Name a band or artist with albums better than their hits, and one worse

[RobbieGray17]

Don Henley. Boys of Summer smashed on the radio but so many better songs

Nik Kershaw. One hit, rest of his stuff is trash

 

[adammania9]

I know everybody hates this song but Wonderwall is probably the worst song on the album

 

[La Dispute]

I know everybody hates this song but Wonderwall is probably the worst song on the album

Overplayed for sure, but I think that album has quite a few songs that are actually quite forgettable. Roll With It, Hey Now and She's Electric are quite mediocre IMO. I think there's so many standout tracks you can just gloss over the lesser songs because you know there will be an absolute banger not far away. The singles are so good they virtually trick you into thinking the songwriting is far better than it is on other tracks.

I feel similar about That National's High Violet. So many high quality tunes, and a pretty palpable sense the band was at the peak of their powers, but the lesser songs on that LP are pretty boring.

 

[RobbieGray17]

FWIW: The Verve: Urban Hymns is more complete than What's the story morning glory

 

[JackOutback]

Betterman by Pearl Jam has had an interesting life, it’s largely considered overplayed now, but it was the breakout hit of Vitalogy and wasn’t even a single.

 

[DaRick]

Better: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Starman is great, of course, but almost the whole album is filled with solid gold. My favourite is Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, but it's a tough call.

Worse: Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Still a classic, but the singles were so good that of course the rest of the material will pale by comparison.