In the 70s there were several albums which, when released, were panned or disparaged, but which time has been more kindly to. I grew up thinking that specific albums were to be sidestepped but when I got them, thought were excellent
Probably the prime candidate was Come Taste The Band. As a big fan of Deep Purple, I was supposed to be disappointed with it. But the truth was that I wasn’t and I think the more funky flavours, while different from previous incarnations, were excellent. I think the criticism was born out of rock’s conservative wing which doesn’t like change.
Tales From Topographic Oceans was widely regarded as prog’s nadir. Bloated and flatulent. That was the vibe but listening to it now, it’s a great if complex four sides. Even Eddie Offord said "Oh, we're doing a double album. Now we can make things twice as long, twice as boring, and twice as drawn out!” But now it just sounds like ambitious pieces of music. Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) is particularly epic.
When Genesis released Duke there was a grumbling that it wasn’t prog enough from the conservative wing. There were too many short, actual songs, drum machines and not enough obscurantism about dancing on volcanos. In fact there was plenty of prog on Duke, Duke’s Travels and Duchess. And I loved it when it came out.
Animals by Pink Floyd was heralded as a step down from Wish You Were Here. Admittedly it was a high bar. But when I got to, I loved the more bitter, angry lyrics and harder sound. Sheep remains one of my favourite Floyd tracks.
For some it was a triple live album like ‘Welcome back my friends’ by ELP which broke the back of prog but when I got it I thought it was thrilling. 10 minutes of Tarkus and 11 minutes of Take A Pebble were compelling and not the evil behemoth it became known as
Presence by Led Zeppelin didn’t find favour in some quarters, neither did Song Remains The Same but both have been on my play list ever since release. Achilles Last vStand is one of the best things they ever produced. The album is harder than some others but I love that, Tea For One is a great electric blues.
So I suppose the lesson is don’t jump to conclusions. Time may give you a different perspective. I still don’t like Works vol 1 by ELP though.
