3 Rock Albums That Irrevocably Changed a Band’s Career (For Better or Worse)

As an artist, you can only guess what an audience’s reaction will be to your work. At best, you can put any expectations to bed and completely forget about anything but your own creative ambition. The alternative is to ponder an endless number of potential futures—futile and not conducive to a great recording session. The three bands below probably couldn’t have predicted the outcome of their work. These three rock albums irrevocably changed these bands’ careers—for better or worse.  

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‘Rumours’ — Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours was definitely a reinvention for Fleetwood Mac. Though it wasn’t the first album to feature the classic lineup of the band—Christine McVie, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks—it was the album that made that particular group famous.

Fleetwood Mac went through several evolutions. In many other bands’ cases, the frequent personnel changes made it hard for any of them to stand out to the untrained ear. This is not the case for Fleetwood Mac. Rumours not only established the band’s trademark sound but rewrote rock history entirely. This album was an undisputed win for the group, pushing them on a path to stardom that few of their peers enjoyed.

‘Be Here Now’ — Oasis

Two years before Be Here Now, Oasis released their most famous work to date, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? That album made Oasis household names, karaoke staples, and rock gods. Inevitably, the follow-up to that record was gonna be a hard-won task. Though the follow-up they landed on was commercially successful, it didn’t live up to the hype of its predecessor.

Many bands found Be Here Now to be overproduced and lackluster. The audience reaction left Oasis fans with an odd taste in their mouths, making it hard for them to recapture the Britpop magic of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Before Be Here Now, Oasis was set to have an unbridled career, but this rock album put a few hurdles in their path.

‘Nevermind’ — Nirvana

Nirvana never set out to be the mainstream’s preferred grunge band. They never meant to be the poster children of a movement that rejected such ideas. Nevertheless, Nevermind pushed them into the spotlight, changing their career trajectory forever.

[RELATED: 3 Amazing Bands That We Wouldn’t Have Without Nirvana’s Influence]

Nevermind is an album that serves as an entry point for many non-grunge fans into the rock sub-genre. It was meant to uphold the ideals of grunge’s counterculture, and it earned the band a massive hit (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”) and household-name status.

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