According to Rolling Stone Magazine (Updated in May 2025)

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50  Chance the Rapper, "The Big Day" (2019)

Chance's debut studio album celebrates love and marriage. Its eclectic production received mixed reviews.

 

49  Radiohead, "The King of Limbs" (2011)

An experimental, rhythm-heavy record with electronic textures. Fans were divided over its brevity and abstract sound. 

 

48  Wings, "Wild Life" (1971)

McCartney's first real Wings effort, raw and under-produced. Critics were cool, but it has gained cult affection.

Stand out track: "Dear Friend"

 

47  LL Cool J, "Bigger and Deffer" (1987)

A defining 1980s rap album featuring 'I Need Love'. It blends street bravado with groundbreaking hip-hop balladry. Even it's main track, "I Need Love" was kind of a sleeper. I never cared for that song or the album as a whole.

 

46  Oasis, "Be Here Now" (1997)

A bloated but ambitious follow-up to their smash hits. It's loud, long, and pure Britpop excess. The production was "brickwalled" and unlistenable. But the music is actually halfway decent. "D'You Know What I Mean" was a potentially great song.

 

45  George Michael, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" (1990)

A bold artistic shift toward introspective songwriting. Critically acclaimed for its depth and maturity. "Praying For Time" was a decent hit single.

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44  Aerosmith, "Draw the Line" (1977)

A gritty, chaotic album made during the band's drug-fueled years. It showed cracks in their classic hard rock sound. Stand out tracks: "Kings and Queens" and the title track. But you can actually feel the cracks getting deeper as the album goes on.

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43  Kanye West, "The Life of Pablo" (2016)

A chaotic yet brilliant collage of gospel, rap, and soul. Known for its evolving tracklist and genre-blending innovation. I'm not a fan and know nothing about this one. 

 

42  U2, "Songs of Innocence" (2014)

Released free on iTunes, sparking controversy. It revisits U2's youth with polished production. Not much in the way of any substantial tracks. Most were mediocre, at best.

 

41  Terence Trent D'Arby, "Neither Fish nor Flesh" (1989)

A spiritual, ambitious follow-up that baffled listeners. Commercially underwhelming but artistically bold. Terence lost us when he proclaimed his debut album as "BETTER" than The Beatles. IT was not. And he was lost to us quickly upon the follow-up.

 

40  Meat Loaf, "Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose" (2006)

Lacks Jim Steinman's full involvement, but still theatrical. A bombastic rock opera with mixed reception. Only main stand out is Meat's cover version of the Steinman original composition, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".

 

39  Run-D.M.C., "Back From Hell" (1990)

Marked a downturn in their career. Attempts at new jack swing and harder rap fell flat. Their lack of the same innovation that made them successful in the 80s, made this album a hard pass for most.

 

38  The Sugarcubes, "Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!" (1989)

Bjork's band continued their quirky alt-pop. Less acclaimed than their debut but full of eccentric energy. Love Bjork and enjoyed some of the Sugarcubes, but this one is actually foreign to me. I'll need to give this one a spin.

 

37  Devo, "Shout" (1984)

An overreliance on the Fairlight synth hurt the sound. A creative low point for the band. "Peek-A-Boo" was the only stand-out track, and a decent continuation of their already cult-like recording career.

 

36  Fleetwood Mac, "Behind the Mask" (1990)

The post-Buckingham lineup shows cracks. A polished but uneven pop-rock effort. "Save Me" was the single most promising track that could have gone onto previous Mac album, written and sung by Christine McVie.

 

35  Panic! at the Disco, "Pretty.Odd" (2008)

A Beatles-inspired left turn. Lush orchestration replaces emo angst. The one place The Beatles did not belong was among the Emo crowd. It was more like an oxymoron than an artistic shift ni the band's career.

 

34  Black Sabbath, "Technical Ecstasy" (1976)

A keyboard-heavy diversion from their doom roots. Fans were divided on the change in styles. Pretty much the beginning of the end of the Ozzy era of Sabbath. Minus the keyboards, many songs could have been pretty decent. Not great, but good.

 

33  Public Enemy, "Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age" (1994)

A dense, political record overshadowed by internal strife. Less cohesive than their earlier work. I lost it after Fear Of The Black Planet in 1990. Not sure why but I guessed it was just that their time was up with me. 

 

32  Peter Frampton, "I'm in You" (1977)

A slick follow-up to "Frampton Comes Alive". Polished but didn't match previous success. Despite its lead off title track, the album was not as terrible as perceived, but was released on the heels of the historic, Frampton Comes Alive.

 

31  MGMT, "Congratulations" (2010)

An experimental and psychedelic detour. Critics praised its ambition; fans were split. I tried to listen to this, just for the sake of this list, and I couldn't find anything exceptional. Maybe it's me being an old man, or this is garbage. I don't know yet.

 

30  Red Hot Chili Peppers, "One Hot Minute" (1995)

Dave Navarro's only album with the band. Darker and more metal-influenced. "Aeroplane" is the stand-out track, released prior to the resurrection album, Californication. 

 

29  Pink Floyd, "The Final Cut" (1983)

Essentially a Roger Waters solo album. Introspective, political, and emotionally raw. An album only worth the hard rock track, "Not Now John", the only vocal by David Gilmour. Otherwise, this is a slow burning album with no resolve.

 

28  The Band, "Cahoots" (1971)

A moody and less focused album. Still offers moments of rustic charm. I am a big enough fan of the first three albums, but lost it from this album onward. "Life's A Carnival" is decent enough, but nothing to write home about.

 

27  Van Halen, "Balance" (1995)

The last album with Sammy Hagar. A darker, more mature sound. Despite the critics, the fans had plenty of great tracks to celebrate. Namely; "Aftershock" and "Seventh Seal". This would be Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony's last VH album.

 

26  Rod Stewart, "Smiler" (1974)

Overstuffed with covers and styles. A critical misstep in his early solo years. Not much in the way of outstanding tracks, although the Chuck Berry cover, "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller" deserved some airplay on rock radio stations.

 

25  George Harrison, "Dark Horse" (1974)

Raspy vocals and a rushed production hurt it. Spiritually charged but uneven. "Maya Love" was a nice pop song, and more worthy of a single release than the holiday-inspired, "Ding Dong, Ding Dong". A hard listen when going through all 9 songs.

 

24  John Fogerty, "Eye of the Zombie" (1986)

A misfire that didn't resonate with fans. Darker themes and 80s production clashed. Despite the critical response, John did win a much deserved Grammy for Rock Vocals. "Change In The Weather" has been performed in concerts since.

 

23  The Monkees, "Justus" (1996)

Their full reunion album with all original members. Self-written and played but underwhelming. Their first since 1968's Head, this album was an attempt to find a niche that hasn't been there since their one-off resurgence in 1986.

 

22  Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, "Dylan & the Dead" (1989)

Live renditions of Dylan songs with the Dead. Poorly received for lackluster performances. Plenty in the way of Dylan/Dead bootlegs that even the hardcore Dead or Dylan fans preferred to remain as bootlegs. Highly underwhelming release.

 

21  The Stone Roses, "Second Coming" (1994)

Bluesy and jam-heavy follow-up. Long-awaited but divided fans. I always thught it was the association with Geffen Records, but this follow up to their debut record was just not what we thought the band could be and they disappeared from here.

 

20  Journey, "Raised on Radio" (1986)

Pop-driven and polished 80s rock. Marked the end of the classic lineup. This album did contain a few stand-out tracks; "I'll Be Alright Without You" and "The Girl Can't Help It" were nice, but nowhere near the solid hit, Escape album.

 

19  Patti Smith Group, "Radio Ethiopia" (1976)

A noisy, raw punk follow-up. Less poetic and more chaotic. Patti seemed to try and live up to her "punk" label, but forgot that her fans felt her poetry and pop sense made her their favorites over the critics' concerns. She would make up for it quickly.

 

18  Duran Duran, "Thank You" (1995)

A covers album that fell flat. Heavily criticized and considered one of their worst. The album opener, "White Lines (Don't Do It)" was the first mistake as an opener, and then the other 11 songs were the second mistake. Horrible record all the way.

 

17  The Byrds, "Byrds" (1973)

A reunion with all original members. Critically panned and commercially unsuccessful. Not many can cover Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand" successfully... and The Byrds prove that notion true.

 

16  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" (1987)

Raw, jam-based album post-Dylan tour. Looser and less refined than past work. "Think About Me" and the odd, "Jammin' Me" were pretty good songs. It's not a horrible album, but certainly not their best effort.

 

15  Elton John, "A Single Man" (1978)

Marked a post-Bernie Taupin phase. Mellow and personal, with mixed reviews. As a deeply-rooted Elton John fan, this album is a hard pass for me. It's not an easy listen, as the very revered, "A Song For Guy" is puzzling, at best.

 

14  Neil Young, "Hawks & Doves" (1980)

Split between acoustic folk and patriotic country-rock. A modest but heartfelt effort. Even Levon Helm on the drums can't really give this album the "oomph" Young records normally give off. Not a bad album... just not Neil-great.

 

13  Blondie, "The Hunter" (1982)

A commercial disappointment. Marked the end of their original run. This album is a hard pass for even most Blondie fans. They would return in 1999, even though Debbie put out some unremarkable releases in between.

 

12  AC/DC, "Flick of the Switch" (1983)

Stripped-down and self-produced. Rawer than its predecessors but less iconic.  Despite being Brian Johnson's follow-up to the iconic Back in Black, it didn't hit the critics right, but still has some great hard hitting cuts. The title cut is the stand-out.

 

11  Lou Reed, "Lou Reed" (1972)

His solo debut post-Velvet Underground. Uneven but hinted at future greatness. I am not a Lou Reed fan by any stretch of the imagination. I consider Transformer a decent album worthy of being in my collection, but it started and ended there.

 

10  Michael Jackson, "Invincible" (2001)

His final studio album. Polished production but lacked cultural impact. An album that didn't click with me. I know very little about it or anything outside of "You Rock My World", which is underwhelming, at best. 

 

9  Yes, "Tales From Topographic Oceans" (1973)

An ambitious double LP of prog epics. Loved and loathed for its excess. All I can say is the excess was excessive, but the music was not bad in any sense. But some of it did manage to meander from time to time. 

 

8  Stevie Wonder, "The Secret Life of Plants" (1980)

A synth-heavy, botanical-themed soundtrack. Experimental and divisive. "Send One Your Love" was a pleasant single, but the rest of the album was a hard swallow when you consider this is Stevie Wonder. His 80s career wouldn't fair much better.

 

7  Beach Boys, "Smiley Smile" (1967)

A lo-fi, quirky follow-up to "Smile". Strange yet charming. Despite the "Good Vibration" inclusion, the album was highly unbalanced and not an album I could sit and listen to. Bizarrely, "Vegetables" is the only stand-out track here.

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6 Bruce Springsteen, "Human Touch" (1992)

Released alongside "Lucky Town". Polished but seen as emotionally distant. I'm personal with this album and I liked it. Certainly not any kind of effort reminiscent of the excellent Darkness, River or either "Born" albums, but decent for its day.

 

5  Guns N' Roses, "Chinese Democracy" (2008)

A long-delayed epic of overproduction. Mixed reception after years of hype. I bought it and put it up and haven't missed it one iota. I turned in my imaginary GNR fan club membersip card at this point and still can't fathom that my fandom went there.

 

4  David Bowie, "Tonight" (1984)

A rushed follow-up to "Let's Dance". Lacked inspiration and coherence. For me, personally, this is the first Bowie album I couldn't listen to. Literally. Not gonna lie, though, "Blue Jean" is a great song.

 

3  Bob Dylan, "Self Portrait" (1970)

A baffling mix of covers and oddities. Famously panned, but later reevaluated. I've heard this album once in my life and remember not understanding it. Maybe it was my pubescent age interferring with my musical taste, or this this a bad album.

 

2  The Rolling Stones, "Their Satanic Majesties Request" (1967)

Their psychedelic experiment. Derivative of Sgt. Pepper but with its own charm. "She's a Rainbow" is a strange but great song. "2,000 Light Years From Home" is the stand-out track. Maybe "Citadel", too.

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1  John Lennon, "Some Time in New York City" (1972)

Overtly political and uneven. Collaborative and controversial. This one is hard... I did love some of the Lennon songs; "New York City", "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" and "Luck of the Irish", but the Yoko songs were painful. And ithe simple-to-understand political lyrics do force you to engage, even if you're not involved in the issues. Whether you like it or not.