Screen13

I have not suffered through that one...yet.

The thing about Calling All Stations was that everyone knew right from the start that it was not going to match up to anything, even From Genesis to Revelation. Without Phil, the instant radio airplay stuff that could have it's moments was gone, and any attempt to return to the old style was not going to cut it without someone like Peter to really have some tale to tell. From what I heard, it was a very pale imitation of modern AOR that was marked Cut Out right from the start, forgotten by about the next month. I did hear that it was a hit in some parts of Europe, though.

In comparison to the two other albums in discussion here...

ELP's tanker was their first real studio effort in years, not counting the Works collections, and until we saw the cover, there was a lot of expectation to see if they could pull it off one more time. Still, considering that Works 2 was also a Dollar Bin wonder, many were possibly not that surprised. Love Beach Jogging Shorts must have filled some Goodwills soon after.

With The Clash, they still had Joe Strummer, but with a lot of "Crap" that could not be cut from the recording sessions, a lot of it Manager-related from what I remember, even his words and passionate singing could not cover up the fact that it was a half-baked affair. Some clips I heard on You Tube, however, showed that if Joe and Paul were to be left alone with the new crew, it may not have been as bad as it turned out. Still..."This Is England" remains the song we can still talk about without cringing.

I should try and set a Poll for Most Disappointing Album. Maybe start up a Bad Album Wars!