2011: (Your) Most Disappointing Albums of the Year?

[Sigz]

Lulu was probably the worst thing I've heard this year. It wasn't disappointing because I had no expectations for it one way or the other, but holy hell was it bad.

[ZKX-2099]

I'm not arguing that. But I was more... engaged with it than with Heritage.

[ZKX-2099]

I found it easier to sit through the 10 minute filler ending of Junior Dad than get through... those two tracks after Slither.

[Sigz]

Well Lulu at least holds your attention in that "can't look away from a train wreck" way.

[ZKX-2099]

Yeah. I would rather be appalled than bored

[pogoowner]

I just listened to Heritage, and it was awesome as usual.   

[ZKX-2099]

That's cool. People like Nickelback as well.

[Ravenheart]

OH HO HO HO HO HO

[Zook]

OH HO HO HO HO HO

Santa?

The only album that truly disappointed me was Iced Earth's Dystopia. Symphony X and Redemption were initially disappointing, but I just needed to listen more. Sure I'd love to hear more classic sounding Symphony X, but Iconoclast is still great, as is This Mortal Coil. Some albums just take time. But with Dystopia, I haven't really been interested in listening again. I guess this is their A Twist In The Myth.

[Genowyn]

Protest the Hero and BTBAM.

what

What? It was insanely dull.

It was much better than Fortress.

[Arch Benemy]

Protest the Hero and BTBAM.

Agree with those, particularly Scurrilous.

New Arch Enemy was pretty forgettable too, same with new Animals as Leaders, but it was the production that put me off the latter.

And I realise I'll be torn apart for this, but the biggest letdown for me was Deconstruction by Devin Townsend. I really like parts of it, but I was expecting to be floored by the whole thing and I'm just not. 

[Ravenheart]

OH HO HO HO HO HO

Santa?

C'mere you.

[AcidLameLTE]

Protest the Hero and BTBAM.

what

What? It was insanely dull.

It was much better than Fortress.

Na.

Kezia > Fortress > That other album

[Kotowboy]

Disc 2 of Lulu is definitely better than Disc 1.

Disc 2 has Frustration and Dragon.

Dragon has that super-creepy riff which you can't get rid of.

[Pinga]

Radiohead, TV on the Radio, Iron & Wine and Earth released disappointing (but still good) albums.

Panda Bear's Tomboy is piece of crap, though.

[Elite]

Symphony X's Iconoclast was a huge disappointment for me.

[Bongasti]

Symphony X's Iconoclast, I think. I didn't find the melodic aspect in it at all.

[Pinga]

I don't think its problem is the lack of melody, since a band/album can lack melody and be very enjoyable (see: Meshuggah). It is simply very uninspired, which is unfortunate, since the riff that kicks off the album is a doozy.

[Elite]

Symphony X has never really lacked good riffs, but the whole album is repetitive and boring.

[Pinga]

The other members should have a say in the direction of the music, too. It seems that Romeo's forte lately is writing good riffs, since that's the only good thing about the album, but even they get boring with so little variety.

[Elite]

Well, it was too much a step in the wrong direction, if you ask me. Symphony X lost all the good qualities they had when they released Paradise Lost. While I think that is a great album - I might even go as far as saying it's my favourite by them (explenation on demand) - you can see it going in a more 'badass metal' direction on The Odyssey. Iconoclast was just another step in that direction and they took it too far. It's too generic and more importantly too much of it for me to keep my attention. And then there's Russell Allen who really wants to roar instead of actually USE that voice of his. The lyrics don't really help much either, lines like 'hit the switch, you son of a bitch' make me cringe.

I think having seen them live didn't help resolve my feelings around this album. Russell Allen was playing the tough guy on stage and they played nearly all of the album, with only 'Of Sins and Shadows' and 'Inferno' from albums prior to Paradise Lost (of which they played 3). I think this was the most disappointing release of 2011 for me.

[TVC 15]

Radiohead, TV on the Radio, Iron & Wine and Earth released disappointing (but still good) albums.

Radiohead's latest album captivated me more when the band performed the entire thing on their At The Basement sessions.

I'd say that Tehophilus London's Timez Are Weird These Days was what I thought TV on The Radio was going to pull off sonically--instead it was more slow and laid back music.  Too bad.  I still got to finally see the band perform live this year though, so it's still good for me and TVoTR.

[MetalMike06]

I'll start:

Symphony X - Iconoclast
This album is not bad, but I expected another direction from SX. The albums that got me hooked to them were Divine Wings of Tragedy, Twilight in Olympus and V. The problem with Iconoclast is that it lacks a lot of the things that got me into them. One of those things is Russell Allen's current voice. Back then, Russell's voice could be heavy and, "graspy" (?) when he wanted to, but could be soft and melodic as well; he did both well. Now his voice only seems suitable for the first style of singing (That's one of the main reasons why I didn't like his work in Adrenaline Mob AT ALL). The other thing was the... "Symphonic" part of Symphony X. I've always appreciated the heavy part of SX, but in this album it seems that they've gone full Prog Metal style. I've heard some Groove Metal influences here and there, (Even some djent-y kinds of riffs, throw rocks at me, but I sure hear it) and that's not bad at all; But I miss the symphonic SX a lot. I even liked some songs of the album! End of Innocence, Electric Messiah, When all is Lost... As I've said, this album is not terrible, it's just that I find it far from being the SX I liked, and to be honest, I find it really uninspiring.

Completely agree with this. One thing I also noticed when reading the album's cover booklet is MR writes everything except some of the lyrics. I think if Pinnella wrote more once again, there'd be more symphonic stuff. I loved the title track though - especially that intro; those choir chants are so badass.

[adace]

Iconoclast is not quite as good as Paradise Lost but I still found it to be a very solid album. On the other hand, the new albums from Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy and Devin Townsend (Deconstruction) are all very disappointing. Each one simply doesn't measure up to its predecessor. I will say though that Ghost is far better than Deconstruction to the point of Deconstruction being pretty much unnecessary. However, none of those albums are as bad as Lulu which didn't disappoint me at all. In fact, it exceeded my expectations of how bad it would be. The band could have at least come up with some decent music if they were gonna have Grandpa Reed on vocals but no. Don't know what happened to that band or what they thought they were trying to accomplish with that album.

[Dark Castle]

I forgot to say Megadeth.  I was feeling it when it was announced and saw the artwork, but I couldn't stand the lyrics, and nothing sounded inspired in the album.  I mean the guitars were by no means bad, but they weren't really that impressive, and don't get me started on the lyrics.

[nightmare_cinema]

dredg's new album is ridiculously bad, one or two decent songs but nothing even approaching Catch Without Arms' total brilliance. Really really annoyed about that one. New Radiohead was a let down too, as was the new DT. Don't get me wrong, I really like it, but it just hasn't grabbed me the way most of their other albums have. It feels like something's missing.

Still, the awesomeness of Iconoclast more than makes up for all of those failings. Was really surprised with the lack of love for it on this thread. I was pretty much grabbed instantly which hardly ever happens for me, there are some many amazing riffs and shiver-inducing parts and When All is Lost is hands down the second best SX song I know, I just fell instantly in love with it and played it on repeat for days.

[nightmare_cinema]

Oh and I'm not impressed with SW's new album, to be fair I haven't given it enough time to sink properly in, but from what I've heard and repeat listens to the tracks everyone else is raving about it just ain't a patch on Insurgentes. Which is only made amazing by the Japanese bonus disc, obviously.

[comfortablydumb]

Mastodon, Dream Theater, Primus and Trivium were all mentioned.

Theyre my BEST albums of the year 

Green Naugahyde will prob be my favorite album for the year. Primus hasn't had an album that sucked to this degree since Frizzle Fry.  And that sucked.

[7StringedBeast]

I think my biggest disappointment would have to have come from Deconstruction.  I had such high hopes for that album and I didn't really like anything about it.  I mean, Addicted was so fucking good I was just hoping for an even heavier proggier version of it.  I was let down completely.  I'm not going to say it is a bad album because I know it has its purpose.  I was just disappointed in it.

After that I would have to say Primus's new album.  Again, it's not a bad album, but I was hoping for something more Primus.  It really just sounds like Claypool side project disc.  Larry is hardly on the record, and it's not very rocking at all.  So was disappointed in that one.

[Ultimetalhead]

Mastodon, Dream Theater, Primus and Trivium were all mentioned.

Theyre my BEST albums of the year 

Green Naugahyde will prob be my favorite album for the year. Primus hasn't had an album that sucked to this degree since Frizzle Fry.  And that sucked.

I find Green Naugahyde a bit more consistent than Frizzle. But I think Frizzle might actually suck more just because of Harold of the Rocks. That song is fucking sick.

[Ultimetalhead]

I think my biggest disappointment would have to have come from Deconstruction.  I had such high hopes for that album and I didn't really like anything about it.  I mean, Addicted was so fucking good I was just hoping for an even heavier proggier version of it.  I was let down completely.  I'm not going to say it is a bad album because I know it has its purpose.  I was just disappointed in it.

After that I would have to say Primus's new album.  Again, it's not a bad album, but I was hoping for something more Primus.  It really just sounds like Claypool side project disc.  Larry is hardly on the record, and it's not very rocking at all.  So was disappointed in that one.

Changed my mind. You're my most disappointing album of the year. 

[7StringedBeast]

Yeah I knew you would have a problem with that.  But I'm a big fan of both bands, and I was just really let down.  I still like Green Naugahyde though.  I just had really high expectations.

[BanksD]

Deconstruction, Threat Signal, Heritage, and new Amon Amarth are all ones that disappointed me. 

[Slain]

For me, it's Opeth. I LOVED Devil's Orchard when I first heard it, and still do, but the rest of that album bores me to tears. I really wanted to enjoy it, I was actually somewhat excited that they were moving away from the DM vocals and going for more of a 70's prog style, but it just didn't work for me.

It's too bad that some people were disappointed with ADToE. More enjoyment for me I guess...

[BanksD]

It's too bad that some people were disappointed with ADToE. More enjoyment for me I guess...

I must admit I myself was somewhat disappointed with ADTOE.


Don't get me wrong, I really liked it (has a few of my favorite DT songs on it), but it just felt like "another DT album" to me.