Biggest Disappointment

I remember riding my bike to the local music store (Greenville Records and Tapes) back in my little town in 1988 to get this on cassette. I rushed home and couldn't wait to throw the tape in my Sony boom box. By this point in my life, VH were one of my faves and not a day would pass where I didn't listen to them or something from Sammy or DLR. I had just graduated 8th grade and was painting my bedroom. I figured, " this is great I got a whole week to listen to the new VH" Boy, was I wrong. Nothing grabbed me...nothing at all. After a couple of plays through it was back to 5150 and I kept looking at the tape case saying "what is this? This isn't the mighty Van Halen. Where's the fun? The big chorus and crazy solos?"

I have tried over the years to give it another chance with fresh ears and an open mind, but other than A.F.U, there's nothing to care about. Maybe my expectations were too high and nothing they did would live up to what I was expecting? I don't know? It just seems so ...odd compared to the 2 albums that bookend it. The glossy overproduction doesn't help either. Anyway, I won't bore you guys anymore with negative details.

So, what's your digest disappointment, HoM?

Dokken - Shadowlife

This is a difficult one for me because over the years so many bands have seriously disappointed me.  The most recent one was The Answer and their abysmal "Solas" album.  But biggest?  As in all-time?  I'll have to think about that.  Boston is one that jumps to mind; the absolutely classic S/T followed by "Don't Look Back"?  WTH was that????

I need to stew on this one for a while.

^^ I actually like "Don't Look Back" better than Boston's debut...

hard to say..there have been several... Scorpions have disappointed me more than once..so has manowar, dokken, metallica, stryper, AC/DC... But I think the biggest disappointment comes from van halen...Live in Tokyo dome album...I so wanted it to kick ass but it is so bad I can't even listen to it all the way through...

Fat Freddy wrote:

^^ I actually like "Don't Look Back" better than Boston's debut...

For some reason that doesn't surprise me Pabst Boy. 

Metallica - Load - the obvious choice. Metal was flat on its ass and these clowns did nothing to help that situation. There will never be a more disappointing album than this for me.

Judas Priest - Jugulator - old stalwarts try to stay current by being brootal to please the kidz. The result is a downtuned, boring mess with a couple of gems. It was one of those albums that I waited so long for and I tried to convince myself it was good. It was a turd. Primal Fear delivered the follow up to Painkiller that I wanted the next year with their debut.

the sentinel wrote:

I remember riding my bike to the local music store (Greenville Records and Tapes) back in my little town in 1988 to get this on cassette. I rushed home and couldn't wait to throw the tape in my Sony boom box. By this point in my life, VH were one of my faves and not a day would pass where I didn't listen to them or something from Sammy or DLR. I had just graduated 8th grade and was painting my bedroom. I figured, " this is great I got a whole week to listen to the new VH" Boy, was I wrong. Nothing grabbed me...nothing at all. After a couple of plays through it was back to 5150 and I kept looking at the tape case saying "what is this? This isn't the mighty Van Halen. Where's the fun? The big chorus and crazy solos?"

I have tried over the years to give it another chance with fresh ears and an open mind, but other than A.F.U, there's nothing to care about. Maybe my expectations were too high and nothing they did would live up to what I was expecting? I don't know? It just seems so ...odd compared to the 2 albums that bookend it. The glossy overproduction doesn't help either. Anyway, I won't bore you guys anymore with negative details.

So, what's your digest disappointment, HoM?

Agreed. This album left me cold and when I revisited it last year it still did nothing for me.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Dokken - Shadowlife

Such a terrible and baffling album. Erase The Slate helped me forget it ever existed.

tohostudios wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

^^ I actually like "Don't Look Back" better than Boston's debut...

For some reason that doesn't surprise me Pabst Boy. 

Hey now, I haven't had Pabst in more than a year. Friggin' hipsters ruined it for me.

I guess it's a toss up between Load and St. Anger. Although Risk by Megadeth is also a steaming pile!

There have been a few

Judas Priest - Turdbo.   How the hell can you follow Defenders with that pile!
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt I.  I later grew to love this but when it was released I hated it
Onslaught - In Search of Sanity.  Again I quite like it now but I'd heard the demos with Sy and Grimmet did nothing for me at the time.
Girlschool - Screaming Blue Murder.  Whatever happened to the girls who did Yeah Right!
Metallica - And Justice For All.  Like with Priest my favourite band at the time, it had great songs but sounded like shit!
The Cult - Electric.   It wasn't The Cult, Rubin turned them into AC/DC
Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium.  Again I love it now but when I first heard it I freaked
Raven - The Pack is Back.   F*ck you Atlantic records!
Anthrax - Among the Living.   Yeah I said it!
Saxon - Crusader.  Yawn!
DRI & Suicidal Tendencies going 'metal'
Bathory - Octagon & Requiem.   Floating turds in an otherwise flawless catalogue.


The fact that my list has sold a combined 50 squillion copies means I'm in a minority but all of these record made me angry when released (with the exception of Bathory which I didn't hear till years later

Boris2008 wrote:

There have been a few
Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium.  Again I love it now but when I first heard it I freaked

You actually love it now? I still can't stand that album. It has some decent songs, but overall it does nothing for me.

I can only think of a couple that really left a foul taste in my mouth after hearing it.

The first one I remember is Exodus, Pleasures of the Flesh. I actually like this album now, but remember when it first came out with Zetro singing, and the production was different, and the whole vibe of the band seemed so much different than it did with Bonded by Blood, plus add to the fact that it took them what seemed forever to release it, I was a bit pissed off at the time it came out.

Metallicas Black album is another one that still pisses me off. I loved them so much, I gave them a pass on it when it was released, and listened to it many times trying to force myself to look past the fact that they sold out and made such a shit album. How you can go from the thrash fking kings to that is beyond me.

Another one is Savatage's Gutter Ballet. Why it gets so much love baffles my mind. The songs on it that are good, are really good, much sadly for my taste, there isn't enough good to get past the bad. I pretty much gave up on them altogether after the follow up disappointing garbage, Streets: A Borefest Opera. Though I did like Poets and Madmen somewhat, but I don't own it. Just listened to it a coupe times on youtube. Might pick it up one day if I get it for the right price.

There's probably more, but those are the ones that stand out the most for me.

My biggest disappointment is Boris' post above. Pretty much disagree with everything, other than the Raven line.

My biggest disappointments are Quiet Riot I and II. As a kid I remember reading that Quiet Riot had released two albums prior to 'Metal Health' but had featured Randy Rhoads on guitar. I was 13 when 'Metal Health' came out and I loved the album, and I was already a huge Ozzy/Randy fan, so I went searching for it.

In these pre-internet days I couldn't just order the albums online, and the hunt went on for years. It was not til I was 19 or 20 years old that I finally scored a copy of 'Quiet Riot I' on bootleg vinyl. After so many years, after all the fruitless searches, I put i on and I was..... disappointed!

I now own bootleg versions of both Quiet Riot I and II, both on CD, while I like them slightly better than I did as a kid, I can see why Ms Rhoads would never authorize their release. Thou she and the estate did give in a little bit with 'Randy Rhoads Years' comp

Megadeth-Youthanasia is the first one that comes to mind. When I first saw the cover I thought it was gonna be a monster but I ended up only liking a few songs.

Tesla-Simplicity. I’ve always liked Tesla with Skeoch and found something to like on the albums with Rude but Simplicity is a complete turd.

King Kobra - Thrill of a lifetime

I still remember buting this on the day of its release in Norway.. What a dissapointing follow up to their great first album.

Anthrax - Euphoria

I felt like it was more of the same as Among The Living, only that everything was weaker. It has grown on me but still a dissapointing follow up to three of the greatest albums in Metal (EP, Spreading, Among)

Quiet Riot - QR

One of my up till then favorite bands QR - teaming up with the amazing Shortino. I had high hopes, the album is just meh all the way through IMO.. Don`t know what happend there really?

I have to agree with Olaf - KK Thrill is one I still cannot listen to. Autograph - That's The Stuff is right next door. Good thing KKIII and Autograph - Loud n Clear totally made up for those missteps! Miss you Olaf!

KISS - the elder - and unmasked - leave it to KISS to give you the ole one two.
Heavy Metal was always a hit or miss back then.
People today have it so easy with YouTube -
I hated Garage Days Metallica -
Rough Cutt Wants You ...was a notch down
Guns and Roses....after A F D - etc
But even if I was disappointed then - I still listen and revisit them all.
Metal - is still fun to crank and drive to - but prices aren’t low -

Thanks for the replies everyone. Some of the picks I agreed with and some I was surprised at (Anthrax and Boston) but cool reads nonetheless.

I was pretty let down with this release as I knew Paul Gilbert as a shredder and loved Mr. Sheehan's work with DLR. So, when this came out I eagerly snatched up a cassette copy:



Today, I really like this album and have almost the entire Mr. Big discography save for a few hard to fJapan only releases. But, the lead single was the killer "Addicted to that Rush" and I thought the entire album would be just like this tune. Also, I was suckered in by the pre release hype in all the Metal mags and rags of the day proclaiming the epic combo of these musicians joining up with the late Mr. Torpey and veteran vocalist Eric Martin. I remember just being left flat after the first listen and shelving the tape for a long time. I stayed away until the 2000's when I gave it a second chance and really liked it. Eventually, I acquired quite a few more discs from the band over the next decade but it was hard to get over that initial disappointment.

Priest - Turbo
Extol - Blueprint Dives
Sabbath - Born Again
Mortification - Silver Cord

Hated all those when they first came out, love 3 of them now, kinda made peace w/Turbo, well, sort of...

Witchfinder wrote:

Primal Fear delivered the follow up to Painkiller that I wanted the next year with their debut.

Aside from the amazing opening track, that album sounds nothing at all like "Painkiller" and far more like the Euro-flower metal that was going on at the time.  "Painkiller" had very aggressive vocals and a lot of quasi-shred lead guitars all over the place on top of super-adept double bass drumming.

I know it was hyped/sold as a Priest clone/"Painkiller" follow-up but for the most part it wasn't. I wish it was because I would've loved it then.

Tyran Pace was MUCH more of a Judas Priest clone, albeit it from the "Defenders" era.

I personally love OU812. I don't think it's any worse than 5150 or really any other VH album except the debut. Excellent hard rock. The production is unique and maybe that turns some folks off.

For me:

Metallica - Load (the ultimate let-down)
Megadeth - Youthanasia
Testament - The Ritual
Judas Priest - Demolition (it grew on me a bit, but when I first heard it I want to throw it as far as I could)
Queensryche - Promised Land (seriously boring)
Fates Warning - Disconnected (still can't get into this one, but maybe it's better than FWX?)
Dream Theater - Falling into Infinity (a tough listen)
Anthrax - Sound of White Noise (mostly crap but a few good songs)
Guns n Roses - Use your Illusion (both of them) - Some bands are one hit wonders, GNR is a one-album wonder

Quiet Riot, as a band overall. I was just getting into metal (around 13-14 old), and Cum On Feel The Noize was like my favorite song ever back then, thanks to GTA Vice City. After I finally found out who played it, and after I bought Metal Health on cd, which wasn't exactly easy to do, all I've got was 2 songs (title track and coftn). Sadly QR never came even close to those two songs, ever.