3 of the “Worst” Forgotten Albums of the 1970s (And Why They’re Actually Brilliant)

The worst albums of the 1970s are almost universally agreed upon. And yet, when it comes to the following three “bad” records, I find myself enjoying them for one reason or another. Maybe most bad albums are just ahead-of-their-time hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Whether you agree with me or not, there really are some things to appreciate about the following “worst” albums of the 1970s.

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‘Metal Machine’ by Lou Reed

I love noise. I think noise is fascinating in all of its iterations and noise-related subgenres. But I completely understand why fans of The Velvet Underground were straight-up angry about this 1975 release from Lou Reed.

Metal Machine Music is about as avant-garde as you can get. It is an album composed of over one full hour of noise. There is no melody, no rhythm, just modulated feedback and noisy guitar effects mixed at wildly different and varying speeds. Many would say this album cost Lou Reed his reputation in the industry, but I doubt Reed cared that much. In retrospect, this was a majorly ahead-of-its-time release from a true artist.

‘Attila’ by Attila (1970)

Nobody seems to like this album from Billy Joel’s old acid rock band. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it the “worst album” in rock history and “the history of recorded music itself.” Billy Joel himself reflected on the album and called it “psychedelic bullsh*t” and noted that they “drove people literally out of clubs” when they performed. 

But, honestly… It’s not that bad of an album. The guitar solos are corny at times, and at others, the band is clearly trying to sound like Deep Purple. But when I finally listened to Attila after years of hearing how awful it is, I was surprised. Joel and bandmate Jon Small really don’t sound horrible on this record, and there’s some unintentional camp throughout the 40-minute run that makes it almost endearing. Considering how much hate this album got, I was half-expecting Joel to start yodelling and banging pots and pans. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

‘Having Fun With Elvis On Stage’ by Elvis Presley (1974)

Alright, this album makes it to many lists of the worst albums of the 1970s, and I completely understand why. This record from the King, released a handful of years before his death, is completely non-musical. That’s not a dig, either. There is almost no actual music on this album; it is composed entirely of dialogue, banter, and jokes from Presley during live performances recorded between 1969 and 1974.

It’s no wonder people hated it, especially because the lack of songs removed some context that would have made Presley’s jokes land better. But to me, I see this as a little piece of music history. Having Fun With Elvis On Stage preserves a legendary persona in rock music history in a very interesting way.

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