I just listened to Cocktober and The Unforgettable Cock, my two least favorite albums in the last couple days. I think I liked the former more than I ever have before. I don't know why. I didn't dislike anything on there. It's still a bit too homogenic for my taste, the title track notwithstanding.
And TUC is still a half-baked mess. I still don't get what people see in the thing. Pride (In the Name of Cock) sticks out like a sore thumb, the songs seem more unfinished than on any other album. I also love how there's people who sing the praises of the aimless (if enjoyable) Elvis Presley & Cock and then think that MercyCock is somehow unfit for release. The title track has those unbearably dated and horrendous synth string/horn sounds like the "ba da...BAH!" part that is just cringe-worthy. It sounds like a bunch of other shitty new wave 80's band stuff. I don't care how good the vocal is.
And then you have Cock of July and Indian Summer Cock, which aren't bad, but let's be honest...they're rather forgettable compared to the "filler" on every album after it. Racquetwire is a ripping song, but then you have some of Boner's dumbest lyrics ever supporting it. BadCock is just a pale shadow of what it would become live, it's missing that sequencer part that perfects it, and the way Boner's voice stretches on some of the lines just sounds clumsy ("Into the ni--hi--ght...").
It's a shame because the album starts off on one of the band's highest notes. And it's all downhill from there.
Another thing, anyone else have a problem with MLCock closing out the album? In my mind, it should have been stuck at the end of P(ITNOC) as a little coda. The album should end with Elvis.
/rant