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 Can we say it now? Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy was a colossal bust. Hardly worth the $9.99 it costs on iTunes, much less the 100-year wait. It's also one of the biggest flops and most overhyped albums in recent memory.
 

Big flops and extreme hype usually go hand-in-hand. This doesn't mean they're bad albums. A lot of them are really good. And a lot succeed commercially, even if they don't change the world. They just promised way more than they could deliver. These albums usually involve more PR than talent. Here are five tales of overhyping through the years:

OVERHYPE BY TURNING A FLUB INTO "IMPORTANCE"

Dixie Chicks: Taking the Long Way (2006)

The Chicks' 2006 release perfectly exemplifies the overhype that occurs when a near-fatal public relations accident is turned into a singular, career-changing save. This album's "importance" is more of a testament to some genius PR than anything else.

Here's the story: in the middle of their Top of the World tour, lead singer Natalie Maines dissed George Bush at the onset of the Iraq War. Everyone freaked out, and Maines became a lightning rod in the nation's debate about patriotism and freedom of speech in the midst of a war. Of course, a single was quickly produced ("Not Ready to Make Nice"), and their Long Way Around album was turned into THE album of 2006 instead of just another in a long line of tasteful, Rick Rubin-produced projects.

OVERHYPE BY PULLING EMOTIONAL HEART STRINGS

Bruce Springsteen: The Rising (2002)

This was billed as the Boss' "9/11" album. How can you say anything after that statement? You're doomed. It HAS to be important, and it HAS to be the best album of the era, right? Look, I'm as big a Springsteen fan as anyone, and after those two "Hollywood" albums (Human Touch and Lucky Town) and The Ghost of Tom Joad folk exploration, I was happy to have him reunited with the E Street Band. Still, The Rising is no Born To Run, and the hype was laid on too thick. We'll see how the spin machine plays his Working on a Dream album due out January 27.

OVERHYPE BY SHEER SPENDING POWER

U2: every album since Pop

With their new album, No Line on the Horizon, due in March, we should remember the economic power that U2 possesses. From K-Mart store gigs to performing on a flatbed truck driving in Manhattan to Apple commercials to post-9/11 Super Bowl shows wearing American flag jackets, U2 will pull every rabbit out of every hat to let you know they are here, they are important, and their current album is the best album they have ever made.

OVERHYPE THROUGH THE PASSAGE OF TIME

Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks (1977)

There are so many albums that get enshrined in "greatness" overhype, it's impossible to list them all in a single blog. Seems like most records that make it past 20 years have a shot at overhype legacy.

This one comes to mind above the rest, mainly because the entire band's existence owes more to hype than anything else. Punk impresario Malcolm McLaren was a genius at creating spectacles, and the Sex Pistols were his crowning achievement. With every passing year, this album gets more and more credit than it deserves. Give me a Clash record any day.

THE COMEBACK OVERHYPE MACHINE

Prince: Musicology (2004)

After changing his name from "Slave" to an unpronounceable symbol and making more than a few questionable albums (The Rainbow Children anyone?), the world was ready for a solid Prince album. So even though he never really went away (the three years between albums was the longest in his career), Musicology was billed as his great return, an album that brought him back to his Purple Rain greatness. An album to make everyone remember that Prince is the greatest musician on the face of the planet. And on and on and on...

My verdict? It's a hell of a lot better than most of his '90s output, but it's no masterpiece.

Check out our FlipBook with more overhype offenders, including:

OutKast's Idlewild
Nirvana's In Utero
The Beatles' Let It Be...Naked
Courtney Love's America's Sweetheart

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