Here's an absolutely great idea for a television series - spend an hour talking about one of the greatest albums of all time. Get the inside story, and talk to the guys who made the album, produced it, and those who were influenced by it.
As a die-hard music fan, I fell in love with this series immediately. Too bad things didn't last.
The show started excellent, and VH1 even gave it top billing in its early days. The first few episodes covered true rock classics (Def Leppard, Metallica, and plenty of other excellent bands got coverage.) Then the show took a turn for the worst, in more ways than one.
First of all VH1 could never keep a steady time slot for the show. It was on whenever they damn well felt like putting it on. This accounted for low ratings, one of the things that likely killed the show.
Second of all is the content. The first few episodes featured what could truly be considered classic music. Then it's like VH1 sold out and just put whatever is popular on there. There was even an episode for an Eminem album (I've got nothing against the guy, but if it came out that recently, it's sure as hell not classic yet. And it can't be an Ultimate Album if it's not a classic.) I'd love to see VH1 give this show another chance sometime, but that doesn't seem to likely. Fortunately, another show they've created and air on VH1 classic called "classic albums" has the same basic concept, minus the flaws of that show.
Long story short - this was the predecessor to Classic Albums, which is indeed one of the best shows VH1 Classic has going for it right now.
