Ladyhawk's Anarchy EP is really bad.

What?! I love that EP, I like it a lot more than their s/t debut.

Might as well go with a bottom 5 from this year so far.

#5: Feist - The Reminder
Not a bad album, just an album that is too boring to me. Frankly it sounds watered down, bland, and often hookless. It's a fair background album but numbingly dull if you give it your full attention; still, it could grow on me if I stick with it.

#4: The Stooges - The Weirdness
The worst album from a band that made my favorite album. It sounds like the original Stooges, but somehow they have lost their fire, the energy and sheer danger that made Raw Power so much damn fun. They are trying to match their previous works, rather than just matching them. Unfortunately, even if I could wipe three of the best albums ever from my mind, The Weirdness would still be a clumsy and overly stupid take on classic punk. "My dick is turning into a tree". Even by Stooges standards...

#3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
A dull, lackluster affair with no memorable songs whatsoever and far too many tired indie conventions.

#2: The Bravery - The Sun And The Moon
After The Bravery's fun, dancy debut, a step into mediocrity. You can't dance to it anymore, and you sure as hell can't mope to it: it just sucks. Be sure to check out the Best Buy bonus track, "Rat in the Walls", which lifts a classic and instantly recognizable riff from MC5s immortal "Kick Out The Jams" and does a dance rock number on it. It happens to be the best track on the album, sadly.

#1: Lily Allen - Alright, Still
A hideous pop massacre of all that is good in this world. Talentless, bland singer + masterfully bad lyrics + embarrassing beats = 1/10, the worst album so far this year.

The Lily Allen album isn't so great, considering how many critics fawn over it. Bleh.

But that came out last year, didn't it?

In Europe, but it wasn't released stateside until very early 2007.

quote:

Originally posted by Dork:
They are trying to match their previous works, rather than just matching them.

(Seriously though, you know how useless smiley responses are.)

quote:

Originally posted by hudson:
I'm a big fan of electronica and most electronic-based music so of course with all the rave reviews of The Field's "from here we go sublime" I had to buy it. What a horrible experience it is everytime I play this album that i've tried so hard to like.

It's shallow, miserable, and so repetitive that I fail to see anything that even resembles art. The beats aren't original, the sounds are limp, and the voice sampling is just god awful.

If anybody hasn't heard this album but would like a good idea of what it sounds and feels like; just take a large wooden spoon and a stopwatch, smack yourself on the head with the spoon every half second until you reach 7 minutes. Then, stop for 10 seconds and repeat. Do this 10 times in a row and you'll understand what this album has to offer you.

I can't imagine how anyone could enjoy this pile of crap cd. Just my 0.02 centavos.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it was painfully bad, but it was a HUGE letdown for me too, considering my love for electronica and the rave reviews it got from pretty trusty sources. I just thought it was bland and repetitive.

And I concur with some of the people bad-mouthing the new Bloc Party album. I don't feel the need to roll my eyes very often when listening to music, but there were some pathetically bad lyrical verses on this album; not to mention that it was just boring to listen to. I can't think of any specific lyrics, and I sure as hell ain't gonna listen to it again to find them, but I'll just say I thought it was bad album.

I agree regarding the Field album. I've found several really good electronic albums this year, but I thought that one was just boring, unoriginal, and bad.

Tried it on Methadone?

quote:

Originally posted by goathouse:
Tried it on Methadone?

Haha, nah, that album totally calls for shrooms. Or beans.

Alright, the worst album of the year thus far is hands down, the new Bravery album. Blech. So bad.

In my opinion, they include:

Elliott Yamin - self-titled
Chris Cornell - Carry On
Lifehouse - Who We Are
CocoRosie - The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Ashley Tisdale - Headstrong
Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival
Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Bjork - Volta

Other disappointments:

Norah Jones - Not Too Late
America - Here And Now
Lily Allen - Alright, Still
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Paris - Princess P
The Bravery - The Sun And The Moon
Paul MCartney - Memory Always Full

quote:

Originally posted by MattD:
In my opinion, they include:

CocoRosie - The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn
Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
Bjork - Volta
Norah Jones - Not Too Late

don't know about these being worst of 2007, but definite letdowns indeed for me.
i'll add John Butler Trio's Grand National too

quick note: concerning Paris' album, to me it's not a letdown.....as i didn't expect it to be good

Some of them weren't worsts - just letdowns. I separated the albums into the two categories. I thought Paris had spunky potential, but her CD doesn't show enough personality. I'd give it a C+.

Here are some comments:

Elliott Yamin - self-titled (It's not like he can't sing, but I've never found him to be a good interpreter - and when the songs are dull, it makes for a snoozefest for me)

Chris Cornell - Carry On (Not really a fan to begin with, but slowing things down makes him worse)

Lifehouse - Who We Are (I liked their first CD. But ever since, they just fit in to the alt/rock pack.)

CocoRosie - The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn (there's a good kind of weird - Deerhoof, Sigur Ros, Radiohead's Kid A - but CocoRosie is weird gone bad IMO)

Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long (I can't stand the lead singer's vocals)

Ashley Tisdale - Headstrong (falls too much into Hilary Duff-style emptiness)

Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival (not enough hooks and melody for this style)

Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (borrowing from others doesn't serve them much better than their rock/rap)

Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (it's just a total hodgepodge of music that turns out to be a mess for me)

The Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (unlike the White Stripes, they come across as amateurish)

Bjork - Volta (at least she's never been bland - but bland is how I'd describe this CD)

Other disappointments:

Norah Jones - Not Too Late (I like her straightforward pop style more)

America - Here And Now (the songs don't come as naturally as they used to)

Lily Allen - Alright, Still (the whole thing comes off as brat-like)

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (not a fan to begin with, but I thought I might see the hype more - I didn't)

Paris - Princess P (described above)

The Bravery - The Sun And The Moon (just an annoying sound in parts)

Paul McCartney - Memory Always Full (I am a huge Beatles fan, but Paul has lost his voice. And songs like "House Of Wax" don't go anywhere)

First...let's qualify worst.

Since most of us are hype-trackers, focusing on albums with buzz, most of the titles we slam here are far from the worst releases of the year...there's a whole sublevel of bilge water none of us venture to swim in.

A better title for this thread would be worst/most overrated albums of note in 2007.

For me these have been the most disappointing.

Tones of Town - Field Music - Dreadfully bland, hookless "restrained" pop. Like the closing track a lot though.

Writer's Block - Objects of My Affection and Young Folks are absolute gems, the rest varies from just fair to dreadfully dull. Amsterdam is as bad as pop music gets.

Cryptograms - Deerhunter - Meaningless, textureless overlong pieces intermixed with bland pop. Title track and Strange Lights are strong, Octet has a nice groove...rest is absolutely worthless.

23 - Blonde Redhead - Another Blander than shit shoegaze...strong title track, couple of other pretty moments, little else. A poor man's Asobi Sesku.

The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf - Love, love, love the opener Overture and closing moments are moving...rest does close to nothing for me.

Friend Opportunity - Deerhoof - Have actually warmed to this one since my original stance, but still feel most of it after opening three tracks blows...Closing track a strong contender for worst song of the year in any genre.

The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - Like many albums this year, aside from one or two tracks, an absolute snooze.

In Advance of a Broken Arm - Marnie Stern - I'll give her points for originality, I've never heard anyone play guitar quite like her...unfortunately most of this is also unlistenable.

Era Vulgaris - Queens of the Stone Age - I'm a big fan, but after a few listens, haven't found that "Lost Art of Keeping a Secret"/"No One Knows" A+ track Homme usually anchors around.

The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horses - Another Brian Wilson influenced snooze. Disaster and Cedric's War are strong tracks, most of the others, including some regularly championed here, are stillborn.

Someone To Drive You Home - The Long Blondes...One Trick Ponies who always seem to just miss delivering the killer punk riff that would make their songs take off. Not bad, but never, ever great.

quote:

23 - Blonde Redhead - Another Blander than shit shoegaze...strong title track, couple of other pretty moments, little else. A poor man's Asobi Sesku.

LOL, I just finished listening to this album for about the sixth time. I think it'll be in my top 5 by years end. One person's garbage is another person's treasure. And I think my favorite album of the year is the Good, The Bad and the Queen record.

I do agree on your critique of the Long Blondes' album; not horrible, not great, just meh. Do you like the Asobi Sesku album? Never heard it, but if you think they sound better than Blonde Redhead I'm intrigued.

The Blonde Redhead CD's production sometimes overwhelms the songs, but generally it's an enthralling listen IMO.

I don't think The Long Blondes' album is the best thing since The Beatles' Rubber Soul, but it made my honorable mentions lasy year. It isn't easy to make the simple chords they do sound so catchy and diverse.

I'll add Everlife's self-titled CD as a disappointment. It's like a worse copy of The Veronicas, who are one of my favorites.

I'll have more for both (best and worst) lists in the future.

I often feel sometimes that I need to list albums which are very underwhelming to me, but I don't do it because: (1) almost everybody loves them, and (2) I don't want people to take things too personally.

Often and sometimes can go together.