10 Worst Hard Rock Albums Ever Made

Nope... we've still not accepted Metallica's Lulu.

By Tim Coffman /

Hard rock has always been a genre based on its savagery. Don't let the first word of the title deceive you, many of the bands of this genre can take your head off if you're not careful. While there have been some pristine examples of bands going above and beyond in the genre, some have managed to slip under the bar time after time.

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Though it's easy to forgive a minor slipup from a great rock band, there are always certain albums that even the greatest rock bands can't recover from. Whether it was a bad idea to begin with or an experiment gone horribly wrong, each of these albums belong deep within the Earth, never to be heard or spoken of again.

Though there are some redeeming factors to these albums, the amount of terrible cuts you have to plow through in order to reach the top is far too much for any listener to stomach. Some of these may not have gotten the hate in their time, but with the birth of the Internet, fans have minced no words about the absolute snooze-fests some of these albums are.

Break out your knives and pitchforks... things are about to get nasty.

10. Van Halen III - Van Halen

Van Halen are one of the few bands from the '80s who could be considered indestructible. After losing one of the most charismatic frontman in history with David Lee Roth, the band pulled off the unthinkable and were reborn with Sammy Hagar, who led the band into commercial territory on records like 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Once Hagar left though, things were starting to look pretty dark.

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Trying to recreate their magic again with singer Gary Cherone from Extreme, the band ended up turning in one of the most boring albums in rock history with Van Halen III.

From one song to the next, none of the riffs flow into each other very well and end up sounding like first drafts of what could potentially be good songs. Though Cherone has his own unique style of vocals in Extreme, his turn on the mic for this outing just sounds like he's trying (and failing) to combine both Roth's and Hagar's styles into one voice.

Though the band was able to pull off a singer change when they were on top of the world in the '80s, fans were not buying it by the end of the '90s, leaving the band's third self-titled out in the cold. There's no denying the talent at play here, but even if you put all the pieces together, that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to get a great picture.

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