10 Biggest Love/Hate Albums In Rock Music History
3. I Get Wet - Andrew W.K.
From the moment of his debut EP release, Girls Own Juice, American singer and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier, who records as Andrew W.K. was a figure of controversy. By the time of his first studio album, 2001's I Get Wet, the musician was, depending on who you listened to, either the saviour of rock music, or a faker riding on the back of self-made publicity who was decades out of touch.
The album's cover sports a photo of the singer with blood running profusely from his nose, over his face and chin. This is a good pin for the crux of the debate: is Andrew W.K. genuine? The artist himself claims that the blood was real, the effects of deliberately hitting himself in the face with a cinder-block. Many, of course, will certainly doubt this.
That same argument over authenticity carries over into the album's music. Tracks such as Party Hard, Party Till You Puke and Ready To Die prompting a serious divide in opinion. Review site Magnet summarised: “Here, on one compact disc, is what's wrong with the music industry.” Blender observed that “those in search of a gloriously moronic keg-party soundtrack will wet themselves with pleasure.” Others, notably Q, NME and Rolling Stone, gave the record an unreserved thumbs up. You can find a handy round-up of all of the above on Metacritic.