There are certain albums that no one dares to disgrace or reappraise. You know the ones: records revered by practically everyone, which every self-respecting music fan is expected to cherish. But are these albums truly untouchable, or are we blindly regurgitating accepted wisdom?
The Euronews Culture team bares all and takes a hard listen at 12 so-called 'masterpieces' and asks: 'Isn't it about time we admitted that these aren't the sacrosanct triumphs they're made out to be?' Different strokes for different folks, of course - we wouldn't want to break any levees. Speaking of which, we start with...
Led Zeppelin – IV (1971)
It's the album that gave us 'Stairway to Heaven', perhaps the greatest rock song ever made. It's widely considered Led Zeppelin's pinnacle of achievement. It's essential listening, a rock'n'roll classic. And yet… Look, Led Zeppelin's fourth album opens like a firehose on a scorching summer day. 'Black Dog' and 'Rock and Roll' knock you off your feet. It's incredible. Later, you get the transcendent 'Stairway to Heaven' and smooth 'Going to California'. But is it as complete an experience as we're supposed to believe it is? I'm not so sure.
The highs do the heavy lifting, and it's fair to wonder if they distort our view of the work in its entirety – if the band's greater mythology hasn't generated some revisionism. The problem is that once an album is declared the masterpiece, everything else gets measured against it. But Zeppelin made more adventurous records. 'Led Zeppelin III' is restless and eclectic, and 'Physical Graffiti' takes bigger swings across a kaleidoscopic double LP. For all its brilliance, 'IV' shouldn't have a monopoly on Led Zeppelin's legacy.
Eagles – Hotel California (1976)
Remember that scene in The Big Lebowski when The Dude gets into an altercation with a cab driver when he asks him to change the radio station? "I've had a rough night, and I hate the fucking Eagles, man!" says our favourite stoner. Well, I loudly cheer for The Dude every single time. The Eagles are rubbish, and their most famous album proves it. Not that many would agree, as 'Hotel California' is the sixth-most sold record of all time, with reported global sales of around 44 million copies. To add insult to injury, their greatest hits album remains the best-selling album of all time in the US. Makes you think, don't it?
The band's so-called 1976 "rock classic" is chockablock with thoroughly mediocre songs about being good looking in the desert, good looking driving around LA, good looking on the street, and good looking while asking questions like "Should I stay or go? I really want to know / Would I lose or win if I try and love again?" I don't know about the latter part of your inquiry, that's your business and good luck to you. As for the second part, go. Please go away.
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
I was on a five-hour road trip with two of my best mates, and we decided to spend it doing something that felt vaguely productive: listening, front to back, to albums considered some of the greatest ever made. We started with MJ's 'Thriller' - brilliant, pretty much faultless, bar perhaps that eye-rollingly saccharine McCartney duet. Then 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill': beautiful, soulful, genuinely sublime. So when we arrived at Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' we were expecting our lives to be changed. They sadly weren't.
That isn't to say 'Rumours' is bad. It's often excellent. 'Dreams' is arguably one of the greatest songs ever recorded; 'Go Your Own Way' remains an absolute bop; and the iconic bassline and euphoric release of 'The Chain' is top notch. But taken as a whole, the album left all three of us strangely unmoved. Remove all the relationship drama and mythology attached to it and what remains is often remarkably safe, polished, and occasionally beige. 'Second Hand News' is a strangely forgettable opener; 'Don't Stop' is irritatingly chirpy; and 'Oh Daddy' is frankly a bit of a snooze. In the days after I listened to 'Tusk' and 'Tango in the Night', two of the band's later albums, and both struck me as more adventurous and interesting. 'Rumours' has a handful of perfect songs, but it's by no means a perfect album.
Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979)
God help me, I love a concept album and Pink Floyd rarely disappointed in this regard. However, their 1979 rock opera – while a towering achievement narratively speaking – is a listening experience that never resonated with me. Put bluntly: it bored me to death whilst depressing me at the same time. Granted, the double-album is meant to be punishing, mirroring the themes of abandonment and isolation wished for by chief architect and gloom meister general Roger Waters.
However, 'The Wall' always felt bloated, replete with heavy-handed metaphors and more filler than any other album they'd released until then. 'Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2', 'Hey You' and 'Comfortably Numb' are gems, there's no doubt about that - but that's three standouts in a comfortably plump 26-song slog of a tracklist. And when you look back at the band's discography, every concept album that preceded 'The Wall' continues to surpass it. Give me 'The Dark Side of the Moon' (the original, not that trash version Waters put out recently) any day.
