Surprise al***s - good and bad?

Posted by: Steve C 01 on 03 November 2002

Just wondering if you can comment on albums which were the total opposite to what you were expecting/preconceptions?

Some albums which I wasn't expecting much from, and turned out to exceed all expectations!

Madonna - Music : not normally a fan of R&B, trance etc but this is the exception that proves the rule. I originally got this from the local library to geta couple of tracks from it for the car, but the whole album (together with the production & recording - a rare occurrence these days) were so good I bought it!

Cry of Love - Brother: thought this would be another Stones/Skynrd clone, but was much more.

Joni Mitchell - Court & Spark/Blue etc: didn't go for JM in my teens/twenties, but listening again on an LP12 was a revelation!

and off the top of my head, a couple of howlers:

David Gray - White Ladder: total shite, wondered what the hype was all about.

Oasis - everything after Morning Glory: the songs deteriated from the excellence of the first 2 releases, justs sounds slow and recessed, and the recording/production is the shittiest ever. There is just no excuse

Steve C 01
Posted on: 03 November 2002 by Mekon
Two Warp releases, one a pleasant suprise, the other, a real disappointment.

Antipop Consortium: The ends against the middle

I bought this after I recieved a sticker promoting it when I bought the Prefuse73 album from Warpmart. I think its is best described as the bastard child of LF0: Advance and Dr Octagon, except with 3 rappers. Their delivery shares alot with other Nuyorican Poet's Cafe slammers, but with a bleep aesthetic, they avoid the self conscious artiness that can plague poets-turned-rappers. Given I had no expectations of it, and it's been on heavy rotation since I snagged it, it's been real suprise.

Nightmares on Wax: Mind Elevation

OK, so I've loved George Evelyn's stuff since Aftermath back in the day, and Carboot Soul is one of my favourite albums, maybe I'd overhyped this to myself. What I was expecting was another reverential slice of funk inspired instrumental hip hop. Instead, IMO, it appears EASE has forgotten his own comments (smoker's delight) that what he does isn't trip hop. It's mediocre, and shows little of the depth of his previous work, IMO. I think it will date badly.
Posted on: 03 November 2002 by Ron Brinsdon
Biggest ever let-down after the hype:

Mercury Rev "Deserters Songs"

Not expecting too much but now played at least weekly:

Keith Jarrett "The Koln Concert"