For Had It With You, Dirty Work, Harlem Shuffle, Hold Back and Winning Ugly, Dirty Work ranks as a classic rock album.
Although Fight, One Hit To The Body and Back To Zero were, admittedly, the low point of the Stones’ career.
But even the worst Stones album (Bridges To Babylon) is better than the best ever produced by talentless bums like Oasis.

I have to agree with Francisco Valdes, Trans is 50 times worse than Old Ways, and it stinks too!

I liked One Hot Minute and Presence

I liked One Hot Minute and Presence

I totally agree with Hardy`s comment on Billy`s Cyberpunk album. I thoughly enjoyed it,anyone who says other wise is not a true fan of his music. you just need to listen to the lyrics to understand the concept of the songs.

is that a joke!? “one hot minute” is a kick ass album. it has “transcending”, “aeroplane”, “my friends”, “tearjerker”. rhcp is the shit

10,000 Days by Tool. Very disappointing album.

I’m a huge U2 fan. I would agree that Pop and Zooropa have no place on the list. Pop would have been great if they hadn’t rushed it. But there is indeed a U2 album that needs to be on there. A little known album known as Original Soundtracks #1 under the name Passengers. There is like 4 songs I can listen to on there. The album is horrible and the band openly admits that it is crap. Though to their credit Slug and Miss Sarajevo are some of my favorite U2 songs.

Im sorry but you have to read this if u want to know what im going on about first:
Punkpat | 5/19/2007, 1:48 am EST

One hot minute was a great RHCP cd I still listen to it. If you want to pick a bad RHCP record go for Stadium Arcadium it was terrible.

did she (or he maybe even a mix) just say that stadium arcadium was a crapp record? ther isnt one song on that album that istn quality! the only one that is dodgy is “if”. seriously is punkpat saying that dani california, snow (hey oh), readymade, so much I, Torture me, Wet sand and all the other great songs on that record bad?!?!?!?!. i think one hot minute is alright considering that they had a new guitarist at the time. i just wish people would stop saying stuff like that when they themselves couldnt ever make music half as gd.

if u want and album that stunk then i reckon:
guns n roses - the spaghetti incident

Ever remember ‘Standing on the shoulders of Giants’ by Oasis? enough said

Ever remember ‘BE HERE NOW’ by Oasis? enough said

glitter

I think presence isn’t a so bad album…I don’t agree with the list…

What about The Velvet Underground album Squeeze? I have it on my PC, terrible audio quality, just as the music (well actually two songs are quite OK… sorry for that)

rhcp album got 4/5 stars

I must say, with the title “15 worst albums by great bands” i was more than certain to see Billy Idol’s ‘Cyberpunk’ I,m glad i havent. Most people think that this album was just an excuse for Billy to change his image but i dnt realy think that was the real case. the thing about Billy Idols Cyberpunk was infact an amazing album, but idol was critasized about the image that came from the cyberpunk album.Most Idol fans wer not ready at the time to see a change in Idol so the album preety much flopped a few months after its release in 1993. The album touches on themes such as love, greed, drugs ect.. but in a futuristic way. Growing up i knew Billy idol as doing the songs White wedding and Rebel yell and thats about it until 1day i heard cyberpunk and thats when i thought he was fucking amazing. So if your a Billy Idol fan and never realy heard cyberpunk because of its bad reviews, ignor them and listen to the album, it has some of billy’s best work on it. (If in dout of what i mean by Billy chaning his image and people not ready for a diffrent Billy Idol, type ‘billy idol cyberpunk’ on youtube and watch the live versions of ‘wasteland’ and ‘adam in chains’ proformed on saturday night live back in 1993).

Like alot of bands their earlier releases are the best-go on about Led Zepp-their first 4 albums were great-later ones dont compare.Anything by Dylan pre ”
Nashville Skyline”& “Basement Tapes”are lyrically wonderful-metal heads would not understand the brilliance of his lyrics as they probably cant relate to the 60’s period.

…ANYTHING BY OASIS (BLOW-ASIS), THE WORST BEATLES-TRIBUTE BAND OF ARROGANT LYMIES EVER !!!!
…”LOAD” FROM METALLICA….THIS IS WHERE THEY BECAME “ALTERNICA”..
…”I CAN’T DANCE” BY GENESIS..ONCE A FANTASTIC GROUP BEFORE 80′S PUKE-POP SET IN…SAD !

nano: take away side one and side six and Sandinista is a FANTASTIC double album.
And BB Kink: XTC´s English Settlements is one of my alltime favourite albums, and XTC´s second best ( after Black sea ), so go back and listen again. You must have been in a bad mood the day you heard it…

Most overrated one-maybe 2 hit wonders.Meatloafs “Bat Out Of Hell”-what a shocker.Also death to disco.

Most overrated one-maybe 2 hit wonders.Meatloafs “Bat Out Of Hell”-what a shocker.Also death to disco.

I agree that “Presence” doesn’t belong on the list. Neither does “Beautiful Vision” or “Mighy Like A Rose” or “Face Dances”, and I can’t see the R.H.C.P’s doing terrible work. But there are some really, REALLY terrible albums out there: how about Dylan’s “Dylan” Lp (”Self-Portrait” outtakes put out as vengence by Columbia Records when he had the gall to sign with Aylum), Elton John’s pathetic disco extravaganza “Victim Of Love”, Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Tarkus” (with Keith Emerson coaxing as many belches and bleeps and farts out of a synthesizer), John and Yoko’s “Wedding Album” (without the cut-and-paste montage of “Two Virgins” or the glorious assault of white noise of “Life With The Lions”), Ringo Starr’s “Ringo the 4th” Lp (another bad disco-induced monstrosity, or one of Elvis Presley’s many, many God-awful soundtrack recordings? There are WAY more wretched albums than those included here.

sorry for posting that twice. I didn’t show the first one on my screen until after I sent the next one.

“Dirty” By Sonic Youth

I love this band, but except for 100% and Wish Fulfillment, it’s unlistenable crap

The people who say GD sold out with American Idiot and say it’s band are stupid.They’ve been my favorite band since I was 11, I’m 18 now,and I think it’s a masterpiece. How can you say they sold out if no other punk bands are making rock operas? Some say they sold out because they use piano and glockenspiel and whine about politics. Last time I checked, so did the Clash. So shut the f*** up posers.

being made without Mick Jones, I wouldn’t include “Cut the crap”, but “Sandinista” certainly deserves to be there.

also, Zep has no album worthy of this list. but what about these?

-Magical Mystery Tour (Beatles)
-Am I not the same girl (Sinéad O’Connor)
-Emancipation (t.a.f.k.a. Prince)
-Hello Nasty (Beastie Boys)
-Tales from Topographic Oceans (Yes)
-Here, my dear (Marvin Gaye)
-Conversation peace (Stevie Wonder)

Metallica - St. Anger

You can say Metallica was a band in decline long before this album came out, and you’d be right. You can say Load and Reload were bad albums, and you’d find thousands of Metallica fans who agree with you. But St. Anger was so unbelievably, mind-blowingly terrible, from start to finish, that it makes any other bad album sound great by comprison.

weezer- “maladroit” and “make believe” are probably some of the biggest dissapointments in my life.

Bad Albums from Great Band/Artists:

U2 - Zooropa (Pop was much better)
Springsteen - The Rising
Mellencamp - Big Daddy
Guns N Roses - Spagetti Incident
Journey - Raised on Radio
Foreigner - Agent Provacatuer
The Beatles - Revolver (jk!)

The new Stinkin Linkin Park CD is a REALLY terrible CD by a one album wonder.By the way Iron Maiden had a hit with TWO Minutes to Midnight in the eighties, don’t pretend you wannabes never heard of it. Say hello to the reduced bin! Yuk!

Being a huge Prince fan, I am extremely dissapointed that his last Warner Bros. album Chaos & Disorder (1996) has to be one of the obvious worst things that I have ever heard in my life! You can tell that he was more than ready to move onto a new stage in his life.

Presence?!?! For Achilles’ Last Stand alone it should be ranked amomg the best albums in rock. Coda was much weaker, anyway. I agree with Pink Floy’d Momentary Lapse Of Talent. And anything by Matthew Sweet.

RS, you blow ass for putting Presence on this list… this is why your magazine is irrelevant and discredited, in my opinion.

Top ten worst albums? you could fill the list with anything by
The Smiths
Oasis
or Paul Weller

Well Paul Weller has had quality album after quality albun during a 30 year career,, but it has to be said that During the Council phase,, The Cost Of Loving stunk the place out!

Agreed in “in through the out door” being Zeps worst. “All of my love” is terrible!
Van Halen “diver Down” and “F.U.C.K.” are both parodies of the once great Van Halen.

Just wanted to chime in. Presence is a GREAT ALBUM. After Led Zeppelin II, it’s their best. I think. IF you have to pick on Zeppelin, CODA is terrible (I know it is a “after-death” record, but it still counts).

hmm - Costello album with some of my face songs of his…..to each his/her own

Has anyone mentioned Black Sabbath’s “Never Say Die”?Yeech.

Whoever believes Self Portrait is wretched needs to go the way of old yeller. And Tormato? Come on!

Sorry kids,
No go on ‘Presence’ being Led Zeppelin’s worst album. That distinction should clearly go to ‘In Through The Out Door’. In fact, I think Presence is Zep’s BEST album. ‘Achille’s Last Stand’ brought back the drive, power and command of earlier classics like ‘Immigrant Song’. I could think of no better opening song for a Zep show than Achille’s. I would put ‘Zep II’ before Presence in any category. If I hear ‘Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid’ ever again in my lifetime, I’ll surely puke.

For R.E.M., anything after Monster is actually their worst. They were just plugging in their electrics again after the acoustic-y ‘Automatic For The People’ and ‘Out Of Time’, and having FUN. With campy, sleazy lyrics, simple, crunchy ballsy riffs and such, if you don’t get it, you might believe Monster is their worst. Monster was about getting back to basics, rocking like maniacs and kicking the Grammy monkey off their backs.

Bowie’s ‘Tonight’ is sadly all over the place. The brilliant artist/poet/visionary is confused after his mega-Let’s Dance Pop Star reign, and tried unsucessfully to merge his originality with his pop stuff. But ‘Loving The Alien’ is worth the price of the album by any measure, anyway.

Red Hot Minute is not a bad album. With Blood Sugar, probably a favorite. Give it a good listen

OK, so did any of these people that are ragging on RS for putting specific albums on the list ever learn to read? The premise here is for THE READERSHIP to list their most hated or worst album. BTW that is subjective any way that you view the premise. I thought that was the whole point, to see what others thought. Geez these are just opinions, get over yourselves.

One more thing: I think “One Hot Minute” is not the Peppers´ best, but I think it´s definitely better than their self-titled first album.

They´re great bands for me. If Elvis Costello, Morrissey or CSNY can count as great bands, any group with a cult following can. By the way, I liked Peter Gabriel´s “Up”. I think his worst album is “Peter Gabriel 2″.

indigoVoid-

i have a hard time believing that you believe those albums you listed are by “GREAT” bands.

John Fogerty- Eye of the Zombie.
even mr fog his-own-bad-self says this was a miss. Really weirdly bad.

Peter Gabriel- UP
(little did he know that this LP would be so quickly ignored that REM would use the same title for another “bad” album)…lesson learned: don’t title your album UP.

Grateful Dead- Terrapin Station

Eric Clapton- Behind the Sun (I blame Phil Collins, but you can choose to blame whatever floats your kayak.)

Why is everyone mostly talking about albums by 60s artists ? Here´s my list of bad albums by great artists from the last 30 years or so:

The Cure “The Cure”
Bad Religion “No Substance”
J. Mascis “J. and Friends Sing and Chant for AMMA”
New Order “Waiting for the Siren´s Call”
Fishbone “Live at the Temple Bar and More”
The Pogues “Waiting for Herb”
Depeche Mode “Construction Time Again”
Cypress Hill “Skull and Bones”
Soundgarden “Fopp / Screaming Life”
Cherrywine “Bright Black” (a very nauseating album by a member of the great Digable Planets)

your readers are on crack if they think Presence by Led Zeppelin belongs on this list… makes me realize why I don’t read your magazine anymore… differing opinions I guess, this one is #1 on my list of best albums of all time.

The Byrds “Byrdmaniax” - Terry Melcher’s overproduction, Skip Battin’s songs.

Neil Young “Landing On Water” - a few of the songs are decent but everything is ruined by those gawdaful syndrums

Lou Reed “Metal Machine Music” -You’ll laugh, you’ll (mostly) cry, you’ll kiss 15 bucks goodbye. Lou, what was ya thinkin’.

CSN “Live It Up” - A complete lack of inspiration. Product for product’s sake, questionable production choices, poor material.

Steppenwolf “For Ladies Only”
A few passable songs, lackluster performances by the band.

Boston “Walk On” - The first album made it, the second one had it, the third one confused it, and this one loses it. Brad Delp (RIP) was the voice of the band, and anyone else singing Tom Scholz’ material is second best.

Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park should be No.1 because it is an awful album. Linkin Park is still an incredible band because their first 2 albums are amazing!

One hot minute was a great RHCP cd I still listen to it. If you want to pick a bad RHCP record go for Stadium Arcadium it was terrible. As for an album that did not make the list what about Metallica “Load” That record marked the beginning of the end for Metallica. I would also like to point out Billy Idol “Cyberpunk” I love Billy Idol but the only good song was shock to the system.

Everything rap, anything by the Goo Goo Dolls, Wilson Phillips, and Elton John’s “Victim of Love”

Everything rap, anything by the Goo Goo Dolls, Wilson Phillips, and Elton John’s “Victim of Love”

Clash without Jones doesn’t count. CCR with Fogerty laughing at the band doesn’t count. Nothing by Aerosmith counts. They aren’t even close to a great band. Presence is an embarrassment to a great band. As for Dylan, John Wesley Harding should have every copy burned.

Clash without Jones doesn’t count. CCR with Fogerty laughing at the band doesn’t count. Nothing by Aerosmith counts. They aren’t even close to a great band. Presence is an embarrassment to a great band. As for Dylan, John Wesley Harding should have every copy burned.

Funny enough, I’ve had Dirty Work on in the car a couple of times in the last week and (still) really dig it. Very Underrated.

As far as Diver Down, certainly not their greatest work, but the story goes Warner rushed them to get something out quick to capitalize on the Pretty Woman cover. Yes, it’s not great, but still contains Secrets, Hang ‘Em High, Full Bug, Big Bad Bill and the amazing Little Guitars! Not bad for a supposed career low point - on the Album Charts for over a year and sold nearly 5 million in the U.S. alone (Cherone era fluke doesn’t count).

By the way don’t agree with the Costello pick either - Mighty Like A Rose is fine, and the guy NEVER made a bad record…just physically impossible.

Agree pretty much with the rest on the RS list (which is rare for me).

Sorry they missed Creedence’s “Mardi Gras” — the RS critic nailed it when he called it Fogerty’s revenge, allowing Doug Clifford and Stu Cook to expose themselves

Dylan’ Self-Portrait is pretty wretched.

Division Bell and Momentary Lapse of Reason should have been David Gilmour solo albums. The fact that the Pink Floyd name was attached to them holds them up to a much higher standard, one that they didn’t meet.

oh yeah and i liked “sometime in new york city” by john lennon! some amazing protest songs. pshhh. rock and roll was much worse.

some of these comments were seriously ‘lol’ worthy (and i don’t even like to use that term). i can’t believe someone would say anything about the beatles, since every album was pretty much amazing, and the idea that magical mystery tour is crap is hilarious. it had how many hits and incredible songs? (sure some were originally singles, but whatever.) even the songs which weren’t singles or huge hits are known for being classics today - take for example the fool on the hill. i’m also a little suprised anyone could hate on pink floyd - at least the real, not post, pink floyd. i kind of agree that post waters is kind of annoying, but its certainly 10X better than most of the crap put out on the market. led zeppelin…well, i have been through that phase, not such a big fan anymore. honestly, led zep got kinda crappy towards the end. that all being said there were worse albums than presence. like whoever said in through the out door, ITA agree w/ you.
as for the actual list, while i find it semi-agreeable, i think at last half of these don’t deserve to be on there. even if these songs weren’t the shining light of these musicians, they are still much, much better than the blatant rip offs and boring crap that was on the radio, and is on the radio today. and i can’t hate on neil young. he goes out of his way to be unpopular. haha.
when it comes down to it, RS magazine will always be a contradictory attention whore, after all all it is after is your $3.99 or whatever you’re paying now. it pretty much just continuously goes down hill.

Except that “One Hot Minute” is a good album. And you gave it 4 stars.

There’s no such thing as a bad Led Zeppelin studio album. Their weakest album, ‘In Through The Out Door’, would be a high water mark for most bands. The Zep albums that R.S. ignorantly panned over the years(to that publication’s eternal shame and embarrassment), now, almost universally are ranked in the brilliant to masterpiece category. Presence is Page’s favorite album, and it along with LZ-III are underrated gems, though both albums have greatly gained in stature as the years have passed.

Kiss ‘The Elder”

Mr Young does not need people to defend him but I would like to speak up for the recording:”Trans”. This recording was made as a musical connection to his son Ben. in the same manner that the trains he set up were a connection between them. This concept of personal issues does not always translate to the general public in works of art however I feel that this recording made a real attempt at taking his work in a new direction. I really appreciate the upgraded “Mr Soul” and the ‘Like an Inca” with the wonderful guitar playing of Nils Lofgren. You should go back and give this recording another try.

Rank Strangers and Ninety Miles an Hour are better songs than most artists ever put out. Dylan only has himself to live up to and his worst album is better than most others’ I hear. (And this is not his worst!)There is so much bad music by good artists it is hard to believe you centered out Down in the Groove. I have enjoyed hearing this album many times.

Wow. I actually LIKE Presence,Trans,Diver Down and Face Dances… How about “Technical Ecstasy” by the original Sabbath? By far the worst album Ozzy and the boys released.

Did the people who labled “Old Ways” Neil Young’s biggest turkey listen to either “Trans” or “Everybody’s Rockin?” There are other contenders for the title.

The Who’s Face Dances albeit certainly not their best but a few songs on it are great if you HAD to pick a BAD WHO album it would have to be Its Hard not one good tune there as well they sound tired on it. But since RS rated it high i guess it would be embarrasing to RS even though all WHO fans rate this album as a DUD.

Van Halen — Diver Down? There is no way this is a “worst album by a great band.” Try VH III as suggested earlier. As for those of you who nominate Zep’s Coda, that really doesn’t count since it was the last gasp of a band in chaos. It wasn’t even a band effort, but rather, a sort of composite of tracks put together from various times and sessions. And one more thing–there is no way any U2 record should be mentioned-especially Pop or Zooropa. Anybody who has a musical bone in their body knows that.

Haha, one hot minute gets 4 outta 5 stars at the time per RS review, and now its on a Worst Ever list. I’ll be taking your reviews with a gallon of salt water from now on.

Octobrianna, Pink Floyd is one of the top 3 rock bands ever, your opinion is worthless, your mom must have been taking crack when she was carrying you…to call them recycled crap shows you are either a moron or your dad was sexually abusing you while you listend to Pink Floyd…

Octobrianna, Pink Floyd is one of the top 3 rock bands ever, your opinion is worthless, your mom must have been taking crack when she was carrying you…to call them recycled crap shows you are either a moron or your dad was sexually abusing you while you listend to Pink Floyd…

Love Beach by Emerson, Lake & Palmer is the absolute worst recording I have in my collection, bar none.

Neil Young does not deserve to be on your list twice.

I few of George Harrison’s albums could be added here as well, and I’m a big fan of George. Actually, all the Beatles had post-breakup bombs. And while I’m a big Beatles fan I could have lived without Mystery Tour.

Yes - I certainly agree that Trans was a big stinker.

I’m a U2 fan and rattle and hum makes me cringe.

But I knew it wouldn’t make an american magazines list,hence why Pop and Zooropa seem to be getting a slating.Both albums were way to far over americans heads to make any sense to them!

Geez - why aren’t there about 15 Stones albums on here? And Pink Floyd - much recycled crap.

R.E.M.’s last album with the original lineup was “New Adventures in Hi-Fi”, a great album (see Stvie’s post below). I think everything after Bill Berry’s departure could be on this list. You start to see what he brought to the band. Sad considering they have five albums that could be easily be in anyone’s top 30 best albums (Murmur, Fables, Life’s, Document, and Automatic).

REO speedwagon is a great band?
For shame

I actually really like RHCP’s “One Hot Minute”. Although it is much different and darker than the stuff prior to that, there are some really good tracks on it. Try out “Tearjerker”, it is one of my favorites Peppers’ songs.

Banjo-

didn’t you answer your own question?

think about some kid digging through the crates at some BopStop somewhjere and coming across that album.
She needs to know. Thank you for your input. Rock.

BBKINK, how can you say “midnight lightning” as a bad album by Hendrix? first, it wasn’t an official album by him, 2nd, it wasn’t released in his lifetime, and 3rd, it’s just a bunch of songs put together by people who wanted to capitalize on his fame.
for shame

AC/DC- Ballbeaker
BTO- RocknRoll Nights
CheapTrick- the Flame
Dylan- Dylan (awful)
ELP- Love Beach
Foghat- ZigZag Walk
Genesis- Duke
Hendrix- Midnight Lightning
James Gang- Bang!
King Crimson- Thraak
Led Zeppelin- Coda
Montrose- Jump on It
New Monkees
Oasis- Don’t Believe the Truth
Pink Floyd- Division Bell
Queen- with Paul Rodgers
Reo Speedwagon- the Bridge
Stooges- the Wierdness
Tubes- Love Bomb
U2- October
Van Halen- III
Wilco- (a perfect track record)
XTC- English Settlement
Yes- Union
ZZTop- Recycler

Led Zeppelin Presence, eh? I beg to differ. If you had to include Zep, pick In Through the Out Door next time.

FACT!

are you kidding me? STP was one of the best bands of the 90’s. Core, Purple and Tiny Music….. are all brilliant albums. I cannot think of better rock songs from the 90’s than Interstate Love Song and Big Empty. Now #4 and Shangra were pretty bad, but then again Weiland was sober too then.

Where is U2 on that list? Any album will do.
Or maybe its just all that pious bs that seems to make me slightly bias.

I can’t believe somebody mentioned Pearl Jam’s No Code as their worst album. It is definately one of their top 5 studio albums. Just listen to it a few more times….great great album. +Metallica’s St. Anger is without a doubt the most worthless piece if crap the all mighty Metallica have ever released.

POP by U2 should be on this particular top 10 list!

Agree with some previous posts, ‘One Hot Minute’ is a great album. It was slammed by everyone.
‘Amnesiac’ is also undervalued.

Van Halen 3 beats them all.

Audio Suede, do you have any taste in music?! Those were all excellent albums.

You could list the first couple Beatles releases, Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey”, Weezer’s “Make Believe” (a truly awful release that tainted their legacy forever), The White Stripes’ “Get Behind Me Satan” (yeah. I hated it. So what?), and The Mars Volta’s “Amputecture”.

You could list the first couple Beatles releases, Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey”, Weezer’s “Make Believe” (a truly awful release that tainted their legacy forever), The White Stripes’ “Get Behind Me Satan” (yeah. I hated it. So what?), and The Mars Volta’s “Amputecture”.

Am I losing my mind, or didn’t RS very recently have a cover story on Led Zeppelin which stated that Presence was, in fact, the BEST Zeppelin album of all time? Could someone please help me, I think my head is about to explode!

Let’s see, the Stone Temple Pilots as a great band — NOT!

Diver Down?
Presence??
WTF is up with the people at RS?

The Tragically Hip’s Music At Work. One word…junk.

I have to agree with New Music = Lame.
The Guitar work alone on Diver Down could stand on its own merits.

Van Halen III was a putrid pile of dung maybe across any bands.

The Jefferson Airplane reunion album is the worst followed by Bowies Outside - the worst ever

Having ‘Presence’ on there is just stupid. The fact that it is there just points up how completely arbitrary this list is. What happens when a bunch of 50+ record reviewers get tired of coming up with metaphors for the new Mandy Moore album? Zzzzzz….

Dazzle Ships by OMD
Anything by The Orb after U.F.Orb
Wh’appen by The Beat

Monster wasn’t a bad album… What’s the Frequency Kenneth, Bang and Blame and Crush With Eyeliner were all pretty good songs. Monster was probably inferior to all the previous R.E.M. albums, but it wasn’t THAT bad. However, R.E.M. pretty much fell off the face of the earth after Monster, with “Up” being the only reasonably decent album.

Oops. Meant to take out the word “quibble” in the post below…

Oops. Meant to take out the word “quibble” in the post below…

My vote has to go toward ‘This Desert Life’ by Counting Crows. Sure, someone will say quibble Adam Duritz and co. don’t belong in the company of the “great bands” mentioned here, but you have to remember that before this stinker dropped, they were pretty much unstoppable. Biggest. Letdown. Ever.

One Hot Minute is the best album by RHCP

It’s Hard is much worse than Face Dances. How about some of the bad R.E.M. crap like Monster…

How about “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns” by the Killing Joke? That one is totally unlistenable and pales in comparison to their otherwise brilliant output. Can I get an amen?

I wouldn’t include posthumous or rarities releases (Coda, etc.) for this topic, since most of the material in these releases weren’t considered worthy for inclusion on the album they were recorded for. There’s a reason they were dropped from their respective albums, after all. Not that all such releases are bad, posthumous releases by Bob Marley and Stevie Ray Vaughan were very good.

There is no way in hell Presence should be on that list. That album is great. Achilles Last Stand is epic along with Nobody’s Fault but Mine, and For Your Life. If any Zeppelin album should appear it should be Coda, not Presence. Horrible call.

That’s odd, I seem to remember back in the 90’s that RS gave ‘One Hot Minute’ 4 stars…hmmmmm…you guys seem to have a tendency for bashing albums once it becomes fashionable years later

Californication is a great album by a great band. It should NEVER be on any worst of list! However, neither should OHM. That’s my two cents worth.

Thats just shocking, How could you place ‘ One Hot Minute ‘ on that list!!!

It had some great jamz on that one such as :

“Warped, Aeroplane, Coffee Shop, One Big Mob and lets not forget the great… pea “

Thats just shocking, How could you place ‘ One Hot Minute ‘ on that list!!!

It had some great jamz on that one such as :

“Warped, Aeroplane, Coffee Shop, One Big Mob and lets not forget the great… pea “

RHCP’s “One Hot Minute” is one of the greatest rock albums in the 90’s.
Something that RHCP have never done before. And never will if they continue the “Californication” pop way.
Great compositions, great lyrics, great production, great guitars by Navarro…

i really loved One hot minute. I would have put RHCP’s Californication in that list.

I’m a bit surprised with the Van Morrison choice, cos I think Beautiful Vision is at least listenable. Apart from most of his recent work, isn’t A Period of Transition much worse.

Hey, he’s still The Man though!

MY PICKS FOR THE WORST ALBUMS BY GREAT BANDS. ANY BOB DYLAN ALBUM. VAN HALEN III, PINK FLOYD MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON, AEROSMITH A ROCK IN A HARD PLACE, AND ANY OF THE VAN HALEN ALBUMS WITH SAMMY HAGAR ON VOCALS.

MY PICKS FOR THE WORST ALBUMS BY GREAT BANDS. ANY BOB DYLAN ALBUM. VAN HALEN III, PINK FLOYD MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON, AEROSMITH A ROCK IN A HARD PLACE, AND ANY OF THE VAN HALEN ALBUMS WITH SAMMY HAGAR ON VOCALS.

MY PICKS FOR THE WORST ALBUMS BY GREAT BANDS. ANY BOB DYLAN ALBUM. VAN HALEN III, PINK FLOYD MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON, AEROSMITH A ROCK IN A HARD PLACE, AND ANY OF THE VAN HALEN ALBUMS WITH SAMMY HAGAR ON VOCALS.

I’d have to say The Band’s Islands, pretty hard getting through that….

if a magazine reviews a cd and gives it 4 stars and then calls it the bands worst album 10 years later is compromising the integrity of its reviews. a good album is a good album is a good album…10 years shouldnt change that, regardless which journalist is doing the reviews

old ways is good.
silver and gold is much worse.

tits mcgee

“Minutes to Midnight” by the formerly cool LP

“Minutes to Midnight” by the once formerly cool LP

John Lennon’s “Some Time in New York City” sounds just as awful now as it did in 1972, and CCR’s “Mardi Gras” sounds more awful. LZ’s “Presence” has held up quite well. In the context of avant-noise, Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” and John & Yoko’s “Two Virgins” actually work convincingly — but they are not “rock music albums” and ought not to be judged as such. As for Dylan, “Budokan” and “D & the Dead” tie for worst live set, “Saved” and “Empire Burlesque” tie for worst album of original songs.

First of all “Dirty Work” and “Beautiful Vision” are both pretty good records. I agree with “Down in the Groove”, but would say that both “Landing on Water” and “Everybody’s Rockin’” are both way worse Neil Yong albums. “Undercover” is by far the worst Stones album although “Goat’s Head Soup” comes close. Let’s add to this list “Sometime in NYC” by John Lennon and “Hard Nose the Highway” by Van Morrison.

OK, I know RS only does these lists so people can squawk to each other about them, so I’ll take the bait too:
‘Presence’ — a pretty good disc by any standard…Led Zep or otherwise
‘Down in the Groove’ –as someone posted, it is far from even Bob’s worst
‘Dirty Work’ — The Stones have done worse than this at least a couple times since!!
‘Diver Down’ — How could VH’s worst come from the DLR era???
‘Face Dances’ — ok, maybe you’re right about that one!

I know those who created this list don’t care about metal, but my number one has to be Ram It Down by Judas Priest. Terrible eighties production and horrible songs.

“No Code”, by Pearl Jam

What about “strays” by janes addiction?

Ummm….beatle’s shouldn’t even be on the list because they might be the worst band ever.

Ummm….beatle’s shouldn’t even be on the list because they might be the worst band ever.

Ummm….beatle’s shouldn’t even be on the list because they might be the worst band ever.

any post-1992 public enemy album. one of the most otrocious drop-offs in listenability of any great band.

Elvis Costello has never made a bad record. Listeners have off days.

I would add Springsteen’s Human Touch Album, a couple of excellent tunes, but by and large a piece of crap.

I would add Springsteen’s Human Touch Album, a couple of excellent tunes, but by and large a piece of crap.

of course there’s great songs buried on all those records.

I also get a kick out of the person that said the following GREAT albums should be on the worst list. WTF-Are you deaf or just stupid?
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s
The Stones - Let it Bleed

Metal Machine Music HAS to be on the list.

Once again, I take issue with music list…

Van Halen III was vomit inducing. Anything — I repeat, ANYTHING — from the Roth Van Halen years was magic.

And seriously, how can you possibly gainsay a Zeppelin album with Achilles Last Stand and Nobody’s Fault on it?

Of course, this is the magazine that ranked Eddie Van Halen at #70 on their “100 greatest guitarists” list. Kirk Hammett and Kurt Cobain made it within the top 20. I knew then to take everything they said with a grain of salt. Kurt Cobain played the guitar like a 12 year; people still sing his praises today because his music was all about self-indulgent whining about how gosh-darn hard life is. And Kirk Hammett? Please. I love Metallica, but Kirk’s contributions were limited to “hey, James, is it time for my solo yet? No? Oh, okay. I’ll go get a sandwich, then.”

This list pretty much confirms one of the reasons I stopped taking RS seriously about 15-20 years ago. No credibility. Just because it’s Dylan or the Stones or someone other diety, they give 3-4 star reviews for albums that were obviously crap when they came out. I love Dylan, but I knew back in ‘88 that Down in the Groove was a piece of crap. Knew it the first time I heard it. It’s obvious from reading the review that the David Fricke was too scared to really criticize the great Maestro, even though he did manage to limit the rating to “two” stars. Then again, I also remember a four star review for MCCartney’s Tug of War in which the reviewer said Paul had left his solo career in the dust with this great release. Puh-lease. Tug was just more sub-par soft rock from Paul, with two wretched duets with Stevie and junk like “Ballroom Dancing” etc etc

This list pretty much confirms one of the reasons I stopped taking RS seriously about 15-20 years ago. No credibility. Just because it’s Dylan or the Stones or someone other diety, they give 3-4 star reviews for albums that were obviously crap when they came out. I love Dylan, but I knew back in ‘88 that Down in the Groove was a piece of crap. Knew it the first time I heard it. It’s obvious from reading the review that the David Fricke was too scared to really criticize the great Maestro, even though he did manage to limit the rating to “two” stars. Then again, I also remember a four star review for MCCartney’s Tug of War in which the reviewer said Paul had left his solo career in the dust with this great release. Puh-lease. Tug was just more sub-par soft rock from Paul, with two wretched duets with Stevie and junk like “Ballroom Dancing” etc etc

I think that Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music should top any list of bad albums by good artists. If you’ve never heard it, you’re lucky.

to keith-actually the reason they don’t play OHM songs is because today they hate the music they made of that album, and also because it was a really tough time for them then b/c john was a heroin addict and anthony relapsed on drugs several times. also, they still recently play some songs from the hillel slovak era, like “me and my friends” and “catholic school girls rule”

When did Morrissey start to be considered great?

pretty much any KISS album without make up….elder, hot in the shade blow like a $2 whore!

Anything from pink floyd or Roger Waters is pure genius. They shouldn’t have even been mentioned. So please don’t be ignorant.

Anything from pink floyd or Roger Waters is pure genius. They shouldn’t have even been mentioned. So please don’t be ignorant.

A few things:

- In response to a previous comment - Spaghetti Incident definitely needed to be included.

- Also, Zooropa by U2 should have been included too - by far their worst album (I actually thought that POP was a pretty damn good album).

- In response to another poster - there was a Van Halen III….it came out in 1997 I think and was the one album with Gary Cherone from Extreme as the lead singer.

- In regards to One Hot Minute - it certainly wasn’t the Chili Peppers’ best, but in no way should be on this list either - it was a good album with some great songs (although a couple of the songs on the album were duds too). Californication, which gets so much critical acclaim, is definitely overrated and is about the same quality as One Hot Minute. To the person that said that the Chili Peppers only have 3-4 good songs per album - are you even listening to the full albums or are you just assuming that the only good songs on the album are the ones that become singles??? For the guy who said that “my Friends” is the best Chili Peppers song ever - are you nuts? And to the guy that said that the fact that the Chili Peppers don’t play many songs live from OHM is evidence that it is not a good album - they don’t play many Hillel Slovak songs live either. I think it’s safe to say that they don’t play too many non-John Frusciante songs live out of respect to John Frusciante….and it has nothing to do with the quality of the songs themselves.

daaaaaang. why do people hate red hot minute so much? i love that album!

who cares, crap sells to

who cares, crap sells to

Mighty Like a Rose?? you have got to be kidding me

How about all the after death albums by HENDRIX? Studio out takes with other guitarists over dubbing(Midnight lightning} and 500 versions of the same songs! The guy made more albums after death than when he was alive.

How about all the after death albums by HENDRIX? Studio out takes with other guitarists over dubbing(Midnight lightning} and 500 versions of the same songs! The guy made more albums after death than when he was alive.

How about all the after death albums by HENDRIX? Studio out takes with other guitarists over dubbing(Midnight lightning} and 500 versions of the same songs! The guy made more albums after death than when he was alive.

How about Pink Floyd’s “Final Cut.”
Or Megadeth’s “Risk”

I think you can add “Chinese Democracy to the list as soon as it comes out. Axl has lost it and he isn’t gonna find it anytime soon.

I don’t know… I felt that R.E.M. lost their way after the Monster album, their final album under the original lineup. They haven’t been a commercial force since. Their best album after Monster was probably “Up”, which was pretty much ignored by the public.

I like Presence.
Stones ” Dirt Work”? Come-on! Its not “Let it Bleed, but it is far better then their recent work.
All REM, post “Automatic For The People” is self indulgent garbage, and I was a HUGE fan, until then. The same holds true for post Roger Waters Pink Floyd.
RHCP - Stadium Arcadium, should have been on one CD’s worth of music, not 2.
What abot Neil Young and Crazy Horse “Arc Weld”? It was a waste of perfectly good PVC!

Hmmmm… nobody mentioned Styx’s “Kilroy Was Here”… Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto… Pretty much broke up the band with that one.

I’m sorry, but I love Presence.Achilles last stand is an amazing masterpiece. For that song alone, it’s not a bad album. And there is also nobody’s fault but mine- so there, there’s two songs that rock.

“Rock in a hard place” of Aerosmith and “Presence” of Zep are great albums, excellent. Bad albums from those bands are “Night in the ruts” and “Coda”.

And also “The Spaguetti Incident?” of Guns is a disgusting album from a great band.

Cheap Trick - The Doctor
Def Leppard - Slang
Eagles - The Long Run
Aerosmith - A Night in the Ruts
Elton John - Victim of Love
Sting - Sacred Love

“Cut the Crap” is a Clash album in name only. Mick had left the band and Strummer and Simonen are only heard on a few tracks.

Am I the only one who thinks Dylan’s “Under the Red Sky” is his weakest effort? I like his take on the country classics “Rank Strangers To Me” and “Ninety Miles An Hour (Down A Dead End Street)” from the otherwise dreadful “Down In the Groove,” but I can’t find a thing to like about the Don Was-produced “Red Sky” CD. I mean, really…”Wiggle, Wiggle”…”Handy Dandy”? We love you Bob, but not this one. I think the producer Was was intimidated by the man, unlike Daniel Lanois who oversaw “Oh Mercy and “Time Out Of Mind.”

Pink Floyd hasn’t been much like Pink Floyd since Roger Waters left, and that was an ugly ending to the band. The two post-Waters studio albums sounded like Pink Floyd, but that’s about it. I’m not saying either album belongs on this list (although some may say that). I’m saying that the Pink Floyd we all knew and loved ceased to exist when Waters left the band. I saw Jimmy Buffett mentioned… his early albums were filled with fairly good song writing. While one might be temped to put his name on this list to satisfy their opinion of him, it would be more fair to say that his career in the studio has steadily declined as his popularity on tour increased. Yet, his albums are far from disasterous. In fact, in this decade, he may be trying to slowly get back to his old days. He plays less shows now, and reduced the size of the band last year. It seems that he is trying to make his shows a little more about the music, and a little less about the side show. As he gets closer to retirement, I hope he has more good music left in him.

A lot of people are complaining about RS including albums on worst-lists that they gave good reviews to back in the day. Do you seriously think that RS have big meetings where the entire staff votes for what rating every album reviewed should get ? I´m pretty sure that every review is written by individual journalists giving their personal opinion at the time. So do you really think that RS has to stick by one guys opinion ten, twenty years ago, who probably has moved on to another job long ago ( or retired… )? Sorry, but I think that would hurt their integrity a lot more. Also; some of these choices are there because of the reader´s nominations, and if they ignored those you´d complaine about that too. So grow up, and relax. It´s only a list of opinions all in good fun. Not the correct answers to a test that you´ll have to pass to be acceptet into rock university…

John Lennon and Yoko Ono “Two Virgins”
Although it’s not really an album. and they did give us a picture of themselves naked, anterior and posterior .. that was cool!

theres a couple i disagree with but when it comes down to it…what’s with everyone hating presence by led zeppelin so much? ITS A GOOD ALBUM

hots for nowhere
nobodys fault but mine
tea for one
achilles last stand
for your life
and so on

great songs, they certainly are better than lots of contempory music(emo *cough*)

sure its not their beeeest album but its probably in my top three of theirs…i think people need to just give it a chance

actually im suprized, traditionally isnt presence the one album RS liked of zeps??

Down in the Groove? Possibly, but it would have run Knocked Out Loaded a close race for that title if he included an outtake he tried to get down but (for him) didn’t - Sidewalks Fences and Walls. Now if that could have taken the place of Had a Dream About You Baby, it would have stepped up a notch

I can’t believe nobody has mentioned John Lennon’s “Sometime in New York City”.

Down in the Groove isn’t so bad, particularly if you understand it’s just a collage of covers with a couple of original songs. It’s a hodge podge album of random stuff like Self-Portrait or “Dylan.” It’s not like Dylan was trying to make an artistic statement or anything of the sort with that record–just playing some songs he happened to like.

Empire Burlesque gets my vote as the least succesful Dylan record of the 80s b/c that WAS an effort to make a statement, and some of the material was quite good. But it was overproduced, Dylan’s voice was totally ineffective (with the exception of Dark Eyes), and basically it’s unlistenable, though many of the same songs have been given much better treatment on tours or by other artists.

ya…thats really embarrassing the same magazine that gave one hot minute 4 stars, then goes on to call it the 10th worst album by a great band…according to this logic, every other chili pepper record HAS to have at least a 4 1/2 star rating or better.

Hi, slick_guitarist.
I agree with tomass74. I got almost every album with Aerosmith. “Rock In A Hard Place” is absolutely top superb! Most disappointing album may be “Draw The Line” (1977), released soon after the monster-album “Rocks” (1976)

Hi, slick_guitarist.
I agree with tomass74. I got almost every album with Aerosmith. “Rock In A Hard Place” is absolutely top superb! Most disappointing album may be “Draw The Line” (1977), released soon after the monster-album “Rocks” (1976)

Yeah, Coda was bad, real bad. Of course, it was released poshumously. I don’t know if that matters or not.

SteveS, How did Pink Floyd have a bad ending? “The Division Bell” is a great album to go out on…

and to all of you who keep saying “Lapse of reason” should be on there are the ones having a momentary lapse of reason!

The mere idea of all the people posting here in agony over OHM by the Peppers and only one person stating that Mighty Like A Rose is a fatastic album is kind of sad.

Mighty Like A Rose is a million times better than Costello’s coutry record. How to Be Dumb is an awesome song. All Grown Up and So Like Candy are beautiful songs. I rather like The Other Side Of Summer too.

Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music - Anybody who has heard this knows what I’m talking about. Without a doubt, the worst album ever produced by an otherwise outstanding artist. I’ve heard Lou’s made this album as a way of getting back at a label that would not release him from a contractual agreement. And to “show him” the record company actually released it. This is a double album of 100% sonic trash.

What no tin machine?

yea, momentary crap of treason should be there

Presence? You gotta be kidding me. How can an album with both Achilles Last Stand and Nobody’s Fault But Mine be considered bad? Granted, it’s not the best-known, but bad? If you have to rag on a Led Zeppelin album, it should be Coda.

I actually liked One Hot Minute but I said it was their worst only because it was differant. I lOVE the other 8 albums with the John Frusciante ones being the top 5!

Did some moron actually say that Stadium Arcadium should be on the list instead of One hot minute. Stadium Arcadium is their BEST album along with BSSM. One HoT Minute is their WORST because it does fit with all the rest of their music!

Linkin Park CD?

What about Arnold?

What about Jimmy Buffet, he gotta have a bad cd

“She Gives Me Religion” on Beautiful Vision is one of the strongest statements about the power of love every written. It alone makes the album great.

There is no way One Hot Minute is better than Stadium Arcadium, what were u thinkin?

its not that “one hot minute” is bad because nothing the peppers ever do is bad its that its their most underlistened album and because it was just different.

Why the hell did the magazine give One Hot Minute 4 stars if it’s so bad? Its all dancing about architecture, anyway.

Great list, 2 of my 3 favorite bands on it, Led Zep, Presence is almost unlistenable to me, and The Clash, Cut The Crap, though, to be fair, that was the one Clash record made after they kicked out Mick Jones, so is it REALLY a Clash album??? The only 2 on the final list I do like is Old Ways, it is a pure Country record, and Face Dances, I know it is not a good record, but for some reason I always liked it.

Diver Down is the worst album Van Halen made that didn’t feature Gary Cherone, but it’s still not terrible. Too many covers, but Little Guitars and Hang ‘Em High rock. Presence is a great album, I love Tea For One.

I agree with Tangled; “Down in the Groove” is not Dylan’s worst album. Sure, it’s sloppy and uneven, but at least it’s interesting. The same can not be said for “Knocked Out Loaded” or “Saved.”

Oh, and if we’re talking Elvis Costello, even the disappointing “Mighty Like a Rose” is better than “Goodbye Cruel World.”

anything by metallica, beatles etc cannot be included

just remember its creditable bands…………….

I MEAN KONE HOT MINUTE BY RED HOT CHILI PEPERS HOW CAN YOU HYPOCRITS DO IT AND THERES A LINK RIGHT THERER

nothin by metallica can be included…..period!

Good call on “Kill Uncle,” everything else Moz has done is classic and this was so blah. I’d add Ryan Adams “29.” Usually a 10/10 artist, but that’s just boring

Shame on you RS! On your most recent Zeppelin bio, I believe you said that “Presence” was their best album ever, unless i am just making that up (which i’m not). If any Zep album has to be on that list, it would be “In Through the Out Door”, and that album wasn’t even that bad. I’m sure other die hard Zep fans like myself would agree.

Regarding Mardi Gras, the demands by the other three members for creative input began in earnest during the Pendulum album. By the time Mardi Gras came around, brother Tom left the band, and John issued the ultimatum to the others: Write, produce and sing one third of the album, or he was out the door. John should have quit then, but he was under a contract he couldn’t get out of, until he virtually signed all his rights away. It’s a shame a band of that caliber ended the way they did… Only The Beatles and Pink Floyd had endings as ugly.

How could anyone not put Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music on this list. Not only a bad album by a great artist, but one of the worst albums of all time. Period.

believe me i am a real fan of U2, but with “Pop” they got a little too full of themselves. “Joshua Tree” is great, but not there greatest. the “Final Cut” should be on the list, great call. also The Smashing Pumpkins “Machina” should be on there. another great call, “Emancipation” by Prince. totally dissappointing and i am a HUGE fan of Prince.

Yeah, VH III is disgusting…when you compare everything else VH did #III should be banned everywhere. It’s a total letdown!!

I love love everything Led Zeppelin even “Presence” which is not a bad album. Metallica’s St. Anger or Audioslaves Revalations

Every Phish, String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Medeski Martin & Wood and any other crap “jam bland” that has been out since the mid-nineties. The Dead were somewhat bearable, but these guys were all terrible.

Even worse Dylan albums,

1. Saved
2. Knocked out Loaded
3. Empire Burlesque
4. Live at Budokan

Steve S:
If you remember, the other 3 guys in CCR insisted on writing songs, even though they had no credentials and no writing talent. John Fogerty reluctantly agreed and the result was Mardi Gras. Can’t BELIEVE I own it.

Who in their right mind buys a frickin’ CHRISTMAS album by James Brown ??

I’m glad somebody else had the same opinion about CCR’s Mardi Gras. Trust me, I didn’t go out of the way to buy that album, it was included as part of the CCR Box Set, which has everything the band ever did, even pre-CCR. Come to think of it, CCR’s Live in Europe is pretty bad too, that was around the same time as Mardi Gras, and there’s a vast decline in performance in that live album compared to The Concert, which catches CCR in all their glory.

I’ll stand with Eric B. and Mark: Presence is better than any album by the Dead. Jimmy Page’s phlegm is better than anything by The Dead!

Steve S: Yes, Mardi Gras by CCR was putrid.

Suggestions:

Dyl an - Self-Portait
Stones- Satanic Majesty’s Request
Beach Boys - L.A. (Light Album)
Debby Harry - Koo Koo
Art Garfunkel - Lefty
Supremes - A Bit of Liverpool
Cars - Door to Door
James Brown - A Soulful Christmas
Pat Benatar - True Love

Sadly, I own these records. What was I thinking?

I think I saw one idiot say almost all of the Pink Floyd albums should be on there, and then another idiot said they made 4 good albums and a few stinkers….Are you serious? I dont understand peoples way of thinking. Floyd=maybe the best band ever….but I do somewhat agree with “The Final Cut” being on there….Thats the one album that is hard for me to get through, but there are a few good songs on there such as “not now John” and “the fletcher memorial home”

I see some people are listing a few Queen albums…Hot Space isnt as bad as some might think, and Jazz is actually pretty good. If I had to pick one stinker studio album from Queen it would be “Flash Gordon” I know its suppose to be a soundtrack album, but its not up to scratch…

Oasis “Standing on the shoulders” is an ok album….like someone said they should have put the b-sides on there to make it a better album….

“Stadium Arcadium” is far worse than “One Hot Minute”. I’ve paired SA to my fave tracks and the list stops at 8. “My Friends” is possibly the best song that band ever released.

People keep popping in with MONSTER by REM. That album is their last good album. Worth another listen.

How about Nirvanas Nevermind CD.
God I’m glad Cobain didn’t puss out.

Remove:
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Rolling Stones - Dirty Work
Van Halen - Diver Down
Aerosmith - Rock In A Hard Place
Add:
Queen - Hot Space
Van Halen - Anything with Hagar
Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge
Aerosmith - Nine Lives

I thought Songs from the Capeman was great. The broadway show didn’t do well. I never saw it, but the recording Paul Simon did of the music was really good.

I also liked Soft Parade. I don’t know why people didn’t like that album. It definitely doesn’t have a lot of the punch other Doors albums had, but it’s good.