Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.

The 2010s were a crazy time for music. Maybe not the craziest time, pound for pound, when compared with any other decade. But certainly, you could say it was a time for creative chaos, sometimes incredible inconsistency, because not only did the radically changing musical landscape put a lot of artists in a position where they didn't exactly know how to keep up with the times, but also the ability for just about anybody to put out any album that they want at any time, regardless of the quality level or how much they worked on it. It led to some stinkers because obviously the ease of releasing records digitally, especially during a time when people don't even need to pay for entry per se via piracy or streaming. It lowers the stakes of putting out a new album.

So what I'm essentially trying to do here is list out the 30 albums that, to me, were the most disappointing releases of the 2010s. Albums that we wanted to be good, that we hoped would be good, but then completely missed the mark. Also, keep in mind, I know there are way more than 30 albums that were released in the 2010s that were disappointing in some form or fashion. Feel free to throw any record you feel I've missed down into the comments.

Also this list is in no particular order, as this list is not necessarily an assessment of how bad or awful any of these albums are or a ranking of that. It's merely me saying there were at least some high hopes going into these projects that were pretty much dashed upon their release. And with that being said, let's slide over the first album here.

Chance the Rapper - The Big Day

First record on the chopping block here. Do I even need to explain why this was a disappointment? This is like, roundly accepted by everyone to be one of the biggest misses in all of popular music throughout the 2010s. And look, I'm not even the biggest Chance the Rapper fan. I didn't go into this record thinking that any project he dropped, frankly, up to the lead up of this was amazing or mind-blowing. But considering just like, how much mainstream clout Chance had at the time of this record, how many good or great songs he had released up until this point, and how much of the industry was so desperate to work with him around this project and make it something good, make it something special. There's no reason this album should have come out as awful as it did. I would even go as far as to say that this album is really not a reflection of Chance the Rapper's actual musical talent. And yet somehow we got the album that we did as if, I don't know, the quality of record releases is somehow based upon pure stupid luck.

M83 - Junk

Next on the list, we are going M83 Junk. Really, truly no idea what happened with this record. I mean, as far as indietronica goes or modern electronic pop music, M83 is far from one of my favorite projects out there. There are even some albums in the project's catalog that I would say are a tad bit overrated. But even by M83's usual standards, Junk was a massive step down and just made me wonder what all the hype was about in the first place, I suppose, on some level.

Brockhampton - Iridescence

After this, I am going Brockhampton Iridescence. For anybody who knows and has followed the Brockhampton story, you pretty much know the drama and the lead-up, and the lineup shift that led to the release of this record. And while Iridescence definitely didn't turn out as bad or as awful as it could have, still in retrospect, the record reads like a test or a paper or a piece of homework that you had to rearrange or change a bunch of your answers on last minute. You guys know what I'm saying. This just feels like a very last-minute chop job to make this album work in some way, shape, or form, despite the fact that the group underwent a pretty massive lineup shift just before the record came out.

Lil Wayne - Rebirth

Okay, next after this, that would be Lil Wayne's Rebirth. Really digging early into the 2010s for this one. Now, you may say, Anthony, you are absolutely positively insane if you had high hopes at all for a Lil Wayne rock album, essentially. And yeah, okay, true. You have a fair point. But did the record need to be so bad? It's essentially torture. Yeah, sure. It wasn't going to be amazing. It wasn't going to be one of the best Lil Wayne albums ever. That much was clear. But did it need to be so bad that Wayne fans are essentially afraid to utter the title of this record? No.

Eminem - Revival

After this, another massive dud from a massive 2000s as a hip hop artist. That would be Eminem, Revival, another album that at this point feels like it doesn't really need explaining. It's widely understood by everyone to be his worst record, especially considering Marshall Mathers LP 2 just happened. We know Eminem can put out some great stuff when the stakes are high and there's a bit of a fire under his ass. But revival in terms of songwriting ideas, collaborations, and really just cringe bars is a nightmare and a half.

Logic - Supermarket

Next on the list, we are going Logic, Supermarket, which, again, like the Lil Wayne record, sure, you could make the point that we shouldn't be expecting a Logic rock and pop-ish album to be great. But still, did it need to be as bad as it was? That "Lemon Drop" track still haunts me to this day. Plus, we've given poor Bobby enough of a hard time off of this record. Let's move on.

Kid Cudi - Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven

Also, we've given Scott Mescudi enough of a hard time off of this record right here, Kid Cudi, Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven, which, again, sure, you could say Anthony, a Kid Cudi rock album wasn't going to be mind-blowing, especially since he had already dabbled in that style prior and had some mixed results. And also, yes, it is true that in retrospect, respective of giving this record the lowest possible score that I could, part of me is enamored with it in a way, with how out there it is and how much Cudi really went for it with this album being as indulgent as it is and as, I guess, unashamedly bad it is at points. And also it's 90 friggin' minutes. But still, with that being said, you can't really ignore the fact that upon release, this record truly was a shock. And while you could say that it has its merits, Kid Cudi really did not give a fuck on this album, and it certainly walked so that records like the recent Lil Yachty psych-pop extravaganza he just dropped, could run. That much is true. But again, the release of this album was definitely still something, and it's nowhere near one of Kid Cudi's best.

Flying Lotus - Flamagra

Next, we are doing Flying Lotus, Flamagra. I'm still wondering what the heck this album was trying to be. It's really just a strange album for one of the most pioneering, exciting, and bold and creative producers of the 2010s to have released, because with his approach to synthesizers, effects, grooves, Flying Lotus really did in many ways, like reinvent the hip hop production handbook, really in ways I feel like we're yet to fully appreciate. He was just on a creative streak in the late 2000s and early 2010s that is going to need to be studied in retrospect with how much impact and influence he had on the way that a lot of beats were sounding. But Flamagra is really just... I feel like him losing that plotline a bit. And really the first full-length album that I could truly say was not only behind the curve, but also saw him wading into the weeds and experimenting in ways that didn't quite land.

Crystal Castles - Amnesty

All right, following this, we are going Crystal Castles, Amnesty. Now, with Alice Glass having departed from the duo before this came out, no possible way was this thing going to frigging be good. But it's still disappointing that it happened, not just because of the awful allegations that came out in the wake of this album, but also even if none of that came to light. Alice Glass, to really all Crystal Castles fans, was such an important and vital part of the duo's music and appeal, regardless of whatever you could argue was the ratio of creative input, musically or production-wise from Alice or Ethan. And just swapping her out with another vocalist with another front woman as if she's just replaceable like that was really fucked up, was only going to yield the type of shitty results you actually hear when you listen to this album.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

After this, we have Yeah Yeah Yeahs, misconstrue. Yeah, This album is pretty awful. On the surface, I get how you might be able to misconstrue this album for a return to form as it is the band indulging again in their reverb-y, raw, messy garage rock punk sound. But the awful, redundant, and reductive lyrics throughout these tracks are proof of the band's lack of songwriting inspiration on this thing. That Dr. Octagon feature is really quite a mess and a very awkward inclusion as well. But yeah, this is quite handily the band's worst album, I'll say that.

Weezer - Pacific Daydream

You could argue that I could probably put at least a few Weezer albums in this list. Considering that the band's discography tends to be rocky. They really have a reputation for inconsistency, to say the least. But I have limited myself to one singular Weezer choice in this list, and I'm going with Pacific Daydream. This record truly is the sound of the band, like writing some of their most saccharin, annoying, synthetic, and soulless music yet in their entire catalog.

Tool - Fear Inoculum

After this, we are going Tool, Fear Inoculum, which, yeah, the famed progressive metal outfit's comeback album that many fans to this day will defend. I will say that. Maybe this is just more my opinion that this album was a massive disappointment. The thing about this record, though, is that to me, it loses sight of what made Tool's music originally throughout their entire catalog good. Rather than give us mind-creative, psychedelic, meditative, progressive metal tracks that are thrilling and exciting at the same time, we got a bunch of indulgent jams that go much of nowhere a lot of the time, really stale out within minutes. Again, really, anything that made Tool interesting to begin with is missing on this record. While on some level, the vibes are certainly there, there's just no punch to this album.

Katy Perry - Witness

After that, we are going Katy Perry, Witness, which, given the release of her new record, 143, is retrospectively being seen as the beginning of the end for Katy Perry. It was really this record that began to end her winning streak in the pop realm, as there wasn't really anything super memorable to come off of this album, and every project she's dropped since this record has just gotten worse and worse.

ASAP Rocky - At. Long. Last. ASAP

After this, we are going ASAP Rocky, At. Long. Last. ASAP. I know there are a lot of Rocky fans that are going to disagree with me on this one massively. But still, to this day, I just don't really see the appeal of this album per se. It sees Rocky going back to his classic cloud-wrapped form, and yet almost none of the material is as good as anything as we got off his breakout mixtape. And simultaneously, you don't really have any of the massive commercial smashes that we got off of his big commercial debut. With that being said, though, I am very much looking forward to the next Rocky album, and it's just been too damn long since we've got a record from him because I do think he is genuinely one of the more interesting and creative voices and figures within intense hip hop.

Travis Scott - Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

After this, we are doing Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, Travis Scott, another album that, for whatever reason, his fans come to the defense of despite the fact that it is painfully mid and I think came out in a bit of a rush. This thing came out within a year of his incredible commercial studio full-length debut, Rodeo, and you can really hear it. Pretty much all the tracks on this thing sound like mid-ass Rodeo leftovers. I feel like the unfortunate thing about this record is that Travis Scott essentially learned the lesson that he took from it is that he didn't actually need to pack his songs with good and thoughtful and memorable songwriting, that he didn't actually need to give us cool and interesting listing song structures per se on his songs. He could merely hit us with a vibe and just repeat that ad nauseam until the track finishes, and that'll be just enough for people to consume it and think it's good because you're not really getting the super catchy, multifaceted, progressive song structures that you got off a Rodeo that were so amazing. Sure, while to a degree, that did come back quite a bit on the following album, Astroworld, a lot of the deep cuts on that record aren't super strong, at least not as strong and consistent as what we got off a rodeo. But yeah, with every year that passes, Birds in the Trap just proves itself to be less and less interesting in comparison with all of Travis's other albums. And outside of a couple of tracks, there's not really much of a reason to go back to it.

Fall Out Boy - Mania

Moving on from there, we're doing Fall Out Boy, Mania, which may be an album you could argue that, Anthony, there's no reason to expect a Fall Out Boy album at this point in the band's career to be great. And sure, that is true. I don't think I or much of anybody had super, super, super high hopes for this album. However, it really truly is so bad and so shockingly awful that even the band's most devoted fans could not come to the defense of this album, as it was pretty much the band throwing their entire rock appeal into the garbage and instead, almost like writing shitty EDM or really just truly some of the worst electropop to come out this decade. And what's funny is it's almost as if Blink 182 took this same page from Fall Out Boys' book and they're like, 'Yeah, we're going to write a terrible synthetic overproduced album, too.' That record is not on this list. I will spoil it and say that. You know what? There's only room for one band of emo and pop punk legends on this list, deciding to gravitate away from their classic sound and write an electronic piece of crap. And yeah, it's this one. This is the one.

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Alright. After this, we have Arcade Fire with Everything Now. Yeah, the band really lost the plot on this one. It's unfortunately the sound of the group trying to write almost like a commentary, a satire, a parody of some futuristic, soulless music and art. And rather than successfully nailing that down. They actually ended up just creating the thing that they're supposed to be, I don't know, ripping on in a way. So yeah, in the process of commenting on how lifeless and uninspired the present day is, the future looks, they just wrote a very uninspired album.

Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

After this, we are going Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride. Yeah, you could really hear that Rostum left the group on this one. I'm going to say that. I'm going to leave it there. The new record is a banger, though. The new record is a banger.

Animal Collective - Centipede Hz

Alright, next. Animal Collective, Centipede Hz. A record that sits at a peculiar point in the band's discography, for sure. An album that, in retrospect, there is a lot of conversation around in terms of whether or not it's actually a bad or a disappointment in any way, shape, or form. You could argue in a way that this record was the group returning to form to some degree as it's more along the lines of the very abstract and out there and electronically enhanced psychedelia that they were known for. It was actually the very sweet and catchy and pop-centric Merriweather Post Pavilion that was more of the departure. But personally, with all of the muddy mixes and stagnant song structures, there aren't just a whole lot of colors or thrills to be had throughout Centipede Hz, in my opinion. And regardless of how people feel about the album now, there was definitely a cool-down point happening.

Gorillaz - Humanz

After this, Gorillaz, Humanz, a record that for many Gorillaz fans is really the weakest major studio album in the group's catalog, and for good reason, as the songwriting across the record is not that great, the production much of the time is okay. 2D's vocals are not nearly as prominent as they could have been. The features overtake a lot of the tracks on the record, and I feel like you lose sight of what exactly a freaking Gorillaz album is. Obviously, a lot of money and focus and ambition went into this project, but I feel like in the process of doing a record that was so big and was trying to be so over the top, Gorillaz lost its personality as a musical project in a way.

LCD Soundsystem - American Dream

After this, LCD Soundsystem, American Dream. There are some LCD Soundsystem fans that will very much disagree with me on this one big time, and I get it. I understand. There are even some tracks off this record that have grown on me since I have relistened to the Electric Lady sessions that were recorded post the release of this album. Hearing them in that more raw and live state, I feel like just makes them more appealing. With that being said, the production and mixes on this album are not as clear or as punchy or as interesting as pretty much anything you could compare them to in LCD Sound System's back catalog. James Murphy's various attempts at social commentary across this record a lot of the time fall flat. The choruses are not that great, and I feel like the band loses a lot of touch with their usual dance appeal on this project as well. Plus, it's a very odd album, contextually, to exist because it wasn't too long before this record that the band had this big dramatic breakup with Madison Square Garden show and everything like that.

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

Continuing on, though, We also have Lana Del Rey, Born to Die, a record whose tacky production and god-awful lyrics and weak, weak, weak, weak, weak lead vocals were a major disappointment for anybody who is coming into this record with super high hopes, considering how much hype Lana burst onto the scene with. That's not to say that I'm against Lana starting her career or having a career. I mean, I loved her latest full-length album. I feel like she has come a long way vocally and lyrically since the release of this record. I mean, just by the law of averages, not every artist is going to have a super strong start. I'm not saying I would rather this album not exist or anything like that. In fact, I think it's actually really impressive how much Lana has grown since the release of this album. But with that being said, if you were there at the time, you very clearly remember that there was a lot of back and forth. This album was very polarizing when it came out because tracks like "Video Games" were just so huge. They were unignorable, and it seemed like Lana was the hot new thing that everybody needed to be on board with. And when this album came out, it really did fall short of everyone's expectations for the most part.

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

After this, it is Justice with Audio, Video, Disco, which not only was a pretty huge departure from the incredible house debut they made with Cross, but it really just did not measure up to that album in any way, shape, or form, even if the duo was trying to consciously verge away from that a bit and dive more into the funk and pop and disco music that was influencing their brand of electronic music.

Drake - Views

We also have a Drake, Views, which I know there's going to be some Drake Stans that are like, 'Hey, Views isn't bad.' But I'm sorry, coming off of a mixtape as hard and as great and as consistent as if you're reading this and then going to this, yeah, that's a step fucking down. In fact, that's several steps down. I'm sorry.

The Strokes - Comedown Machine

We also have The Strokes, Comedown Machine, which we were definitely coming down on this album, really the blandest and most underwritten Strokes album to date a record that, thankfully, the band has very much bested since its release. Seems like these days are very much behind the band at this point, and I'm glad for it.

Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Lupe Fiasco Lasers is really one of the most awkward genre transitions any hip hop artist attempted to make in the 2010s. I feel like, unfortunately, Lupe was a bit of a canary in the coal mine with this one and was really experimenting with the idea of a rapper who was as lyrical and as alternative in his backpack as him, flirting with the idea of doing more pop stuff, more electronic stuff. And the album just turned out to be the nightmare that it is. Thankfully though, Lupe has gone on to make some incredible records and really return to form in numerous ways.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

We have also Radiohead, The King of Limbs. I feel like there has been a lot of ink spilled, a lot of pixels posted about why this record is weak in comparison with the rest of Radiohead's catalog. I don't really know if I have anything to add to that discourse at this point, at least not anything that I haven't already said a million frigging times as I was literally there reviewing this album upon release, was unimpressed with it when it came out, and I'm still unimpressed with it now. But at least we have The Smile, I guess. and A Moon Shaped Pool is an incredible record as well.

Tyler, the Creator - Cherry Bomb

Moving on from there. Tyler, the Creator, Cherry Bomb. Yeah, this album seemed like Tyler was trying to go back to his edgy side, was trying to be a version of himself that just didn't really exist anymore. However, you definitely did have some musical ideas cropping up here and there that were setting things up for what would come on Flower Boy. So it's definitely a necessary transitional point of sorts. But yeah, terrible production, terrible songwriting, Tyler trying too hard. In numerous ways, he himself has acknowledged that this album and what he was doing at this point in his career wasn't very good, and some of it was even coming from a place of insecurity even.

Kanye West - Jesus is King

We also have Kanye West, Jesus is King. I know this era of Kanye's career is pretty rough and inconsistent. There's no denying that. But there really was no reason for this record to come out as garbage as it did. Not only does it fail on a production front, it also fails on a songwriting front. It fails on a lyrical front. It fails on also the front of what it's trying to do conceptually, because obviously, Kanye is trying to make a statement of his devotion to Christ and to Christianity on this record on some level, but it just ends up being an indulgent piece of shit. The only good thing this album did truly was that it got Clipse back together.

The Roots - …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin

And finally, last one on the list here is going to be what is currently the last album The Roots released, …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin. While it's far from the worst, worst, worst album on this list or the worst album you could listen to, you have to admit it's a disappointment, and it's not that great by The Roots' usual standards, which are obviously, when you look at the band's catalog, very high. In the world of hip hop, there are a few discographies that are as consistent and are as creative and go as hard as The Roots catalog. Even the relative low moments and minor records, especially during that '90s and 2000s era, are great and worth listening to. But things really do drop off here on this 2014 album because it's just such a scant record. It doesn't really have, I think, the details and the production and the conceptual magic that some of their best records do, especially considering this album came off of Undone, which frankly is one of the most interesting albums in the band's catalog. Yeah, I mean, honestly, I don't quite know what it is that made this album as weak as it did, maybe it's just the fact that The Roots have so much going on in their career at this point, and they are so just established, and there are so many other obligations in front of them as a music group other than just making new albums. They're pretty much veterans of the game at this point. They don't need to write new music per se for people to listen to their old records, for people to go to a show. I mean, I've even been to fucking Roots concerts since the release of this album. So yeah, while I think this album is handily the weakest in their catalog, and it was a massive drop-off from the previous record, it in no way defines the group's impact, influence, or creativity in any way.

Boom. There you have it. The 30 most disappointing albums of the 2010s, in my opinion. Again, make sure to let me know yours down in the comments. I'm sure you will.

Anthony Fantano. Disappointing Albums. Forever.