Please here to list the most mean-spirited albums in history.

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Not talking about mean-spirited artists, necessarily.For example, it seems to me that the nastiest album George Clinton ever released is Funkadelic's Let's Take It to the Stage, just lots of personal attacks (Smufus! Fool and the Gang!), groupie-head songs, poems about pricks and clits. And The Rainbow Children has a whole lot more anti-Semitism than Prince has ever shown himself capable of before. And Kenan Hebert is right about David Byrne being nastiest on More Songs About Buildings and Food, which is why it's my fave rave of theirs.

But if you want to just talk about artists that are always just evil bastards/bastardettes, that's cool too.

― Neudonym, Monday, 19 May 2003 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and Here My Dear duh

― Neudonym, Monday, 19 May 2003 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Although it's not one of his best albums, Kool Keith's Matthew is like the most vindictive thing I've ever heard.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Steve Albini's lyrics could never be described as being up with people, although at times they are pretty funny.

― earlnash, Monday, 19 May 2003 15:29 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and Here My Dear duh

I was about to say.

As the Frogs have come up elsewhere, I won't say that Bananimals is constantly mean-spirited, but "Pay," "U Bastards" and "für z musik biz (10 years to waste)" make for a hell of a fuck you, fuck off and die troika.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Frank Zappa's entire career. Do you mean mean-spirited albums that are good ("We're Only In It For the Money") or just mean-spirited (almost everything else).

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I reckon Frank Zappa owns this thread, but I'm not that familiar with him.

The Great Escape?

Rubber Soul?

Imagine?

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the winner here is Elvis Costello's Blood and Chocolate, which would take the prize on the strength of "I Hope You're Happy Now" alone, but the other 10 songs are almost as nasty... it's like "Positively 4th Street" cubed.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Nomeansno
Mission of Burma (old, or not old? comeback was better than Wire's)
Daniel Carter/William Parker/Roy Campbell et. al. (Other Dimensions in Music)
Bill Monroe (R.I.P.)
John Fahey (R.I.P.)
Pandit Pran Nath (R.I.P.)

no one can deny that Bob Dylan & Neil Young own this thread.
Where is Fogerty?

― autovac (autovac), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I think that was actually intended for the old folks in music thread. damn!

― autovac (autovac), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

You fuckers are taking all my answers. Blood and Chocolate owns. Also, Boys for Pele.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

"Sally Can't Dance" is extremely mean-spirited up until the last track which is quite touching if totally addle-brained.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 May 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Eazy E: It's on (dre) 187Um Killa

The Kinks: Lola vs. Powerman & The Moneygoround

― Will (will), Monday, 19 May 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah I was about to say that Lou Reed was rent-to-own-ing this thread

and maybe Squarepusher's Go Plastic

― Neudonym, Monday, 19 May 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

NWA's Miggaz4Life. I wouldn't say its especially great, but some of the beats are very good.

― original bgm, Monday, 19 May 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Whitehouse - everything they've ever recorded

― Jimmy Page, Monday, 19 May 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

not an album,but hit em up by tupac is fairly mean spirited

― robin (robin), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:06 (twenty-two years ago)

What was that Tricky album where he just bitched about the record company for the whole thing?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:18 (twenty-two years ago)

That was just stupid-spirited.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 19 May 2003 21:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Jimmy Page is right. Especially this one:

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf100/f127/f12775bwjbf.jpg

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 19 May 2003 22:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Sutcliffe Jugend, We Spit on Their Graves and Death Mask, I reckon

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 19 May 2003 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah I was about to say that Lou Reed was rent-to-own-ing this thread

Anyone know "Trade In" from Set the Twilight Reeling? It's mean-spirited even by Lou Reed standards.

How could I have been so mistaken
How could I think that it was true
A child that is raised by an idiot
And that idiot then becomes you
How could I believe in a movie
How could I believe in a book
But most of all how could I listen to you
Such an obvious schmuck
A life spent listening to assholes
It's funny but it's true
So get rid of them I said to myself
But first I'm getting rid of you

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 19 May 2003 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

And the bulk of Twilight is Lou going on about how happy he is in his relationship with Laurie Anderson, which really is mean-spirited if you think about it -- he's rubbing it in his ex-wife's face.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 19 May 2003 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Aphex Twin: 26 Mixes For Cash

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 19 May 2003 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

millar, i was going to say that actually! but then i thought it was more punk rock, but on third thoughts, it's true, it's more mean than punk

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 19 May 2003 23:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't Lou talking to his old self in "Trade-In"?

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's a conflation of his old self and Sylvia.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 00:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd have thought John Lennon's first album rules this thread. He hates EVERYONE (himself included) on that album; except Yoko, but she has mitigating circumstances.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's a conflation of his old self and Sylvia.

what do they call their loverboy?

― mig, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:01 (twenty-two years ago)

you know, while mr. zappa certainly wrote an awful lot of mean songs he didn't really have that many albums that were entirely or even significantly mean-spirited. i concede that goodly portions of sheik yerbouti, joe's garage, you are what you is, and thing-fish were kinda nasty. but certainly not ALL of his albums -- goofy and snarky aren't quite the same as mean, you know!

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm also shocked that no-one's mentioned Eminem yet. surely he rates at least a mention on this thread!

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know if it's mean or just bitter, but Canibus' second album is a total self-pity party. I only listened to the thing a couple of times, and I can't even remember what it's called, but the whole thing is him blaming Wyclef for the first album sucking so bad. Canibus is such the perfect example of the once-promising rookie who tried and fell completely flat on his face in just about the most humiliating way. He was totally being groomed the same way 50 Cent was in like December. The rest of his life he'll pretty much just be seething.

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:37 (twenty-two years ago)

John Cale's 'Music for a New Society' deserves to be mentioned, I think. Mostly the bile is pointed at him, but the lines (from "Damn Life") "she stands little hope/of recognising what friends she had/and in many, many ways, those friends are GLAD" is (to ME) almost overpoweringly meanspirited.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a bunch of other meanspirited evil crap on that Lp, that's just the best example.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

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