10 Rock Albums That Almost Killed Careers

Whenever you think of Def Leppard's hits, it normally comes down to a very layered soundscape. Across albums like Pyromania and Hysteria, the sheer amount of vocals and attention to detail in the arrangements made it feel like you were listening to a more metal-tinged version of someone like Queen. So when you take those away, fans are going to start getting annoyed.

As Leppard entered into the '90s, it was clear that their unique brand of production wasn't really going to fly in the era of alternative rock. With grunge being the main order of the day, their original way to remedy their sound resulted in Slang, which basically amounted to Leppard trying to crib some of the sounds of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Despite having a handful of decent riffs from new addition Vivian Campbell, most of the hair metal hype was no longer here, which led to the album sinking like a stone.

While that would be the death knell for any other hair metal act, Leppard's decision to wait it out until the late '90s resulted in one of their greatest comebacks on Euphoria, which brought them back to their polished roots. Even though Leppard were able to pick themselves up after flirting with grunge, they definitely had a lot of work to do establishing their goodwill with their audience again.