Nobody’s perfect. Fans can’t expect their favoritemusicartists to churn out classic album after classic album. After a few exceptional releases, though, great bands set a high standard for themselves. When they fail to live up to these expectations, it can be a major disappointment, with fans and critics reacting unkindly to the new music.
Sometimes a release is worse than just a disappointment. Sometimes,even the most incredible classic rock acts put out albums that are simply bad, falling shockingly short of their standards.
Fortunately, these are usually one-off anomalies, with a quick recovery. Other times a catastrophic album can end a career (or point to one at its end). Ten of these terrible albums from classic rock bands stand out to us as especially egregious.
10Self-Portrait (1970)
Bob Dylan
Self-Portaitisn’t the worst Bob Dylan album ever, but it’s the worst he ever had a hand in. The record comes after a couple of folk-rock classics that suggested Dylan was back in the groove after his motorcycle accident. Instead, he put out a bizarre double album mixing new songs along with covers and traditionals.
To this day,it’s hard to know what the album’s supposed to be. It’s hardly a self-portrait, but maybe it’s a joke - a living legend trolling his fans, his critics, or his label. Maybe it’s an experiment, with Dylan trying to do something new with his then-current approach.
Whatever it’s meant to be,Self-Portraitturns out to be the one thing it shouldn’t: not worth the effort.
9Other Voices (1971)
The Doors
From the late ’60s through the start of the ’70s, The Doors were nothing if not interesting. The music was always there, of course, but so was the drama, from arrests to concert chaos to the general wildness of frontman Jim Morrison. Every album showed a band willing to explore and change while always remaining commercially viable.
It lacks more than Morrison’s charisma.
Although the band was always more than Morrison, his 1971 death cratered the act. The Doors continued as planned, but their next album,Other Voices, wassomething a Doors album had never been: boring. It lacks more than Morrison’s charisma, oddly missing the songwriting skills the band had surely retained. Unexpectedly,Other Voiceshad nothing to say.
8Mardi Gras (1972)
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Maybe John Fogerty got his wish withMardi Gras.Creedence Clearwater Revival had always been his show, but as a creative struggle arose, he (apparently spitefully) gave most of the album to his bandmates to write and sing. Artistically, it was a disaster, and it effectively ended the band, which had already been in sight anyway.
The album does have two good songs: “Someday Never Comes” and “Sweet Hitch-Hiker,” both Fogerty compositions. The rest of the album isutterly forgettable at best and unlistenable at worst.
There’s no coherence, no vision, and no sense of the country’s best band hard at work. The failure proved Fogerty’s point and set up his solo career, but it left CCR fans with a sad end to a favorite band.
7Presence (1976)
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin sounded unstoppable in the mid-’70s, hitting a new peak with their sprawlingPhysical Grafitti. Then fate intervened. Robert Plant was in a bad car accident, and he had to recuperate while working on the band’s follow-up. The band wrote and recorded the album quickly, while Plant was neither physically nor emotionally well, and the context shows.
Led Zeppelin would rebound withIn Through The Out Door, an album that still receives mixed reactions, but that at least showed a band energized and ready to stretch itself.
After the creative stretching of their past few albums, Led Zeppelin is unusually restrained.The simplification onPresencewas a choice, but they haven’t done anything to make it interesting; there’s little use of dynamics and no change of tone. The band just barreled ahead without clear direction, novel ideas, or proper ambition. Recorded frantically,Presenceturned out dull and inessential.
Allman Brothers Band
For their first decade, theAllman Brothers Band was the definitive Southern rock act, known for blazing guitars, complex work, and dizzying instrumentals. After a brief hiatus, the end of the ’70s and start of the ’80s had a reunited band scrambling to rediscover their identity, a goal they never reached, as evidenced byBrothers Of The Road.
The album did produce a hit, the mediocre “Straight From The Heart,” butthe band’s clamoring for relevance stood out. The Allmans never sounded less like themselves, mostly focused on a pop sound for Arista, rather than an ABB sound for themselves or their fans.
When they went for their own thing, as on “The Heat Is On,” they sounded more like a parody of a once-great band.
5Hot Space (1982)
Queen
The 1980s couldn’t have started better for Queen. They released two #1 singles, a #1 album, the hit “Under Pressure” with David Bowie, and put outGreatest Hits, which would go on to sell 25 million copies. The band sounded fresh, relevant, and energized. Then they’d make an unexpected change of direction and derail it all.
ForHot Space, the band ditched their harder rock elements to embrace funk, disco, and contemporary electronic sounds. It didn’t work. The album soundsmessy and misguided, with little to redeem it. The only saving grace is the inclusion of “Under Pressure” as the finale; otherwise, this would be fit for the trash bin.
With such weak music, the tour didn’t work out either, and Queen wouldn’t return to the United States.
Paul McCartney
Like Queen, Paul McCartney was coming off major successes (Tug Of WarandPipes of Peace) when he dropped his dud.Give My Regards To Broad Street, the soundtrack to McCartney’s much disparaged film, isn’t even so much bad as it is completely worthless.
One new song, “No More Lonely Nights” with David Gilmour, got attention at the time, but it’s forgettable dreck. The rest of the album is about the same.
Due to technological restrictions, you’ll get a different version of this album depending on whether you listen to it on vinyl, cassette, or CD/streaming. The changes don’t matter much.
McCartney reworked a number of songs from his past, including his time with The Beatles. The problem is thatnone of these versions offer any insight or surprises, making for an unenjoyable nostalgia trip. Every track simply reminds you that you should be listening to something different, which is about as low as an album can sink.
3You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Odd (1984)
The J. Geils Band
You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Oddmight just sum up The J. Geils Band’s career. The group began playing exciting bar band music, mixing in blues and R&B influences.
They didn’t find true commercial success until they turned to pop, making worse music and getting more attention. The aesthetic shift drove frontman Peter Wolf out of the band, leading to their artistic nadir.
After the band broke up, Peter Wolf continued with a solo career and while his albums didn’t find a wide audience, they’re worth tracking down, especially the first two,Lights OutandCome As You Are.
Gettin’ Evenhasno focus other than trying to sound trendy. It relies more on production than on songwriting, musicianship, or intensity. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a memorable hook anywhere, and most of these songs have happily been lost to history. Unsurprisingly, this album was the band’s last, as they’d lost creative direction.
2Cut The Crap (1985)
The Clash
As with Queen’sHot Space, The Clash’sCut The Craphas exactly one valuable track, in this case “This Is England.” Of course, the band was only at about half-power at that point. Guitarist Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been given the boot. Moving forward, the group abandoned its increasing experimentation to make a plain old punk album.
And it was a mistake. Nothing on the album hits. The band tries to announce itself with “We Are The Clash,” butthe song sounds nothing like The Clash, unless as a poor, enervated imitation.
The track highlights how far the group had fallen (and probably how much it missed at least Jones). Things were almost comically bad at this point, and while the musicians would go on to interesting things, they wouldn’t do so again as The Clash.
1High On The Hog (1996)
The Band
The decline of The Clash suggests that sometimes a band just needs a certain chemistry. When The Band reunited in the ’90s, they did so without songwriter Robbie Robertson or pianist/vocalist RIchard Manuel. They might have missed Robertson’s songwriting most of all, frequently relying on covers to fill their last three albums.
High On The Hogwas the worst of these, largely becauseThe Band had never sounded so disinterested in their own performance. The group didn’t even try to look forward.
They played “Forever Young” (which they’d previously recorded with Bob Dylan) and used an old Manuel vocal for “She Knows.” Unexpectedly, The Band would re-find itself and finish their career with the much betterJubilation.
