Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/8-2000s-albums-that-were-considered-flops-and-are-now-considered-absolute-classics/
Every decade has its share of records that arrived to shrugs, only to be treated like scripture years later. The 2000s were especially good at this trick, partly because critics and fans didn’t always agree in real time, and partly because the internet hadn’t yet built the machinery for instant reappraisal.
Some of these albums got dropped by their labels before anyone even heard them. Others sold poorly, got mixed reviews, or simply confused the audience that had shown up expecting something else. Looking back now, it’s strange how wrong the initial read turned out to be.
1. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Before it became one of the most celebrated rock albums of its era, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was rejected outright by Reprise Records, who felt there wasn’t a single and rejected the album, releasing Wilco from their contract. The band ended up buying back the rights and streaming the whole thing for free on their website, a move that felt almost reckless at the time.
What happened next reads like industry folklore now. The bold move of streaming their album paid off, as it became a word-of-mouth phenomenon, and over 30 labels tussled for the right to release the record. Nonesuch won that bidding war, and ironically, that label was also owned by Warner, meaning Warners had paid for the album twice. It went on to become Wilco’s highest-charting album at the time and remains their…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-09-18 13:25:00
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