Suprisingly good albums.

[SK]

Are there any albums which you thought were suprisingly good, when you thought that they were going to be terrible?

I would say for me that Jay-Z - American Gangster was a very suprisingly good album. I'm not sayin that this is his best album, or even that great but compared to what I thought it was going to be, it was actually good. After releasing Kingdom Come after coming back from retirement, I thought that American Gangster would be another boring commercial album, especially with the whole film concept. However, upon listening I thought it was very good. Pray, No Hook, Ignorant Shit and Fallin' were all good tracks and a bit like old school Jay-Z and I think this album was a solid album, probably ranking as one of Jay-Z's better albums.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I'll go a few years back for this one. I remember Meteora by Linkin Park being a lot better than I expected. I loved Hybrid Theory so much, I fully expected the follow up to fall flat and for then to be exposed as a flash in the pan. While it wasn't exactly an epic album, I was impressed that they didn't produce an album with a bunch of filler. Of course they fucked up when they put out Minutes to Midnight. Ugh.

 

[CH David]

I'll go a few years back for this one. I remember Meteora by Linkin Park being a lot better than I expected. I loved Hybrid Theory so much, I fully expected the follow up to fall flat and for then to be exposed as a flash in the pan. While it wasn't exactly an epic album, I was impressed that they didn't produce an album with a bunch of filler. Of course they fucked up when they put out Minutes to Midnight. Ugh.

I wouldn't exactly say that they fucked up on Minutes to Midnight. Hybrid Theory and Meteora are great albums, both are in my top 3 favorite albums of all time. But MtM was just a different sound. It was totally different, and when I first saw What I've Done, I didn't know it was Linkin Park, I hadn't heard the video until I saw it on TV one day when I was sick. Then I thought what the hell is this? But as I continued to listen to the album it grew on me, and a bunch of those songs are really good. Hybrid and Meteora are what Linkin Park had been known for. Minutes to Midnight, while not as great, is just a different sound. A very unexpected change in the way they played. But I can't wait until next year when their next album comes out.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

I'll say As Daylight Dies by Killswitch Engage. I'd heard a bunch of their older music, and thought it was pretty good, so I bought ADL on a whim when I found it for $10. After the first listen, I was blown away. it's an amazing album, far better than i expected. Still one of my favorites to htis day.

 

[Deadman Disciple]

Linkin Park Started to go down when they had Jay Z & Busta Rhymes guesting on their records, Now they are just pop/rock as opposed to what they was before they should have just stayed with the right formula instead of letting Jay Z brutalising their entire Hybrid Thoery album.

As Daylight Dies was a good album, but I prefered End Of Heartache, but im actually looking foward to the new album as the first song release is actually quite good.

If you aint seen Killswitch live, I suggest you do, ive seen them live twice and they brilliant both times, especially when Adam starts his rude jokes.

 

[Nitafrong]

Two albums have recently surprised me with their quality, though I am afraid they are of a slightly different style than those mentioned above.

The first of these was the first Dresden Doll's album, which was excitingly named after the band. For years I dismissed them as something that wasn't worth listening to without ever really giving them a chance (I think it had a lot to do with one of my friends being a big fan and our music didn't exactly correlate. Could have also been that I listened to lots of METAL when I was younger too ) I listened to it recently and especially the first five or six songs blew me away. Quite emotional and dark, and there is something about the crashing piano which seems quite evocative. Unfortunately though their other albums seem to be much weaker since- a bit of the punk band scenario again.

The second album that I was really surprised with was the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. Again I had never really listened to them bar their singles- and I always imagined that their style was very similar to "Date with the Night" which I think was one of their earliest and most famous singles. The new album is a lot more chilled and a really nice listen with a bit of a dark underbelly.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

Britney Spears Blackout. I was never really a big Britney fan, and her albums always seemed weak and mediocre to me. Then Blackout is released, Brit goes crazy and the album tanks. She sleep walks through a performance of the first single "Gimmie More" at the MTV VMA's.

The performance was LOL worthy, but the song was catchy and great. So I decided to illegally download the whole album. It's the album that made me a Britney fan. It's such a good dance/pop album, it's a shame it flopped. Songs like Piece of Me, Toy Soldier, and Radar are pop gems, and it's just an overall gem in the rough and it was a huge surprise to me.