We keep hearing about how the record companies are failing. American Idol is producing disposable pop icons every six months. Disney is producing tween stars every fifteen minutes. So has this mentality destroyed rock music? Let's take a look at the top ten worst commercial "rock" acts since 2001.

To be a commercial success, you had to have an album or song in the Billboard Top 200.

10. Trapt

Success: Released their first album in 2002 entitled Trapt. It reached #42 in Billboard's Top 200.

Sucks: Not original at all. They sound like all the other crap released at the time. They are a product manufactured by the record company to capitalize on the Post-grunge era. The song writing is the same too. Harsh lead singer voice + harmonies for hooks + crap guitar solo = hit. This formula will be repeated many times.

Example:



09. Smile Empty Soul

Success: Album entitled Smile Empty Soul certified Gold with sales in excesses of 500,000.

Sucks: Another brooding product of the post-grunge era. It was emo before emo was a subgenre. The gritty guitars sounded generic and ghastly. Suburban angry rock for people who have no taste and no wherewithal to locate quality music. So basically, frat guys.

Example:



08. Saliva

Success: Album Back Into Your System reached #16 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in 2002.

Sucks: whiney "metal" sounds like Alice in Chains went through the "Pussificator" and became generic and bland.

Example:

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07. Daughtry

Success: Daughtry, the album released in 2006, went to #1 on the Billboard Top 200.

Sucks: Album overpolished turd, insincere song writing, and generic slop produced in a studio to sound as short, bland, and edible for our stupid edification. Every song can be a single because every song is almost the same. One song is different, it is entitle "What I Want" and it features soulless, sellout Slash on guitar.

The record company wants to protect their product. I can't embed the original video. You get this example, still a Daughtry song.

Example:



06. Finger 11

Success: Album Finger 11 certified Gold selling over 500,000 copies. The single One Thing reached #16 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2004.

Sucks: More angst ridden, foreboding swill from a corporate scene that hates music and enjoys greed and choking puppies. Songwriting is uninspiring. Back in 2004 they were nu-metal, which wasn't a new phenomenon. Now they are doing the rock disco thing, which isn't new or novel either. Always late to the party and genericizing music leads to buckets of suck.

The lead singer sounds like Fred Durst in this example because they were trying to capitalize on nu-metal. Now they sound like every other band listed throughout the list.

Example: