Most Disappointing Albums of All Time (11): Lou Reed: “Lou Reed”
A winning streak cannot last forever. And when you’re a successful recording artist with a long career, there inevitably comes a time when fans and critics are disappointed with a new album. Here we present: The most disappointing albums of all time (11): Lou Reed: “Lou Reed”.
This may be because a big experiment didn’t pay off as hoped. The taste changed quickly. You are suddenly dismissed as a relic of the past. For creating something so bold and innovative that its genius will only be appreciated in years to come. Or that you simply produced a dud due to a combination of physical and creative exhaustion. The unbearable stress of trying to surpass yourself. And perhaps the influence of certain chemical substances.
For truly great artists, a disappointing album can be just a bump in the road to a long, successful career. Bob Dylan has many albums that can safely be described as “disappointing.” And they only made the sequels even more impressive and interesting. The same could be said of David Bowie, Madonna, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones, and other artists whose careers span multiple generations.
Rating: Also depends on the time
The American ROLLING STONE has compiled a list of the 50 most disappointing albums in music history. There are some important caveats that need to be made before various armies of fans make plans to set our offices on fire. Or unleashing SWAT teams on our homes. We absolutely love some of these albums. An album can be seen as disappointing the moment it comes out. And later be reevaluated forever.
This mainly has to do with the timing and the critical consensus at a particular point in time. And an album that’s considered B+/A- is still disappointing when it follows a string of A/A+ albums.
Plus, a disappointing album by an incredibly talented artist like Radiohead or U2 would be considered a masterpiece if it had been released by almost anyone else. (We had a really hard time deciding to include “The King of Limbs” and “Songs of Innocence” here. But we ended up including them.)
(And if you’re going to storm our houses because we recorded your favorite band here, can you at least do it during the day? It’s annoying when they storm in in the middle of the night. Plus, “The King of Limbs” is damn good. Get a grip , Radiohead Army.)
Most Disappointing Albums of All Time (11): Lou Reed: “Lou Reed”
The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records and didn’t make it beyond the club scene. But her four albums with Lou Reed at the top are perfect in different shades. And when he reemerged after a brief dry spell with his solo debut in 1972, fans had every reason to expect something brilliant.
But what they got was a bunch of warmed-over Velvet Underground outtakes, with Reed inexplicably joined by Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman of Yes, as well as Elton John guitarist Caleb Quaye.
These are very talented musicians in themselves, but completely unsuited to this particular task. Add to that the LP’s terrible production choices, and you get an album that even die-hard Reed fans won’t want to defend. Luckily, VU superfan David Bowie came along shortly after that album flopped and helped him shape Transformer.
It is basically considered his first solo album. He was granted a fresh start for the actual debut album.