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1->''The rock music critics gave them a caning, but English producers Music/StockAitkenWaterman took [[Music/KylieMinogue Kylie]] and her ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'' beau [[Music/JasonDonovan Jason]] to the top of the charts, with a sound as light as bubbles. It would be some years before her records would acquire credibility, but they sold on the strength of Kylie's niceness.''
2-->-- '''Long Way to the Top: Stories of Australian Rock & Roll'''
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7* ClassicalMusic and {{Jazz}} tend to be more praised by critics, intellectuals and the like for being beautiful works of artistic expression. To most plain folks, it’s just a nice tune to play in the background but not too long before they put on a pop music record again.
8** More divisive still is avant-garde classical music and jazz. While critics praise people like Music/IgorStravinsky, Music/BelaBartok, Arnold Schoenberg, Music/EdgardVarese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/PhilipGlass, Music/CharlesMingus, Music/EricDolphy, Music/JohnColtrane, Music/TheloniousMonk, Sunray, and Music/OrnetteColeman, most average music fans see this music as loud, obnoxious, and impenetrable, preferring gentler classical and jazz if they listen to them at all. There have been [[GenreThrowback movements toward traditionalism]] in both classical and jazz in reaction to the dominance of avant-gardism in the 20th century.
9** "Classical crossover" music gets the opposite reaction: massively successful and popular among the general public, but hated by most classical critics for being watered-down, commercial, and focused on a few [[StandardSnippet standard snippets]] as opposed to full symphonies or operas. The overwhelming focus on costumes and pageantry also tends to draw accusations of pretentiousness from critics of pop music, who think that it makes all of classical music look elitist.
10* CountryMusic is a weird example of this, with the dissonance being within the general public. Outside of the United States, country music isn't very popular. In fact, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, the largest radio market in the US, has only one country music radio station (WNSH-FM 94.7, which only came on the air in 2013[[note]]Between 2002 and 2013, there were ''zero'' country stations anywhere in the New York market.[[/note]]), and it struggles in the local ratings and serves more as the flagship for Cumulus Media's Nash FM radio network than anything. Oftentimes liking country music (other than alternative groups, crossover pop artists, or legends) is seen as akin to liking UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}, and will get you called a hillbilly or redneck (or racist). It doesn’t help that the majority of people who listen to country music ''only'' listen to country music, thus [[PopCultureIsolation limiting interaction with fans of other genres]] (other than maybe classic rock). However, simply based on numbers, country music could be considered the most popular genre of music in America. And within the genre itself...
11** The crops of country hitmakers in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens were usually artists like Music/LukeBryan, Music/JasonAldean, Music/BrantleyGilbert, and Music/FloridaGeorgiaLine, who are all criticized for their heavy rock influence, over-reliance on party jams, and heavily sexualized lyrics; despite this, such artists spent most of the decade's latter half dominating the sales charts. This ultimately ended up being subverted as "bro-country" overstayed its welcome, with the ensuing backlash causing most of the aforementioned artists to shift to a more ballad-focused sound without losing their momentum. It also led to a rise in more romantically inclined "boyfriend country" and a resurgence in female artists, who were marginalized in "bro-country"'s prime.
12** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIFomfwGrJw This video]] by Mark Grondin of ''WebVideo/SpectrumPulse'' discusses this. Among other things, he blames this trope on the critics' end for the prevalence of LowestCommonDenominator junk within the genre, arguing that the dismissive attitudes towards country held by many highbrow critics and listeners have caused them to withdraw their voices from the cultural conversation within the genre, allowing the worst sort of PanderingToTheBase to flourish and [[SelfFulfillingProphecy reinforce all of their prejudices]].
13** The inverse effect of bro-country tends to be the case with more traditionally-minded "Americana" country artists, who get acclaim from publications, but who are significantly less popular with the American public. This is at least partially because musicians, critics, and audiences of Americana are a lot older than the audiences for other types of country music. Since older folks are more likely to buy their music as opposed to streaming it on Spotify or [=YouTube=], there's less of a connection to the internet music scene, and since most hits are made through [=YouTube=] , [=TikTok=] or general online word of mouth, more "traditional" forms of music tend to get lost in the shuffle. There are notable exceptions, however, such as the massive commercial success of Music/ZachBryan in the early 2020s.
14* In the late 1970s and early 1980s, most music critics dismissed the entire HeavyMetal genre as being loud, stupid, monotone and offensive. Mainstream publications like ''Magazine/RollingStone'' ignored metal entirely. But within a few years, Heavy Metal would become one of the biggest music genres on the planet, with metal bands selling millions of albums and filling arenas. And it’s still this way for the most part.
15** The inverse is true of extreme metal: a lot of metal critics praise death metal, black metal, grindcore, and avant-garde metal, but since these styles are so abrasive, they tend to appeal to a much smaller crowd than, say, Music/{{Dragonforce}}.
16* Seventies progressive rock as a genre has never really gotten much respect from mainstream rock critics, who consider it insufferably pretentious, yet bands like Music/{{Yes}}, Music/JethroTull and Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer were hugely popular and still have devoted followings.
17* Exotica, bubblegum pop, novelty music, easy listening music, SpaceRock, Muzak are still seen as the lowest of the lowest music but did get a bit more serious interest in the 1990s.
18** Many band leaders and musicians who sold millions by merely covering popular music and playing it in easy listening arrangements have never received any artistic recognition: Music/LawrenceWelk, Music/{{Liberace}}, Mitch Miller, James Last, Herb Alpert, Leroy Anderson, Bert Kaempfert, Mantovani, Richard Claydermann, Ray Conniff, André Rieu, Helmut Zacharias, Hugo Montenegro, Pat Boone …
19* Music videos. For many young people, they are the major reason to like and buy a song, album or a certain artist. But most critics seldom discuss or hail the merits of these videos whom they dismiss as cheap publicity tools that [[MusicVideoOvershadowing detract from the actual music]] by focusing more on cool dance moves, fashions, hairstyles, special effects, and storylines. Sometimes inverted, such as is the case with [[Music/MichaelJackson the music video for Thriller]], which gets critical acclaim for its horror allusions, but which sometimes gets dismissed by the general public for being NightmareFuel.
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28* Boy bands and girl groups will often be gigantic bestsellers among young females, but will not receive any good press from critics, even female ones.
29* Many Canadian acts, largely due to record companies [[ExecutiveMeddling mishandling or poorly marketing]] critically acclaimed groups or artists:
30** If you were to judge The Rheostatics (a now-defunct Canadian rock group) solely by the opinions you find of them online, you would think they’re one of the most important Canadian bands of the past century, and more critically acclaimed than even most current Canadian artists (to the point that two of their albums, ''Melville'' and ''Whale Music'', are consistently ranked as one of the top ten Canadian albums of all time). In actuality, they only one minor hit (“Claire” in 1994) and never sold that many records commercially, even at their peak in the ’90s.
31** Poor, poor Fefe Dobson. All of her albums have been critically acclaimed, but still tanked. One critic from ''NOW'' magazine blamed this on the fact that the industry didn’t know how to market a black rocker chick from [[CanadaEh Scarborough, Ontario]].
32** Esthero was an indie queen who received tons of critical accolades for her three studio albums, as well as her collaborations with various artists (including [[Music/BlackEyedPeas Will.i.am]] on the “Yes We Can” track from 2008 and co-writing songs for Music/KanyeWest’s ''808’s and Heartbreak'' and Timbaland’s ''Shock Value II''), but all her solo work has failed to generate sales, and she’s still mostly unknown in Canada and the States.
33* There are a number of Classic Rock-era albums that earned high marks from critics, and often appear on ‘greatest ever’ lists, but have gone mostly unnoticed by the public, including Love’s ''Music/ForeverChanges'', the Zombies’ ''Music/OdesseyAndOracle'', and the Pretty Things’ ''Parachute'' (which was ''Magazine/RollingStone''’s album of the year for 1970).
34* Music critic J. Eric Smith is known for essays he conducts with "round robin" bracket matchups ala College Basketball's March Madness with examples like [[https://jericsmith.com/2010/10/04/the-worst-rock-band-ever/ "The Worst Rock Band Ever"]], among others. An abortive 2005 attempt at making such an essay, [[http://web.archive.org/web/20090609160649/http://jericsmith.com/sacredcows.htm "Slaughtering the Sacred Cows,"]] decided to see which albums were the most overrated by comparing their sales to their critical clout. After correlating albums ranked by several magazines "greatest ever album" lists to their Billboard charting histories, Smith decided to forego the round robin and go by gut instinct to decree which album he considers the most overrated: [[spoiler: [[{{Music/PattiSmith}} Patti Smith's]] ''{{Music/Horses}}'']].
35* Almost every Creator/VH1 ''You Oughta Know'' and MTV ''BUZZ'' artist counts. Critics gush over these artists (usually for good reasons), [[HypeAversion but the general public seems to be indifferent]].
36** Bumblebeez: Critics said they were gonna be huge and be the Australian version of the Neptunes.
37** Leela James, and almost every other Neo-Soul artist. D’Angelo, Music/AliciaKeys, and Maxwell are the only ones that ever had huge success, and only Alicia has been able to maintain it (although, to be fair, Alicia tweaked her sound around this time, less soul and more power ballads). It also probably had something to do with the evolution of the term “neo-soul” itself. In the ’90s, it was ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a new wave of artists who approached their music with the same philosophy as classic soul musicians. But as these artists found mainstream success around the turn of the millennium, “neo-soul” came to be applied to any black singer who appealed to people over 25. Because of this, many fans who took the term to heart failed to see what the big deal was and gave up on the genre altogether.
38*** This is a problem with [[MusicIsPolitics labeling and the industry in general]]. There’s the top 40 pop music targeting teens and young adults. And then there’s...''[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg everything/everyone else]]''.
39** Hip-Hop act Little Brother, possibly derailed by ThePowersThatBe, depending on whom you ask. It didn’t really help that the group went on hiatus around the time they were getting hyped.
40** Ditto for rap group Dead Prez had huge buzz leading up to their debut album. When the album dropped critics ate it up, but the public mostly ignored it.
41** Critics claimed that the unassuming neo-psychedelia act The Mooney Suzuki was supposed to be the band that changed AlternativeRock in the 2000s. Then Music/TheStrokes and Music/TheWhiteStripes happened. Critics later turned their backs on the group, as their last two albums were received poorly, despite the fact that the title track from their third album (''Alive & Amplified'') finally became the minor hit that had long eluded them.
42** Indie rockers The Brian Jonestown Massacre are loved by critics but seem to intentionally sabotage themselves every time another wave of hype and potential commercial breakthrough comes their way.
43** Many music critics were expecting big things from PowerPop band The Lemonheads, who were supposed to be the next Music/{{Nirvana}}, or at least the New Important Alternative Band of the ’90s. The band never found a breakthrough single and just sort of disintegrated, although at least today they maintain a cult following.
44** Most of MTV’s ''Buzz'' artists didn’t pan out. With a few notable exceptions (Music/{{Garbage}}, Music/FooFighters, Music/{{Beck|Musician}}), the bands featured became [[CultClassic cult favorites]] at best and OneHitWonder flameouts at worst (anyone remember Jimmie’s Chicken Shack?).
45** Many of BET’s ''Next'' artists didn’t pan out either — so much so they don’t even attempt to break buzzworthy artists anymore. In fact, they ignore them and stick to the more accessible artists.
46** Enigmatic R&B singer Res is a solid example of this trope, critically acclaimed but her career just fizzled out.
47** And before Res there was Davina (remember her!?).
48** Nikka Costa: critics were saying she would be huge … well.
49** Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. They had no hits, but Grace herself has been an AdvertisedExtra on ''two'' Music/KennyChesney songs.
50** Before Res but after Davina, there was also Amel Larrieux. A critical darling who got rave reviews but was shunned by both the public and music networks.
51* 65daysofstatic’s ''[[NewSoundAlbum We Were Exploding Anyway]]'' was perhaps their most critically well-reviewed album. Yet on user-driven sites such as [[http://www.rateyourmusic.com Rate Your Music]], it is one of their lowest-rated albums.
52* Music/ThreeEleven’s 1997 album ''Transistor'' wasn’t received very well by critics, but it’s generally beloved by fans.
53* Music/{{AJR}} is considered a laughingstock in most music communities, who see them as a manufactured, radio-pandering band who's indie in name only. Despite this, they're one of the biggest names in alternative music.
54* Music/ToriAmos’ 1996 album ''Boys for Pele'' was bashed by critics when it was released. Nevertheless, it’s a fan favorite that is considered to be among her best work.
55** The album has found itself VindicatedByHistory, as by the late 2000s many music critics and experts have also come to acknowledge it as being one of the best from its genre and time period. It has been theorized that the album’s poor response at the time was due to its sound being such a dramatic departure from Amos’ first two albums.
56** Music/KateBush’s 1982 album ''The Dreaming'' suffered this too.
57* Music/{{Anastacia}}, a singer who has [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff worldwide acclaim from the music-buying public]] ... [[AmericansHateTingle except in her home country, America]]. American critics love her, though.
58** One explanation is that her style of music doesn't fit the format of American radio stations. She's considered too soulful for A/C stations, and not urban enough for urban radio stations, and not poppish enough for top 40, and not rockish enough for rock stations ... PopCultureIsolation due to GenreRoulette. Essentially she's in a self-made musical purgatory.
59* The alternative rap group Arrested Development’s second album was dismissed by critics but a lot of fans think it’s an overlooked masterpiece due to HypeBacklash. Fans (especially overseas fans) felt that America let an outstanding group fall through the cracks.
60* Music/IggyAzalea was one of the biggest rappers of 2014, scoring two massive hits in "Fancy" and "Black Widow", and broke the glass ceiling for white female rappers. However, she was despised by hardcore rap and music fans due to being another watered-down pop rapper and trying to be black. Critics were "eh" on her. That being said, when the media started talking about this, much of the general public turned on her, [[CondemnedByHistory and her popularity fell at a speed not seen since Milli Vanilli]].
61* Music/TheB52s have an adoring and devoted fanbase who rarely have much to criticise about them. Critics on the other hand frequently give their albums middling reviews and overuse words like ‘kitsch’ and ‘campy’ that indicate they don’t really like the band. ''Magazine/RollingStone''’s praising of their debut album in their top 500 did help turn things around somewhat.
62* Although Music/JohannSebastianBach was esteemed as a performer, his music was considered, in its day, to be old-fashioned and not of much interest, with Bach’s sons Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach being much more highly regarded as composers. Today, J.S. Bach is considered one of the greatest (if not ''the'' greatest) composer of all time, and while his sons’ music is still played it’s definitely not considered to be in the same league.
63* Music/TheBeatles: Nowadays the band is popular with the general public, the alternative music crowd, ''and'' the critics, but this hasn’t always been the case. Before ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' many music fans saw the group as nothing more than primitive pop music without any artistic depth. While ''Music/RubberSoul'' and ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' already showed signs of more favorable interest of serious music fans ''[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Sgt. Pepper]]'' convinced everybody that they were far better and more artistically interesting than regular pop acts.
64** ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' is a good example of Critical Dissonance within the Beatle crowd. The record is far more popular and praised among musicians and music critics for being a groundbreaking GenreRoulette experimental masterpiece than among the general public who like ''Revolver'', ''Sgt. Pepper'' and/or ''Music/AbbeyRoad'' better.
65* Music/TheBeeGees, both within and apart from their disco period, were one of the most successful acts of UsefulNotes/TheSeventies, but were constantly slammed by critics, especially after they fell out of style. [[VindicatedByHistory They gained more respect towards the end of their career]], even getting into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1997.
66* Music/{{Behemoth}}’s album ''The Satanist'' may be their most critically acclaimed album to date by critics, but it's highly divisive among fans for its more accessible, symphonic sound.
67* Rhian Benson was a critical darling, but ignored by the public and mainstream radio.
68* Music/{{Beyonce}}'s song "Countdown" falls into this trope. While critics praised it, it only peaked at #71 on the Billboard charts.
69* Music/JustinBieber has had some favorable reviews by critics and has a large fanbase, but to say he’s unpopular on the Internet, in general, is a ''massive understatement''. In fact, some tried actively to destroy his career (as opposed to simply ignoring him) -- hence the "free pass" that Music/OneDirection got for potentially being the savior the people needed from him. By 2013, even the mainstream media was against him after he TookALevelInJerkass. While he regained his popularity by 2015, his reputation on the internet was still as abysmal as ever.
70* Music/BlackEyedPeas are frequently panned by critics and a frequent target of parody and satire (especially their song "My Humps"). That doesn’t seem to affect either the buying public (they spent an unprecedented 26 straight weeks holding the number one and two top charting singles in mid-2009) or Grammy voters (six wins out of 16 nominations).
71** Weirdly, before ''Elephunk'', their situation was actually ''reversed''. For their first two albums, they were known as a critically acclaimed AlternativeHipHop trio that sold very few albums. Then came Fergie … bringing UnfortunateImplications.
72** Nonetheless, the HypeBacklash from their terrible Super Bowl performance effectively destroyed their popularity and ended their career; in a period of six months, they went from being one of the biggest bands in America to fighting off rumors that they are breaking up.
73* Music/BlackVeilBrides receive far, far more respect from critics than their frequent derision will lead you to believe. Most serious music fans (''especially'' metal fans) view their music as a mediocre and uninspired GuiltyPleasure at best and an abomination to music at worst. That being said, their albums receive good reviews (save for their debut, which even the critics didn’t like that much), they have a large fandom worldwide and are one of the biggest new bands in the metal scene as well as the most popular band in the HairMetal revival movement.
74* Music/{{Blur}} saw both ends of this with their first two albums: ''Leisure'', which received mixed-to-negative reviews for inane lyrics, copious amounts of AlbumFiller, and generally playing FollowTheLeader among the baggy and {{Shoegazing}} scenes at the time, but sold quite well and produced a number of successful singles. Meanwhile, NewSoundAlbum ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' received far better reviews and is the TropeMaker for {{Britpop}}, but failed to produce any hit singles and underperformed commercially. Thankfully, with their third album, ''Music/{{Parklife}}'', was a smash hit with both critics and the general public, and for the rest of the 90's Blur would be one of the biggest and most acclaimed bands in Britain.
75* Classical crossover tenor Music/AndreaBocelli is far more popular with the music consuming public than with critics, who are prone to insist that he simply doesn't have a particularly good voice.
76* In probably the most extreme case, Music/MichaelBolton managed to sell 50 million records worldwide despite being ''savaged'' by critics. Strangely, he still sells despite even the public’s backlash against him.
77* Music/BringMeTheHorizon has gotten considerable praise from critics and metal musicians alike. Even ''[[Music/JudasPriest Rob Halford]]'' has praised them. However, the mere mention of their name is enough to get them mocked by metal fans.
78* Music/BrooksAndDunn are the most commercially successful duo of all time, but critical reception to their albums in TheNineties was largely mixed. Points of contention included StrictlyFormula songwriting, mediocre production, and misogynstic lyrics (e.g. "We'll Burn That Bridge" and "Little Miss Honky Tonk"). After an AudienceAlienatingEra in 1999-2000 they finally averted this in the 21st century; ''Steers & Stripes'', ''Red Dirt Road'', and ''Hillbilly Deluxe'' saw their critical acclaim finally match up to their commercial success. The former two in particular are widely seen as their strongest albums due to heavier production and overall stronger songs (the lead single to ''Steers & Stripes'', "Ain't Nothing 'bout You", is their biggest hit).
79* Music/CaptainBeefheart: Praised as a genius and an innovator by critics and artists, but seen as an obscure noisemaker to most other people. He is extraordinarily influential to many AlternativeRock artists, despite still being unpopular with regular music fans.
80* [[Music/{{Carpenters}} Karen and Richard Carpenter]] were quite popular with listeners in their heyday of the '60s and '70s, and received three Grammies, but they were widely loathed by critics for their conservative, Middle American image, which bordered on the [[UnintentionalUncannyValley Uncanny Valley]] (needless to say, ContractualPurity was involved). Karen Carpenter's death at 32 from complications related to anorexia nervosa both shed some much-needed light on the disease and helped rehabilitate their critical image; nowadays, they've been VindicatedByHistory.
81* Music/ChanceTheRapper's ''The Big Day'' received solid reviews upon release, with the Website/AVClub in particular giving it an A rating, but was ''completely'' trashed by most fans and casual listeners for its overly long length (22 tracks that clock in at 77 minutes), generally poor lyricism, the sappy tone, and aimless structure. The backlash got to the extent that one of the few critics who outright trashed the album, the notoriously contentious [[WebVideo/TheNeedleDrop Anthony Fantano]], gave the album a zero out of ten [[note]]With ''Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven'' by Music/KidCudi being the only other album at the time to receive that score[[/note]] and had it be ''one of his most popular reviews''.
82* Weirdly, Music/ChildishGambino has gone through both types of this. At the beginning of his career, critics generally liked him while the musical community considered him a joke rapper for people who didn’t really take hip-hop seriously. He was even considered by some to be [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy “hip hop for white people”]] (despite himself being black). His second album was the reverse — ''because the Internet'' was the subject of huge excitement following its release, but was received with a shrug by critics. ''Awaken, My Love'' seems to have both critics and audiences in agreement of its quality.
83* “Achy Breaky Heart” by Music/BillyRayCyrus was one of the most hated songs of all time in ''any'' genre, but the album was one of the top-selling of all time. It was also one of the only country songs to break through to mainstream pop in the early 1990s before Music/ShaniaTwain. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the song was a CoverVersion, and a BlackSheepHit that didn’t well represent Cyrus’ style or body of work. And much of his success was in the country charts; “ABH” was his only true pop crossover hit.
84* Downplayed: Music/{{Deadmau5}}’s ''*album title goes here*'' got even two stars by some reviews. It is one of his best-selling albums.
85* Alternative rap group Digable Planets Sophomore album ''Blowout Comb'' received massive praise and was considered far beyond their debut. But the album more or less bombed when released. Some music critics believe that the Afrocentric militant tone of the second album made it less accessible and off-putting to white listeners, which was believed to be the primary listeners of their first album.
86* Dirty Vegas' sophomore album, ''One'', was outright slammed by critics. It became however greatly popular amongst the fans, and spawned some of their better-known hits barring "Days Go By" (which comes from their self-titled debut album), such as "Human Love" and "Walk into the Sun." One song from this album, "A Million Ways", even appears in ''VideoGame/ProjectGothamRacing 3''. Their first post-breakup album, ''Electric Love'', received an overall enthusiastic reception in the other hand.
87* Disco Inferno are praised by critics as one of the most important and influential bands of the 1990s, but they never had any commercial success during their run and disbanded after only a few years. Even now, they are mostly unknown compared to the musicians they inspired like Music/{{Bjork}} or Múm.
88* A lot of Music/EazyE’s solo work (sans EP ''It’s on 187um Killa'', and debut album ''Eazy-Duz-It'') is hated by critics and is usually criticized for being cartoonishly violent, especially the ''51/50'' album. But the fans consider ''51/50'' genuinely good.
89* Indie rock band Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians’ first two albums were extensively praised by critics. Nonetheless, they never became more than a one-hit wonder with their 1988 single “What I Am.”
90** A couple of years after they faded into obscurity, frontwoman Brickell married Paul Simon.
91* Music/{{Eminem}} put out three massively critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums after getting Music/DrDre's cosign. Everything else he's ever put out has had mixed reviews. Eminem himself has complained that every album he puts out, critics initially loathe it, then reevaluate it as good in comparison to whatever he's doing now. However, he remains a commercial beast, is among the top selling musical artists of all time, and is the top selling rapper of all time.
92* Music/{{Enya}} got her first three albums released to massive critical acclaim, then critics got cold, with the other albums getting mixed reviews. Since she's known worldwide and the first name that pops into people's heads when they think of Celtic/relaxing music, every album she's ever released has been a massive success among the listeners.
93* Music/TheFaceless got hit with this ''hard'' with ''Autotheism''. Critics tended to enjoy it and saw it as a bold step forward for the band, while fans saw it as a bunch of pretentious nonsense with a really stupid concept and uninspired music that largely just ripped off Keene’s influences. Given that the band has started to shy away from playing more than a few songs off of it live, it would seem that the message has reached Keene as well.
94* Dionne Farris’ debut album, ''Wild Seed - Wild Flower'', received rave reviews but measly sales, and produced her only hit, “I Know.”
95* Within Music/FleetwoodMac, Lindsey Buckingham has always ({{justifi|edTrope}}ably, because of his skill and innovation) been something of a critics’ darling but never has had any really big-selling solo albums, whereas Stevie Nicks, particularly in the 1980s, regularly took a pasting from rock critics while amassing a huge fan following as a solo artist. (Over the past decade or so, though, critics have taken a more positive view of Nicks; this may partly be due to the number of new-generation artists who cite her as a favorite or an influence.)
96* The Music/FooFighters' tenth album ''Medicine at Midnight'' had some of the band's best reviews, while fans were not as warm, given it's [[https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/foo-fighters their lowest rated in RateYourMusic]].
97* Music/GrandFunkRailroad could effectively be described as the Nickelback of TheSeventies. The gulf between critics and listeners was so vast, it’s even mentioned in the opening paragraph of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Funk_Railroad their Wikipedia page]]. As explained in [[http://starling.rinet.ru/music/gfr.htm this article]], much of both the critics’ unbridled hate for GFR and the public’s love of them had to do with how they were playing [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth simple, energetic, populist roots-rock with straightforward lyrics]] in an era where rock bands with elaborate instrumentation and multilayered lyrical themes -- i.e. the sort of music that [[GoodOlBoy ‘down home’ rock fans]] tend to view as [[TrueArtIsBoring pretentious, nerdy, and hard to 'rock out' to]] -- were critical darlings. Ironically, however, their very last album before their breakup, ''Good Singin', Good Playin[='=]'' in 1976[[note]]After their reunion, they recorded two more albums, ''Grand Funk Lives'' in 1981 and ''What's Funk?'' in 1983, before breaking up again. Both albums, however, were made under a new lineup that was missing half of the original members, and this first reunion is generally considered to be an AudienceAlienatingEra by fans.[[/note]], was done in collaboration with none other than Frank Zappa. [[note]]Though Zappa's tangible influence was minimal, and the track to which he contributed the most, "Rubberneck", got cut from the album and wasn't released to the public until 2001.[[/note]]
98* “[=MacArthur=] Park” by Richard Harris has often been called the worst song ever by critics, but was a commercial success in 1968 and has been hailed by the public as a classic. It’s not hard to see why; the music and Harris’ beautiful singing voice more than makes up for any silly lyrics it may have.
99* Music/{{Hanson}}: To the critics, they took everything wrong with bubblegum pop and got rid of it in favor of imaginative lyrics, great melodies and excellent production work (case in point, their SignatureSong "[=MMMBop=]" was voted the best single of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll). To audiences, they were evil monsters who ''dared'' to steal radio airtime from the Alternative Nation's beloved bands.
100* Music/HootieAndTheBlowfish released three platinum-selling albums in TheNineties, with their 1994 debut ''Cracked Rear View'' going 21× platinum and becoming one of the biggest albums of the decade. At the same time, however, they were a near-constant whipping boy for AlternativeRock fans, critics, and musicians alike. Their brand of folksy, down-home roots rock was seen as mushy pablum meant to serve as the soundtrack to pubs and frat houses, a symbol of the record labels reasserting their dominance and snuffing out the alternative revolution after Music/KurtCobain's death and the ensuing collapse of {{grunge}} -- a strange assessment, given that, at the time, [[https://observer.com/2016/07/my-life-in-the-bush-of-hootie-how-i-signed-the-biggest-band-of-1995/ nobody wanted to sign them]] given that their music was [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail so far outside what had become the rock mainstream]]. Admitting to being a Hootie fan was a good way to get exiled from critical circles in the age of the Alternative Nation, and by the end of the decade, the critics' opinion had trickled down to the average listeners, with "Hootie Sucks" shirts becoming a common sight. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/arts/music/hootie-and-the-blowfish-cracked-rear-view.html This article]] by Jon Caramanica for ''The New York Times'' goes into detail on the hate they received at the time and how critics missed some of the genuine radicalism in their lyrics, noting that "in the 1990s, when [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority subculture was brand]], Hootie's evident (but misleading) plainness was a team no one wanted to bat for." Lead singer Music/DariusRucker ended up subverting the backlash by becoming a commercially successful CountryMusic singer in TheNewTens.
101* Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews' 5th album ''Small World'' was a critical darling, but a pop chart dud when it was released.
102* HURT is a modern rock band that critics generally love, and their ''Vol. II'' album is considered one of the very best albums of rock period by critics and fans. They have a devoted fanbase and sell well enough to keep making music, but they are widely obscure to the general public, so much so that they aren't known well even amongst the Internet.
103* Music/ImagineDragons.
104** On the whole, critics and music nerds regularly use them as a symbol of everything wrong with mainstream [[AlternativeRock alternative music]] in the 2010s, blaming them for leading alternative/indie as a whole down a highly sanitized commercial path that only serves as a soundtrack for car commercials. [[Music/{{Slipknot}} Corey]] [[Music/StoneSour Taylor]] went so far as to unfavorably [[https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/02/corey-taylor-imagine-dragons-replaced-nickelback-most-hated-band/ compare them]] to Nickelback, saying that they had displaced that band as the leading punching bag within the rock world. And yet, like Nickelback in the 2000s, they're also one of the biggest rock bands of the '10s, their albums ''Night Visions'', ''Smoke + Mirrors'', and ''Evolve'' having all gone at least platinum.
105** A microcosm also exists within the band's discography. Their first three albums were critically lukewarm, despite adoration from fans, while their fourth album was better-received by critics, but sometimes seen as a step down by fans.
106* Music/JanetJackson’s ''Damita Jo'' album: Fans think it could have done well, while critics bashed it post-Super Bowl controversy. [[https://youtu.be/VdM_QpSe2r4 this]] video explains the reason for its failure and [[Main/VindicatedByHistory eventual influence.]]
107* Music/MichaelJackson’s first post-''Music/{{Thriller}}'' album, ''Music/{{Bad}}'', was acclaimed by critics and sold extremely well, but by the time ''Magazine/RollingStone''’s Readers’ Poll for 1988 was taken, there was enough of an audience backlash against Jackson that he swept the ‘Worst’ categories. Its reputation with ''both'' camps has improved with time. By comparison 1991’s ''Music/{{Dangerous|Album}}'' was generally liked by both critics and general audiences.
108* Music/JayZ's third album, ''Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life'': it garnered mediocre reviews from critics and, to this day, has yet to be [[VindicatedByHistory critically reappraised]] but is adored by fans and is his best selling album overall. It's also, to this day, his only Grammy winning album.
109* Music/{{Jewel}}, even during her heyday in the mid-late ’90s, generally garnered lukewarm reviews from professional critics, with many deeming her music naïve and overly simple. Yet that didn’t stop her debut album ''Pieces of You'' from reaching Diamond certification in the U.S. (and, later, being listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the “Definitive 200”). Her 1998 album ''Spirit'' also went on to achieve Triple Platinum status, despite an equally unenthusiastic critical reaction, and is seen as a defining pop album of the late ’90s.
110* Music/BillyJoel may be the TropeCodifier. Throughout his career, he has received mostly unfavorable or mediocre reviews from several critics (though that doesn't mean they bashed all of his work - ''Music/TheStrangerAlbum'' was critically well-received and showed up on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time). Try telling that to the fans who bought all of his multiple Gold and Platinum records. He continues to sell out stadiums on the strength of his old hits- Joel hasn't released a studio album ''since 1993.''
111* Unsurprisingly, Music/TheJonasBrothers. Boyband first, ‘legitimate musicians’ second to critics, while their fanbase (even non-teenyboppers) love them. (Notable exception being their NewSoundAlbum ''Lines, Vines and Trying Times'', but even the critics hated that one.)
112* Music/KidzBop is very popular with, well, kids, but critical opinion of the franchise has been pretty negative -- and that's not even going into how badly casual music fans think of them.
113* Music/KingsX are regularly named as one of the best rock groups of the ’90s and have a very strong fanbase of seemingly just a few hundred people.
114* Music/KendrickLamar’s breakthrough album, ''Music/GoodKidMAADCity'', got rave reviews from critics, and while it was a hit, it was still far from the smashes that the likes of Music/LilWayne and Music/{{Drake}} had. He ultimately escaped this with his next album ''To Pimp a Butterfly'', which firmly established him as a top-tier act (plus it got even better reviews than its predecessor).
115* Related to the quote on this page, Music/KylieMinogue had massive critical acclaim with her 1994 song "Confide in Me", which got praise for its incorporations of Arabic music and cutting-edge electronic trip hop. Of course, considering her stature as a pop icon, the song was a hit, but contrasted to her poppier later work like "Can't Get You Out of My Head", it's nowhere nearly as well-known by the general public.
116* For both Music/LedZeppelin and Music/BlackSabbath, their first few albums were critically panned originally (though in both cases most critics retroactively praised their early stuff).
117** This is actually true of many of the acts made popular in the 1970s. The albums and concerts of Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Journey|Band}}, Music/PaulMcCartney and Music/{{Wings}}, Music/EltonJohn (at least after he wore outrageous costumes), and a lot of the ArenaRock and ProgressiveRock supergroups had poor (or only grudgingly favorable) reviews, but sold millions, while critical darlings such as Music/TheVelvetUnderground were largely ignored by the record-buying public. This may have connections to [[ItsPopularNowItSucks professional jealousy]], [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks changes in style]], [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks burnout]], [[FollowTheLeader hang-ups with keeping up with the next big thing]] (punk, bar bands, synth-pop, new wave, indie rock) or perhaps it needed to be VindicatedByHistory. Granted, some records may have simply been [[{{Filler}} substandard]], but often the bad reviews came [[CausticCritic regardless of the quality of their work]]. The phenomenon was lampshaded in a 1971 ''Magazine/RollingStone'' column by Lester Bangs:
118--->“Three or four years ago, rock reviewing was less problematic than it is today. For one thing, you knew what to write about. The Byrds, the Animals, the Dead, the Airplane, and Beach Boys were fit subjects for comment; Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dave Clark and Freddie and the Dreamers were not. The Beatles, the Stones, and Dylan were the first inductees to rock’s (as opposed to rock and roll’s) pantheon; after that, everyone bowed in the direction of San Francisco and underground British groups until the appearance of Led Zeppelin.\
119\
120“Zeppelin forced a revival of the distinction between popularity and quality. As long as the bands most admired aesthetically were also the bands most successful commercially (Cream, for instance) the distinction was irrelevant. But Zeppelin’s enormous commercial success, in spite of critical opposition, revealed the deep division in what was once thought to be a homogeneous audience.\
121\
122“That division has now evolved into a clearly defined mass taste and a clearly defined elitist taste. Critics may write pages and pages about elitist favorite Captain Beefheart, but it was sons of Grand Funk — namely Black Sabbath — who was the first new band in months to sell out the Fillmore East in advance […] Critics write paeans to Van Morrison and ''New Morning'', but these days it is Stephen Stills who sells the records — in far greater quantity (on a per album basis) than Dylan and Morrison.”
123* The Levellers’ album ''Hello Pig'' was regarded by many critics to be the band’s breakthrough that was going to catapult them to the mainstream. Fans hated it for deviating so much from their formula.
124* Music/LimpBizkit was absolutely hated by critics for a long time, but their albums all sold like gangbusters, even their most negatively reviewed album ''Results May Vary'' managed to go platinum. Though once the band released their comeback album ''Golden Cobra'' both fans and critics alike seemed to enjoy it.
125* Music/LinkinPark’s ''Minutes to Midnight'', [[NewSoundAlbum with a new sound]] resembling generic alt- and arena rock rather than nu-metal, got generally positive reviews (including a rare four stars from ''Rolling Stone'') but was ''trashed'' by the band's fanbase. 2017's ''One More Light'' was even ''more'' reviled by their fanbase.
126* Swedish electro-soul group Little Dragon are critical darlings, but their record sales are very stagnant.
127* Experimental BlackMetal band Music/{{Liturgy}} has received much acclaim from mainstream music critics for their bizarre, avant-garde sound, but many black metal fans see them as being pretentious and unlistenable.
128* Music/CherLloyd’s debut single, “Swagger Jagger.” Nobody’s quite sure what it means, the song was critically panned, but shot straight to number one upon release.
129* Music/{{Megadeth}}’s 1997 album ''Cryptic Writings'' was praised by critics, with some even calling it the band’s best album since ''Rust in Peace''. Many fans thought that the band had taken in too many poppy influences. The 2004 Remaster restores a lot of metal elements and the album has been reappraised by many since.
130* The Music/{{Metallica}} album ''St. Anger'' actually got pretty decent reviews from critics upon release, but you wouldn’t know it from the insane amount of criticism it got from fans. Enough that [[CreatorBacklash the band themselves have removed the album almost entirely from their live set list]] (despite this, they considered the album necessary, because working around the CreatorBreakdown kept them together). Granted, the initial backlash was directed mostly [[XPacHeat at the band itself]] (who had mined its reputation with an overhaul [[ItsPopularNowItSucks that popularized them]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks but irritated the original fans]] and [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil a lawsuit on Napster]]) and it seems to have subsided a bit, but not nearly enough for it to be VindicatedByHistory.
131** ''St. Anger''’s slim chance of ever becoming VindicatedByHistory has been pretty well-confirmed. Quite a few publications (both metal-focused and mainstream) ran ten-year retrospectives of the album to see if it may have been a misunderstood masterpiece. Sure enough, the overall consensus was that, in spite of the well-documented CreatorBreakdown that led to it turning out the way it did, the album did not improve with age.
132* Music/MilliVanilli. Even before the lip-syncing scandal broke, they were dismissed by critics as garbage bubblegum pop. That didn't stop them from enjoying a year under the sun.
133* Music/JanelleMonae gets rave reviews from critics but the general public knows nothing about them. Their albums have all mostly been {{Hitless Hit Album}}s.
134* Like Anastacia and King’s X, Music/MothersFinest was a heavily critically acclaimed funk-rock band of the mid- to late ’70s. Because their music was either insufficiently rock or insufficiently funk/soul/R&B, however, they never really broke out.
135* Music/{{Muse}}’s ''The 2nd Law'' is a strange example. While getting generally positive reviews from critics, the album was divisive among its fans: many criticized the album’s new sound, particularly criticizing the experimentation with dubstep and love ballads, even placing the album among their worst albums of 2012; but at the same time, their supporting concert tour became their highest-selling tour to date.
136* Music/{{Nas}}'s 2001 album ''Stillmatic'' received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics but was widely embraced by hip hop fans as a return to form for Nas, due to its return to the more philosophically-minded lyrics of ''Illmatic'' and the fantastic diss track "Ether." While critics never really warmed up to the album, it's considered by fans to be one of his best albums.
137* Music/{{Nickelback}} are the kings of this trope in modern rock music, and a strange example of it going both ways. On one hand, admitting that you are a Nickelback fan on the Internet will get you told that you have no taste in music and are a part of what’s killing rock and roll. [[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-worst-bands-of-the-nineties-20130509/2-nickelback-0196964 A poll]] by ''Rolling Stone'' named them the second worst band of the ’90s, behind only Music/{{Creed|band}}, and to this day, comparing a band to Nickelback is still a tried-and-true method of calling them soulless, commercial product made with MoneyDearBoy in mind. On the other, every single album they made between ''Silver Side Up'' in 2001 and ''Dark Horse'' in 2008 went multi-platinum, so ''somebody'' out there is buying their music. You’d expect this polarizing reaction to extend to the critics … but they generally call Nickelback SoOkayItsAverage, formulaic but inoffensive. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgFsrnyp2dQ This review]] by ''WebVideo/SpectrumPulse'' of their album ''No Fixed Address'' argues that much of Nickelback’s source of hatred came not from their music (which was hardly [[Music/ThreeDaysGrace the worst]] [[Music/{{Seether}} to come]] [[Music/TheoryOfADeadman out of]] the PostGrunge wave), but from [[ItsPopularNowItSucks their omnipresence on terrestrial radio]] during that time making their mediocrity that much more unbearable. Inversely, while their ninth album ''Feed the Machine'' got the same mediocre reviews as always, the listeners' reaction was more forgiving.
138* Music/NineInchNails’ album ''The Fragile'' was rated very high by critics (it was ''Rolling Stone''’s album of the year when it came out), but didn’t sell all that well — it went to number one in October 1999, but then proceeded to have the largest decline in the ''Billboard'' chart’s history. Considering the band’s later success, VindicatedByHistory comes into play.
139** The decline from number one should have been expected, since the rabid fans had waited five years for a new album and were going to buy anything Trent put out on Day One, but the album failed to produce a hit single for the casual fans to grab onto (“Starfuckers, Inc.” came closest). And while it wasn’t a bad album, most of those songs were pretty rare to hear live after the ''Fragility'' tour, with only “The Wretched” and its instrumental lead-in, “The Frail,” becoming live staples.
140* Music/OneDirection have generally gotten mediocre reviews for all of their albums, and general audiences show little interest in their work. That didn’t stop them from becoming an enormously successful teen phenomenon and remaining nowhere near as reviled as Justin Bieber (in fact, they miraculously dodged those that chose to continue hating on Bieber. They still have one, but they instead choose to ignore them than actively work against them as they do to Bieber).
141* Music/{{Opeth}}’s 2011 album ''Heritage'' got very positive reviews from critics, averaging a 72 on Metacritic. However, at the very least half of the fanbase doesn’t like it at all, mainly because they are afraid the band won’t make another album in their SignatureStyle, as frontman Mikael Akerfeldt said he was “bored with metal”.
142* Music/BradPaisley. His albums still get high praise from critics, even those who starkly avoid the FourPointScale (such as ''Slant'' and Allmusic). However, a glance at any country music forum will find that many think he has been extremely complacent and lacking the creativity of his earlier albums — main criticisms include severe [[VocalEvolution Vocal Decay]], failed attempts at humor, cliché ballads and unremarkable guitar work. This may be finally catching up to him, as his late-2011 single “Camouflage” was widely panned and is his first chart entry in 12 years to miss the top 10. He listened to the criticism, as his 2013 album ''Wheelhouse'' found him ditching long-time producer Frank Rogers in favor of self-production, leading to a highly varied sound that critics are split between calling great and adventurous, or overstuffed and pretentious. But those on either side agree that the Music/LLCoolJ duet “Accidental Racist” was a huge misstep.
143* Believe it or not, The Pharcyde’s debut and sophomore album got lukewarm to mixed reviews from critics. But high critical acclaim from hip-hop fans. They would later become VindicatedByHistory.
144* Music/{{Pitbull}} is widely derided on the Internet and by many music fans. That hasn't stopped him from being one of the biggest rappers of the 2010s. His contemporary Music/FloRida gets the same reaction.
145* Michigan-based post-grunge band Pop Evil is one of the biggest names on rock radio in the 2010s. Much like Nickelback and Grand Funk, however, they're largely seen by critics as another bland and mediocre "corporate rock" band.
146* Music/{{Queen|Band}} suffered from negative press in the 1970s and 1980s, even though they were hugely successful (especially in the UK) and are now considered to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Indeed, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e63sQ8Jz57s upon being inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2001]], their drummer Roger Taylor cheekily said of the honour, "It means actually more than all the Grammys we never got."
147* Music/QueenLatifah's album ''Black Reign''. Mixed reviews from critics but most hip-hoppers and hip hop publications see it as a classic HipHop album that produced one of the most iconic rap songs "U.N.I.T.Y." Some even say the song "Just Another Day."
148* The output of Music/RascalFlatts after switching to producer Dann Huff (namely the albums ''Me and My Gang'', ''Still Feels Good'', and ''Unstoppable'') was generally considered mediocre to dreadful by most music critics. Main points of criticism included bombastic production, overwrought vocals, and bland lyrics. However, their streaks of Top Five country hits and multi-platinum sales were unharmed, and their first single with Huff (“What Hurts the Most”) was their most successful crossover. The group generally won back critical acclaim by returning to a less bombastic, more substantial sound after they moved to Big Machine Records following the closure of their previous label, Lyric Street. Starting with 2014’s ''Rewind'', they finally ditched Huff entirely.
149* While the average person knows and respects Music/LouReed, it’s usually more for ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' and the LiveAlbum ''Rock ’N’ Roll Animal'', not his later, more experimental stuff. Nevertheless, most rock critics praise him as one of the most important innovators in his field.
150* Music/TheResidents were critically praised for being truly challenging and avant garde, and for making a NewSoundAlbum every year. But even critics understood that 99.9% of the population would have absolutely no interest in listening to more than thirty seconds of the Residents' very deliberately weird, often disturbing (though also sometimes humorous), occasionally abrasive, and always entirely unconventional approach to music.
151* Music/{{Rush|Band}} have rarely or never gotten good reviews, particularly in the ’70s, but their album sales have almost always been strong, and they have a hardcore, devoted following (and plenty of respect from musicians’ publications for their virtuoso playing), and a status as national heroes in [[CanadaEh their homeland]] … and, finally, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! After years of being ignored (something [[AwardSnub fans didn’t take lightly]]).
152* Raphael Saadiq’s solo albums have had consistent critical acclaim but was never able to cross over fully for some reason. Interestingly enough his old band, Tony! Toni! Toné!, was pretty huge in [[UsefulNotes/TheNineties the early to mid-’90s]].
153* Music/{{Sepultura}}’s sixth album ''Music/{{Roots}}'' received almost unanimously positive reviews, and proved to be one of the most influential albums in the early-2000s NuMetal scene. Fans of the band, however, don’t like it as much.
154* Music/BlakeShelton: Some country music fans feel that the quality of his music went downhill since at least his 2010 album ''Hillbilly Bone''. His first three albums had traditional-leaning country that won him critical acclaim but produced hit-and-miss results on the charts; ''Pure BS'' and ''Startin’ Fires'' were an awkwardly mediocre transitory period; and ''Hillbilly Bone'' onward has found him taking on a more ‘modern’ sound that has rendered him a golden boy on the airplay charts (including a white-hot streak of ''fifteen'' straight number-one hits), but at the cost of critical derision for his more generic style.
155* DeathMetal band Music/SixFeetUnder has been well-liked by critics since their formation, even earning critical acclaim for their album ''Undead'', released in 2012. However, many death metal fans absolutely despise them. Most of the criticism comes from their simplistic music and Chris Barnes’ weakened vocals, but the [[Music/CattleDecapitation Travis Ryan]] incident has led many people to believe the rumors that Barnes is an asshole. However, some haters tend to enjoy their two latest albums, the aforementioned ''Undead'' and ''Unborn''.
156* Music/SonicYouth have been praised by rock critics and fans of AlternativeRock for being innovative. Many expected them to break to the mainstream when Music/{{Nirvana}} became huge in 1991, but to this day they never left the underground or struck any kind of chord with the general public.
157* Music/{{Space}} emerged during the Main/{{Britpop}} era and were often grouped within the scene despite their more irreverent humor and eclecticism (including influences not usually associated with Britpop such as Music/CypressHill, Music/FrankSinatra, and Creator/QuentinTarantino). They usually received middling reviews from professional critics, who viewed them as a mere novelty act at best and a Music/SuperFurryAnimals ripoff at worst, but their first two albums were smash hits in the UK and had three top 10 singles.[[note]]A possible reason for their commercial success was that they were perhaps one of the only few late-90s era Britpop bands [[FollowTheLeader that wasn't just an]] Music/{{Oasis}} copycat.[[/note]]
158* Music/StoneTemplePilots, throughout TheNineties, was pummeled by music critics, with the main criticism being that they were little more than a third-rate knockoff of Music/PearlJam and Music/AliceInChains. Yet negative press didn’t stop them from becoming one of the most popular and influential rock bands of the ’90s. A perfect example of how dissonant fan and critical reaction to the band was: they were simultaneously voted “Best New Band” by ''Magazine/RollingStone'' readers and “Worst New Band” by the same magazine’s critics in January 1994.
159* Music/{{Supertramp}}: One of the best-selling bands of the 1970s, but lambasted by critics.
160* Music/TheoryOfADeadman have many detractors amongst critics and fans of "pure" rock, as they are seen as an "X-rated post-grunge trash" act a la Hinder and Music/{{Nickelback}} (the latter of whom had signed the band to their label 604 Records). That hasn't stopped them from dominating rock charts. Fortunately, their 2014 album ''Savages'' was praised as a move away from that sound (although songs like "Blow" still echo that sentiment of their past sound). It helps that they moved away from Kara [=DioGuardi=], who is primarily a pop songwriter.
161* Music/TonesAndI (of "Dance Monkey" fame) has garnered significant commercial success, especially in her home country Australia, and a lot of critics too praise her. Outside of that though, her music is almost utterly reviled by general listeners outside of her fans, many of whom greatly dislike her vocal stylings, as well as the inescapable nature of "Dance Monkey" when it was released in 2019. In addition, her 2021 album ''Welcome To The Madhouse'' was panned pretty hard by Anthony Fantano and Sputnikmusic, the author of the latter whom despised and detested the album so badly that he couldn't even make jokes about it.
162* Some of Music/TupacShakur’s posthumous releases are this. Critics dismiss them as cheap cash-ins. But some of the earlier ones are seen as genuinely good albums, specifically ''R U Still Down? (Remember Me)'', and ''Still I Rise''.
163* Music/ShaniaTwain was never a critical darling, with most critics giving her albums mediocre to negative reviews (''Entertainment Weekly'' gave her breakthrough disc ''The Woman in Me'' an "F"). Also, many fans of mainstream country music in TheNineties derided her for her slick pop- and rock-influenced sound which had little tangible country music influence (not helped by the fact that all of her material was co-written and produced by Creator/RobertJohnMuttLange, to whom [[CreatorCouple she was married]] at the time). Despite this, her second through fourth albums are all certified ''diamond'' or higher by the RIAA, and her third album ''Come On Over'' is the best-selling country album of all time. In addition, she had massive pop crossovers at a time when those were rare in country music, she launched a new wave of female-driven country-pop that lasted into the early noughties, and many female country singers who broke through in the 21st century still cite her as a major influence.
164* Music/WasNotWas: To the critics, an imaginative experimental funk outfit bolstered by tight playing and high-quality production. To the mainstream public, a bunch of goofballs who did an annoying song about dinosaurs.
165* Critics originally reacted so negatively to Music/{{Weezer}}'s ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'', an album widely considered their most personal, that lead singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo had a legitimate CreatorBreakdown, calling himself a "shitty songwriter" and saying it was a "hideous record […] a hugely painful mistake that […] just won't go away". Needless to say, the fans considered it (and still do) Weezer's best album to date and a masterpiece on the part of Cuomo. Luckily, all these years later, Cuomo as well as the critics have changed their tune and tend to agree. It might be the TropeMaker for VindicatedByHistory, as the album currently has a solid '''100''' rating on Metacritic.
166* Music/KanyeWest has been through both sides of this, in equal parts due to being a boundary-pusher in both his music and real life in general:
167** 2008's ''808s & Heartbreak'' was his first foray into this, being [[NewSoundAlbum a stark departure from his usual upbeat pop rap sound]] into [[DarkerAndEdgier a bleaker R&B sound featuring autotuned singing and much quieter, introspective lyrics]]. It was acclaimed by critics and was hailed as one of the best albums of the year, but it was vastly more controversial among fans for being too alien and overly processed. Nowadays, ''808s'' [[VindicatedByHistory has rose more in general esteem]] as it [[TropeCodifier codified some of the most popular tropes of hip-hop and R&B in the decades since]], directly influencing the likes of Music/{{Drake}}, Music/TheWeeknd, Music/JCole, and countless others.
168** 2013's ''{{Music/Yeezus}}'' also caused a major stir for being Kanye's most experimental project to date, with a variety of influences like IndustrialMetal, Electro, and Noise music. Once again acclaimed by critics for its brash and challenging sound, but it polarized fans because it was so [[SensoryAbuse aggressive]], [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth raw]], and [[StylisticSuck intentionally alienating]] in a way that nobody had been expecting from him. ''Yeezus'' has also [[VindicatedByHistory ended up developing a more favorable consensus in later years]], especially as Kanye's sound continued on the raw, noisy trajectory for future albums from there on out (including 2016's ''Music/TheLifeOfPablo'', which was met with favorable reactions across the board).
169** 2018's ''ye'' had an interesting critic/audience schism, in that it's widely beloved by fans, but received a largely lukewarm response from critics -- fans became accustomed to the quiet, lofi, introspective sound (not too dissimilar to ''808s''), but critics generally felt it was more lacking in ambition and robust songwriting. By this point in time, Kanye's reputation as a major provocateur started getting on more of the nerves of the critical world as he began pushing his luck with increasingly inflammatory topics (the less said about his comments on politics during UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's presidency, the better), and ''ye'''s album cycle seemed to mark a point where publications were much more willing to put him under heavier scrutiny. This leads to a strange dichotomy of discussions where fans were praising the album for its exploration of Kanye's own mental health and personal drama, while critics were more relieved that it wasn't about Kanye's political views.
170** 2021's ''Donda'' was also well-met by fans -- many calling it Kanye's best album since ''TLOP'' and a [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel superior successor]] to the widely-dismissed 2019 album ''Jesus is King'' -- but was even more contentious with critics, with perhaps the biggest musical arguments surrounding its sense of cohesion; ''Donda'''s breadth and kaleidoscopic approach to sound and subject matter is either adventurous and gratifying, or meandering and bloated. However, [[https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/kanye-west-donda-review-why-you-should-ignore-the-critics/news-story/c63aac03d8820ca7e5aab8767167987f some critics have]] [[https://medium.com/@robert.tj.aldana/the-contradicting-negative-reviews-of-kanye-wests-donda-2c748cae414b pointed out]] that the critical discourse had also [[OvershadowedByControversy gravitated heavily more towards discussing Kanye's controversies than the music itself]], and that the schism had become much more politically-motivated than previous album rollouts; ''The Independent'' infamously gave the album 0/5 stars for the inclusion of [=DaBaby=] and Music/MarilynManson (two artists embroiled in major controversies of their own that year) on the song "Jail Pt. 2".
171* Music/{{Yes}}: Critics have always hated this band, but the general listeners bought their records by the score.
172* Music/FrankZappa has been widely -- though not universally -- praised by critics as an original, challenging composer in [[GenreRoulette many styles]] and for being musically far more complex and experimental than most rock artists. His political activism and satirical songwriting have also been praised (although his lyrics are sometimes branded as sophomoric and/or mean-spirited). Yet despite very high praise in many critical corners, he has never been popular with the general audience and still is nothing more than a cult artist.
173* Music/JohnZorn is a critic’s darling for his GenreRoulette style, but obscure to the general public.
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