10 Rock Music Albums That Divided Critics
3. The Stooges: Fun House (1970)
The Stooges were a slow burn for music critics. They were a far cry from groups like Cream and Led Zeppelin - who's energy, although wild and raw, was matched by a technical proficiency. The Stooges were lacking in the latter, but they made up for it with attitude and unfiltered noise.
Their second album, Fun House, was exactly what it said on the tin: this was rock for the good times, forget the intricate guitar solos and melody changes; three chords played with venom was all that was required. The Stooges made a name for themselves playing alongside fellow garage/punk pioneers MC5, but it wouldn't be until their third album that critics finally got where these guys were coming from - even then, they didn't perform well commercially.
For the most part, critics found the raw guitar sounds and the sluggish vocals lacking in direction. It's divergence from the usual rock of the day made it inaccessible. Avant-garde jazz style jams, mixed with psychedelic proto-punk was a sensory overload. It was only in retrospect that critics hailed Fun House as the forerunner to punk rock.