6 iconic artists whose albums flopped
There’s no doubt about it, the music business is a tough one. One hit single isn’t enough to guarantee artists success – Vanilla Ice, The Knack and countless others may have had one hit album, but it was only downhill from there. For these artists, however, their “flop” album was simply a blip on an otherwise perfect record. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest and most unexpected album flops (both commercial and critical) of all time.
1. Mr Bad Guy by Freddie Mercury
It’s hard to believe that the Queen front man could do anything wrong when it comes to music, but Mercury’s first solo album Mr Bad Guy definitely didn’t live up to expectations. While Queen’s highest-selling album cracked 7,500,000 sales, Mercury’s 1985 offering sold less than 1 million.
2. Pop by U2
Following the success of their previous hit albums The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, U2 broke away from their well-known sound in favour of more electronic- and dance-inspired elements. Despite reaching number one in 35 countries, it was poorly received by critics and sold 18 million copies less than their highest seller.
3. Invincible by Michael Jackson
He may have been the King of Pop, but Jackson’s final album was his most unsuccessful in his more than 40-year career. Even though it still reached number one in 11 countries, Invincible sold 10 million copies. It sounds like a lot, but when you consider Thriller sold 65,000,000 copies, this definitely a “flop” by the King’s standard.
4. Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic by Prince
Released in 1999 when he went by the unpronounceable “Love Symbol”, this album was without a doubt one of Prince’s most polarising. It received mixed reviews, failed to chart in the top 10 except for in Canada and sold less than 1 million copies, compared to the more than 20 million for Purple Rain.
5. “The Spaghetti Incident?” by Guns N’ Roses
They brought us the iconic 1987 song “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, but then again, they also brought us… this. Released in 1993, "The Spaghetti Incident?" was the last album by the band to feature Slash and Duff McKagan. It sold around five to six million copies, a poor effort compared to the more than 30 million sales of their debut.
6. Self Portrait by Bob Dylan
Could this be the first ever intentionally bad album in music history? 1970’s Self Portrait was absolutely slaughtered by critics but still managed to go gold in the US. Dylan later told Rolling Stone he made the album as a joke. “I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something that can’t possibly like, they can’t relate to.”
Do you own any of these albums? Tell us what you think of them in the comments below.
Related links:
Unforgettable songs of the '60s
7 actors we didn’t know were also musicians
One-hit wonders: where are they now?