The Biggest Flops In Music History

If you ask musicians, they'll tell you a pretty dire story about the future of their industry. Gone are the days when even mid-level artists could make a living wage off of their tunes; replaced by a digital environment that squeezes every last penny. But this isn't a new event — since the dawn of music, record companies have been betting big on stars with expensive production and marketing budgets. In this feature, we'll spotlight ten records that had everything they needed to succeed...except good music.

Meat Loaf, "Dead Ringer"

One of the most unlikely rock 'n' roll success stories of the 1970s was "Bat Out of Hell," the sophomore album from Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf. Featuring bombastic production and ridiculously complex arrangements from writer Jim Steinman, it's possibly the ultimate dad rock album, having sold 43 million copies around the world. So expectations were high for Loaf's 1981 follow-up,

"Dead Ringer." Unfortunately, the Loafster didn't live up to them. The record's choogle style was painfully out of date in the early '80s and it sold a measly fraction of its predecessor, pissing off record label execs to no end.

Kreayshawn, "Somethin' 'Bout Kreay"

One lesson that record companies are learning the hard way in the 21st century is that viral video success doesn't necessarily lead to big sales. Rapper Kreayshawn had an enormous YouTube hit in 2011 with "Gucci Gucci," which picked up over 3 million views in just a few weeks and brought "basic" into the white girl lexicon worldwide. She was signed by Columbia Records and 2012 saw her first album, "Somethin' 'Bout Kreay," drop. The record was given plenty of promotion and featured Diplo, 2 Chainz and Kid Cudi, but nobody wanted to actually pay money for it — it sold a measly 2,900 copies its first week. In January 2014, Kreayshawn tweeted a royalty statement of one penny for her cut of sales. Ouch.

Van Halen, "III"

The replacement of David Lee Roth to create the abomination we call "Van Hagar" was bad enough, but when Sammy left the band, too, things got really bad. The 1998 album "III" marked the debut of singer Gary Cherone, formerly of Extreme, and also featured minimal contributions from long-time bassist Michael Anthony. The end result was an album full of meandering jams that didn't capture the greatness of either previous era of Van Halen. Although it debuted at #4 on the Billboard rock charts, "III" fell fast, and the band wouldn't release a new studio album for over 12 years (with David Lee Roth back behind the microphone, as God intended).

Carly Hennessy, "Ultimate High"

"American Idol" was seen as a one-way ticket to musical success, but one contestant in the show's seventh season had already been through the industry grind and failed. Carly Hennessy (or Carly Smithson as she was called on the show) signed with MCA in 2001 and released "Ultimate High," an innocuous dance-pop record that the label had big ambitions for. They spent over $2 million to market the platter, which seemed pretty stupid when it sold just 378 copies in its first three months. After Smithson was eliminated from "Idol,: the album enjoyed a second wind, but not $2 million worth.

Garth Brooks, "Garth Brooks In... The Life of Chris Gaines"

In the 1990s, Garth Brooks was on top of the world. His rock-tinged crossover country had captured a massive audience and paved the way for dozens of artists. But by 1999, he wanted more. He wanted to step outside of his comfort zone, and did so in the weirdest way possible: by becoming someone else. Chris Gaines was a fictional Australian rock star who Brooks invented for a feature film called "The Lamb," and recorded a tie-in album to be released in advance to raise interest in the project. Unfortunately, "The Life Of Chris Gaines" had the opposite effect. Even though it debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts, it sank like a stone afterwards and Brooks announced his retirement from touring and recording the next year.

Soulja Boy, "The DeAndre Way"

In a just and perfect world, Soulja Boy wouldn't sell a single record ever. But the Atlanta rapper won the love of the record industry with the insane success of "Crank That" in 2007, and he was quickly signed to Interscope, where he released a debut album entirely produced with the free version of FruityLoops. By his third album, he announced that he wanted to work with Jay-Z and Eminem (both of whom declined). "The DeAndre Way" was released in 2010, but the highest-profile guest was 50 Cent. The album only sold 13,360 copies in its first week, compared to 117,000 for his debut. Of course, he blames the label and not his own complete lack of talent.

Jesse & the 8th Street Kidz, "Jesse & the 8th Street Kidz"

For an album to truly be a flop, we believe it needs to have the muscle of a major record company behind it. Plenty of indie records drop every year to single-digit sales, but when you've got big money and big media involved, it means a little more. Remember Jesse Camp? He was the winner of MTV's first "Wanna Be A VJ" contest — MTV used to show music videos, and VJs were the people who introduced them — and became an instant pop culture icon. Hollywood Records signed him to a deal, and he put a band together and recorded an album in 1999 that featured guests like Stevie Nicks. The record, which consisted of glam-metal that sounded dated in the post-grunge age, sold a measly 2,600 copies on release, failing to even crack the Billboard Top 200 despite a promo deal with Best Buy.

Allman and Woman, "Two the Hard Way"

Usually, pairing two world-class recording artists is a recipe for big money. But for Cher and Gregg Allman, who were both at the top of their games in the late 1970s, that recipe made an inedible meal. The duo, who met in 1975, released "Two The Hard Way" as Allman And Woman in 1977. It's an incredibly demented product, trying to fuse Allman's southern rock with Cher's mid-period disco and creating a sort of polyester Frankenstein. When it dropped, fans of both artists were disappointed and the album sold poorly. Cher dumped Greg Allman after his drug use led him to pass out face-first into a plate of spaghetti, and since she owns the rights to the album, it may never be re-released.

Robin Thicke, "Paula"

With the massive success of "Blurred Lines", Robin Thicke was poised to be the next Justin Timberlake — a white R&B crossover success who appealed to men and women alike. Then he cheated on his wife with his massage therapist and it all went to hell. In 2014, Thicke and Paula Patton split up after almost ten years of marriage, but the crooner wasn't done yet. He spent the year preparing "Paula," a "baby take me back" album designed to repair his relationship with Patton. It... didn't work. On any level. Not only did the duo stay split, the record was a complete bomb, selling only 30,000 copies in its first two weeks. Critical response was equally dismal, and Thicke spent the next year out of the public eye hoping fans would forget.

Guns N' Roses, "Chinese Democracy"

When the legendary Los Angeles hard rock band Guns N' Roses released "Chinese Democracy" in 2008, record company Geffen had to know that they'd never make their money back on it. Frontman Axl Rose had been working on the album since 1994, going through an army of musicians and studios and racking up costs that allegedly exceeded $13 million — the most that's ever been spent on a single album. It would have to be a "Thriller"-level success for the label to recoup that. Spoiler: it wasn't. The label secured an exclusive deal with Best Buy to debut the album, and sales dropped a flabbergasting 78% in their second week. It was eventually certified platinum in 2009, but by then the writing was on the wall.