I thought of this topic after seeing how much some of us despise Planet Earth. It's not that Planet Earth has bad songs, but as an album it sux.

I then started to think, well, what albums do you consider to be the worst by an artist. When I say that, I mean like of all of the albums an artist has released, what is their worst. It doesn't mean that the album is BAD, but of their library, it's not their best work.

Here's my list:
Prince - Planet Earth
Janet Jackson - 20 Y.O.
Stevie Wonder - The Secret Journey Through The Life of Plants
India.Arie - Testimony Vol 2: Love and Politics
Madonna - American Life
Earth Wind and Fire - Electric Universe
George Michael - Songs From The Last Century
Babyface - Playlist
Michael Jackson - Invincible
The Whispers - Songbook

Your turn.

Many of the albums here are good but they're the weakest in the artists catalog. Some of my favourite artists.

Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door(i still like it)
Prince - Emancipation
Van Halen - 3
Motorhead - Hammered
Parliament - Trombipulation
Funkadelic - Uncle Jam Wants You
Def Leppard - Slang

daPrettyman said:

Is it really bad?

Prince / The Vault Old Friends 4 Sale.
Funkadelic / By Way Of The Drum
Stevie Wonder / In Square Circle
Beck / Mellow Gold (Hate this album)
Lenny Kravitz / 5 (I gave up on him after that, sure he's made worse)
The Beatles / Let it Be
Bruce Springsteen / The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Wendy And Lisa / Wendy And Lisa
The Time / Ice Cream Castles

mushmackalenta said:

agree their worst

Wendy And Lisa / Wendy And Lisa
The Time / Ice Cream Castles[/quote]


ARE U KIDDING ME!!??
That first W&L still holds up today.

funkpill said:

I beg to differ, Pandemonium gets that honor.

Please do not mention BWOTD and Funkadelic in the same sentence again, it'll leave a bad taste in your mouth.
[Edited 4/16/09 14:21pm]

StarMon said:

definitely agree!!!

and some pick that over Castles

Prince - New Power Soul
Rick James - Deeper Still

The Barkays - Whatever their last album was (which I didn't buy)
Cameo - Same as above
Lakeside - Same as above
Gap Band - Same as above

vainandy said:

Any Old School who tried to come with too hip hop drives me MAD! Just do you stick to your sound. It is what we like

That's exactly right. Instead of going shit hop, they need to stay retired and just tour. At least they would still have their self respect. And that goes for Prince too.

daPrettyman said:

Oddly I agree with some of your list, and I've edited it down to my agreements (some of the others I've not heard). Here are my additions:

Prince - Musicology
Prince - Graffiti Bridge ("Joy In Repetition" and "The Question of U" just doesn't save it for me)
Bobby Z - Bobby Z (sorry Bobby, but it's too "time restrictive" meaning you KNOW it's an early 90's album, because of the dated sound)
Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear (although his music was awesome, and some of the lyrics on this album are raw, the music is lacking a bit compared to his catalog)
U2 - Achtung Baby (or anything after The Joshua Tree....let's keep it real)
TLC - 3D
KISS - The Elder
NPG - Goldnigga (bitch please, this is not music, this is a TRIP)
Wendy and Lisa - Girl Bros
Lenny Kravtiz - Baptism
Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
[Edited 4/16/09 14:54pm]

mushmackalenta said:

That W&L album is tops.

funkpill said:

They can have that, give me the Ice Cream Castle LP any day. I guess they dig it because it has 15 songs... 15 11 songs and 4 skits...

StarMon said:

the worse..

very overproduce

My list

Prince - New Power Soul (My opinion of TRC has lifted a bit)
Michael Jackson - Invincible (Not as strong as the others)
Macy Gray - The Id, such a disappointment after life
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (Turned me off them in a big way)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (By far their weakest, especially after Blood Sugar Sex Magik and before Californiacation)
Diana Ross - Swept away (PRECISELY THAT)
Elton John - Leather Jackets (2 great songs, the rest is filler)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Tha Doggfather, nowhere near as strong as the debut
Ice T - Home Invasion (What the )
David Bowie - Never let me down

I will think of more eventually

StarMon said:

As opposed to Ice Cream Castle which has four songs and two overly long skits disguised as songs. I'll gladly listen to Pandemonium instead, thank you.

sextonseven said:

...I was being nice to call 11 fillers songs.

StarMon said:

terrible fillers at that

dang!!! i still have that cd

and can't even give it away

WildheartXXX said:

Yes!

I love the Campbell/ Dee era Motorhead, but that album is a big let down

The Isley Brothers - Body Kiss (Ron, you're not a pimp nor you are a hip-hop artist, you almost 70, lol!)
Michael Jackson - Invincible (and the reason I SAY this is because the album ran into a lot of problems during recording plus Michael wasn't as up to it as other albums, some songs stop short and there was too much noise in the uptempo joints)
Stevie Wonder - Conversation Peace (probably the weakest album in his post-1971 catalog)
Prince - 3121 (most songs were so-so)
Janet Jackson - All for You (the album had a weak cohesiveness, good songs but placed in the wrong order)
Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below (not as great as Stankonia)
Madonna - American Life (ugh, lol, again too much going on, so-so songs)
Whitney Houston - Just Whitney (just bad)
Snoop Dogg - Pays the Cost to be the Boss (you gotta be kidding me, you ain't James Brown, mothafucka )

----
That's it for now.

Manic Street Preachers - This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

Morrissey - Kill Uncle

U2 - Pop

Prince - NEWS

Miles Davis - Decoy (1984)
I have by far not heard all of his albums, but this get the cake as of now. I do like some of his 80s stuff (i like some tracks from tutu very much indeed), but decoy... uh.

Frank Zappa - ??? maybe Francesco Zappa (if that counts as FZ album )

Dire Straits - On the night.
Ok no studio album here. Their previous live album Alchemy (pre Brothers in Arms) is far superior.

Serge Gainsbourg
I did not listen to any of his output from the 80s (I am sure his worst album is from this era), but from all of his records from 1958-1979 that I know Rock Around The Bunker is the weakest. (Followed by Vu d'la exterieur)

Prince - 3121
Michael Jackson - Bad
Weezer - Make Believe
Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Depeche Mode - Ultra

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand
Cranes - Population Four
Fields Of The Nephilim - Fallen
Mephisto Walz - Immersion
Rasputina - Thanks For The Ether
Type O Negative - Slow, Deep And Hard
Xmal Deutschland - Devils

Risico said:

3121 is one of his best albums this decade

Man I will say 3121 is his best of the millenium, whats not to like about it. Prince hasn't been that focussed in delivering a great record since. Its Sign o the Times son as far as I am concerned

Huggiebear said:

The Gold Experience is better than 3121 as is Lotus Flow3r though i would place MPLSoUND after 3121

ehuffnsd said:

That's not saying much tho, lol...

Alej said:

It's not that bad to me, but it is definitely her weakest project. It sounds like she is wanting to cross over to the pop AC side of music. Especially since "Heart of the Matter" from her last album did so well on the AC charts. Chocolate High is one of the few r&b tracks on there.