Horrible albums by great bands/solo artists

[powderfinger]

So, I was listening to Chinese Democracy last night (yes, I actually bought the cd the day it came out). It made me think how such a great band (GNR) could have slopped together such a piece of crap album. Its like Axl took a crap or a dump in the studio and put it on cd. I guess part of the reason why it sucks is bc it isnt even really GNR any longer. So this made me think... what are some horrible albums by your favorite bands, or the bands you consider great.

I would nominate the album "Up" by REM, or possibly "Zooropa" by U2. Perhaps Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles should be up there too.

Oh, and definitely that St. Anger album or whatever it was called by Metallica.

[busta_bird]

Anything by Aerosmith after Big Ones (and I wasn't a huge fan of Big Ones).

[Inverness]

From the bands that feature two of my favorite bassists:

Everything after Promised Land by Queensryche.
Everything between Seventh Son.. and Brave New World by Maiden, excepting for the songs "Tailgunner" (er, Deuces High!) and "Fear of the Dark."

Maiden is embarrassing with Bayley behind the mic, particularly in light of Dickinson's solo stuff from around the same period. Maiden's new stuff is pretty bland, but at least it doesn't completely and totally suck.

Queensryche is... I don't know of any other bands in rock/metal that have fallen so hard, and that includes Metallica and Megadeth. I mean, at least Metallica and Megadeth have started righting the ship with good-not-great material recently. Just when you think the 'ryche can't get any worse, they release Mindcrime 2, sullying one of the greatest metal/rock albums ever. And then we get Take Cover, or whatever it was called.

Ugh.

[Awesomenaut]

Chris Cornell's "Scream"

Laughably bad.

[gjbassist]

At least one TBer doesn't agree with you Powderfinger. According to him it's an underrated masterpiece!

Originally Posted by TheInsane

Guns N´ Roses - Chinese Democracy

I feel that most people judge the album on Axls percieved personality, line-up changes, drama surrounding the band as well as the stubborn will to have Slash in the band. However if one were to judge the artistical expressions only I feel this is quite an excellent album. And in regards to the guitar playing the album is actually superb. The guys playing on this record are just awesome - especially Buckethead.

Some people seem to want another Appetite for Destruction even though the band hasnt really written songs like that since, well, Appetite for Destruction was recorded.

And to bring down a myth, the original line-up of GNR was never Axl, Izzy, Duff, Steven and Slash. So everyone screaming for the original line-up probably dont know who wee in the band back then. Axl and Izzy are original members. None of the others.

[Richland123]

In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin. The only half decent song on it is Fool In The Rain

[GrapeApe]

Originally Posted by busta_bird

Anything by Aerosmith after Big Ones (and I wasn't a huge fan of Big Ones).

Really? I would have said anything after "Rocks"...

Anyway my nomination would have to be Metallica's "Saint Anger". I definitely wasn't a fan, and one of my friends bought it and threw it out his car window 30 minutes later.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by powderfinger

So, I was listening to Chinese Democracy last night (yes, I actually bought the cd the day it came out). It made me think how such a great band (GNR) could have slopped together such a piece of crap album.

Agreed, and while we're on the subject, Spaghetti Incident/Use Your Illusion aren't so hot either. They shot their wad with Appetite IMO.

Boston's third and subsequent releases are horrible. Again, they shot their wad with the first album, carbon-copied it on the second release (I forgive them), but then a steep down hill on the rest.

Paul McCartney reached a point where the good ideas became few and far between, yet he keeps cranking them out.

[gjbassist]

Originally Posted by Richland123

In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin. The only half decent song on it is Fool In The Rain

I totally disagree! Yes it was a departure from the harder, riff driven Zeppelin. But at least they weren't afraid to try something different. I think there are several very good, catchy tunes on that album such as "In the Evening", "South Bound Saurez" and even "Hot Dog".

[eyvindwa]

+1 for st.anger. What a horrible POS...

[JayfromDeeKay]

Hot Space by Queen.

[WJGreer]

My thoughts:

"One Man" by Mark King was weird. Notably, it had not a single slap bass lick on the whole record, which would be similar to Metallica releasing an album where nobody uses any overdrive. A few of the songs on One Man were OK, but it wasn't what people expected or wanted from Mark King/Level 42.

I like Rush's "Signals," but it has always been controversial for Rush fans because of the distinct synth turn it took.

Living Colour's "Stain" had good playing, but the songwriting seemed not to be at the level of the two albums before it, especially compared to the wickedly good "Time's Up". It was also their first one without Muzz Skillings, so I wonder if he may have been a substantial writing contributor for them.

Speaking of Living Colour, I tried to check out solo albums by just about everyone in the band - Corey Glover, Doug Wimbish, and especially Vernon Reid. None were interesting.

In my opinion, Dave Matthews should have left "Busted Stuff" in the bin.

[powderfinger]

Originally Posted by Richland123

In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin. The only half decent song on it is Fool In The Rain

Oh, what, I thought "Hotdog" was one of Zep's best tunes!

Honestly, I did like "All of My Love" and "In the Evening", however.

[Waspinators]

The three experimental albums John Lennon did with Yoko in the late '60s. I've heard Bob Dylan's Self Portrait LP was (most likely intentionally) godawful but I've yet to hear it myself. Celtic Frost's Cold Lake was pretty limp and seemed to be completely against anything the band had stood for.

[JetBlackJazz]

Any Guns n Roses minus Slash...

[garmenteros]

I like three tracks of St. Anger... Some Kind of Monster, St. Anger, and Frantic. The rest I dont care for. But for the first three tracks I genuinely enjoyed the album.

[N.F.A.]

I guess Dylan is allowed a bad album or two, but I remember Self-Portrait and Saved as being pretty lame. I haven't listened to them since they came out, but I remember them as being pretty bad.

[powderfinger]

Originally Posted by gjbassist

At least one TBer doesn't agree with you Powderfinger. According to him it's an underrated masterpiece!

If Chinese Democracy sucked because of band drama and the perception that Axl is a doucebag, shouldn't all of the albums have sucked then, by that logic?

I wasnt even totally opposed to the new line up (Tommy Stinson is one of my fave bassists from my fave old school bands.. the Mats).

I was willing to give this album a chance as an Axl "solo project"... however, it sucked even on that level.

But IMO, if you're going to make a GNR album, you need Izzy and Slash. Yeah, people always howl and holler about Slash, but Izzy was DA MAN in GNR.

I will admit the song Madagascar was pretty enjoyable, but I also heard it was a leftover from the 90s... oh well...

[HassBacker]

Originally Posted by Richland123

In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin. The only half decent song on it is Fool In The Rain

This song sucks so bad it makes my teeth hurt.

[N.F.A.]

In the Evening is a good tune though.