On Friday, October 11, Rolling Stone dropped their 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time list. Many rock and metal artists have been featured, including AC/DC, Radiohead and Oasis.
Loudwire reports that the list consists of a lot of bands and musicians from the rock and metal world. Rolling Stone noted that many of the albums on the list were created by massively successful artists with very long careers and that the selections were merely a “tiny speed bump” along the way.
Other albums, the publication referred to as duds that were the result of creative exhaustion or the use of too many different substances. Rolling Stone also clarified that their staff loves a lot of the albums, despite initially finding them disappointing.
Many may think of Rolling Stone as focusing primarily on rock music, when in actuality their lists tend to be all-encompassing and cross between genres popular from the 20th and 21st centuries.
As expected, the 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time list is made up of a variety of names and albums. Radiohead’s The King of Limbs, U2’s Songs of Innocence, Wings’ Wild Life, Oasis’s Be Here Now, Aerosmith’s Draw the Line, Fleetwood Mac’s Behind the Mask, Panic! At the Disco’s Pretty Odd and Black Sabbath’s Technical Ecstasy are featured throughout the 40s and 30s.
The list continues with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ One Hot Minute, Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut, Van Halen’s Balance, The Monkees’ Justus, Journey’s Raised on Radio, The Byrds’ Byrds, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) and Blondie’s The Hunter marking the 20s and 10s.
According to Rolling Stone, the top five most disappointing albums include Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, David Bowie’s Tonight, Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait, The Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request and at number one, John Lennon’s Some Time in New York City.
While the list does proclaim that these albums were most disappointing upon release, the publication did reiterate the importance of recognizing how the staff’s tastes have changed since the release of these albums.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat