10 Most Disappointing Hard Rock Albums Ever Made

After the death of Kurt Cobain, no one was really sure whether grunge really had a shot at the big time anymore. Since the Voice of the Generation was now gone, was there really any hope for something amazing to come down the pipeline that would carry the torch for grunge? Well, Soundgarden seemed like a strong contender...until the recording of Down on the Upside.

Granted, this is not really the flop in the traditional sense. From an artistic perspective, this is still a quality Soundgarden release, with Chris Cornell still in fine form behind the mic. However, this was a good album put out at just the wrong time. Though this probably would have fared much better in 1992, the scattered nature of the record just feels like these Seattleites were picking up the pieces of their broken genre rather than pushing it any further.

As fans around the world reached for their older copies of BadMotorfinger, the ensuing tour led to the band falling apart, ending the tour with Cornell playing a solo encore at the last show before calling it quits. For a band that had been around since the genesis of the grunge movement, this was where most people officially pronounced the era of flannel dead in the water. Down on the Upside is still a good record, but when your genre is falling apart at the seams, you need a great album.