Which Rock Bands Ruined Their Careers With One Album?

TL;DR

A single bad album destroyed several legendary rock bands. Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1972 Mardi Gras was called the worst album from a major rock band, splitting into breakup months later. Guns N' Roses spent 14 years and over $13 million on Chinese Democracy, which flopped in America despite debuting at number three.

Transcript

One album can change everything. Cedon's Clearwater revival went from chart toppers to laughingstock in the time it took to release one terrible record. Guns and Roses spent 15 years and millions of dollars making an album nobody wanted to hear. A single pay phone installed at an English manor turned one of rock's greatest bands into a punchline. [... Read More

Key Insights

• Creedence Clearwater Revival collapsed after Mardi Gras (April 1972), which Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau called the worst album he ever heard from a major rock band. Only three of ten tracks were John Fogerty's, and the band broke up by October 1972.
• Chinese Democracy took Guns N' Roses 14 years to release, from 1994 to November 2008, cycling through dozens of musicians and 15 studios with a budget over $13 million, becoming a punchline before anyone heard it.
• The Beach Boys pulled out of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival at the last minute, fearing they looked old beside acts like Hendrix and Joplin. The festival became legendary and the band was seen as yesterday's news.
• Asia went from a number-one 1982 debut with the hit Heat of the Moment to irrelevance by 1985's Astra, after Steve Howe left in 1983 and their sterile synth-pop failed to sell.
• T-Rex's 1974 album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow alienated Mark Bolan's teenage fanbase by pivoting from glam rock to gospel R&B and cosmic soul, ending his aura of invincibility.
• The Doors could not survive Jim Morrison's July 1971 death. Other Voices, released that October with Manzarek and Krieger on vocals, proved the band without Morrison lacked his charisma, and they quit by 1973.
• The Stone Roses squandered their 1989 masterpiece debut with a five-year gap caused by label battles and delays. Their 1994 Second Coming was bloated and unfocused, arriving after the music scene moved to Brit pop.
• Multiple bands share the same downfall pattern: a brilliant peak followed by ego, indulgence, or fear producing one disastrous album or decision that turned them from legends into cautionary tales.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why did Creedence Clearwater Revival break up after Mardi Gras?

Doug Clifford and Stu Cook were tired of being sidemen to John Fogerty, who wrote, sang, and produced everything. John offered to step back and let them each write and sing for the next album, splitting everything three ways. The 1972 result, Mardi Gras, had only three Fogerty tracks and was widely seen as a disaster. Just six months later, in October 1972, the band announced it was breaking up.

Q: What did Rolling Stone say about Creedence's Mardi Gras album?

Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau opened his review with a line that became legendary, calling it 'the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band.' Out of ten tracks only three were written by John Fogerty, while the rest, split between Doug Clifford and Stu Cook, were dismissed as dreadful generic country rock. Despite the harsh review, the album still went gold and reached number 12 on the charts.

Q: How long did Guns N' Roses take to make Chinese Democracy?

Axel Rose started recording Chinese Democracy in 1994 and finally released it in November 2008, a span of 14 years. During that time he cycled through dozens of musicians, recorded at 15 different studios, and the budget ballooned past $13 million. Songs were recorded, scrapped, and re-recorded repeatedly. The album became a punchline for late-night hosts and fans long before anyone heard it.

Q: Was Chinese Democracy a commercial success?

It had mixed results. Best Buy struck an exclusive deal to sell the album, and it debuted at number three on the Billboard charts before quickly vanishing. Critics were mixed to negative, calling it overproduced, bloated, and dated. Fans who waited 14 years were underwhelmed. It sold reasonably well overseas but was considered a commercial failure in America, mostly forgotten within a year despite all the time, money, and drama.

Q: Why did the Beach Boys skip the Monterey Pop Festival?

In 1967 the Beach Boys were set to play Monterey Pop alongside Hendrix, The Who, Joplin, and Otis Redding, but pulled out at the last minute. Brian Wilson was struggling with his mental health, the Smile album had collapsed, and Carl Wilson was fighting the draft. Facing hip new acts like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, they panicked, feared looking lame, and gave vague scheduling excuses. The decision marked them as yesterday's news.

Q: What happened to Asia after their successful debut album?

Asia's self-titled 1982 debut, featuring members of Yes, ELP, and King Crimson, hit number one in the US and spawned the hit Heat of the Moment. Then Steve Howe left in 1983, stripping away their progressive rock credibility. By their third album, Astra, in 1985, the magic was gone. It sounded sterile and overproduced, chasing synth-pop trends. Sales stalled, MTV stopped playing their videos, and they became a nostalgia act.

Q: Why did T-Rex's Zinc Alloy album fail?

By 1974 Mark Bolan had gained weight, his drug use was out of control, and his ego had inflated. He made Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow to prove his brilliance, but it was a bloated mess. He pivoted from glam rock to gospel-tinged R&B and cosmic soul, with cluttered, self-indulgent songs that alienated his teenage fans who wanted tight pop hooks. Critics savaged it, it tanked commercially, and T-Rex never recovered.

Q: Could the Doors continue after Jim Morrison died?

When Jim Morrison died in July 1971, the remaining members Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore decided to carry on as a trio, splitting vocal duties. Their album Other Voices came out in October 1971, just three months after his death, and proved the Doors without Morrison weren't really the Doors. Neither Manzarek nor Krieger had his dark charisma. After one more album, Full Circle in 1972, they called it quits by 1973.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Creedence Clearwater Revival released six albums in three years and defined American rock, but tension between Fogerty and sidemen Doug Clifford and Stu Cook led John to let them write and sing. The 1972 result, Mardi Gras, was branded the worst album from a major rock band and the group split within six months.

• Guns N' Roses spent 14 years, over $13 million, 15 studios and dozens of musicians on Chinese Democracy. Released in November 2008 through a Best Buy exclusive, it debuted at number three then vanished, criticized as overproduced and dated. It was a commercial failure in America despite the 2016 Slash and Duff reunion tour.

• Other bands fell through single missteps: the Beach Boys skipping Monterey Pop, Asia losing Steve Howe before Astra, T-Rex's self-indulgent Zinc Alloy, the Doors continuing without Morrison on Other Voices, and the Stone Roses squandering momentum with the delayed, unfocused Second Coming in 1994.