In America, we are in love with polar-opposite things: the fall from grace and the comeback. Music is definitely no stranger to either phenomena. After all, most major artists have either an album that didn�€™t sell as many copies as projected, or at the very least an album they would like to forget. Then again, there are those artists that are on the brink of disappearing from the popular conscious when they write the biggest album of their careers. This is in no way a comprehensive list, but here are 7 flops and 7 comebacks in no particular order by artists we all know.

Flops

Weezer �€“ Pinkerton

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To some it�€™s blasphemy to call this album a flop, but back in 1996 that�€™s exactly what it was. �€œThe Blue Album�€ had sold over 7 million records and America was chomping at the bit to see what Weezer was going to release next. What they did release was the best album of their career, but America just wasn�€™t quite into the direction the band had headed in. It took a few years to simmer in the minds of fans, and eventually sales of Pinkerton got started, but just 5 years too late. Sorry Rivers and Co., being ahead of your time doesn�€™t always translate into great album sales.

Bob Dylan �€“ Self Portrait

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Dylan is an icon, but with his tenth studio record he really cranked out a dud. Collectively sales to this date of this record are around the 300K mark. When compared to Blonde on Blonde which went Double-platinum, it was pretty bad. Rolling Stone summed it up best when they reviewed the album and said, �€œWhat is this shit?�€

Spice Girls �€“ Forever

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By 2000 the girls from the UK had officially worn out their welcome. Forever was more of the same old schlock, and customers from the US and UK weren�€™t willing to pay for it anymore. The record sold an abysmal 200,000 copies which was a far cry from the 7.4 million selling Spice. The flop of Forever was a catalyst to the break-up of the group, and didn�€™t come a minute too soon.

Mariah Carey �€“ Glitter

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It is a well known fact that Mariah was paid 80 million dollars to sign with Virgin Records, and Glitter is what she churned out. Virgin then had to then pay the singer 30 million dollars just to get out of the contract after the commercial failure of Glitter. There was a movie of the same name that was released concurrently with the album that tanked at the box office due to Carey�€™s inability to act her way out of a paper bag. I did, however, hear that the movie isn�€™t half bad if you turn down the volume and have lots of lotion on (in?) hand. It is often an overlooked fact that this was the second worst tragedy to happen on Sept. 11th, 2001. America was on it's knees due to terrorist attacks, and Mariah decided to kick the country while it was down.

Madonna �€“ American Life

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This album was so utterly bad, and such a flop, that critics almost consider her second-rate Confessions on a Dance Floor a comeback. The two previous Madonna records sold a combined 24 million copies worldwide (Ray of Light, Music), but this misfire by the singer only sold around 300,000 copies and was widely panned by critics and fans alike.

Vanilla Ice �€“ Mind Blowin

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I wonder, did Suge Knight hang Vanilla Ice off a balcony to coerce royalties out of him, or for churning out this horrible piece of shit? To the Extreme released in 1990 sold 7 million copies based on the one hit wonder �€œIce, Ice Baby�€, but Mind Blowin scanned a mere 42,000 just 4 years after his previous sucess . I wish I could say this was the low point of Rob Van Winkle�€™s carrer, but if you�€™ve ever seen his movie, Cool as Ice, you know it gets so much worse.

U2 �€“ Pop

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This album did happen to go platinum, but I think that was mainly because people are now issued the current U2 album when they hit 30. This ammount of albums sold is also put into sharp relief when compared to Achtung Baby which was released 6 year ealier sold 12 million copies in the US and UK alone. Bono tried to make a spoof on pop culture and it backfired severely. Take note Bono, Irony is a very dead scene.

Tags: lists, musics, flops, comebacks