While many are keen to block out terrible music from their lives, there exists another group who can approach steaming hot garbage openly, with varying degrees of ironic appreciation.
And then there’s that unfortunate, outlying enigma – genuine fans of Limp Bizkit.
With the latter two groups in mind, we turned to review aggregator Metacritic to compile this list of the most critically panned albums in history.
From the works of Kevin Federline to Limp Bizkit, to multiple entries from Chris Brown, these LPs drew the ire of critics and provoked the repulsion of many.
Here are the 19 worst albums of all time, according to critics:
Note: The list only includes studio albums with seven or more reviews.
19. Enya — “A Day Without Rain”
Critic score: 41/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: “Unless you’re bound in an herbal body wrap, there’s simply no acceptable reason to listen to this New Age nonsense.” – Entertainment Weekly
18. Paul Oakenfold — “A Lively Mind”
Critic score: 40/100
User score: 2.2/10
What critics said: “On his new disc the veteran of populist trance shows himself unable to come up with anything remotely innovative or engaging, even for the dance floor.” – PopMatters
17. Backstreet Boys — “Never Gone”
Critic score: 40/100
User score: 6.0/10
What critics said: “Lest you doubted it, this is grotesque.” – Village Voice
16. Liz Phair — “Liz Phair”
Critic score: 40/100
User score: 6.4/10
What critics said: “‘Liz Phair’ proves so ultimately unnecessary, it might as well not even exist.” – Pitchfork
15. Alanis Morissette — “Jagged Little Pill Acoustic”
Critic score: 40/100
User score: 5.9/10
What critics said: “Like Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells II’ and Meat Loaf’s ‘Back Into Hell,’ it doesn’t so much play as fall out of the speakers with a flump: the sound of a towel being thrown in.” – The Guardian
14. Chris Brown — “Graffiti”
Critic score: 39/100
User score: 5.1/10
What critics said: “A curiously faceless album that largely thumbs its nose at close reading.” – The New York Times
13. Gucci Mane & V-Nasty — “BAYTL”
Critic score: 39/100
User score: 1.8/10
What critics said: “There is Michael Jackson bad, there is Ed Wood bad, and then there is BAYTL, a union so unholy that it cries out for a show on Bravo.” – Spin
12. Richard Ashcroft — “United Nations of Sound”
Critic score: 39/100
User score: 6.4/10
What critics said: “Sunk by a grating, calculated over-eagerness to please.” – Pitchfork
11. The Panic Channel — “(One)”
Critic score: 39/100
User score: 5.2/10
What critics said: “Sounds a lot like a collection of rejected Foo Fighters tunes.” – Rolling Stone
10. Chris Brown — “Fortune”
Critic score: 38/100
User score: 3.4/10
What critics said: “Not all of ‘Fortune’ is so unctuous, but none of it is inspired.” – The AV Club
9. Puddle of Mudd — “Life on Display”
Critic score: 37/100
User score: 4.7/10
What critics said: “Third-rate grunge retreads stuffed with overdriven guitars and generic rock-dude melancholia.” – Rolling Stone
8. Louis XIV — “Slick Dogs and Ponies”
Critic score: 37/100
User score: 5.9/10
What critics said: “‘Slick Dogs’ never coalesces into anything more than the sum of its noisy, jagged parts.” – Boston Globe
7. Charlie Puth — “Nine Track Mind”
Critic score: 37/100
User score: 4.4/10
What critics said: “‘Nine Track Mind’ whimpers like a sick kitten.” – Q Magazine
6. Lil Wayne — “Rebirth”
Critic score: 37/100
User score: 3.0/10
What critics said: “The songs might have been better as parodies than as imitations, although ‘Knockout’ – a Coldplay homage backing a raunchy lyric – comes close to being both.” – The New York Times
5. Dirty Vegas — “One”
Critic score: 35/100
User score: 2.1/10
What critics said: “Exhaustingly awful.” – Blender
4. Phil Collins — “Testify”
Critic score: 34/100
User score: 6.1/10
What critics said: “Middle-age is no excuse for such an unforgivably bland collection of over-emoted love songs.” – Q Magazine
3. Viva Brother — “Famous First Words”
Critic score: 34/100
User score: 2.7/10
What critics said: “This album is an abomination. It’s a rancid pile of regurgitated tripe.” – No Ripcord
2. Limp Bizkit — “Results May Vary”
Critic score: 33/100
User score: 4.1/10
What critics said: “Since the music has no melody, hooks, or energy, all attention is focused on the clown jumping up and down and screaming in front, and long before the record is over, you’re left wondering, how the hell did he ever get to put this mess out?” – AllMusic
1. Kevin Federline — “Playing With Fire”
Critic score: 15/100
User score: 2.2/10
What critics said: “Federline’s rhyme flow is the opposite of tight.” – Rolling Stone
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