When a band becomes mega-famous, there’s suddenly a very fine line that those bands have to walk to avoid losing their fan base. In a way, it’s the one terrible thing about becoming enormously successful as a musician. Should one choose to experiment and be fully creative, they could inadvertently isolate a portion of their audience that liked them for a specific sound, vibe, or element of their music. Unfortunately for the following four classic rock bands, a few obscure albums ended up causing a rift amongst a portion of their fans. And I happen to think that’s pretty unfair, as these albums are great pieces of work.
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‘Some Time In New York City’ by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1972)
If that extremely controversial first track never made it to this album, I can imagine more people would have liked this record from former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono. Really, the meat of the rest of the record is quite good.
However, that opening track, complete with the tone-deaf use of a racial slur in order to draw parallels to sexism experienced by women, was unsuitable for much airplay. A lot of people were understandably disappointed by it. And as a result, the whole of the record received negative reviews upon its release. Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone famously called the record “incipient artistic suicide.”
‘Behind The Mask’ by Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac struggled to capitalize on the success of their late-70s magnum opus, Rumours. They got close a few times, but by the time the 90s rolled around, it was clear that just too much had changed, both within the band and in musical culture as a whole. Behind The Mask, released in 1990, received quite mixed reviews.
I can understand why people didn’t vibe with this release, as it does sound like a compilation album of solo songs from each member of the band. But it certainly did not deserve all the hate that it received. Rick Vito and Bully Burnette were great additions to the band, at least in terms of this album.
‘Dynasty’ by KISS (1979)
I have to admit, I’m not the biggest KISS fan. But as a writer, I’ve come to learn a lot about the band. And it seems like with every release they put out back in the day, someone somewhere was mad about something. I don’t know what it was about KISS that made their listeners so hard to please, especially when it came to their more obscure albums.
Dynasty features some of the band’s most well-loved hits nowadays. But when this record was first released, a lot of listeners weren’t satisfied with the disco-leaning rock tracks like “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. In fact, you could go on any music aggregate website today and find plenty of one-star reviews in rapid succession.
‘Victim Of Love’ by Elton John
Victim Of Love was an unfortunate victim… not of love, but of the disco craze. Don’t get me wrong, I love disco. The 1970s boasted some of the most delightful disco tracks of all time. However, some musicians approached the genre as if it were a craze or bandwagon to jump onto. Elton John’s 1979 album was a clear attempt for the rock star to jump on that disco bandwagon. And the resulting reviews absolutely tore him to shreds over it.
This is definitely one of John’s most obscure albums ever, and it’s certainly not the worst release in the world. However, John’s personality doesn’t shine through this album like it did with earlier releases. I commend him for experimenting with a new genre, though.
Photo by Ben Ross/Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
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