10 Hated Rock Albums That Are A Lot Better Than You Remember
Is St. Anger really worth all of the...well...anger?
Music is one of the few art forms where you can actually rally around awful material. Compared to bad movies like the Room or Birdemic, there have been many albums that have achieved legendary status solely because of how horrible they are. With the benefit of hindsight though, were these ever really that bad?
Granted, it's not like any of these are knock-down drag-out masterpieces by these artists. In fact, some of these do warrant at least a bit of the slogging that they've gotten from their fanbases. On the other hand, there are bits and pieces of these records that give them a unique character when put up against their competition. While there is a lot of crap to sift through, oftentimes you'll get rewarded with something entirely different that actually works or even the stray song that never got the chance to become legendary.
Either way, these are the pariahs of rock and roll that deserve to be dug up one more time to be evaluated. Make no mistake, there are still a ton of problems here, but no album is without merit if only for a few songs. From the cheesy to the offensive to the "what the hell?," here's just a small helping of albums that deserve another chance.
10. Turbo - Judas Priest
At the start of the '80s, the world of metal was in a bit of a transitionary period. While the early guard of metal started to bring the concept of heaviness to the masses, the splintering between the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the glam rock stylings coming from the Sunset Strip left many fans choosing sides. Though most of the heavy hitters stuck to their roots, you tend to get ridiculed if you try to play to both sides.
For years now, fans have lined up to single out Judas Priest's Turbo as the worst record in their catalog. Even with the more unspeakable records with Tim "Ripper" Owens, this is the one album that screams of sellout from the word go, with a sound that you could find on the heavier side of an REO Speedwagon song. Then again, this is not necessarily a horrible look for Priest right out of the gate.
While the AOR kind of rock does take a bit of getting used to, songs like Turbo Lover do at least have some conviction behind them, with riffs that are far above anything else coming out of the genre at the time. This is by far the dorkiest the Priest have ever looked, but if you metal disciples like a little bit of cheese in your metal, this will definitely do the trick.