In 1989, Manchester natives The Stone Roses were on top of the world. They had just released their self-titled debut LP, which would go on to become one of the most critically lauded albums of all time, influencing an entire generation of new bands, including Oasis.
Fast forward to 1994 and the band were in the midst of a new musical landscape, facing some damning reviews for their long-awaited follow-up, Second Coming. Though it sold platinum, it was universally agreed upon that it simply did not meet the expectations set by the original.
Second Coming has since entered the musical history books as one of the biggest disappointments ever, but according to Priceonomics, not only is the Stone Roses’ much-maligned sophomore effort not the most disappointing album of all time, it’s not even in the top 20.
After surveying the career of UK rapper M.I.A., who released two universally lauded albums in the mid-2000s, which she then followed-up with the less regarded Maya in 2010, they decided to take a look at the most disappointing albums of all time.
To do so, their statisticians collected the Metascore for the 12,000 albums listed on Metacritic.com. The site collects reviews from notable publications and assigns albums a general score on a scale of 0-100, based on critical reception.
After removing live albums, greatest hits collections, and remastered versions of older albums, as well as all recordings which did not have two previous albums in the dataset, which means Second Coming could still have a shot at the title.
“Although a first or second album might not meet expectations, we were particularly interested in those situations where an artist had a substantial track record and could thus really surprise his or her fan base with something of different quality,” the researchers write.
Image via Priceonomics
The chart you see above displays the average of the last two albums against the score of the next album. The points for the ten most disappointing albums are marked in red and the points for the 11 most surprisingly good albums are in blue. Grey points represent all other albums.
As you can see, Moby’s Hotel is one of the most disappointing albums of all time, receiving harsh critical reviews. Meanwhile, Mos Def’s fourth album, 2009’s The Ecstatic, is one of the most surprisingly good albums ever released.
Images via Priceonomics
Of course, it’s important to note, as the Priceonomics crew do, that all of these metrics are up for debate. Sure, Zac Brown Band’s Jekyll + Hyde is one of the most disappointing albums by their measure, but to some fans it’s actually their best record.
By the same token, while some may regard Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as a widely praised return to form for the controversial rapper, to others it was a self-indulgent and inconsistent work of egomania.
All in all, such studies give us a sense of how artists can surprise us for better or worse and how difficult it is to maintain the favour of critics. Check out the full study via Priceonomics right here.
