Five albums that promised everything and delivered nothing
The music industry remains an elusive beast, one that can never seem to make heads or tails of itself.
Anticipation for an album is generally considered a good thing. When an artist has released a couple of singles and then done some promo which hypes up an album, it can be incredibly exciting waiting for release day and seeing what all the fuss was about. A lot of the time, this hype is realised, and the whole thing feels like a great big payoff. On the other hand, it can also backfire.
You often hear bands saying that the first album is the easiest to make because there is no pressure on the creative process. People are more honest and experimental because there is no guarantee anyone will listen to the record, so why be conservative? Then, the moment you have eyes and ears on you, the pressure mounts, and it can inhibit the creative process. Some artists crumble under the pressure, and in the process of hyping up their record and building up fans’ expectations, they fail to meet said expectations.
There are far too many examples of albums which have promised fans the world and barely delivered a small moon. Here are five albums that were overhyped and couldn’t deliver.
Five albums that promised everything and gave nothing
Eagles – ‘The Long Run’
In some ways, this is a pretty harsh album to include on this list, as there aren’t a group of musicians on the planet who could have followed up Hotel California successfully. That record was such a significant moment, was so reflective of a specific time, that it is rightly championed as one of the best albums ever made. How do you ever follow that? Well, not like this.
The Long Run is the culmination of musical pressure and creative differences. It seems that no members of the Eagles could decide on the direction they wanted to go in following the release of their classic, and the result was a disappointing mess. It came to the disdain of fans, all of whom had such high hopes for the band given how great their record prior was.
Guns N’ Roses – ‘Chinese Democracy’
Fans weren’t expecting a great deal from Guns N’ Roses once the band parted ways. When Axl Rose announced he was working on a new album with a new line-up, people were willing to listen, but not much more than that. But then he pushed this album back so many times and delayed the release so persistently that hype built and built until there was significant anticipation for its release.
This anticipation was met with bitter disappointment when the record came out. Granted, years worth of hindsight has helped a lot of fans realise the album isn’t as bad as they first said it was, but it still isn’t exactly a masterpiece that warrants years worth of delays. The album was a pretty bland version of Guns N’ Roses, one that not many people were flocking to celebrate.
Duff McKagan once spoke about Axl Rose’s writing style and said his inability to lean into spontaneity is what causes such delays in the creative process. “Well, you know, spontaneity and rock ‘n’ roll go together. And chemistry. It comes back to the old adage: If it takes you more than five minutes to write a song, then just scrap it,” he said. “I don’t know. Axl Rose is a very fickle guy, and he changes his mind all the time.”
Chance The Rapper – ‘The Big Day’
I remember the hype around this album as if it were yesterday. So many rap fans adored Chance The Rapper, everything he stood for, and the music he was making. To set the scene, this man was headlining festivals and winning Grammys before he had even released an album. He was doing everything independently, putting out mixtapes rather than official releases, and fans were lapping them up.
As such, when he announced that he was making his first album, the music world held its breath. There was enough hype around Chance that he could work with whoever he wanted, and people were already on his side, so they were ready to like the record. However, what came out was a travesty. The album was borderline unlistenable, chasing some kind of virality rather than actually decent songs, and Chance’s usual exceptional lyricism was replaced with the kind of thing you would expect Will Smith to churn out.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘The Car’
I have a lot of respect for Arctic Monkeys.
They were one of my favourite bands growing up, and I’ll always have time for those who aren’t content with one specific style of music. The success of garbage acts like The Reytons shows there is still very much a market for the kind of thing Arctic Monkeys were doing on their debut, but the band have integrity, they admit they are different people now compared to who they were then, and therefore, their creative output is different and their style changes. I love that. And the band’s constant willingness to change direction means every album they put out is always hotly anticipated. But my word, their most recent offering, The Car, was… how should I describe it…
To call it a car crash is too easy; I’ve never been a picker of low-hanging fruit. Not to mention, a car crash is too aggressive a term to describe this slow-paced, dull and lethargic offering. It’s less a car crash, and more reminiscent of that scene in Father Ted where Dougal can’t drive the milkvan under four miles an hour or it will explode. It’s trying so hard to give the illusion of excitement, but is instead comical in its lacklustre nature.
Eminem – ‘The Death of Slim Shady’
When Eminem released his first single from the album The Death of Slim Shady, ‘Houdini’, it received mixed reviews. However, the lingering feeling of excitement that protruded as a result of the song was the result of Eminem seemingly reviving his character, Slim Shady, for a concept album. The idea is great; it could have been an interesting assessment on the evolution of rap music (and creativity in general), how things have changed, and whether that change is a good thing or a bad thing.
People were unsurprisingly excited about the release of the album, but what came out was a bitter disappointment. It was more just Eminem saying some pretty mild insults and then pretending like he’d just said the most offensive thing ever. Not to mention, the story, which was supposed to run through the album, was convoluted and made no sense. If he hadn’t resurrected Slim Shady, no doubt he would have been turning in his grave.
