The following albums are all classics that belong in any serious music fan’s collection. Another thing they have in common is that only the most hopeful among us expected them to be as good as they are. Join us, as we consider five albums no one expected to be good that came out great.
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind Prior to the release of this album, Bob Dylan may have been popular, but he hadn’t been relevant in nearly two decades. His catalog throughout the 80’s and 90’s is a laundry list of underwhelming mediocrity, championed by only his most die-hard fans. With the release of Time Out of Mind, Dylan re-established himself as a first-rate song-writer and lyricist. Not only did it measure up to the best of his other works, it was one of the best albums of the decade. Dylan, whose voice had degraded to frog-throated rasps, had never sounded so vital.
New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies Movement, the first release by New Order, did little to dissuade people who were skeptical that Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris would be able to escape the shadow of their former group, Joy Division. The demise of Ian Curtis seemed to herald the death of his former bandmate’s music careers. Indeed, Movement, despite its exceptional moments, sounds like an attempt to rehash the Joy Division sound. With Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order were truly born. All the hallmarks of their sound are fully in place, and the album included perhaps their most enduring song, Blue Monday. To many, it represents the band at their peak.
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass After the Beatles break-up was made public in tandem with the announcement of Paul McCartney’s first solo album, all eyes were on Paul and John. How would the members of the greatest song-writing partnership in history fare on their own? While that’s fascinating topic its own right, the biggest surprise in the Beatles solo output is Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. Arguably the best of all Beatle solo records, ATMP is a double LP without an ounce of fat. Harrison delivered the best songs of his career in a single serving, a considerable accomplishment from a man who held his own in the company of the Lennon/McCartney colossus.
Portishead – Third Eleven years after their previous studio album and a decade after the genre of music they’d helped to define had become a memory, the idea of a new Portishead album was perplexing to say the least. Sure, it could have been a pleasant throw-back to days gone by, or a regrettable taint on a brief yet immaculate career, but Portishead defied expectation and delivered an instant classic. Without shedding the aesthetic that defined their sound, the band incorporated a variety of new influences and techniques to create a stunning, broad and cohesive piece of music that reminded us Portishead are, as they say, the shit.
Hank Williams III – Lovesick, Broke and Driftin’ Hank III’s first solo album, Risin’ Outlaw, was a huge disappointment to fans of the William’s Dynasty. Overproduced and undistinguished, it seemed as if the grandson of the legendary Hank Williams was capable of little more than exploiting his family name. With Lovesick, Broke and Driftin’, he made amends. True to the spirit of his grandfather, Hank III broke new ground and defined modern outlaw country music. Not only did he do right by his grandaddy, he cast a shadow over his father, Hank Williams Jr, whose music seems rather safe by comparison.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Wrong.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
June 26th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Y’all, SRSLY, WRONG
June 26th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Bad. Not Good At ALL
June 26th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
WHATTHEDUCK?
June 26th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
you’re not frickken dead baby if you like Bob Dylan, he’s just OKAY
June 26th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
What a tidy little laundry list of “obviously parroted opinions”.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
READ MY NAME, THAT’S WHAT YOU GUYS ARE!
June 26th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I agree with them, this list is a failure
June 26th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Very nicely done, at least on the first couple. I totally agree with Time out of Mind. I had all but given up on any new Dylan material when that album arrived out of nowhere. And yes, it is terrific. There WERE a couple indications earlier in the decade that Dylan still had something left where new recordings were concerned. Two albums of largely (if not entirely) traditional ballads, titled World Gone Wrong and Good as I Been To You, both displayed a creativity and energy that I had not seen in Dylan for many, many years by then. So, to have that enthusiasm and effort put forth with an album of original material was a wonderful treat.
As for Power, Corruption and Lies, I could not agree more. Joy Division without Ian Curtis seemed doomed to failure any way you sliced it. You could try to replicate the Joy Division sound, but without Curtis’s charisma and personality, the result would likely have been laughable. The way in which New Order managed to carve out their own (gorgeous, darkly melodic) brand of techno-pop, complete with hooks that Joy Division never dared attempt, not only worked: It was pure genius. This album — together with Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy — literally changed my 14-year-old life!
Anyhow, great choices on the first two. Haven’t gotten around to seeing what the other three were.
Militarious Reynolds
Brooklyn, New York
June 26th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
WTF? NUH UH.
NO GOOD.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I don’t agree at all
June 26th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
This.List.Is.Dumb.
“The following albums are all classics that belong in any serious music fan’s collection. Another thing they have in common is that only the most hopeful among us expected them to be as good as they are. Join us, as we consider five albums no one expected to be good that came out great.”
Please! Only two of these albums are even worth listening to and only one is a classic. If you put New Order and Hank Williams III in the same catergory as George Harrison, you need to have your head examined.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
wow. crazy. this list makes little sense.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Thanks Militarious – nice to see a thoughtful response.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
My response is thoughtful, just not the one you’re looking for. If you don’t want your feelings hurt, don’t put this stuff up.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
The category of classic albums is a very large category, and while yes we do put those albums in the same category, it’s for each of us to decide which order they might be in.
Personally, i would place Harrison well above HW3, with New Order following a bit behind Harrison. But this list isn’t a pissing contest about the “greatest albums evar” but rather a cross section of albums that no one expected to be great due to various circumstances, but ended up being concidered classics, in their own right.
regardless, thanks for considering my fragile emotions, KINGpinkPHISHtreeHEADdudeMANbroGUYnitrousOXIDEabuserDATErapist
June 26th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Is this the first Pure Pop flame war?
The only debatable classic on this list is the Portishead album, which isn’t really old enough to call a classic.
And I absolutely put New Order in the same class as George Harrison.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I’m guessing this got Digg’d or Stumble Upon’d? I don’t think all of the previous Pure Pop blog posts put together have had this many comments. Plus, there can’t possibly be this many contrarian music elitists living in only Burlington, right? Especially those not on the Pure Pop payroll!
June 26th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
@ Tanner
Apparently your definition of “classic” differs greatly from mine.
The bottomline is that this is an arbitrary list which truely never can be defined. However, I think that your fragile emotions have been shattered and feelings HAVE been hurt by ALL BUT ONE of these comments being negative. No need to get personal by attacking my pseudonym, Im guessing you didnt get the reference. But since you did, Im going to use the time to attack you.
Anyhow, I am a fan of Pure Pop Records, even if you are the D-bag in black skinny jeans who cries at Weezer shows. Only place I know of in VT with a decent prog section.
So right at
June 26th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I wasn’t crying, i had something in my eye.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Right on w/the Portishead. Who knew what to expect after 11 years and Gibbons’ “Out of Season.” And they came back with such a radical edge. I would also include on this list Tricky;s Knowle West Boy. Who would have thunk the trip-hoppers reinventing themselves in ‘08.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
yea, your boyfriend’s love juice.
June 26th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Enough of the B.S. I’m pretty good with the list but a glaring omission is Chinese Democracy. After 18 years Axl delivered a pretty solid album, I’d even call it great. Fits right in with UYI, which isn;t a bad thing in hindsight.
TB
June 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Nice one, KINGpinkPHISHtreeHEAD! Pwned! I was racking my brain trying to come up with a clever way of implying Tanner was a homosexual. Game, set, match. You must be a writer, what with the well-reasoned assertions and zingers that would leave Churchill speechless.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Woah Woah Woah – Homosexual?! WAIT a minute here, when did things get nasty? KINGpinkPHISHwhateverSOMETHINGELSE, i thought all i did was imply that you were a mindless, drug addled, rapist? Now you’re calling me a homosexual? As in, someone who is sexually attracted to someone of the same gender?!
What’s next?! Am i a Vegetarian!? A Presbyterian?!
That’s, that’s just despicable. You, sir are a cad.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
It’s true, it is quite predictible. As is the behavior of a pompous, basement dwelling prick. Getting under the skin of people like you is too easy. If you made lists that weren’t absolutely ridiculous and then become spiteful and upset when people didn’t agree with you, you may have a larger clientel at your shop. However, you can’t buy an album in your store without getting the “youre buying that?!?” look. Sorry we don’t all want the latest shitty indy record, some of us prefer our drug addled dirges by Phillip Glass and Brian Eno.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
“pompous, basement dwelling prick”
Well, we can all agree on that.
*Yawn*
June 26th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Go ahead, Herb, push away yet another customer. I rarely buy Cd’s as it is, this does not help your cause.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Funny, I’ve never gotten the “you’re buying that?!?” look at Pure Pop.
THINGkinkBUTThead needs something better to do with his time than post idiotic ranting that personally attacks friends of mine.
June 27th, 2009 at 5:34 am
“even if you are the D-bag in black skinny jeans who cries at Weezer shows”
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahaaha
haahhaahhaaha.
ps, was ATMP expected to be shit? i thought george was really coming into his own by the late 70’s so i thought people would have had high hopes for this album. also, i was nothing but psyched when the new portishead came out.
June 27th, 2009 at 7:36 am
JBL – All Things Must Pass is a bit of a stretch, granted. It came out in 1970, so he hadn’t established himself as a solo artist. I foolishly said it was a double album, it was actually a triple. Whoops.
Terry B – I missed your comment before. It’s certainly a better album than I thought it would be. However, given the fact that the album is not available at Pure Pop, we didn’t really consider it. (It’s a Best Buy exclusive.)
KINGpink – I apologize for any unwarranted hostility on my part and would merely point out I haven’t really instigated anything here. If my responding to your aggressiveness “pushes you away” it’s a regrettable outcome but I don’t believe I’ve crossed any lines. Re-read the thread. Do you disagree?
June 27th, 2009 at 8:11 am
It’s funny how a potentially great music debate can get sidetracked by juvenile pseudo-personal attacks. The Interwebs really bring the 14-year-old out in some folks. (But I must say, if this didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have the image of Tanner crying into his PBR at a Weezer show. So thanks, Phish guy.)
I’m psyched Time Out of Mind is on here. I hadn’t paid any attention to Dylan’s 80’s and 90’s output until a girlfriend started spinning Mind. It was a revelation, though I have to throw some props to Daniel Lanois for that.
My friend Mike and I were spinning a vinyl copy of All Things Must Pass the other night. I’d say it definitely deserves the credit you’re giving it. To come out from under the heavy presence of Lennon/McCartney, get together with all the great musicians on the record (Clapton, Winwood, Alan White, etc.), work with Phil Spector, and actually great a great, sprawling album? Good for George.
I haven’t heard the other three albums, so I thank you guys for putting this up. I often see Top 5’s or other lists like this as a way to check new records out, not as a definitive statement. So thanks!
June 27th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Oops. I meant “write a great,” not “great a great.” I should go back to bed.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Im baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack…
Ok, all childish “tet-a-tet” aside now, this is serious.
First off, this is the first of these lists I have disagreed with in whole. I doubt that too many people truely ever agree with them completely as the range of music on them is broad. Don’t get me wrong, that is excellent, a wide taste in music is A VERY GOOD THING. It’s just that when compiling such lists you’re going to generate varying opinions.
Second, all types of lists such as these are arbitrary and completely open for debate. Any “top 5 of —-” or whatever lists are no more than opinion that are going to have a garden variety of responses, good and bad. If all that you are looking for are agreements and kudos, you should limit showing the list to people YOU KNOW WILL AGREE WITH YOU. The internet is a wide open space that everyone can see.
Lastly, and this is for all Pure Pop employees who may post for their store on here, remember who actually pays you – US,the customer. Without us you’d probably have to settle on a blue shirt and tan pants and work at Best Buy or maybe the crappy used place down the street with the overpriced junk. So it’s best not to personally attack them when they disagree with your list. Simply “agree to disagree”, my original post wasnt that harsh, so just deal. I would think in the age of piratebay and mininova you would be thankful for everyone who walks into your dirty establishment and spends ten dollars.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
KINGpink, to try to go back to where this all started – i was thanking a reader, NOT based on whether he liked or disliked the list, but because he offered an intelligent explanation of his opinion. Your interjection and inference that i was putting down your opinion based on my appreciation of another posters candor only points out your unconscious insecurity about your own posting. However on that matter, i don’t consider “This.List.Is.Dumb.” and ad hominem attacks to be intelligent discussion.
We always welcome debate, but your original post offered nothing to debate, just the random bile of a person with an inferiority complex and an ax to grind.
Furthermore thanks for stating the obvious nature of entertaining web lists… you’re deep understanding of internet social dynamics is astounding and complex; penetrating right to the core of the matter – i’ll be sure to come to you the next time we need an outside opinion. Perhaps you can also share other equally deep observations such as how “cars go vroom vroom, beep beep” and how your corduroys make a “zip-zop sound” when you run.
We know who our customers are and appreciate them, we don’t however pander to internet trolls. If you came into our store with the same kind of attitude to you’ve been displaying on this site, you’d be asked to leave promptly and courteously. If you came in acting like something else other than a spoiled 12 year old, we’d be happy to help you however we could.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Awesome response, full of wit and a good use of your thesaurus. I do come in your store and purchase things but luckily, I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but trust me, I’m there.
Also, thanks so much for the psychiatric evaluation. I can now stop with the therapy sessions. There is now room on the couch in the lobby for you to have my shrink touch your head next. Clearly you have an inferiority complex and an ax to grind as well, seeing as you’ve got to continue to stoop low and try and demean me simply because I think your list is terrible, at best. Have fun whining/laughing about all of this with your cheap can of PBR at ESox. Shitty beer to go with your equal attitude.
June 27th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Yeah, I picked it up on a fluke, I was in BB getting my wife the obligatory GPS last XMas and saw it (Chinese Democracy) there. Only music purchase I’ve ever made there. I think Axl screwed himself with the limited release, although it was probably lack of radio promotion and touring that had a greater effect.
>>Terry B – I missed your comment before. It’s certainly a better album than I thought it would be. However, given the fact that the album is not available at Pure Pop, we didn’t really consider it. (It’s a Best Buy exclusive.)
>>Terry B Says:
June 26th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Enough of the B.S. I’m pretty good with the list but a glaring omission is Chinese Democracy. After 18 years Axl delivered a pretty solid album, I’d even call it great. Fits right in with UYI, which isn;t a bad thing in hindsight.
TB
June 27th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Oh, and to the hecklers out there, this is a list of “5 albums…” not “The 5 BEST albums…” Lighten up.
TB
June 28th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I was talking to Jason Cooley the other night and he mentioned Paul’s Boutique would have been appropriate for this list. After License to Ill, who would have thought the Beastie Boys would follow-up with such a striking masterpiece? Good call, Jason.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:53 am
KINGpinkPHISHtreeHEAD: “Lastly, and this is for all Pure Pop employees who may post for their store on here, remember who actually pays you – US,the customer. Without us you’d probably have to settle on a blue shirt and tan pants and work at Best Buy or maybe the crappy used place down the street with the overpriced junk.”
You really wrote this and thought you were cool? You’re like every evil rich kid who picks on the poor kid in cheesy ’80s teen flicks. You’re James Spader in Pretty In Pink. You’re Roy Stalin in Better Off Dead. You’re Sweep The Leg Johnny in The Karate Kid. You don’t sound like someone who enjoys music, you just sound like an asshole. I think YOU should just go to Best Buy.
Get your soul in check, dude.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Oh, and for the record, I don’t work at Pure Pop. their employees would never stoop to saying what I just did. But I do think this guy is what douchebags were made for.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Herb: I think Paul’s Boutique would be a perfect choice.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Way to feed the troll guys…..