Not every musician in the world is destined for success, and far few achieve anything resembling greatness. Yet while OK Go, for example, is best known for music videos over music, the band’s spiky debut still holds a lot of charm. Hanson is far from a “great” act but its breakthrough, “Middle of Nowhere,” still was the soundtrack to the lives of a generation of tweens, and those songs evoke a specific nostalgia. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis may have a contentious legacy in the realm of rap music, but none of that debate circles around the fact that “Can’t Hold Us” still bangs.
So while not every artist will stand the test of time — and a few inspire outright derision when their names are mentioned — some of them still have put out some solid records. Maybe it was a flash in the pan moment, or maybe it was a critical success crafted away from the spotlight (or even the charts), but today we’re listing some truly great albums from some artists with less-than-great careers. (And for those keeping track, picking a Greatest Hits album, as we all know, would be a total cop-out.)
