12 Worst Sellout Albums In Hard Rock

In the era of sprayed hair and spandex, Def Leppard were always one notch above their hair metal brethren. Though they still had the same type of look, the band's ability to write genuine hooks and quality songs set them apart from the cheap wannabes on the Sunset Strip. But like all other hair bands, everything changed once Nirvana came to town.

Eager to get out of their polished sound, the band went into the record Slang? determined to not redo the same kind of record they had done on Hysteria and Pyromania. At the same time, that idea of not copying themselves seemed to just get traded in for copying the sound of something like Pearl Jam, with growly vocal harmonies and a much more organic approach. Those ideas don't sound bad at the outset, but when put up against the sheen of all other Def Leppard albums, this was a sign of bad things to come.

It's not like Def Leppard didn't have a place in the 90's either, with their album Adrenalize from 1990 holding up surprisingly well. Leppard were eventually able to get back on solid ground for 1998's Euphoria, but Slang? is the one sonic experiment that cost a fortune and was ignored by everyone.