The Residents / YMMV

Audience-Alienating Era: From 1982, their output became defined mostly by overambitious projects that didn't always see completion, and a case of gear acquisition syndrome that dated albums almost immediately. Their first tour in particular was a tremendous loss, resulting in what even the Cryptic Corporation admitted were cash grabs. Long-term, aesthetic-defining collaborators of the group stopped working with them as much, if at all. Things started to change in the late '80s, with the far more successful 13th Anniversary and Cube-E tours—though even that was a bit of a Troubled Production near the end—and the unanimously beloved God In Three Persons. And in the '90s, they began working in multimedia in earnest, including CD-ROMs which were well received, even if the music still suffered a little for the scope of these projects. 1995 is generally agreed to be the point where it ended, with Bad Day on the Midway and its soundtrack album Have A Bad Day.
Awesome Music: In spades.
- "Rest Aria" on Meet the Residents is a genuinely beautiful piano-driven piece and Surprisingly Gentle Song that stands out on an otherwise unconventional album.
- Duck Stab! / Buster & Glen and The Commercial Album are proof that they're more than capable of crafting infectiously catchy and brilliant avant-pop.
- The Third Reich 'n Roll is an astonishing feat and an Ur-Example of the mashup album, but special mention goes to the finale, a blend of "Hey Jude" and "Sympathy for the Devil" accompanied by ethereal synths and an epic guitar solo.
- While their cover of "This Is a Man's Man's Man's World" is well-regarded by fans, the live rendition featuring vocals by Molly Harvey is downright godly.
- High Horses is supposed to simulate, through sound, the effect of riding a carousel while tripping on LSD. Whether you consider the portrayal accurate or not, it's still very believable carousel music, and it is delightfully trippy.
- God in Three Persons is perhaps the only completely unclassifiable work they've made, with a deep, bizarre, and engaging story told almost completely in trochaic octameter.
Captain Obvious Reveal: Fans had quietly accepted as fact that Hardy Fox was a Resident decades before he announced it himself. Many note that the band's work from their debut to his departure was almost all published in his name, ostensibly for bookkeeping purposes.
Creepy Awesome: Big time.
Crosses the Line Twice: Their very early album Baby Sex features a picture doctored to resemble a woman fellating a baby on the cover. It was considered artistically rude at the time, but now, it would legally qualify as child pornography. Also, the titular song is a story of a daughter on father rimjob. The album's more or less disowned by the band, though it has more to do with them not being satisfied with the music than being offensive.
Epileptic Trees: There is still constant speculation as to the members' identities, not helped (and perhaps even worsened) when former spokesperson Hardy Fox announced he was Chuck.
Friendly Fandoms: There's a lot of overlap between Residents and Devo fandom, due to both bands being synthesizer-heavy acts with subversive themes, distinct looks, and a fondness for multimedia. Both bands even shared management in the '80s.
Fridge Horror: The meaning of the song "Secrets" becomes much more clear and poignant when you know that one of the founding members was gay.
Growing the Beard: Their early unofficial releases are more or less disowned by the band themselves and range somewhere between "awful noise" and "just good" with even hardcore fans. They've gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The name of the album Fingerprince might get some snickers out of anyone familiar with the infamous Animaniacs joke.
It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: In the early years, this was the band's opinion on themselves. They weren't all that happy when Duck Stab attracted a fandom.
Nightmare Fuel: They are very well-known for being incredibly creepy. Later albums (1990s and onwards) are especially horrifying; they now have their own page.
Not-So-Cheap Imitation: Baby Sex, of The Mothers of Invention. The influence is obvious even from the Zappa cover, but the band also showed an appreciable degree of Zappa's musical understanding (and maturity), and in Snakefinger, they had a guitarist who came closer-than-average to Zappa's technical skill.
They Panned It, Now They Suck: Wormwood. The "They Panned It" bit was subverted; The album dealt in the more disturbing tales of the Good Book, but was not meant as an insult. The "Now They Suck" bit was exaggerated; The tour was... chaotic, to say the least, courtesy of many a pissed-off crowd member. It got worse when the tour started playing in Europe.
Unintentional Period Piece: The Residents were notoriously early adapters of numerous emerging technologies. For example: Their first sampling keyboard, of the first brand marketed directly towards musicians, is said to have a single-digit serial number. As a side effect, a few of their albums (in particular, The Tunes of Two Cities, Freak Show, and The Gingerbread Man) can be dated quite squarely to the advent of the equipment they feature.
Viewer Gender Confusion: The naked twins on the cover of God in Three Persons may look female, but turn out to be Ambiguous Gender.

YMMV / The Residents

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