Top 5: Commercial Suicides
Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (1979)
Guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham had no interest in replicating the lush vistas of 1997’s Rumours, then the best-selling American album ever. Instead, obsessed by Talking Heads and post-punk, he wanted to create something sparse and awkward. Cue tissue-boxes for drums and vocals recorded while lying flat on his belly.
Pulp – This Is Hardcore (1998)
The record-buying public couldn’t wait to ignore the gloomy follow-up to 1995’s all-conquering A Different Class, which managed to strip away everything people had loved about Pulp – big choruses, class-conscious lyrics, sweeping synths – and offer up instead a litany of bitterness and regret, summed up by final track The Day After the Revolution, with its desolate roll-call: “The rave is over, Sheffield is over ... men are over, women are over, cholesterol is over…”
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Dazzle Ships (1983)
“We wanted to be Abba and Stockhausen,” explained vocalist Andy McCluskey. Unfortunately, the three million people who’d bought 1981’s Architecture And Morality preferred synth-pop anthems such as Enola Gay to the icy, Eastern Bloc-obsessed soundscapes served up on Dazzle Ships.
Mariah Carey – Glitter (2001)
A botched pastiche of New York’s early-80s club scene, the soundtrack to the flop movie emerged, ominously, on 11 September 2001, and tanked in a way no-one could have predicted, least of all EMI/Virgin, who had signed Carey the previous year for an eye-watering $80 million. Guy Hands never would have stood for it.
Metallica – Load (1996)
Out went gleaming thrash-pop anthems such as Enter Sandman. In came mid-paced chugs, earnest lyrics about mum (Mama Said), and cover art that depicted semen mixed with cow’s blood. The result? Millions shrugged.
3:21 PM | 13/03/2008
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I quite liked This Is Hardcore.....
Posted by Phil at 10:18 PM | 14/03/2008 | Report Abuse
How about 1998's Adore by the Smashing Pumpkins - from 10 million sold of Melon Collie to probably more like 100,000 if you're lucky. Personally I like it, but what do I know? They never recovered - subsequent albums Machina parts 1 and 2 would sell even fewer copies I'd reckon.
Posted by Wilko at 1:01 AM | 17/03/2008 | Report Abuse
Re: Metallica and Load
They (Re-Load was the second half) were certainly a different direction for the metal gods but I find them very enjoyable to listen to, there a certain quality abouthem. As for St Anger..........................
Posted by Colin at 12:02 PM | 18/03/2008 | Report Abuse
I think Blur "Think Tank" is quite bad. It's a good flop too.
Posted by Fred at 12:37 PM | 18/03/2008 | Report Abuse
Travis were a thundering disappointment after, "The Man Who."
Posted by Frankie at 8:00 PM | 18/03/2008 | Report Abuse
Travis were never good enough to be disappointing. Also, I like 'Tusk' for its quirkyness! People would've complained if Fleetwood Mac came back with a carbon copy of 'Rumours' so they couldn't win!
Posted by James at 1:05 PM | 22/03/2008 | Report Abuse
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