Five great albums by bands that went bad

Phil Spector - Various singles

This list could not have been written without including Spector, though there is a bit of cheating. Spector was more of a songwriter and producer than someone who created fully-fledged great albums. He helped others reach success. This is ironic because Spector seemed bent on taking away someone's ability to do anything.

Spector was accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003, and, after a couple of trials - the last ending in 2009, the producer was found guilty. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison (by the way, why are people convicted of murder getting sentenced to fewer years than non-violent criminals in many cases?). He died in jail in 2021.

Spector originated the wall-of-sound production that would be meant to fill space. There is no Smashing Pumpkins, for instance, without Spector. He wrote or produced songs such as "To Know Him is to Love Him" (The Teddy Bears) - Spector's band, "Be My Baby" (The Ronettes), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (The Righteous Brothers), and "End of the Century" (Ramones).

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)

The Sex Pistols were intentionally trying to be a mess from the beginning. The question is whether as human beings some members of the band should have had enough self-awareness to transcend the rock and roll lifestyle to know they were not only rock stars. John Lydon's weird political views are one thing, but Sid Vicious' relationship with Nancy Spungen is another.

The album mentioned above is arguably the seminal work of punk. Some might point to other bands' entire catalog and influence, but is there a better-known punk record? Likely not. The LP is a perfect example of rage, political attitudes, and punk ethos.

Getting back to Sid, he may or may not have murdered Spungen. The two were a couple who shared a hotel room at Hotel Chelsea in New York, Spungen was found dead with a stab wound in the hotel room, and Vicious had recently received a knife that might have been the murder weapon, but the case was closed four months after Spungen's death due to Vicious being found dead of a drug overdose. You do your own math.

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