12 Most Divisive Rock Albums Of All Time
Splitting the audience right down the middle.
It's a small miracle that any album gets finished. From the pressure of getting the perfect performance down on tape to the countless hours spent editing the sounds together, musicians have to put every fiber of their artistic being forward to create their best work. Whether or not fans will enjoy that work is another story entirely.
No matter how much work you put into a record, it's not going to mean a thing if the fans don't care for your new direction. While it's easy to categorize albums fans love and hate, it's a bit of a tricky scenario when fans are divided over an album. Whereas one side will say that it's a nail in the band's coffin, others will think it's a bold new departure that will mark new artistic territory for the band as a whole.
Regardless of the actual quality of the music, these albums have definitely caused a stir in the fanbase on more than one occasion. Any press is good press, but the actual feelings on these albums are probably the most complicated in the entire rock genre.
You may hear different points of view from each side, but these are the albums you just need to hear for yourself to see how you feel.
12. Core - Stone Temple Pilots
If you were a 90's kid, chances are you saw Stone Temple Pilots all over MTV. The band were one of the darlings of the grunge era who took the music world by storm with their debut record Core. As a matter of fact, the only people who probably didn't love songs like "Plush" were the actual grunge fans.
Yeah, so this record basically sums everything that alternative rock fans didn't like about STP in their early years. For as decent as the hooks are, the tone in Scott Weiland's voice and the meaty guitar riffs are sometimes a little too reminiscent of Pearl Jam for many to take seriously. As opposed to being another great entry into the alt-rock sphere, these guys were being pegged as the alternative rock band for mall rats and prep kids the world over.
Listened to on its own merits, the album is actually fairly decent, with songs like "Dead and Bloated" kicking the door down pretty well and also having it's fair share of slower moments on songs like "Creep." Even if fans tore it to pieces when it was first released, this is definitely a nice slice of alternative rock that doesn't deserve to be swept under the rug.