10 Rock Albums That Killed Artists' Careers

5. Use Your Illusion - Guns N Roses

It can seem a bit daunting whenever a band decides to cut a double album of all new material. While some of the best records of all time tend to be doubles, it's something that you only try if you're 100% confident in making the greatest music you possibly can. Even though Guns N Roses managed to rise to the challenge on Use Your Illusion, there's something about it that sounded like they tried to run before they could walk.

Across this entire album, the magic of classic GNR is still in there, only on steroids, with songs like November Rain and Live and Let Die being some of the most maximalist things they have ever put out. Then again, the dysfunctional world of GNR was nowhere near ready for what came afterward. Crisscrossing the globe twice on the strength of these records, the band fell apart and could barely make it through every show, from Axl Rose not bothering to show up on some nights to Slash nearly dying of a drug overdose halfway through the tour.

By the time they got back to Los Angeles, Izzy Stradlin had quit the band in protest and the rest of them were on the way out, finally getting tired of Axl's antics. While Axl would continue under the GNR name and the rest of the band would come together for the cover LP The Spaghetti Incident?, any chance of getting new Guns N Roses music was shot dead in the water after the tour ended.