THE DIFFICULT 11TH ALBUM
(Blame It On the Angry Gods)
by Peter Gorman
Throughout rock history, bands have struggled mightily with their 11th album. While it is possible that this struggle is due to bands only having 10 decent albums in them (if that many), the more likely explanation is that the rock gods were angry with the band for some past transgression, and so they deliberately sabotaged album #11. The evidence presented below makes a strong, nay, irrefutable case for angry gods being the sole cause of album #11 recording horrors, though why they chose #11 remains a mystery.
For tabulating purposes, greatest hits and live albums were excluded from a band's total album count, as were EPs. The only albums that counted were the ones that had all new material and were released in the band's home country. As you will see, a band's attempt to pass off various compilations as new albums were often what caused the gods to be angry in the first place.
1. Beach Boys --1. Smile: The Beach Boys 10th album was Pet Sounds, often cited as one of rock's greatest albums. All seemed well as leader Brian Wilson began work on Smile, little knowing that the gods had it in for him. Thus it came to pass that a year later Wilson was living in a tent in his living room, with sandbox nearby. The eventual release was titled Smiley Smile, a shadow of the original recording.
Why were the gods angry? -- The Beach Boys had released a live album in 1965 that included several new songs. While some may view these new songs as a bonus, the gods found it a violation of the new album tradition. That live album ushered in the concept of adding a couple new songs to old material as an enticement to the consumer who might otherwise bypass the product. This may seem a minor offense, but it doesn't take much to piss off the gods.
2. Beatles -- Let it Be: This 11th album by the Beatles was actually released after the group broke up, so tumultuous was its recording. Let it Be was originally slated to be the group's 10th release but they set it aside; consequently Abbey Road became their 10th album, and the nasty sessions that produced Let it Be became album #11. If you play "Get Back" backwards you can actually hear someone say, "These sessions are bloody rot. We must be making our 11th album and we haven't even made our 10th yet." Hence the album's delayed release.
Why were the gods angry? -- The Beatles released Yellow Submarine as an official album in 1968, even though it had only four new songs on it, plus a whole album side worth of movie music instrumentals. This disregard for the sanctity of the new album ensured that album #11's conception would be an excruciating experience, eventually contributing to the band's dissolution. The gods were never particularly amused by Lennon's "We're bigger than Zeus" quip either.
3. the Rolling Stones -- Goat's Head Soup: Here again we find a band's 10th album -- in this case Exile On Main Street -- widely regarded as one of the finest ever made. The Stones then went on to make Goat's Head Soup. What should have been another great record turned out to be a rather boring one, recorded in Jamaica under horrid conditions, which included assaults on the band's entourage and the succumbing of producer Jimmy Miller to heroin addiction.
Why were the gods angry? -- One reason was that Jagger's vocals were overdubbed on a live album (Got Live If You Want It -- the gods are real sticklers for truth in advertising). The main reason, though, is that the gods were getting rather tired of Jagger's Lucifer schtick. When the band began recording "Dancing With Mr. D." ("D" as in "Devil") for album #11, the gods said enough is enough, and put the boot in.
4. the Kinks -- Preservation Acts I & II: The Kinks went into the studio to record their 11th album in 1972, but the entire project ended up being shelved after it was recorded, and eventually became a rock opera split into two albums, one of them a double. During this time band leader Ray Davies saw his marriage break up and suffered a nervous breakdown. While one could exude some effort critiquing these albums, it's much easier to quote Davies, who said of the Preservation recordings, "If there was ever one period of my life when I should not have been allowed to make records, that was it."
Why were the gods angry? -- The gods were never angry with the Kinks. It was Ray Davies who was angry with the gods (see "Big Sky"). The gods merely let Davies persist in his folly, and inevitably the Kinks 11th album became a headache and a mess. It also became their 12th album, which is sad and laughable and so fitting for the Kinks.
5. the Who -- (Never Completed): The Who went into the studio in the mid-80s to record their 11th album. Little did they realize that the gods were going to prevent them from ever completing it. As it turned out, the Who never recorded another new album, though they have subsequently released many greatest hits albums and gone out on multiple reunion tours, for which they will have their livers pecked at by angry birds for all eternity.
Why were the gods angry? -- Some say it was for carrying on after Moon snuffed it, but the gods don't concern themselves with band personnel. It was the Magic Bus album from 1968 that guaranteed they would never finish album #11, for Magic Bus was sold to the consumer as an album of new material (hardly) and implying with its "On Tour" subtitle that it was a live album (none of it was). And frankly the gods were never too pleased with It's Hard either.
(Coming in Part II: How the next generation fared with album #11)
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