The 20 biggest flops of 2008 | Metromix Washington D.C.

The 20 biggest flops of 2008

Albums that made record execs cry, from GNR, R.E.M. and other underachievers

By Andy Hermann, Metromix

(page 19 of 20)

The 20 biggest flops of 2008
(Credit: WireImage.com)

You think you’re feeling the pinch of these troubled economic times? Try working for a record label. U.S. album sales for 2008 were down roughly 15 percent from a year ago, and 2009 looks even bleaker.

Which albums have been leading the charge for this ignominious race to the bottom? Here, based on Metromix’s quasi-scientific number crunching, are the 20 albums that were the best (worst?) representation of the music industry’s dismal year.

Janet Jackson, 'Discipline'

Janet Jackson, 'Discipline'

Critic's Rating:
3

Ever since “Nipplegate,” Ms. Jackson’s sales have been in decline, culminating with the weak showing of this, her 10th release. Janet claimed her label, Island Def Jam, failed to support the record, but the truth is that three of the album’s four singles were duds and the disc fell off the Billboard 200 album chart after just 14 weeks. It has sold 415,000 copies to date, roughly two-thirds the total of her previous effort, “20 Y.O.”

 

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