[blessingx]

... You create hangers-on and "yes" men. You prey on the fragile egos of our most talented pop stars, driving them to self-absorbed *******-ism, or worse, late-era mediocrity as they strive to stay in your intoxicating embrace. Arcadia was your fault. Mike + The Mechanics were your fault. Van Halen III was your fault. But those weren't surprises. The Power Station, Asia and Starship were equally, predictably odious. An artist has to have some reputation-- however small or relative-- before they can damage it. And nine times out of ten, they will.

List Here.

 

[Masonjar]

wow hey trashed a few of my favorite albums.. Unlike that "100 albums to unload" list, the problem here is that the guy isn't trying to be funny, he's a Pitchfork writer and unfortunately they can be "smart-ass" instead of smart. His thrashings of Mojave 3 and Hot Rod were completely pointless, and baseless IMHO. The New Order section, esp. the part about Revenge was pretty spot-on however.

-jar

 

[blessingx]

I think he nailed Preston School and Spiral.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Not too familiar with many of these bands, which probably just proves his point.

Of course, there are several I disagree with:

Animal Logic was a wonderful diversion from the Police -- I think the record company just didn't know how to market it. I have to admit, I just stumbled across it, and everyone I know who's heard it, likes it.

Electronic -- admittedly, their middle album was forgettable, but Twisted Tenderness and their first album were wonderful.

The Heads -- just bad timing, IMHO. I thought it was a worthy (and interesting) project, but I'll admit that no-one I know agrees with me.

Cracker -- while not a fan, I believe they were more successful than Camper Van...

Big Audio Dynamite -- again, not a fan, but it wasn't Clash II, and that's a good thing (if you wanted Clash II, why didn't you just listen to Clash I?).

Mojave 3 -- I agree with him, but I know people who like Mojave 3 better than Slowdive. And he obviously never heard Slowdive's "difficult" last album, Pygmalion, which -- although I love it -- is not for everyone.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic -- never really got into Mission of Burma, but liked BotM a lot.

Based on how wrong the author was, I'll be checking out Scala, since I really liked Seefeel.

Fun read, though.