# The 15 Worst Albums by Great Rock Bands

> Every band here has a masterpiece somewhere else in the catalogue. These are the records their own fans skip.

*By YPB Team · Published August 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-worst-albums-by-great-rock-bands*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Lulu** — score 1000/1000
   The 2011 Lou Reed and Metallica collaboration, routinely voted the worst record either made.
2. **St. Anger** — score 952/1000
   Metallica's 2003 album, remembered for a snare sound its own fans imitate as a joke.
3. **Van Halen III** — score 800/1000
   The 1998 album with Gary Cherone on vocals, the band's only one-off singer.
4. **Dirty Work** — score 714/1000
   The Rolling Stones' 1986 low point, recorded while Jagger and Richards barely spoke.
5. **Cut the Crap** — score 714/1000
   The Clash's 1985 album, made without Mick Jones and disowned soon after.
6. **Load** — score 647/1000
   Metallica's 1996 blues-rock turn, still the dividing line in the band's fanbase.
7. **Hot Space** — score 571/1000
   Queen's 1982 disco-funk experiment, which emptied arenas in the United States.
8. **Never Let Me Down** — score 483/1000
   David Bowie's 1987 album, which he later called his nadir.
9. **Music from The Elder** — score 381/1000
   Kiss's 1981 concept album with an orchestra, abandoned live almost immediately.
10. **Forbidden** — score 381/1000
   Black Sabbath's 1995 album, produced by Body Count's Ernie C and disowned by the band.
11. **Risk** — score 381/1000
   Megadeth's 1999 pivot to radio rock, which cost them Marty Friedman.
12. **It's Hard** — score 260/1000
   The Who's 1982 farewell, the record the band spent decades apologising for.
13. **Cold Lake** — score 260/1000
   Celtic Frost's 1988 glam detour, a genre change nobody asked for.
14. **Generations** — score 260/1000
   Journey's 2005 album, on which every member took a turn singing lead.
15. **Night in the Ruts** — score 114/1000
   Aerosmith's 1979 album, cut mid-collapse with Joe Perry already out of the band.

Tags: music, rock, bands, metal