Testing the Audience: 10 classic albums that are hard to revisit
One of the biggest strengths of any classic record is its replayability. Regardless of the number of hits an album has from cover to cover, a true artist can usually create a bed of sound that has everyone rewinding the tape just to take it all in for the first time. It’s no different with these albums, but such iconic works from the likes of John Lennon will have people questioning whether they want to go back or not.
Because, make no mistake, the records on display here hold nothing back. Whether it’s a massive amount of emotional baggage or some grand statement about the universe, the artists in question really stretched the limits when it came to testing their audiences, even if it wasn’t always within the realm of good taste.
But that wasn’t always the case with every single track. Many albums are not all that great with the benefit of hindsight, and despite still having their credibility intact, many projects have a layer of sadness or discomfort thrust upon them thanks to modern times and wiser views about the world.
While no musician is obligated to denounce their work, it’s hard to really blame anyone who wants to just play a handful of tracks from these projects and call it a day. Because if you look at them with fresh eyes, there might be a few bad memories sprinkled in amongst the nostalgia buzz.
10 classic albums that are hard to revisit:
10. Death Magnetic – Metallica
By the late 2000s, any Metallica project that sounded remotely like thrash was bound to go over well. The road to making St Anger had already left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, so hearing Death Magnetic was the return to roots most people were clamouring for since the late 1980s. The metal icons were back, but that didn’t stop people’s ears from bleeding when they finished running through the album.
Although the makings of a classic Metallica record are in here somewhere, it’s all but buried underneath Rick Rubin’s ‘more is more’ approach to compression. The loudness wars had been going on for ages, but this is where it hit a fever pitch, especially with the drums sounding like glorified static when heard separate from the rest of the mix.
Out of all the entries on this list, though, Death Magnetic might be the most salvageable if someone could just clean up the mixes. I mean, if fans said the songs sounded better on Guitar Hero, there’s no reason why they can’t twist things around a little bit for a remix.
9. All Things Must Pass – George Harrison
It’s hard to blame George Harrison for wanting to stretch out when he did. Those songwriting checks are hard to come by, and with John Lennon and Paul McCartney still in firm control over The Beatles, ‘The Quiet One’ wanted to expand his craft beyond his mates wherever he could. It did result in what is perhaps the greatest solo Beatles album, but at what cost?
That’s not to say that All Things Must Pass is a bad record, just a flawed one. As great as almost every single song is, the triple album juggernaut was a bit much for anyone to stomach, even in the vinyl era, especially when Harrison gets around to the last disc and just throws on a couple of jam sessions reminiscent of the kind The Beatles did in Twickenham Film Studios.
While I’m still happy Harrison made the kind of record he wanted, there’s always the question of how his solo career would have played out if these were all separate projects. Because maybe if we saw them on their own merits, ‘Run of the Mill’ might have been considered a classic and not a musical footnote between the likes of ‘My Sweet Lord’ and ‘Isn’t It a Pity’.
8. MTV Unplugged – Alice In Chains
It’s hard to really justify putting a live album amongst actual artistic works. If you look at any true live experience, they’re inherently flawed from the get-go, and most people will spend their time picking out every bum note that a musician plays that somehow made it on the final project. MTV Unplugged is Alice In Chains warts-and-all, but maybe people didn’t quite realise how real it actually was at the time.
The idea of them playing was already up in there before they even said yes since singer Layne Staley was in the throes of heroin addiction and getting worse by the day. Once they stepped onto that stage and began songs like ‘Nutshell’, it was like watching Staley turn into a fallen angel before our eyes, crying out in pain on every track and still having the same power he had on their acoustic EPs.
Knowing that Staley would eventually succumb to his demons, though, their performance here is hard to watch, considering it’s now a glorified goodbye letter since Staley never played any more shows with them. Alice In Chains had always been known for putting raw pain right in the middle of their music, but based on its creative merits, this might eclipse Nirvana’s performance on the same acoustic stages.
7. The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
It’s not exactly easy to take Eminem all that seriously anymore. He still has new albums, and the hardcore fans will love them to the moon and back, but when was the last time Slim Shady showed up with the same fire that he had on ‘My Name Is’? It’s been a mighty long time since Em was considered the GOAT of hip-hop, but it’s not like his crown jewel was ever the easiest on the ears.
Although The Marshall Mathers LP holds a place in every millennial’s heart for a reason, it’s far from the best-aged record in existence. Despite having unbelievable flows on each track, his use of outdated vernacular and insistence on treating everyone like he’s a school bully can go from charming to downright uncomfortable if listened to for more than five songs in a row.
And for every time he gets introspective on ‘Stan’, fans will also have to deal with ‘Kim’, which still stands as one of the most unbelievably raw depictions of domestic violence ever put onto a mainstream record. Rage Against the Machine had told us that anger was a gift way back when, but it’s understandable if Eminem’s emotional weapon of choice gets too abrasive some these days.
6. Tusk – Fleetwood Mac
Listening back to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac often feels a bit too voyeuristic. It’s still AM rock solid gold, but when you hear about the dirty laundry being aired in every track, it’s the equivalent of watching trashy daytime soap operas half the time. That record was still aces from back to front, but Tusk is what happens when that kick starts to run out.
Because as much as they presented themselves as united, this record belongs to Lindsey Buckingham’s warped visions. He already had the idea for the band’s future, but his attempts at new wave combined with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie’s songs are like listening to three distinct albums smashed on top of each other half the time.
Just when it sounds like they’re going to hit on a theme, something else comes into the mix that yanks the listener out of it and goes off on a completely different tangent. Somewhere in Tusk is something on the level of Rumours, but as it stands, it just feels like the album is actively trying to pull you out of its own groove.
5. Blue – Joni Mitchell
Most singer-songwriters have had more than a few broken-hearted phases. It’s not always easy to see them in pain, but would we think of people like Tom Petty as any less human after releasing Echo or Jackson Browne as a disgrace because of ‘The Pretender’? But even for someone as in tune with her emotions as Joni Mitchell, Blue has the kind of aching beauty that’s almost too tender for words.
Even though plenty of heartache songs exist in rock and roll, Mitchell approaches each tune like she’s drawing a perfect portrait of grief, almost sounding like she’s on the verge of tears on a few tracks. That wasn’t even by accident, either, with Mitchell comparing herself to a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes when recording the record as well.
There are still hints of beauty on here like ‘River’ to keep everything in perspective, but bear in mind that this is an album you need to be emotionally ready for. Because if listened to under the wrong circumstances, this is the kind of record that stomps on your heart and refuses to give it back afterwards.
4. Double Fantasy – John Lennon
Sometimes, artists need to take their foot off the gas to see the big picture. No one can be on the merry-go-round that is fame forever, and stepping back from the limelight is one of the best choices someone can make. John Lennon was more than happy to take a step back in the late 1970s, but Double Fantasy is the kind of album that felt unintentionally tragic just a few months after it came out.
When hearing Lennon sing on the album, though, he feels like a brand new man as he talks about raising his son, Sean, and setting his life up for the next phase of his career. It seemed like everything was going to be perfect, but with a single gunshot in December 1980, Lennon’s dream of his bright future and a potential Beatles reunion was gone in an instant.
So, in essence, Double Fantasy reads like a bad precursor to the future that Lennon would never see, which gets downright tear-jerking when he sings about hardly waiting to see Sean grow up on ‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’. Lennon was ready for that next chapter of his life, but even if he never got there, that doesn’t make this odd domestic life any less beautiful.
3. Pinkerton – Weezer
Not everyone is cut out for being successful. Everyone likes to talk about how they will have an audience in the palm of their hands if they ever have the chance, but the sudden adulation isn’t something that everyone’s necessarily prepared for the minute the majors come calling. Although Rivers Cuomo seemed like the least likely person to become a rockstar, it’s not shocking why everyone turned their back on him so viciously when Weezer made Pinkerton.
Because despite its massive hits and classic tracks, a lot of this album is incredibly personal to the point of being off-putting. There were bound to be songs about how uncomfortable he was with fame, but no one was prepared for his tracks about wanting to live the celibate life on ‘Tired of Sex’ or thinking of some truly gross stuff when he received a letter from an underage female fan on ‘Across the Sea’.
But it’s not meant to be a happy-go-lucky album. Cuomo is just as disgusted with himself as everyone else is on this album, but the only way to get out those internal emotions is to put them into song. Feelings demand to be felt, but Pinkerton reeks of mainstream puberty, in the sense that it’s incredibly awkward, and you can’t help but feel a little bit of second embarrassment.
2. In Utero – Nirvana
When it comes to voices across generations of rock and roll, Kurt Cobain has been the most interesting case study. Looking at how he approached everything from interviews to his own music, he seemed to have John Lennon’s gift for melody while also possessing the Bob Dylan mentality of being against the mainstream. So when his depression coincided with the rapid ascent of Nirvana to the hit parade, In Utero wasn’t going to be just another record. It would be an exorcism.
Throughout every track, Cobain undercuts the album’s themes of medical jargon with some of the most unintentionally revealing lyrics of his career. Even though many fans have seen every single note of music on the record as a potential clue to Cobain’s eventual death, it was already clear that he was going through some real pain when talking about already feeling bored and old and missing the comfort of being sad.
Once Cobain was found dead by his own hand in 1994, going through the band’s last statement reads as unbelievably tragic, knowing that he never found that kind of internal peace for the rest of his life. ‘Scentless Apprentice’ is still one of the finest songs they would ever compose, but when listening to Cobain scream, you can’t help but want to headbang and cry in equal measure.
1. The Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails
Most artists are going to want to put their best foot forward when making a record. Even if it’s not the most pleasant experience, anyone knows to at least put a handful of decent hooks into a project to make people come back to them. But for a decade as dark as the 1990s, The Downward Spiral is one of the only albums that sounds like it’s intentionally trying to hurt you.
Since Trent Reznor had become one of the biggest stars in the world by the early 1990s and still got nothing out of it, this was a metaphorical middle finger back at everyone who wanted a sequel to Pretty Hate Machine. ‘Closer’ still got on the radio, but listening through tracks like ‘Heresy’ and ‘Reptile’, Reznor is ready to take himself to the deepest depths of depravity possible and practically force his audience to go with him.
Out of everything on the track list, ‘A Warm Place’ is the only bit of peace, with ‘Hurt’ still ending with that massive blast of distortion towards the end. Anyone can put their heart and soul into what they do, but once Reznor opened himself up, he drove his listeners into layers of Dante’s Inferno that most people didn’t realise were even attainable.
