work and accomplishments in The Police. I still see solo Sting dates touted as "from The Police." I don't think Collins solo gigs mention him as "the guy from Genesis" or Clapton as "former Yardbird" or whatever.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link
maybe worth mentioning that I could not really tell Phil's Genesis hits apart from his solo ones, while the Police/Sting were totally different entities
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
as I said upthread, Collins may be one of the few artists whose solo career changed the band's sound.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:42 (eleven years ago) link
^great thread idea
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:43 (eleven years ago) link
surely anagram, you'd mention Pete Hammill there?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:50 (eleven years ago) link
nick cave is a goofy answer, sorry scott, unless this thread is "artists whose solo work isnt as good as their work in bands." he was a critical phenom, not just a dude who got a pass because of the birthday party.
― zero dark (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
Same with Clapton to a lesser degree, I think.
This is what I was getting at: I doubt the people who made "Tears in Heaven" #1 on the AC charts were all Yardbirds or Cream fans or even aware of early Yardbirds. Did the Yardbirds even score any big hits before Beck replaced Clapton?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
Unless "get a pass" refers to critical acclaim, not to popular appeal.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 15:55 (eleven years ago) link
for your love was a big hit!
― scott seward, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:03 (eleven years ago) link
I kind of agree on Nick Cave, tho, not so much as "he gets a free pass" as his badass history let him get away with a lot of balladeering
― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:04 (eleven years ago) link
it was their biggest u.s. hit by far. and its kinda why clapton left the group. he didn't want to be a "pop" star.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:04 (eleven years ago) link
I love the idea that Nick Cave is just "former Birthday Party frontman Nick Cave". That's like saying Neil Young is best known as an ex-member of Buffalo Springfield.
― Deafening silence (DL), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:07 (eleven years ago) link
mos def. the three post-reunion albums all sound like PH-plus-organ to me (or PH-plus-organ-and-sax in the case of Present) in a way that the 70s albums certainly don't.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
I thought Jeff Beck played on "For Your Love", probably because it sounds more pop and less blues than most Clapton-era Yardbirds. My mistake, sorry.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:22 (eleven years ago) link
also I'd say the 3 Hammill albums after Pawn Hearts seemed to hint at what was to come with Godbluff
― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:24 (eleven years ago) link
I know he has his fans, but ... Bob Mould.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:26 (eleven years ago) link
we've already been down the mould route up top.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago) link