Artists You Hate: An Album a Day

Featuring Bob Dylan, R.E.M., U2, and others

My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.

This week’s theme is “artists you hate,” meaning, well, albums by artists you hate. We weren’t using this week to hate on small artists that we don’t like, though. The apathy the large majority of musicians are faced with is enough for them. We were focusing on major artists that we never really got into. We wanted to be fair, though. We tried to choose an acclaimed album by each of these artists. Please note that after listing the release year, I note whether Ken or I was the hater.

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#7 Terrapin Station by Grateful Dead (1977 - Ken)

While I am far from a Deadhead, I do like the Grateful Dead. What that looks like is that while I am not going to rant about how you need to listen to the 40-minute version of “Casey Jones” performed at a Vermont high school in 1971, I do enjoy some of their studio cuts. “Friend of the Devil,” for example, is a great song. “Scarlet Begonias” is too. Because of that, I was excited for this record. I was left very disappointed.

Whereas I enjoy earthy Grateful Dead songs, Terrapin Station has many artifacts of the disco era from what it emerged. I don’t think this style suits the band. In addition, I found the cover of “Dancin’ in the Streets” abysmal and the 16-minute, title track medley torturous. I couldn’t believe that some fans hold the latter up as the group’s greatest musical accomplishment.

#6 Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi (1986 - Chris)

I’m often surprised when people assume that I must be into Bon Jovi because I am a proud New Jersey resident and dedicated Bruce Springsteen fan. Does Bon Jovi’s hair metal riffs really have that much in common with Springsteen’s heartland rock? During my listening to Slippery When Wet, I found out that they do indeed share some overlap.

Both Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi conjure up anthemic musical stories about the downtrodden trying to survive. But while Springsteen’s stories are filled with nuance, Bon Jovi’s are cartoonish. Here, for example, are a few verses of “Never Say Goodbye,” the penultimate track on Slippery When Wet

As I sit in this smokey room
The night about to end
I pass my time with strangers
But this bottle’s my only friend

Rememberin’ when we used to park
On Butler Street, out in the dark
Remember when we lost the keys and
You lost more than that in my backseat, baby

Remember how we used to talk
About busting out, we’d break their hearts
Together, forever

Never say goodbye
Never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends
Hoping it would never end

But as much as a hater as I am, I can’t deny that Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and their collaborators could write a chorus. In fact, the massiveness of “Livin’ On a Prayer” might be reason enough that Bon Jovi outlives Bruce Springsteen in the public memory. Even The Boss couldn’t write a chorus that big.

#5 Automatic for the People by R.E.M. (1992 - Chris)

I inherited many of my musical tastes from my father. For example, I’ll always love the bombast of “Heat of the Moment” by Asia because my dad loves it. Similarly, I’ll probably never love R.E.M. because my dad wasn’t into them. That’s not to say that our tastes are trapped by whatever our parents like. My distates for R.E.M. emerged somewhat organically.

At some point in middle school, I was digging through my dad’s CD collection and stumbled upon Out Of Time, the only R.E.M. album he owned. I popped it into the computer and “Radio Song” started playing. “This is horrible,” I thought to myself. As I scanned through the other tracks on the album, like “Shiny Happy People,” I was no more impressed. Even “Losing My Religion” didn’t do much for me.

With my expectations low, I was surprised how much I enjoyed Automatic for the People. The songs were well crafted. The guitar work was all quite tasteful. When “Everybody Hurts” came on—a song I have (of course) heard before—I couldn’t believe how moved I was. I don’t think I’m a fan yet, but I’m willing to give the Georgia quartet another chance.

#4 Hot Rats by Frank Zappa (1969 - Chris)

Frank Zappa has always given me the vibe of a guy that he not only thinks he’s more clever than you but has to make sure you know it too. But that attitude makes his songs, even when they are virtuosic, feel lacking in emotion. Ken’s perception was quite the same. And while Hot Rats didn’t completely overturn that perception, we enjoyed it much more than expected.

Other than a brief vocal from Captain Beefheart on “Willie the Pimp,” Hot Rats is an instrumental album that veers between jazz fusion and blues rock. We’ve touched on fusion before in our album-a-day listening journey, and Zappa does the virtuosic style justice. “The Gumbo Variations” contained some of the most emotive guitar work I’ve heard this year.

#3 The Joshua Tree by U2 (1987 - Ken)

For a few years after college, my two friends and I had a podcast called Alright, It’s Settled where we debated silly questions (e.g., the best way to eat a potato, the youngest looking old person). One of my favorite episodes was when we looked at the best three-song run on an album. Though we settled on “Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean” from Thriller, the three opening tracks from The Joshua Tree were in the running:

1. “Where the Streets Have No Name”

2. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

3. “With or Without You”

These are monumental songs, Bono sounding like he’s channeling the voice of God, The Edge doing the same on his guitar with the Holy Spirit. Ken agreed. Kind of. While Ken couldn’t deny that the opening to The Joshua Tree is tremendous, the rest of the record didn’t do much for him. Much of it comes down to Bono’s vocal. Where I heard someone doing something generational, Ken heard someone who thought he was doing something generational.

#2 Ten by Pearl Jam (1991 - Ken)

While Ken went into this album a Pearl Jam hater, I approached from a neutral position. Ten changed both of us, though. From the biggest hits (e.g., “Even Flow”) to the deepest album cuts (e.g., “Why Go”), Ten represents a rock band at the peak of their powers. The riffs cut through your chest whether they are searing or droning. The vocals are emotive even when you have no idea what Eddie Vedder is saying.

I am not the first to make this point, but it is astounding that Pearl Jam is lumped under the “grunge” moniker. Geographically, it makes sense. They were from Seattle. But to my ear, they bear more debt to the alternative and hard rock communities than the noise and punk scenes that shaped grunge. I’m not the expert here, though. Feel free to tell me if I’m wrong.

#1 Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan (1965 - Ken)

Earlier this year, when I made Ken listen to Infidels by Bob Dylan, he told me that it was one of the worst afternoons of his life. Despite loving singer-songwriters and folk rock and blues rock, Ken is a Dylan hater. He, like many others, can’t do the nasally voice. I, like many others, love Dylan from the nasally-est nasal to the sweetest croon.

Despite this week being an act of masochism, Ken is no masochist. He wanted to pick an album he knew I liked just to avoid me pushing to rank The Joshua Tree at number one. What he didn’t realize is that I am not a disciple of Highway 61 Revisited.

Highway 61 Revisited is a foundational album for Dylan and popular music, respectively. It’s the perfect distillation of the Bard of Hibbing, Minnesota, combining folk, blues, and rock as he went electric. The opening track, “Like a Rolling Stone,” arguably reinvents the pop song. Along with that track, I think many of the other cuts are part of the bedrock of the Dylan catalog (e.g., “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “Desolation Row”).

And, yet, I don’t think I would rank Highway 61 Revisited among my top five Dylan albums. I do love it. We’re ranking it above many other classics this week. But his catalog is so deep and varied. For good measure, here’s my top ten at the moment:

1. Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

2. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

3. Blood on the Tracks (1975)

4. John Wesley Harding (1967)

5. Blonde on Blonde (1966)

6. Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)

7. New Morning (1970)

8. Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

9. Infidels (1983)

10. Time Out of Mind (1997)

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