Hidden Treasures - Head Scratchers

[Scott]

RJ's post of Deep Purples Stormbringer started the thought process for this topic...


Theres always seems to be one album in a bands catalog that causes their fan base to scratch their heads or question the direction of the band. Maybe they tried something different, maybe they were rushed in the studio, who knows. But these albums caused a fuss amongst the fan base of some magnitude. So thats what we're looking at today... 
 
 
Some others came to mind while putting this list together, but I opted for the 3 below, but heres what I passed up on...

• Led Zeppelin - III
• Toto - Turn Back
• Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
• Kiss - Unmasked
• Kiss - The Elder
• Kiss - Asylum
• Kiss - Crazy Nights
• Kiss - Hot In The Shade ...

Just to name a few. Now you chime in... With hindsight being 20/20, what albums left you wondering what they were thinking? Heres the 3 I chose...


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1mf4jjp

	Queen Hot Space 1982 1 - Body Language 2 - Put Out The Fire Anybody who was a little dismayed by the pop inclinations of The Game would have been totally distressed by Queen's 1982 follow-up, Hot Space, an unabashed pop and dance album. The band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesizers on their albums has suddenly, dramatically reversed course, devoting the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance-pop, all driven by drum machines and colored by keyboards, with Brian May's guitar coming in as flavor only on occasion. The second side is better, as it finds the group rocking, but there are still electronic drums. But the album's undeniable saving grace is the concluding "Under Pressure," an utterly majestic, otherworldly duet with David Bowie that recaptures the effortless grace of Queen's mid-'70s peak, but is underscored with a truly affecting melancholy heart that gives it a genuine human warmth unheard in much of their music. Frankly, "Under Pressure" is the only reason most listeners remember this album, which is as much a testament to the song's strength as it is to the rather desultory nature of the rest of Hot Space.
	Def Leppard Slang 1996 3 - Truth? 4 - Slang "The whole thing is potty," David Quantick wrote in Q, "but in a supple and melodic way – even the ballads lack the usual Def Leppard sense of having been written for lead-lined hippos to sing. Slang is the sound of a band doing something fast and interesting, at the exact point in their lives when most bands are taking up golf and inhaling the contents of aquariums in country manors." Q later included the album among its 'best of 1996', describing it as "the work of a huge band, aware that the straight-ahead rock they once plied so enthusiastically is dead and who have embraced the new breed with élan." Slang was the first Def Leppard album to fail to achieve platinum sales in the US. Elsewhere, the album performed better: it placed four singles on the UK charts, and did go platinum in Canada. On the supporting tour the band performed for the first time in Southeast Asia, South Africa and South America.
	Rush Power Windows 1985 5 - Manhattan Project 6 - Territories Like much of the band's '80s output, Power Windows finds Rush juggling their hard-rock heritage with new technology to mixed results. With Alex Lifeson choosing sparse, horn-like guitar bursts over actual crunch, Geddy Lee's synthesizers running rampant, and Neil Peart's crisp, clinical percussion and stark lyrical themes (evoking cold urban landscapes), the result just may be the trio's "coldest" album ever. Still, it does boast its share of important tracks in "Marathon" and "Manhattan Project," while offering an energetic, tongue-in-cheeck hit single in "The Big Money." In an album that rewards patience (repeated listens are the key), the most gripping moments are saved for last, with the beautifully eerie textures of "Mystic Rhythms," a song that was later used as a concert drum solo showcase for Peart.

[Jon]

I like Hot Space! I like Slang!

I don't like Power Windows so much.

Ones that immediately comes to mind are "Panorama" by The Cars, THOSE two from Cheap Trick, "The Deed Is Done" from Molly Hatchet, Van Halen III................. 

I listened to "Turn Back" (the remastered version) and it's really not that bad. More hard rock than prog or soft. 

It should actually be every album pre and post "The Elder". Why did they think only once and not think any other time?

LZ III is better than LZ II. Much better. TONS better.

Queen used synths before "Hot Space".....

[Scott]

VH III...  totally missed that one.  Ya, that's not a good one at all!  And I like Panorama, although I consider it a "period piece"

[Jon]

"Panorama" is a very hard listen. I do kinda like it, but to hear that after the two previous albums back then was very jarring.

[Scott]

[Scott]

For the record, I love all 3 of the albums I posted, but each one took time!

[Jon]

I didn't need any time with the Queen album because it was a Queen album. I didn't care it was dancey stuff, it was QUEEN.

Slang I liked immediately because it wasn't the two previous album. It didn't sound overly processed and mechanical. It sounded raw. 

Still have never really gotten into Pwer Windows. It's the production, that clinical, clean sound. No warmth at all. It's listenable, but it's not a warm and fuzzy listen. Not an album you crank up in your car to attract the chicks.  

[RJhog (Admin)]

Agree on Unmasked.  But Dynasty caused just as much dandruff as it's successor.  Same with Asylum.  Animalize was so unfocused.  But after that, there was no more head scratching.  Everybody just stopped being surprised.

[Scott]

I actually think Dynasty is a top 3 KISS album.  I just listed those KISS albums a) to pick at you, and 2) make sure KISS was discussed since we know how much Jon loves them, and 7) theres some truth in there...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Agree on Dynasty.  Great album, but so many "fans" seem to think it's disco, which is BS.

[Niels (Mod)]

I agree on those 3 albums. But Adrenalize was the first Leppard-dissapointment for me. What a crappy album!

Others would be:

"Restless Breed" by Riot
"Load" by Metallica
"Ram It Down" by Judas Priest
"Fly On The Wall" by AC/DC

[Scott]

I knew Fly On The Wall would show up in your response. Haha. .. was tempted to include it.

[Niels (Mod)]

Actually, I should had written "For Those About To Rock..", because it was a dissapointment compared to BIB. I got tired of it pretty fast, back then.

I forgot about "Next Position Please". I was very dissapointed in that album. I loved OOO, since it was kind of a step forward. NPP was a step in the wrong direction.

If I had bought "Physical Graffitty" back then, the biggest dissapointment of all would had been "Precence".