Paul Stanley – ‘Paul Stanley’

When each member of Kiss released a solo album on the same day, a lot of fans thought it was an interesting way for the band to show off their individual talent while still confirming that they would be making music as a collective.

However, the whole thing was the result of the band members starting to have a great deal of creative friction and subsequently wanting to make their own music. In a bid to still look like a unified front but partly split up because of creative friction, releasing solo albums simultaneously seemed like a good idea.

Paul Stanley knew that the whole exercise was damage control and absolutely hated what he put out because of it. While his self-titled solo album was pretty well received, he was annoyed that it was going out in the first place. “I didn’t have a choice,” he said. “The idea was to present group unity, which is kind of interesting, because the solo albums came out of the band being on the verge of splitting up. In the long run, it was putting a Band-Aid on a serious wound.”

Bruce Springsteen – ‘Born To Run’

Bruce Springsteen had had some level of success with his albums prior to Born To Run, but his Bob Dylan influence was clear, and none of his records had been commercial successes. When he made Born To Run, he did so with the intention of putting together the greatest rock album ever made, and in doing so, drove himself mad in his pursuit of perfection.

When he finished the album, he couldn’t stand listening to it. “After it was finished? I hated it! I couldn’t stand to listen to it,” Springsteen would later admit. “I thought it was the worst piece of garbage I’d ever heard. I told Columbia I wouldn’t release it. I told ‘em I’d just go down to the Bottom Line gig and do all the new songs and make it a live album.”

While Springsteen might have hated the album, he released it regardless, and the rest is history. To this day, it’s one of his most successful albums, and is considered one of the greatest rock LPs in history.

Led Zeppelin – ‘Presence’

There’s no such thing as a bad Led Zeppelin album. Every piece of music that the band put out changed the face of rock in its own way, as the band continues to be celebrated by one of the greatest groups to ever pick up instruments. While listeners might love everything that Zeppelin put out, Robert Plant wasn’t a fan of the album Presence, as he wasn’t in the right place emotionally to make music.

Plant was nursing injuries he’d sustained in a car accident prior to the recording sessions, and they impacted his ability to tap into anything creatively. Not to mention, the band were at an impasse, which also meant he didn’t like the album they wound up putting out. “The whole of that album, Presence, is absolutely wracked with pain,” he said, “Plus, the fraternity of the band at the time was stretched to breaking point.”

Neil Young – ‘Landing On Water’

Neil Young is an artist who has always tried to give listeners the most authentic version of himself.

Naturally, that authenticity changed over time, which Young was fine with, but his record label detested it as much. They took him to court, saying that he was making albums that weren’t close enough to what his iconic sound was, and the result was the creation of records like Landing On Water, which fans enjoyed but Young absolutely hated. Young was so mad that he had to make an album like this; the title was an ode to how horrific the situation was.

“The cover and the title of that album, it’s directions on how to survive an insurvivable thing: how to land on water, in a jet that’s crashing,” he said, “The most ridiculous damn thing you’ve ever heard of. You’re really landing on water where there’s no clear floor underneath you: everybody dies. That title was there because I knew where that album was going. I knew the process and the thought behind the people who were putting the album out; what they wanted me to do.”

Paul McCartney – ‘McCartney’

When The Beatles broke up, each member went their separate ways and started working on solo albums. One of McCartney’s first efforts, his self-titled solo album, was a good piece of music and a great way for the public to hear what he could come up with when writing alone.

While McCartney didn’t hate the album, as it represented a new chapter for him as a solo performer, he doesn’t think it’s his best work, as the album sounds a bit boring compared to some of his other efforts.

“I like it actually, I like it as an album,” he said, “But listening to it now, it’s a very basic kind of album […] I think it’s very me, a very basic little thing.”