No sooner did I get done insulting a large portion of humanity's musical tastes yesterday than I felt a little guilt. Only a little. But enough to give the world a reason to make fun of me in return.
So. Use the comments to answer the following questions: What's the most embarassing CD in your current collection? More importantly, what's the lamest/most embarassing thing you listen to semi-regularly? As you might expect, I'll lead the way by humiliating myself first.
In all honesty, I tend to throw CDs on eBay/Half.com pretty quickly if I do not listen to them. I have a couple hundred taking up space as it is; I have no room for those that can't pull their weight. A detailed perusal of my (large, alphabetized) collection didn't turn up anything mind-blowingly awful. No itinerant copies of Please Hammer Don't Hurt'em or any Vanilla Ice. I think the winner has to be the copy of Smash by The Offspring, which I would guess I purchased in 1994 and for some reason have not discarded. This oversight is likely due to the fact that it is utterly worthless on the used market.
Now, don't think I'm letting myself off the hook that easily. My collection goes beyond CDs to the tune of about 250 GB of mp3s. And no, I've never paid for a single one. Why? Cause fuck'em, that's why.
The most humiliating thing I listen to with any regularity is Iowa by Slipknot. Seriously. I listen to it pretty regularly when I'm boxing (along with other "god do I want to punch something" classics like Reign in Blood and Pass the Flask). Ignoring, as I choose to, all the stupid shit about that band (masks, fake blood, legions of 14 year-old fans) it's actually a really good metal album. The drummer-plus-two-percussionists thing…well, I play the damn drums. I'm a sucker for it. If I could stomach death metal Cookie Monster Vocals (and trust me, I can't) I'd probably also list Poland's finest metal band Behemoth and their classic Demigod. But once every few months is all Ed can handle of that.
In no way am I proud of this. I needed to be taken down a peg.
Liz says:
I don't know what in my collection is most embarrassing because I'm a pack rat and never throw anything away. Also, my friends and I take a lot of delight in terrible music. I think that the most empirically embarrassing thing I own is probably II by Boyz II Men, because Cooleyhighharmony is soooo much better.
No.
Wait.
Sooooo when the next-generation M(ickey) M(ouse) C(lub) kids who were not good enough to go on to be Justin Timberlake or Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears got hair in funny places, they were absorbed into an associated pop band called THE PARTY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Party_(music_group)). It was the first CD I ever bought and I believe I still have it.
The most embarrassing thing I listen to with any regularity and actually enjoy is probably heartfelt-but-not-really-that-good feminist singer songwriters like Alanis and Fiona and Tori.
Nick says:
The worst album I own would be the first Linkin Park album. I really liked Linkin Park back when I was an angsty 15-year-old (at the same time that I liked Disturbed, Staind, and various other shitty nu-metal bands) but thankfully I grew out of it.
I believe the most embarrassing thing I still listen to would be Chumbawamba. In their defense, the songs that aren't "Tubthumping" are often pretty good. But they're still Chumbawamba.
Samantha says:
1. The soundtrack from Cool World
2. Zipless by Vanessa Daou (in which she sings the words to Erika Jong's 1960's feminist poetry)
3. Disintegration by the Cure
Sufficiently embarrassing, yet I make no apologies.
Christina says:
Please. You children know nothing of embarrassment or shame about awful music that you (guiltily) enjoy.
I, however, own such pearls as The Best of John Denver, Lone Justice, and not one but TWO Robert Miribal CDs.
So there.
J. Dryden says:
Puh-huh-huh-leeze. Step aside and let me show you how it's done:
The Best of ABBA.
Good luck getting your appetite back after contemplating that one.
Christina says:
You win.
Nate says:
The most embarassing CDs in my current collection are the first two Creed CDs. I obtained them when I was a foolish young man in high school. Ugh.
Ed says:
I have ABBA Gold. It is so awesome that it doesn't even enter into this discussion.
Rick says:
I have Hot Hot Heat's first album, Scenes 1 Through 13. Absolutely horrific and unbearable to listen to. Or, if you want to make a blanket sweep, anything that U2 has ever put out. I hate U2.
As for semi-regularly and absolutely humiliating, I have an album from Bettie Serveert entitled Bare Stripped Naked. Whenever I can't fall asleep at night I pop it in.
Nate says:
I guess the "embarassing" music I listen to now would be singer/songwriter chicks like Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco, but I'm not really all that embarassed about it.
Peggy says:
I'm a little late to the party, but I definitely ripped my ex-roommate's copy of The Pussycat Dolls' album "PCD."
And yes: I enjoy (parts of) it with some regularity.