Albums that weren’t critically acclaimed in the least but became a permanent part of you?
Posted by theinternetisnice@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 70 comments
For those who don’t remember Dada, they had the “I just flipped off president George, I’m going to Dizz Knee Land!” song. I won this cassette from a radio station and listened to it over and over on road trips since I was a poor kid and didn’t have much else.
It’s not BAD by any stretch, but it’s no Nevermind or Ten. Cassette is long gone but I still stream it on Apple Music to this day.
hazelquarrier_couch@reddit
I have Dizz Nee Land on my devices and had the cassingle, too. When I saw Dada, I immediately thought of Sonia Dada, though, who did the single "Lover Lover Lover You Don't Treat Me No Good No More".
East_Relationship722@reddit
It’s a great album. For me, Dizz Knee Land is easily the worst song on it.
Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
Oh man Swervedriver is GREAT.
Bladley@reddit
Supergrass - In it for the Money
Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit
I bought "In it for the Money" and "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" by Tortoise on the same trip to the record store. I was studying in SF and had to walk right past the Virgin Megastore on my way to the financial district.
iwanttobelieve74@reddit
One of the greatest!!!!
Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit
LonelyMachines@reddit
When the World Knows Your Name by Deacon Blue. They're Scotland's favorite band ever, but they never got airplay in the States. Think U2 anthems, but fun. They could (and still can) write an epic chorus. Great musicians and fun lyrics.
I got it from a friend, and I love that album to this day.
lectroid@reddit
Danny Elfman’s So-Lo, which is actually a stealth Oingo Boingo album. Boingo had been dropped by IRS and MCA offered Elfman a solo deal. But it still features most of the bad, including Vatos and Bartek, and even has Flea on bass for a couple of tracks. “Gratitude” was the single off it that got some play, but my fave on it was “It Only Make Me Laugh”. Super cynical lyrics with bright tight harmonies.
Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit
Only Makes Me Laugh is an awesome song, but for me, the Boingo Alive version is the definitive one. Not the Elfman solo studio version.
Clear-Calligrapher69@reddit
Emergency-Option377@reddit
Dada was so great at this show. Caught my first drumstick during their set.
Cyllene54@reddit
Pop Will Eat Itself - …Cure for Sanity and This is the day, this is the hour, this is this.i was blown away when I first heard Def Con One.
thenerdbrarian@reddit
Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America Rites of Spring - End on End
CommodoreSixty4@reddit
Cracker -Kerosene Hat
borisdidnothingwrong@reddit
Back in 1995, there was a band Chalk farM that was getting some notice. Kurt Loder interviewed them on MTV, they had a write up in Rolling Stone, their first video was in rotation on MTV, they had airtime on the cool radio stations.
They were on tour, and my girlfriend got free tickets from the record company rep who was visiting the record store she worked at.
There were two opening bands, a local group and the ones on tour.
It was a bust as far as ticket sales. There were 6 people in the audience, 4 of whom I knew and all of whom got in free.
The local opening band was okay.
Then the touring openers came on.
It was like a clown car was parked in the green room. The band came on, then they had all their friends who were having an adventure with them by traveling the country come on with tambourines, and whatever instruments they played. There were more people on the stage than in the rest of the bar combined.
They didn't care. They played like it was Glastonbury and they needed the drunks at the fringes to dance the day away.
Truly an amazing amount of energy.
The headliners were unimpressive.
That middle band was The Wild Colonials. We had to special order their albums, but the record store manager heard our copy and bought his own, which he put on the store's in house music rotation. They kept a couple of each album in stock for years, and always sold some when the manager brought his copies in to play while working.
some_one_234@reddit
Wild Colonials! Spark is such a great song!
some_one_234@reddit
Dada was (is? I think they are still around) awesome. A few other bands I could put into the same category are Hoodoo Gurus, Marcy Playground, Cake, the Plimsouls and Dramarama.
Junior_Statement_262@reddit
I loved DADA. About 25 years ago, I was walking down State Street in Santa Barbara when I thought I heard a DADA song playing. I followed that sound into a tiny, dark bar and guess what?! DADA WAS PLAYING. It was 5:30pm on a bright sunny day and DADA is playing a tiny bar. I was ecstatic.
Dusty_Sleeves@reddit
This one was on heavy rotation for me in the early 90s.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
"Like an innocent child..." I swear they ripped off Ultravox's "Vienna" for that one!
scraps1364@reddit
James Brown
zyglack@reddit
That disc didn’t leave my car for years.
Kakistocrat945@reddit
Puzzle is not bad. It's not even just good. In my book, a candidate for most underrated/underappreciated album of the '90s. Really accomplished guitar pop/rock. Neat lyrics. And Posters is a slammin' modern take of Norwegian Wood. Deserves to be heard by a new audience.
armblessed@reddit
The Jesus & Mary Chain “Psychocandy” or My Bloody Valentines “Loveless” depending on how intense my flashbacks are ;)
highnumber@reddit
I think those are both quite critically acclaimed
armblessed@reddit
Perhaps you’re correct. At the time, only in pre-Internet indie senes knew their sound. Wouldn’t be until the film Lost in Translation did they hit rotation 15 years later. That Coachella lineup a few years later was when it peaked.
realizes that lineup was 20 years ago.
Damn you…
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punkdrummer22@reddit
I still don't know who Dada is even after you mentioned a song. Who are the other 3 albums?
allegate@reddit
Right? I was like I don’t recognize any of these bands and it’s just one…I don’t know if I feel silly or not for that lol
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’ve been looking at that album cover for 30 years so that didn’t occur to me but yeah, if I didn’t know otherwise I would’ve made the same mistake
zyglack@reddit
Ned’s atomic Dustbin. GodFodder
maxny23@reddit
Grey cell green
yoscottmc@reddit
The grey sells green only if the green cell's grey The grey cell's green only if the green sells grey
Public_Excitement393@reddit
i love that album!
ccr213@reddit
Strange
I fell in love with this band back in the late 90s and still bust out their CDs now and then... today's going to be one of those days!
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
Oh shit! Prisoner of Society. Yes.
ccr213@reddit
yes!!!
picture it...21 yo me... driving with this blasting, windows down, screaming at the top of my lungs...
cuz I'm a brat and I know everything and I talk back cuz I'm not listening to anything you say and when you count to three 1 - 2 - 3 you'll see it's no emergency you'll see I'm not the enemy just a prisoner of sociiiiiiiety GO !!!
ParlayPayday@reddit
Spawn - Rises Robots Rise
Best album I’ve ever owned.
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
AHHH. I don’t know that album but I played Talk Is Cheap on college radio in 92. Daaang. I’ll listen to Spawn now
ParlayPayday@reddit
What a trip. I first heard them on a college radio station back in the 90s. Album 88 from GA State in Atlanta. Maybe that was you that turned me on to them!
dingdongdoodah@reddit
The soundtrack to McVicar with Roger Daltrey.
Impressive-Shame-525@reddit
Posted this before So this is gonna be a long one.
I was bullied bad since 1st grade until high school. It was bad enough that I was going to kill myself.
I'm the youngest of three boys, at the time of this story, I'm about 13 years old and both my brothers are in their 20s and moved out.
In 1983, I'm home alone and I have stolen my father's revolver. I've had it a week or so and sometime soon, I'm going to end it. Then my brother shows up after I got home from school with a new record. "hey, this a new album from that guy you like who sang with Rainbow" and he drops it on my record player. He opens the window and starts to smoke a joint (the 80s were wild) as the first song of Dio's "Holy Diver" album hits.
Stand up and Shout.
Appice's drums, Bain's bass, Campbell's guitar. Dio's vocals pulled me in. It just slammed into me. Hard, driven, fast and mad like some new language.
I was the strongest chain, not just some reflection, so never hide again. I was the driver, I owned the road, I was the fire, I went out and exploded.
We listened to the whole album and when it was over, my bro left the album with me and I went and put the gun back in it's hiding spot.
I threw myself back into sports and martial arts. I won state, regional, and national fights. I met and trained with Bill Wallace, Joe Corley, Chuck Norris (I was even an extra in one of his movies), and more.
Just before the end of Jr. High school, one of my bullies that'd I'd been ignoring for years at that point went just a little too far and said stuff about my mother. I beat the brakes off that kid bad enough that none of the other students would say what happened and he wouldn't say who did it.
The bullying stopped that day.
So Ronnie James Dio (and my brother) saved my life.
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
Man. Thank you for sharing, seriously
MaximumJones@reddit
The soundtrack album to the movie "Cat People".
UrsaMajor7th@reddit
It's Moroder- an automatic purchase for me.
Mako3303@reddit
lectroid@reddit
The Bowie track is awesome.
Mako3303@reddit
Peter Murphy's "Deep", The Church "Starfish", Radiohead "The Bends", Meshuggah "Nothing".
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
Loved this album. Still do. Dim, Posters, Dorina - all awesome.
I also loved The Gufs - Collide and The Odds - Neapolitan.
chdude3@reddit
Upvote for Odds, the Drake/Northey combo was potent.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
I obviously love the video they did with the Kids in the Hall.
chdude3@reddit
Did not even notice your username lol! Rock on bro.
UrsaMajor7th@reddit
Warrior Soul, Last Decade Dead Century LP.
Mako3303@reddit
Fuuuuucck Yeah, Planet P! I have that little guitar solo on "Do You See What I See" as one of my ringtones.
Ischmetch@reddit
Serge Blenner - La Dimension Prochaine
CashPrize1055@reddit
This is played often in my house in the rotation. Our local independent radio station will play a track or two off this album, and I love them for it.
The other band from this era that I dig is Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Cerrac123@reddit
Same! Toad is comfort music.
Cerrac123@reddit
Dim is one of my all-time favorites
scraps1364@reddit
that dog - “Retreat From the Sun”
Every song delivers. The harmonies are mesmerizing. For those who missed them in the ‘90’s (I was as into music as it gets back then and I did)…they sound like a better, 90’s version of The Go-Go’s. “Minneapolis” is my favorite track.
This was their 3rd, and best album, but there are a couple gems on the first two. Interestingly, they reunited to make an album in 2019. As we all know, normally when this happens, it’s largely disappointing to fans, but in this case, “Old LP” actually rivals “Retreat From the Sun” as their best work.
heynow941@reddit
It’s funny I only became aware of this song after W was president so I thought it was directed at him, not his father.
MEB-Softworks@reddit
I had, and LOVED this album!
Fluffy-Structure-368@reddit
Dim was a great song on that album
I still think Ned's Atomic Dustbin was the most underrated band and album of that era
JamyDaGeek@reddit
I still love Ned's Atomic Dustbin, was lucky enough to see them live way back in the 90's
EggDintwoe@reddit
Dorina is one of my all time favorite tunes.
CriticalCurrency5725@reddit
I own the CD. Stiil rockin' it! "Let's go to my room; I'll show you my posters!" One of the greatest rock lines ever!
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
It was later on in life I realized the intent wasn’t to really show posters 😦
Superdrag2112@reddit
“Dog” blew me away. That guitarist is insanely tasteful throughout that disc.
Sentient_Sawhorse@reddit
The soundtrack to “To Live and Die in LA”
theinternetisnice@reddit (OP)
Oh man, I’m going to pull that up now