10 Classic Albums That Were Originally Considered Failures

10. Who's Next - The Who

The Who had pretty much pigeonholed themselves after their mammoth rock opera Tommy. For as much as Pete Townshend wanted to expand the palette of rock music, the album's narrative was so bombastic that most people expected the band to recreate that magic over and over again. In the end, Townshend's determination for perfecting the rock narrative made him backtrack on one of the greatest albums in rock history.

As a followup to the band's rock opus, Who's Next is absolutely spellbinding, with songs like Won't Get Fooled Again and The Song Is Over having more kickass than any lesser bands have in their entire discography. On the other hand, Townshend stands by the fact that the album is not nearly as good as it could have been.

Instead of the strong lineup of classics on display here, the album was originally planned to be a sequel of sorts to Tommy, with Townshend creating a new character and scenario for what would be called Lifehouse. Once the plans fell through though, Townshend ended up abandoning the concept and went with the few complete songs the band had already assembled as their next album. Who's Next marks a key turning point in the world of rock, but in Townshend's mind, it will always be the one great concept that came up short.