I ****ing Hate You

One of the most hated things for a music fan is when their favorite artist puts out a new album they don’t like. In fact it’s past simply not caring for it, they absolutely HATE it. Maybe the band went through a drastic lineup change, or perhaps the band has provided that great catch-all answer of “maturity” to justify the new album. Whatever the reason, albums such as these alienate long time followers of the band.

Far too often however, it seems to be the case that die-hard fans just don’t take the time to absorb or understand the material. The result is two fold, for the hard work that the band put into the release is overlooked, and an album with a lot of potential is just ignored by the general public. And while there might be part of the population that actually doesn’t care for the new release, more often than not people simply look at these releases on a superficial basis of how familiar it sounds to older material.

Therefore, here are 10 albums from great artists that are generally (and unfairly) hated by many fans. These albums commonly get overlooked, but you might be like me and feel they are worth the effort to understand.

I ****ing Hate You: 10 Albums Targeted By Unwarranted Hatred

10. Chinese Democracy- Guns N’ Roses

So I guess I’m cheating a bit with this one as this “technically” has not been released. However, it’s definitely a body of work that has divided hardcore fans of Guns N’ Roses. Chinese Democracy was first promised to fans in 1999, than 2002, and every subsequent year after that. As if the delays are not enough, the entire lineup has been gutted and only Axl Rose remains from the band’s original incarnation. All we have to judge this release is on leaked demos and live recordings of various qualities, but they are enough to make an informed decision. At its worse, the sessions of Chinese Democracy have yielded overly worked/polished songs, Slashless solos, and material ranging from industrial tinged dirges to rock epics. If this is the worst, than its best is just short of the perfection found on Use Your Illusion I & II. People are hung up on the fact that Axl is eccentric and that he’s dragged the band’s name through the mud. Sure, it’s not perfect but people need to stop being pretentious and see Chinese Democracy for what it is: damn fine music. It’s not the original, but it’s far from as horrible as Slash-worshippers would have you believe.

9. In Reverie- Saves The Day

Sure, Saves The Day could have made another Through Being Cool to reassure their old fans that they didn’t sell out. And surely, they could have made another Stay What You Are to capitalize on their new found fame on MTV2. Instead, Saves The Day stayed true to themselves and made a surprisingly quirky, inventive, and dynamic record. In Reverie sparkles with beautiful cascading melodies that (at times) harkens back to the guitar pop of The Kinks and other 60s bands. Sure, people will cite that they went “soft” or that Chris Conley’s nasally vocals are as terrible as his non-descriptive writing. However, is slowing down tempos necessarily a bad thing? And sure, Conely’s voice is an acquired taste on this release but the harmonies they employ are absolutely golden. Finally, can audience members really expect him to sing about people giving him water instead of gasoline his entire life? Saves The Day made In Reverie for no one but themselves and it acts as a refreshing breath of fresh air into a scene that too often wants too more of the same thing. (It’s to be noted that much like Weezer’s Pinkerton, this album has now been embraced by some of the fan base. I suppose the music itself always does the talking. That, or the trends…)

8. Say Hello To Sunshine- Finch

This album is another shining example of a band stretching its legs artistically only to be bitchslapped by its core fan base. Say Hello To Sunshine could very well have been What It Is To Burn II and that 2002 sound Finch had going could have been milked for all its worth. Their teenybopper fans would have ate it up too. Instead, the band made a dark, jazzy, abrasive, and at times just plain bizarre, record. The band chose to write more songs like the dissonant “Project Mayhem” rather than poppier “Letters To You.” The MySpace generation subsequently rejected them and their bold experiment. As A result, the band eventually called it quits, but not before leaving one hell of a swan song. “Insomniac Meat” is an epic opening, full of twisted screams and buzz saw guitars. “A Man Alone” sports and almost swing back beat, and the riffs in “Piece Of Mind” simply crunch. It’s a shame that this record never got up off the ground, for it plays out like a schizophrenic’s wet dream and bombards listeners with impressive musicianship. Oh, for it to be 2005 again.

7. Risk- Megadeth

Since 1985, when Dave Mustaine dropped Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! (His answer to Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All) the thrash innovator has lived in the shadow in the band that rejected him. Just take a look at his discography, for his best releases have always attempted to mirror the current Metallica release:

• …And Justice For All (1988)/Rust In Peace (1990)
• The Black Album (1991)/Countdown To Extinction (1992)
• Load (1996)/Cryptic Writings (1997)

This isn’t to diminish his accomplishments, for Mustaine has overcome a lot and been a huge force in metal music whether it be with Metallica or Megadeth. However, the first time Mustaine really did something drastic to his sound was met with a huge amount of backlash and the reason why needs to be examined. Granted, Risk historically had more input from producer Dan Huff, and less input from other Megadeth members so in that respect its easy to see why fans were so enraged. However, these things don’t necessarily translate to bad music. Risk’s dabbling into electronic flourishes were refreshing. The country and Sabbath experimentation Metallica were fiddling with didn’t sound as modern as Risk, possibly giving Mustaine a youthful sound. Also, while “Crush ‘Em” might have come across as nothing more than bone-headed jock-rock, cuts like “Insomnia,” “Prince Of Darkness,” and “The Doctor Is Calling” all benefited from the extra electronics. Unfortunately, Risk didn’t yield the rewards that Mustaine hoped for and he dropped the electronic touches immediately on the next release. We have Megadeth “fans” to thank for this.

6. One Hot Minute- The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ignore the fact that The Red Hot Chili Peppers fired John Frusciante for his rampant drug problems and hired an even bigger drug user to fill his shoes. For while the ridiculous nature of One Hot Minute is very sore subject with fans, it’s also the biggest reason fans overlook this great album. Sure, the funk by way of punk and the epic ballads that Frusciante helped the band create were drastically different on this release, but the psychedelic metal influences Dave Navarro brings to the band are just as interesting and just as exciting. Comparing the guitar stylings of Navarro and Frusciante are fairly easy as Navarro prefers a more direct approach to his progressions and Frusciante is a tad more subversive. This is perhaps most noticeable in their two vastly different take on the guitar solo. The soloing on One Hot Minute seems to blister and burn with the bizarre fire that only Navarro knows how to create. “Warped” rips and roars with some of the best Chili’s material off Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but like the rest of the album it is a bit more abrasive than their previous work. Interestingly, the epic ballads ala “Under The Bridge” are not completely gone, for “Tearjerker” is an extremely heartfelt and gorgeous goodbye to Kurt Cobain right after his suicide. Unfortunately, it just seems like bad luck for album this good to be sandwiched between epics like Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Calfornication. Perhaps its place in history will unfortunately always make it so underrated.

5. No Substance- Bad Religion

Here’s a bold statement for any music listener: the only two punk bands that really have anything to say about politics and society are Bad Religion and The Clash. You can imagine my disgust when people are quick to write off these LA punkers. Unfortunately, even I cannot ignore the fact that the years Bad Religion were signed to Atlantic Records were not too easy for the band or fans alike. Speaking frankly however, these years yielded two mediocre albums in The Gray Race and The New America, and produced the stellar No Substance. I’ll concede only the following when it comes to No Substance: a) Brian Baker isn’t as good of a guitarist as Mr. Brett. b) No Substance isn’t as fast as other Bad Religion albums. c) While their other Atlantic records might sound like they were made for radio, No Substance is a wordy and difficult album to understand. Sure, the band’s speed and sharp wit are intact on speedy numbers like “Hear It” and “In So Many Ways” but Greg Graffin’s vocabulary works over time on No Substance. It’s a part of the album that I marvel at, for songs like “The State Of The End Of The Millennium Address” deal with some complex interpersonal/political ideas. They expertly balance the worldly with the personal, and this has always been their greatest asset. It just so happens that that is the heaviest Bad Religion has relied on it. Perhaps they spout these ideas more concisely on other albums and they bring more punk fury on those as well. No Substance, however, is definitely one of the smartest punk albums from one of the smartest punk bands around. It should be appreciated as such.

4. Pop- U2

Electronic music scares the majority of listeners out there. People regard it as a lesser form because most of the sounds are not made by man’s exact influence on an instrument and this is truly unfortunate. Not only that, but people must train their ears to these bizarre sounds and that takes a great deal of effort. U2’s Pop was always unfairly treated due to the fact that the so-called “Biggest Band In The World” had crossed over into some taboo region of the music world. Indeed, Pop’s electronic beeps and squiggles can be intimidating on first listen as the dancey “Discothèque” and "MOFO" illustrate. However, let’s look at what has stayed the same for U2. The album’s concepts about technology enveloping our lives and the coldness they seem to provide us with are weighty issues at the heart of this album’s hour and four minute running time. Lyrically, the band is as strong as they were on Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree and that’s no easy feat. Also the dense music, electronic or otherwise is still meticulously crafted with arena minded sounds. Sure, tracks like “Staring At The Sun” and “Gone” are closer to the band’s roots as opposed to the alienating dance numbers, but rarely does an album encompass its sound into the concepts it’s toying with. The Flood were the perfect producers for this thick and dense sound montage of an album. They help the band craft an atmosphere that’s all at once chaotic, yet streamlined. Ultimately, this is the grimmest U2 have ever been. The seductive “If You Wear That Velvet Dress,” and the epic “Wake Up Dead Man” have U2 pushing themselves and their listeners into their innermost psyches to understand what is happening to themselves outside. As a result, Pop stands as a deeply moving and accomplished work.

3. Make Believe- Weezer

Nothing is safe from scrutiny and Weezer knows this first hand. Unfortunately for the band it’s dogged them for every single album since they dropped Pinkerton and gotten uglier in the process. However, never have critics and fans alike been so divided about an album such as Make Believe. This album has garnered many near perfect reviews from publications such as Rolling Stone and AllMusic.com, yet been at the mercy of Pitchfork’s review of 0.0. In addition, fans have been similarly divided, for the album sonically falls somewhere between The Blue Album and The Green Album while being lyrically reminiscent of the confessional and introspective lyrics of Pinkerton. Fans either praise these as a return to greatness for the band, or despise the album for its simplicity in both lyrics and arrangements alike. At this point, one has to ask if these fans are even fans to begin with. From their earliest days, Weezer was about having fun yet realizing there isn’t inherently special about them. Whether it’s in their garage or on an island in the sun, their music reflected universal qualities that everyone possessed; they aspired for greatness but only come up short. In some sense, people could call Weezer cheesy and they’d be completely justified in saying so. Yet, that’s what makes them so great, so identifiable. While songs like “Beverley Hills” and "We Are All On Drugs" speak of exclusionary scenes, don’t regular people go through these very same experiences the very same way? The epic piano lines of “Haunt You Every Day” feel like the weight of our guilt will positively crush us, and sometimes it’s manifested in forced rhymes and awkward statements. Doesn’t the melodrama and crashing the chords of “Hold Me” ring as true for Rivers as well as us? Don’t we all, on some level, attempt to Make Believe in our own world? How then, can we possibly fault Weezer without faulting ourselves?

2. Come- Prince

Musical geniuses are unfortunately difficult to work with. So naturally, when Prince submitted the blue prints for a three disc concept to be named The Dawn, Warner Bros. said “No thank you!” and just asked for the most marketable songs. As a result, the genius gave the label the proverbial finger and changed his name to free himself from the supposed bondage he felt he was kept under. The material was then condensed into two releases, Come the last album to be sold under the Prince name, and The Gold Experience to be released under the moniker of the unpronounceable love symbol. In addition, The Gold Experience found itself stock piled with lively and thrilling music that even spawned a hit single. Come however, is a far different and difficult beast to understand. For Come finds Prince obsessing over three big things: his R&B influences, his experimental side, and the dark psychosis of his sexuality. The album drips with his preoccupations about sex from the jazzy horns of the title track, to the frantic moaning of the ending track “Orgasm.” His lyrics brood about sex rather than explore them, and as a result the album’s darker tone drove lots of listeners away. Part of this might have been Prince’s intention as he might have set out to make his Prince material seem of lesser quality than his nameless material. However, this album is a densely packed sonic experience for those that take the time to unpack it. “Loose!” finds The Purple One incorporating a wildly eclectic mix of blistering guitar work, dancey beats and DJ cuts that give the song a great attitude. Elsewhere, “Solo” beings with only Prince’s voice and is then augmented by strings that exude tension all over. Come is a record only a mother could love and at the time even Prince didn’t care for it. The great irony is that there is so much going on in the record, it is often difficult to conceive how one might not find something appealing about it.

1. St. Anger- Metallica

Let’s get the obvious jokes out of the way first: Shit Anger, St. Augish, UnLoad, etc. Indeed, metal fans are a fickle bunch, but never has an album from a music group this huge, been the object of such ridicule. Metallica’s St. Anger is an album that has a lot of baggage associated with it from Jason Newsted’s departure, to James Hetfield’s alcohol problems, to the ugly band infighting all documented in the film Some Kind Of Monster. People always point to these reasons for why the album was terrible when in truth, it is the expectations that the fans set for these musicians. In hindsight, fans are lucky to receive any album at all under these conditions. Really, the biggest flaws with St. Anger tend to be that some songs wander for far too long, there is an absence of guitar solos from a band that is known for them, and not all the lyrics are up to par. Yet, this album acts more as a testament to a time period rather than a work of art that was going to be meticulously pieced together. The album seemed to act like a purge for the band. They felt they had been resting on their laurels, and so they decided to create a record that was fast, caustic, raw, and above all else, ugly. Sure, the riffing in the title track won’t rival “Master Of Puppets” but the almost garage rock feel and the rawness of the production added to the band’s attempt to convey their insecurities through imperfection. “Dirty Window” and “Purify” are speedy helpings sludge that have the band’s anger turned in on themselves. It doesn't seem like the band wants adoration or praise because of St. Anger, they seem to want catharsis. The one track that seems to sum up the entire album is “All Within My Hands,” for it shows the band at their most self-destructive. They realize how they’ve been killing each other on a daily basis and the caustic riffing, and desperate screaming seems to devour them. St. Anger, was never supposed to be a masterpiece, and those that understand that will take this window into the band with an active interest and a keen ear. The results are astonishing as long as you take the Drop C tuned mire for what it is, something ugly.