57 replies to this topic

[Cryptowen]

Counterpoint to that other thread

Discuss musicians who released albums ranging from aight to meh to supahshit before moving on to bigger & better things. Maybe they needed time to hone their craft, maybe they rushed the first album, maybe they went for years unsuccessfully trying to do one thing before trying something totally different & nailing it.

Of course lots of musicians improve there skills over time, so it's probably better to focus more on cases of "whoa where did that come from" than slight gradual improvement.

For me:

-Tom Waits. He didn't go crazy until like a decade into his career
-Beach Boys going from surfrock to Pet Sounds

I'm drawing a blank right now but I know I had more

Edited by Cryptowen, 03 February 2012 - 10:55 AM.

[vamos scorcho]

Radiohead and Beck are two notable ones.

[Npoess]

Meh worthy debuts, uphill afterwards (well, kinda):

Mobb Deep – Juvenile Hell (downhill again after Hell On Earth)
Talk Talk - The Party's Over
Gang Starr - No More Mr. Nice Guy
Susumu Yokota - The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection (that's his debut, right?)

None these artists has had weak albums for me, but their later stuff has just been better. So they are not exactly "meh". But anyway:

Machinedrum - Now You Know
Jetone (later Tim Hecker)
Caribou – The Milk Of Human Kindness
Four Tet – Dialogue
Biosphere - Microgravity (N-Plants kind of meh)
Cujo (later Amon Tobin) (ISAM was also a bit meh)

Edited by Dropp, 03 February 2012 - 11:56 AM.

[Gocab]

chris clark - clarence park

Edited by Gocab, 03 February 2012 - 11:13 AM.

[kokeboka]

My Bloody Valentine
Blur
The Beatles
The Knife
Wilco
Depeche Mode

Edited by kokeboka, 03 February 2012 - 11:16 AM.

[Npoess]

Gocab, on 03 February 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

chris clark - clarence park

I don't agree with that.

Body Riddle might be his best effort. But Clarence Park is one of Clark's best albums in my opinion.

[couch]

Autechre

[Npoess]

couch, on 03 February 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Autechre

[couch]

Yea I figured that would happen. rofl


But I mean like...you can see how their style developed. Especially in the first 5 albums. It's at it's most basic on Incubala of course.

[Npoess]

couch, on 03 February 2012 - 11:40 AM, said:

Yea I figured that would happen. rofl


But I mean like...you can see how their style developed. Especially in the first 5 albums. It's at it's most basic on Incubala of course.

Well.. They've never really made a bad album (phanboi comment). So it could end up as a very very long discussion, and one there's probably already been a million times before.

But Incunabula is probably my favorite of theirs. And I don't care if Rob & Sean has called it "cheesy" themselves. I love that album.

Edited by Dropp, 03 February 2012 - 11:58 AM.

[Zephyr_Nova]

Chris Clark was also the first to spring to mind for me, but i don't know that each album has been a steady improvement. Close to it, for sure. Wilco, Beatles and Tom Waits are all close to steadily improving throughout their careers. Hmm... Meshuggah and Merzbow perhaps. Oh, and Nick Cave.
*edit: Nirvana, Elliott Smith.
I don't really think any of these artists have released mediocre albums, save maybe Chris Clark's debut.

Edited by Zephyr_Nova, 03 February 2012 - 12:01 PM.

[o00o]

Autechre

Aphex Twin

[couch]

But you can get where I'm coming from though right? (@ Dropp)



dont hate me :(

Edited by couch, 03 February 2012 - 12:03 PM.

[Npoess]

couch, on 03 February 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

But you can get where I'm coming from though right? (@ Dropp)



dont hate me :(

Sure I can. Choosing which is better: early ae, mid ae or late ae. That's a tough one, I love it all. And i'm sure most users here om watmm feels the same.

But it just happens to be early Auchre that's slightly better to me

Goddamnit I feel like such a fanboy right now

Edited by Dropp, 03 February 2012 - 12:20 PM.

[couch]

Cool, fwiw Autechre is my favorite of our featured artists.

[chimera slot mom]

couch, on 03 February 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Autechre

I'm not a tru fan but I agree, they didn't really get good until untilted (save a few tracks on LP5).

[Freak of the week]

chimera slot mom, on 03 February 2012 - 12:19 PM, said:

couch, on 03 February 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Autechre

I'm not a tru fan but I agree, they didn't really get good until untilted (save a few tracks on LP5).

Wouldn't agree. My favourites are Confield and Draft 7.30, closely followed by Tri Repetae. Tracks like Parhelic Triangle, Uviol, Surripere and V-Proc are in my opinion the pinnacles of their career.

Edited by Freak of the week, 03 February 2012 - 12:25 PM.

[couch]

Perhaps my problem with Incunabala is when I put it on I think "oh sweet, mellow early 90s techno with a slight srs bsns vibe to it". But anything afterwards I think "fuck yea Autechre!"

[Zephyr_Nova]

I know it's probably not a cool thing to say round these parts, but: Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective.

And also, Autechre's best releases in order from amazing to great go: Confield, Draft 7.30, Gantz Graf, Untilted, and then the rest is up for debate.

[beerwolf]

Lol at these Autechre posts! Each to their own though, but I can't get involved with this thread now.

Edited by beerwolf, 03 February 2012 - 12:35 PM.

[Npoess]

^Of course Autechre's involvement in this thread was inevitable. It's Watmm for christ sake.



/last post

Edited by Dropp, 03 February 2012 - 12:48 PM.

[couch]

lool, my bad. :( I like your gifs tho.

[Npoess]

Well I was actually just using that post as an excuse to use that gif, lol.

/last post(2)

Edited by Dropp, 03 February 2012 - 12:46 PM.

[joshuatx]

David Bowie




R.E.M. needs a thread meh to great to meh...or

Spoiler

"ok, good, great, really great, good, meh, really dull, bad, ok again and now we quit"

Flying Lotus (arguably) and Boards of Canada, if you start with Twoism

Edited by joshuatxuk, 03 February 2012 - 02:22 PM.

[dese manz hatin]

bob dylan