Since I'm currently only able to listen to music on my local machine while working due to lack of bandwidth, I have notice I have a shitload of albums from bands I don't really like. Most of these came from my younger brother. We have some musical taste overlaps (he's been to see Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, NOFX, and Alice Cooper with me), but then there are a lot of things which veer off wildly. He gave me a huge dump of mp3s from his music collection, and I have never really weeded them out.

What I thought I might do, for my personal amusement, and hopefully to generate some discussion, is go through these albums while I have the opportunity, and then express my opinions on them. Please be warned: some may not be very polite, and might be offensive to any sensitive souls out there. I'm not meaning to hurt anyone's feelings or attack them personally, it's just me being a dick with what might be some really shitty music. Then again, I might discover a few things I actually like!

First off is !Dos! by Green Day. I suppose it's there because it starts with a symbols (one of those upside down exclamation marks, which I could probably figure out how to do on my keyboard if I really wanted...)

OK, !Dos! is a keeper. It doesn't have any instant classics, but the music is quite varied and not near as annoying as I thought it might be.

Next comes !Tre!:

It hasn't got off to a good start. This first track is complete shit!

Nah, !Tre! can fuck off! There's nothing there I will miss. I got to the third song and started skipping through the rest. Samey, overproduced pop-punk schlock!

And finally, !Uno!

Nah, fuck it. !Uno is going the same way, for the same reasons!

Right, what's next?

Oh, fuck me, more Green Day! This is older shit from 1990, before they caught big-budget-rockstaritis...

Back to it...

System of a Down is a band I don't actually hate, but I didn't really know them when I got this.

OK, that was worth 3 stars at least. Keeping.

Loading up two more SOAD demos so I don't have to come back to the music player quite so often. (I am technically supposed to be working...) I'm expecting these to be pretty good because the first one was.

Bosh66 wrote: Can’t be too many of those original demo tapes about, I wouldn’t have thought?

I have no idea where my brother got these, but he's a bit of a completist. Someone somewhere has digitised 'em. And those were both well worth a listen.

This next one is SOAD again, and looks a bit... bootleggy? We certainly don't have it listed.

As far as bootlegs go, that was pretty fucking good. Decent sound quality, and Serj Tankian is an excellent sings - bootlegs often show up dodgy ones.

More fucking Green Day, because this damn album starts with a number. I don't remember ever listening to this in it's entirety.

That was a keeper, although 21 Guns is such a shit song.

Onto this:

Not a band I hate as such, just one I've never bothered to check out.

OK, so I didn't find Black Label Society terribly exciting... Keeping it, but it's not something I'll listen to often.

Next comes a bit of Devin Townsend. This was surprising to get from my brother because I really didn't think he'd be in to such a thing. As with BLS, I have never listened to it properly.

The first two albums are their best imo, but Black Label Society is one of those bands where they don't really change their sound. It's the songwriting that makes their albums differ, so I don't know if you'd feel similar about those.

OK, Devin Townsend was alright, but not the sort of thing I'd listen to a lot. Gotta say I prefer Strapping Young Lad or the Ziltoid album.

I really don't much like KISS. I see them as a triumph of marketing over genuine substance. My brother loves them. The four solo albums were a bit of a gimmick, and I used to have his old copies on vinyl, but sold them. I have also heard that Ace's album was the best of the lot. I gotta say I love the song "New York Groove", but haven't really listened to the rest of this.

Ace was pretty fucking decent! A good chunk of solid 70s rock! Gonna give it a 4.

Now, more Devin Townsend:

Devin Townsend, fucking awesome! Loved that album!

Next up is Aerosmith. I got Pump way back in the day, and thought it was a bit meh. Maybe I needed to go right back to the start? I'll soon find out.

Now I think I get Aerosmith. The big budget overblown shit came later in their career. This was fucking good! First time I had heard the original version of Mama Kin.

I was never one for guitar heroes, so I don't know what I'll think about this:

OK, not near as wanky as I thought it might be! Keeping, and rated it 3.

Back to KISS. I have heard KISS fans say that Alive II is their best album, and one of the all-time great live albums. I am skeptical... I shall find out.

I suppose you had to be there... Goodbye KISS Alive II, I will not be requiring your services any longer.

I don't suppose Alive III is much better? I'll give it a go first.

I always imagine that his kid must look back on Ya Yo Gack or whatever it's called with utter embarrassment. 

It's not a bad song, except for the silly baby talk.

Anyway, Kiss Alive III is a HUGE improvement on Alive II. The filler ratio has been reduced, and the production values are better. I'm keeping it. Alive! is the next album on the list to explore, but I'm all KISS'ed out for now. I might come back to it if I remember. Time for a completely different pile of poo:

I hate f'kin' Slipknot with a vengeance, so this might not last long...

OK, truly pathetic. I got as far as the sixth track, which is about five more than I initially would have thought. It's so feeble it's not even annoying. It inspires indifference. I was considering keeping it and writing a flaming review of it, since the album has none, but I can't even work up the motivation to do that. Deleting, and if I ever find the inspiration to write that review, I'll do it off Spotify.

Now, I love Alice Cooper, but I never got round to listening to much past Trash and a few of the 70s albums. My dear brother though, he collected everything. So giving this a first full listen.

Good old Alice. Not vital or particularly impressive, but solid. A keeper.

The next one is a RATM bootleg... er, unauthorised recording, I mean.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/unauth/rage-against-the-machine/americas-most-wanted/" rel="nofollow - http://rateyourmusic.com/release/unauth/rage-against-the-machine/americas-most-wanted/

I don't really like RATM, so this might not last long either.

Never understood the fuss made over the first 2 Kiss live albums, especially the first one. I thought they were both pretty weak. Must admit I've not heard this one though.

I think they both suffer from KISS' career long inconsistency. I have even heard a KISS fan say you'll only get a couple of good songs per album. By 1993, they had released enough albums to find enough decent songs for a consistent live show. It would be cool to see live, but then you'd have to put up with the Kiss Army too.

Anyway, the RATM bootleg wasn't a good idea. Why did I think I would want to listen to songs I don't like, played a bit out of tune (well, sung out of tune. The rest of the band are pretty fucking tight!), and badly recorded? Bye bye America's Most Wanted.

And here's another surprise: Queensryche. Yes, I have Operation: Mindcrime, and I have heard a couple of the early albums, and I have a greatest hits CD somewhere, but I have never given these guys much more of a listen than that. Let's see how this goes.

That Queensryche album was really fucking good. 3.5.

Aaand... back to KISS (FFS...) I gotta say I haven't even HEARD of this album, let alone heard anything ON it:

That was actually a pleasant surprise. Not a great album by any means, but a genuine heavy metal album, and not the usual pop rock crap. I won't listen to it often, but it can stay.

I have heard bits and pieces from this, but never sat through the whole thing:

Now, I'm curious. I've never heard it, but if it's anything like Creatures of the Night (as in Kiss making a metal album), I'd probably enjoy it.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and sorry about the Slipknot picture. I gave it some better quality cover art, not that it'll make it a better album. 

No problem. I have broken several of my own pictures in the past few days updating them.

Animalize is listenable, decent, but it's no Creatures of the Night, which IMO is one of the band's best works. 

Great debut album. The next 3 were even better.

I'll check 'em out when I get that far. I'm pleased I'm discovering some decent music here, and it's not all just shit like I thought it would be.

70s Aerosmith is great, the only albums really worth checking out. 

Right, back into it!

Another band I really don't have much time for. It's a bit of a surprise to see my brother had this.

Nah, fuck that shit. Mediocre, pedestrian, and utterly fucking boring! It's going!

Now, I like Die Toten Hosen in general, but I basically only know their Learning English albums Now playing this:

Like I thought. Didn't disappoint. A keeper.

Unfortunately, I found more Lamb of God. Those vocals are fucking terrible so far!

Nope. It's gone. That fucking singer wants to be Phil Anselmo but hasn't got the power or range.

Aaaand, I discovered some more KISS...

Oh man, that's a fucking AWFUL album cover!

UMUR wrote: Yeah It´s definitely the vocals which ruin Lamb of God. Otherwise it´s actually some pretty decent music with some great heavy grooves. The singer though....nah.

I wasn't terribly impressed with the music either, but that's just me.

Anyway, bye bye Asylum. That's 38 minutes I'm not getting back. That was so fucking inconsistent, even for KISS!

And back to the Green Day again. Let's see if this lives up to it's title? I'm thinking not...

Yeah, I don't like Blythe's vocals either, also seems like a douchebag from what I've read. Makes Lars look like a saint regarding priacy. Granted, I have mixed opinions on piracy, but regardless there's better ways to express it. I think Chris Adler is a great drummer though, wish he stuck with Megadeth, especially considering he's out of LoG now.

Awesome as Fuck is definitely overselling the Green Day live album. Mildly Diverting as Fuck might be more appropriate. And I really HATE 21 Guns! Keeping it though.

Right, for the very last "Why the f**k have I got this?" album starting with A, back to Die Toten Hosen again:

Not quite as exciting as I might have hoped...

Time for some Ozzy. I really never too that much notice of Ozzy's solo career.

I may well have heard this before, but other than the title track I don't recognise any of the song titles. Oh yes, and So Tired.

Not the best Ozzy album, but I'll keep it.

I have two RATM live bootlegs, a live DVD, and a studio album. Having just sampled the bootlegs, I'm gonna delete them:

The Battle of Indio - https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-682954358-rage-against-the-machine-the-battle-of-indio-cd-_JM

The Battle of Dusseldorf - https://www.last.fm/music/Rage+Against+the+Machine/The+Battle+of+Dusseldorf

And fuck this:

And this:

And also this:

For a band that started out as Metallica clones, this is fucking pathetic. It's a pop album. Not even pop rock. Utter shit.

There's nothing like a bit of Frank to stretch your mind a bit. I haven't listened to this particular album right through.

Frank is definitely a keeper, although not always (ever?) an easy listen.

I got bored with the start of the alphabet, so I've zoomed down to Z. And surprise, surprise, ZZ Top.

I grew up with 80s ZZ Top, the stuff like Eliminator and Afterburner. I have never given the old stuff much thought. And it doesn't get any older than this.

Keeper!

And next... Well, fuck. I changed ends of the alphabet so I might get different bands, and what do I get? Die Toten Hosen again!

Bosh66 wrote: Love a bit of ZZ Top. First album is very different to Eliminator. You enjoy it?

Certainly did. I've heard the odd bit of their older stuff, but never listened properly.

There were a few gems in that lot. Like Agalloch's The Mantle, many Rage albums, Anathema's death-doom stuff, the first four Empyrium albums and some other stuff right up my alley.

There was also a lot of stuff from bands I wouldn't normally have checked out. Some stuff I thought was okay but never listened to again and some stuff I didn't even like, but still own. There's also a couple of live albums from bands I like but never even listened to. 

I should really go through all of these again as well as a number of small job lots I bought (I had a thing about blind buying ebay job lots of CDs at one point, especially black metal ones). 

I made a cull of my physical collection 3 or 4 years back. I sold some vinyl I wish I hadn't now. Got rid of some really shit CDs though.

Anyway, that Die Toten Hosen album wasn't that exciting, but it can stay.

Next is Alice Cooper again. I don't recognise any of the song titles here. And this is a fucking terrible album cover!

Musically, that Alice Cooper album is excellent. Unfortunately, it seems like Alice was trying too hard to be weird with the lyrics. Some of those songs are just stupid.

OK, Zappa again, but this time it's Dweezil playing Frank. I actually discovered Dweezil Zappa before I even knew who Frank Zappa was, way back when I was a teenager. I still like his My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama album. And I do intend to add him here one day. I just need to find the time.

Frank is great! I have tons of his stuff in my collection. Mid 70's is his best era for me. Assuming they'd be something on there from then.

I don't know what eras the songs came from. It's all rather mind-expanding!

And the Zappa Plays Zappa is great too. I didn't realise it was a live album. I knew Zappa the Younger is quite an accomplished musician in his own right, but not quite HOW accomplished!

Next is some NIN. I've never properly been past The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine.

I'm not going to miss that NIN album. Boring! Goodbye!

Some more ZZ Top, but a bit more modern:

So that wasn't bad. I particularly like the song Made Into A Movie. Surprisingly dark sounding.

And now back to some more Lamb of God. I don't know if this will last very long either...

Well that was surprisingly good! I didn't think I'd do this, but I'm keeping a LoG album!

Now for something completely different:

I only know a few songs by these guys.

Just had a check of the track listing. It's mainly 70's featuring his more commercial songs but great stuff nevertheless.

I have a live Zappa Plays Zappa DVD, it's awesome!

Right, back to this masochistic project...

More NIN

Bosh66 wrote: That’s an okay album I reckon. Not as good as the preceding album, The Fragile. You got that?

I'm not sure. I'll have to wait til I get to the F section. Anyway, With Teeth is actually pretty good. It's staying.

Back to these masked morons (pre-conceived ideas? Me? Never!). Might not last long...

That was quick, even for me. Second song and I'd had enough.

Time for some more Die Toten Hosen I haven't listened to:

That wasn't the most gripping of albums, but it can stay.

I don't know how this will go, because I don't really like unplugged albums much, but there's a couple of decent looking song titles here.

Gonna keep. Could be a lot worse, and there's some good versions there.

And of course, also under U, KISS Unmasked!

Mostly boring, but I'll keep.

A bit more Ozzy time:

Here's one I reckon I'll enjoy. I have never listened to this right through:

That's a lot of Bon Scott era AC/DC! Well worth it.

This is an oddity I hadn't considered in full before:

This might not last long. It's Lamb of God before they were Lamb of God.

Since I'm in a Nirvana mood, here's one I forgot about: