Topic: The post-break up/divorce albums and how often they suck (Read 18240 times)

Divide by Zero · « **on:** 24 Jan 2009, 08:10 »

I'll name some examples off the top of my head.

FatBoy Slim's Palookaville had a couple good songs, but lacked any real energy for most of it. That's a problem he never recovered from, in my opinion.

Weird Al's Bad Hair Day wasn't so much bad as cruel. That's the album with "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and his most mean-spirited Polka ever.

Voltaire's Boo-Hoo tried to be self-mocking but for me just came across as whiny. And yet somehow I own a signed copy because he gave it to my mother when they met at BookExpo on her break from minding the Red Wheel/Weiser booth.

Raquy and the Cavemen's Mischief didn't suck, but most of the attempts at joy in the rhythms felt empty somehow. That wasn't helped by Raquy's newly ex-husband being the band's producer and head "caveman."

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 08:20 »

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago was just pretty bland, i thought.

BlahBlah · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 08:20 »

Yeah, I know, Blood on the Tracks is just awful.

michaelicious · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 08:25 »

Cursive's Domestica pretty much makes up for all the crap out there.

Divide by Zero · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 08:55 »

Quote from: BlahBlah on 24 Jan 2009, 08:20

Yeah, I know, Blood on the Tracks is just awful.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, but I said "often" and not "always." I highly doubted that the thread would last five posts without somebody pointing out an exception.

You do bring up an excellent point, though--one I meant to bring up but couldn't think of an example. It's always possible that an artist can use the breakup/divorce to fuel the creative fires and produce excellent work.

But then again, we're talking Dylan here. Is it possible for the guy to make a bad album?

pwhodges · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 09:18 »

Frank Sinatra - Wee Small Hours. Pretty damn good.

Thrillho · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 09:18 »

Post-divorce albums. Well... Grace And Danger by John Martyn is... interesting. I can't decide what I think of it, honestly.

Divide by Zero · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 09:23 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 24 Jan 2009, 09:18

Frank Sinatra - Wee Small Hours. Pretty damn good.

I don't think he counts, being a misogynist and all. Why would he be expected to give a shit about a woman?

carrotosaurus · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 09:26 »

Does Plastic Ono Band count as a break-up album? The Beatles had just broken up - that's kind of like a serious relationship - either way, it's fantastic.

Tehz · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 09:49 »

Quote from: michaelicious on 24 Jan 2009, 08:25

Cursive's Domestica pretty much makes up for all the crap out there.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

TheFuriousWombat · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 17:04 »

You messed up and typed "Cursive's Domestica" instead of The Good Life's Album of the Year.

michaelicious · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 17:32 »

I thought I might have made a slight typographical error.

Inlander · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 17:45 »

Mark Olson's Salvation Blues was one of the best albums of 2007. But divorce is like oxygen for country and country-related music, I guess.

Bushbr · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 19:23 »

12 angry months by Local H was actually pretty good

casull · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 20:24 »

Chris Thile's "Blind leading the Blind" suite is the most obvious exception to this rule that I can think of.

Thrillho · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 Jan 2009, 04:05 »

Quote from: Bushbr on 24 Jan 2009, 19:23

12 angry months by Local H was actually pretty good

I fucking love that album.

Retrospectre · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 Jan 2009, 11:12 »

RUMOURS.

MrBlu · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Jan 2009, 17:26 »

How do you go so long without mentioning Bad Brains?

GMM · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 12:49 »

Quote from: the_pied_piper on 24 Jan 2009, 08:20

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago was just pretty bland, i thought.

It's musically really lovely and enjoyable but the lyrics are SO bland and rubbish that I feel bad for listening to it sometimes.

Calaveth · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 14:10 »

Nick Cave's Boatman's Call was a masterpiece.

IronOxide · « **Reply #20 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 14:28 »

Also Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was pretty good.

This is basically a list thread about how the OP is not very right.

Jackie Blue · « **Reply #21 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 15:28 »

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Yeah, this is not a very solid theory. Even the Counting Crows post-Jenniffer Aniston album is pretty good.

EDIT: And do you really think Dylan has never made a bad album? Seriously?

Thrillho · « **Reply #22 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 16:32 »

Quote from: Calaveth on 26 Jan 2009, 14:10

Nick Cave's Boatman's Call was a masterpiece.

To be fair, he claims that album isn't all about one break-up. The one that he focussed on was 'Far From Me,' which is far and away my favourite of his songs.

Wait a second, who said Dylan's never made a bad album?

RedLion · « **Reply #23 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 17:15 »

Quote from: Divide by Zero on 24 Jan 2009, 08:55

But then again, we're talking Dylan here. Is it possible for the guy to make a bad album?

valley_parade · « **Reply #24 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 05:14 »

Reggie and the Full Effect's Songs Not To Get Married To. That was pretty solid.

Thrillho · « **Reply #25 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 08:53 »

Quote from: RedLion on 26 Jan 2009, 17:15

Quote from: Divide by Zero on 24 Jan 2009, 08:55
But then again, we're talking Dylan here. Is it possible for the guy to make a bad album?

Bahahaha. Zero, you need to take a trawl through the 1980s.

pat101 · « **Reply #26 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 11:54 »

Quasi - Featuring "Birds" is a fucking excellent break up album

I think the problem is you were listening to shit bands to begin with

ImRonBurgundy? · « **Reply #27 on:** 07 Feb 2009, 14:57 »

Elvis Costello's Blood & Chocolate is pretty solid.

bff · « **Reply #28 on:** 07 Feb 2009, 19:11 »

Quote from: Bushbr on 24 Jan 2009, 19:23

12 angry months by Local H was actually pretty good

quoted for truth

----------------
Now playing: Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Hey Jayne Mansfield Superstar!
via FoxyTunes

Gridgm · « **Reply #29 on:** 07 Feb 2009, 21:27 »

i think half the forum was in love with hissing fauna are you the destroyer for a bit so that's another blow to your claim...can't really think of alot of others off the top of my head

look out! Ninjas! · « **Reply #30 on:** 08 Feb 2009, 03:25 »

Blue

That is all.

atimholt · « **Reply #31 on:** 09 Feb 2009, 00:19 »

Quote from: Divide by Zero on 24 Jan 2009, 08:10

Weird Al's Bad Hair Day wasn't so much bad as cruel. That's the album with "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and his most mean-spirited Polka ever.

Aw, that's classic Weird Al! I always thought a mean spirit was the main purpose of his polkas. Love "I remember Larry."

Fluxuation · « **Reply #32 on:** 09 Feb 2009, 13:32 »

Quote from: TheFuriousWombat on 24 Jan 2009, 17:04

You messed up and typed "Cursive's Domestica" instead of The Good Life's Album of the Year.

I believe you messed up aswell and meant "Black Out" instead of "Album of the Year"

Near Lurker · « **Reply #33 on:** 09 Feb 2009, 16:08 »

I'm just here to second Hissing Fauna with better grammar.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #34 on:** 19 Feb 2009, 04:09 »

Songs in red and gray - Suzanne Vega.

Youp van 't Hek - De Eerste Officiële Nederlandse Echtscheidingselpee

... but I guess that one will be largely unknown.

PassiveTheory · « **Reply #35 on:** 19 Feb 2009, 06:54 »

Uh... Beck - Sea Change, anyone? Jesus christ.

rynne · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Feb 2009, 07:00 »

Heck, I can think of one break-up that resulted in two pretty good albums:

Granted, The Menace was ignored at the time for not being Elastica part II, but in hindsight its biggest problem was that it was about 3-4 years too early for the early-00s dance-punk revival.

Brian Majestic · « **Reply #37 on:** 19 Feb 2009, 08:54 »

Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear".

So Marvin and his wife were getting ready to have a divorce. Marvin's got no money to pay her a settlement, it somehow gets decided that half of the money of his next album will go to her. So what does he do? Go into the studio to cut a turd of an album to spite her. Except...Well, it's Marvin Gaye.

Most of the songs are about his now-ex wife and their dissolving marriage. It gets released, nobody likes it, it tanks.

Gets rediscovered many, many, years later as a classic.

Also the title is on my short list for most spiteful album titles.

Bayley · « **Reply #38 on:** 21 Feb 2009, 17:43 »

Quote from: DynamiteKid on 27 Jan 2009, 08:53

Quote from: RedLion on 26 Jan 2009, 17:15
Quote from: Divide by Zero on 24 Jan 2009, 08:55
But then again, we're talking Dylan here. Is it possible for the guy to make a bad album?

Bahahaha. Zero, you need to take a trawl through the 1980s.

Hahah seeeerious. I've only met one person in my life who arguably was a bigger Dylan fan than I consider myself to be (and that's kind of saying something, because I took an auditorium-size appreciation class on him), but I will be the first one to admit that he has made some absolutely fucking horrendous music. Awful.

In response to the general topic, I often feel that an artist getting married and entering what music writers call "domestic bliss" is when their tunes really start to go downhill, not their divorce. Most artists I really dig and pay attention to seem to have a mid-20s, drug-addled, romantically-turbulent, philosophically-excating faith crisis period which tends to produce what is referred to as the "golden age" of their creativity. Then, like Dylan, like Lennon, like Costello, like Oberst*, like Adams, they all turn 30-35, and if they don't necessarily get married and have kids, they at the very least find something they latch onto and become comfortable and complacent. And I'm happy for them as people, because no one can be an artistic martyr their whole life. But the quality of their music almost invariably suffers.

*He started early. Conor's 26 is everyone else's 33.

Caspian · « **Reply #39 on:** 22 Feb 2009, 00:10 »

Quote from: Inlander on 24 Jan 2009, 17:45

Mark Olson's Salvation Blues was one of the best albums of 2007. But divorce is like oxygen for country and country-related music, I guess.

I think it's pretty much dependent on what genre we're talking about.

Divorce + County/Blues/Folk = good album
Divorce + Anything else = bad album

data damage · « **Reply #40 on:** 22 Feb 2009, 20:21 »

Another one for Sea Change. Magnificent stuff.

boneykingofnowhere · « **Reply #41 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 18:48 »

Beyond by Dinosaur Jr is comparable to everything else they've put out.

Inlander · « **Reply #42 on:** 27 Feb 2009, 03:24 »

I find Sea Change to be abjectly and unrelentingly dull apart from one song, "Lost Cause", which is super-grade-A-quality triple-ace.

Ptommydski · « **Reply #43 on:** 09 Mar 2009, 20:32 »

Quote from: Retrospectre on 25 Jan 2009, 11:12

RUMOURS.

This was the most obvious and best disproval of the premise in the title. Still one of my favourite records of all time. Has been since I was about five in fact. Sometimes I wonder if I would love it if I heard it tomorrow for the first time and it wasn't such a massive memory from my childhood. I think I still would, there's an incredible bite to so many of the songs.

As has been talked of at length, Rumours was written and recorded while all five members of Fleetwood Mac were involved in messy break ups and divorces. John and Christine McVie were soon to be divorced, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham separated and even drummer Mick Fleetwood was in the process of divorcing his wife. I would imagine all of these schisms were painful enough without spending long hours in the studio recording songs which were usually about each other. Most notably, the principle songwriters had to co-operate, contribute, arrange and occasionally sing songs which quite often had lyrics which were patently about themselves and usually not in a terribly flattering light. I think the frankness of the emotional content allows this reasonably over-produced and occasionally sickly album to endear itself to new generations of listeners time and time again. There really is nothing like it because it was spawned from such a unique situation which is supremely unlikely to be replicated.

Plus Lindsey Buckingham played the guitar like an absolute motherfucker.

ThePianoMan · « **Reply #44 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 18:54 »

Wasn't "Love Will Tear Us Apart" recorded right after Curtis' divorce? Or right before? Something like that?

Thrillho · « **Reply #45 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 19:00 »

Curtis' divorce wasn't even final when he died, because Deborah was still living at his house on the night he killed himself and he asked her to leave.

whatdoiget000 · « **Reply #46 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 12:04 »

Quote from: MrBlu on 25 Jan 2009, 17:26

How do you go so long without mentioning Bad Brains?

Wut?

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Author Topic: The post-break up/divorce albums and how often they suck (Read 18240 times)

PassiveTheory

data damage

Ptommydski