00:00Open your eyes, just flip around and you'll discover
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo
00:05And today we're counting down our picks for albums whose commercial and often critical failure devastated the band or artist's status
00:15But it doesn't have to be
00:17Number 10, Passage, The Carpenters
00:22The adult contemporary sound of The Carpenters had aged out of fashion by the late 1970s
00:36The band thus shifted for passage, but in the wrong direction
00:40The album mingled pop with ambitious avant-garde, culminating in a cover of Klaatu's prog rock epic, calling occupants of interplanetary craft
00:51In your mind, you have capacities, you know
00:56Some of the more mainstream singles wound up being pretty respectable hits
01:00On the whole, though, The Divisive Passage would become the first Carpenters album to sell under gold certification
01:07And if I'm all strong now, you're the only one who'll straighten me out
01:12It was quite successful outside of the States, but that was enough to signal the band's loss of relevance
01:18It took a Christmas album and Made in America for the Carpenters to bounce back
01:23Before Karen Carpenter's shocking death in 1983
01:26It's a new day for those good old dreams
01:31Number 9, Summer in Paradise, The Beach Boys
01:35Summer in Paradise
01:37Summer in Paradise
01:38Summer in Paradise
01:41Though their critical reception took a dive throughout the 1980s
01:45The Beach Boys were surfing on their loyal fan base into the next decade
01:50Then came the wipeout that was Summer in Paradise
01:53People all around the world in every nation
01:57Like to get together for some excitation
02:01With the notable absence of Brian Wilson, the album mostly features re-recordings, covers, and remixes with a 90s pop rock production
02:10As predictably harsh as the critics were, fans were no kinder to this radical departure from the classic Beach Boys sound
02:18Girls are on the trail for the summer of love
02:22Summer, summer, summer, summer, summer
02:25The album was the band's worst selling ever, arguably bankrupting the distributor, Navarre
02:30It would be 20 years before the Beach Boys put out new material
02:34Meanwhile, Summer in Paradise has gained a cult following for one reason
02:40It has been out of print since its first issue
02:43Hey now, well it's a love thing
02:46Number 8, Second Coming, The Stone Roses
02:49Love spits her arms, and waits there for the nail on the line
02:55After weak initial sales, The Stone Roses' eponymous debut became the sleeper hit to turn Madchester into a global phenomenon
03:04Their sophomore album was highly anticipated, ultimately going platinum in the UK
03:09Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I need
03:15However, Second Coming was met with mixed reviews over its much less groundbreaking alternative elements
03:22The mediocre international sales set the album up for a legacy as a dud
03:27Really, it was the band's frustrated response and messy promotional tour that brought tensions to a head
03:33The Stone Roses broke up in 1996
03:39Their long-term reputation hanging mostly on that legendary first album
03:44Whether that's fair to the now-better-received Second Coming, it did leave the group down for the count
03:51Number 7, Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses
04:00There was obviously a lot of hype going into Guns N' Roses' first original album in 17 years
04:11Recorded over the course of the interval
04:14That quickly died down after Chinese Democracy disappointingly debuted at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200
04:22Number 7, Moonsteam
04:27It did go platinum, but far more slowly than expected
04:32Even with little radio play and Best Buy's exclusive distribution deal
04:37Mixed reviews over the dated-style compounded fans' frustration with the album's long, troubled production
04:44Infamous conflicts with frontman Axl Rose had already alienated the band that everybody loved
04:55Some have come around on Chinese Democracy, though it's still considered a legendary letdown in rock
05:01Guns N' Roses have not released a studio album since
05:05Number 6, Van Halen 3, Van Halen
05:13David Lee Roth's replacement with Sammy Hagar should have inspired faith in Van Halen's capacity for reinvention
05:25But Extreme's Gary Cherone didn't impress fans as the new singer
05:29Probably because he wasn't the real voice of Van Halen 3
05:34Eddie Van Halen's heavy involvement in the album's production amounted to what many considered
05:42An overblown, overlong vanity project
05:45The idea was at least appealing enough for it to eventually go gold
05:50Of course, Van Halen practically had a license to print platinum records before this uninspiring
06:00stepped down
06:01Van Halen 3's sufficient success was not sufficient in realizing the band's collaborative process
06:08or drawing strong live audiences
06:10Cherone left in 1999, and Van Halen didn't release another studio album until 2012
06:17Number 5, Mardi Gras, Credence Clearwater Revival
06:24Bringing a California flair to Deep South culture made Credence Clearwater Revival
06:35one of the biggest bands going into the 1970s
06:38Unfortunately, Mardi Gras was no party behind the scenes or among fans
06:44A tense production yielded an uninspired country showcase that especially infuriated critics
06:55Sales were strong, but not compared to CCR's previous work
06:59And the promotional tour didn't last long, as the album's failure and other issues prompted
07:11the band to break up Many suspect that frontman John Fogerty
07:15facilitated this because of his brother Tom's departure and creative conflict with the rest
07:20of the group The junior Fogerty would have a stellar solo career,
07:24but Stu Cook and Doug Clifford had a disastrous songwriting debut with Mardi Gras
07:29Number 4, Cut the Crap, The Clash
07:37At least the title of The Clash's last release said what we were thinking
07:47Cut the Crap finds the punk icons indulging in overproduced new wave without Mick Jones
07:53Drummer Pete Howard and bassist Paul Simonon were even removed from the final mix
07:58But, but now I am up in the video And I never let it come to mind
08:05Joe Strummer didn't sell out his songwriting, but that's lost in the noise of a very 80s sound
08:11The album undersold and was lambasted by listeners
08:14Strummer agreed
08:16His creative conflict with producer Bernard Rhodes marking the final straw in The Clash's internal tension
08:22The band cut out a month before Cut the Crap came out
08:32Fans have since warmed to the album, subverting the group's style, but everyone agrees it was
08:37a failure they couldn't even come back from
08:40Number 3, 143, Katy Perry
08:47After leaving American Idol and critically falling short with two experimental albums, Katy Perry needed a comeback for 2024
09:02143 was expected to be a triumphant return to dance pop that featured a star-studded production
09:09It also featured producer Dr. Luke, despite allegations of sexual assault
09:18Controversy over this only compounded the worst reviews of Perry's career
09:22After debuting at number 6, the outdated and superficial album dropped off the US Billboard 200
09:32after just two weeks
09:34Critics soon questioned Perry's relevancy in the music industry and even her authenticity as an artist
09:40143, named for numerical slang for I love you, was so unloved that it certainly set the pop idol back
09:48Number 2, Paula, Robin Thicke
09:54The aftermath of the album Blurred Lines was unfortunate for Robin Thicke
10:03His follow-up was a concept work in response to his then-recent separation from actress Paula Patton
10:09Paula polarized critics with its musical quality and awkwardly confessional lyrics
10:15After a disappointing debut at number 9, the album plummeted alongside Thicke's already controversial image
10:25as a suave ladies' man
10:27His reputation was further tarnished as his and Patton's divorce got bitter
10:33and allegations of plagiarism and abuse emerged in the coming years
10:37Thicke didn't make another album
10:44Until On Earth and In Heaven was released in 2021
10:47To even worse sales
10:50Paula just stands out as a cautionary tale of misguided personal songwriting
10:54And botched overnight stardom
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11:16Number 1
11:19Metal Machine Music
11:21Lou Reed
11:22Avant-garde and mainstream rock fans alike agree on Lou Reed's greatness
11:33They also agreed that Metal Machine Music was an experiment too far
11:38The 65-minute-long double LP consists entirely of electric guitar feedback
11:50Even the critics found this self-indulgent expression to be a grind
11:55Needless to say, casual listeners were not happy
11:58The monumental critical and commercial failure basically ostracized Reed from the popular music industry
12:05Whatever his vague motivations
12:14He did take the opportunity to blend more experimental music into accessible songwriting
12:19To consistent acclaim
12:21Even Metal Machine Music has inspired debate about whether it's plainly the worst album ever
12:26Or if there's genius in such subversiveness
12:29Either way, it was the definitive, literal sound of a major music career
12:35Self-destructing
12:36What are some other missed notes in your favorite musician's catalog?
12:47Spin it in the comments
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