# What is the most disappointing album by a major artist?

> Every record here followed something great, and that is the whole problem. A few were savaged on release; a couple only look bad standing next to what came before.

*By YPB Team · Published August 6, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-most-disappointing-album-by-a-major-artist*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Eminem – Revival**
   The 2017 record that scored 50 on Metacritic, the lowest of Eminem's career.
2. **Metallica & Lou Reed – Lulu**
   The 2011 Lou Reed collaboration that Metallica fans still treat as an outlier.
3. **Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy**
   Fifteen years and a reported fortune in studio time for a 2008 album few revisit.
4. **Metallica – St. Anger**
   The 2003 album remembered mostly for its snare drum sound.
5. **Eminem – Encore**
   The 2004 follow-up to a historic run that even Eminem has publicly criticised.
6. **The Clash – Cut the Crap**
   The Clash's 1985 final album, made without Mick Jones and later disowned by the band.
7. **U2 – Songs of Innocence**
   The 2014 album pushed into half a billion iTunes libraries without being asked for.
8. **Jay-Z – Kingdom Come**
   The 2006 comeback album Jay-Z himself has called his weakest.
9. **Bob Dylan – Self Portrait**
   The 1970 double album that opened with a review asking what this even was.
10. **Lady Gaga – Artpop**
   The 2013 album that followed a record-breaking run and was quickly overshadowed.
11. **Kanye West – Jesus Is King**
   The 2019 gospel pivot that split even Kanye's most devoted listeners.
12. **Christina Aguilera – Bionic**
   A 2010 electro-pop reinvention that stalled where her earlier albums soared.
13. **Kesha – Warrior**
   The 2012 follow-up to a blockbuster debut, and a sharp commercial step down.

Tags: pop, music, rock