HIT : Achtung Baby (1991), Zooropa (1993)

MISS: Pop (1997)

AFTER the patchy Rattle & Hum (1988), U2 tapped into the zeitgeist of the times by borrowing heavily from alternative rock and electronica to make the successful one-two punch of Achtung Baby and Zooropa. But most agreed the Irish megastars took the reinvention too far with Pop, which added even more dance, sampling and techno to the mix. It still went to number one but it proved to be their worst-selling album in 15 years. The critics mostly panned it too and U2 had to remind everyone how awesome they were by releasing a `best of' soon after Pop.

Oasis

HIT: Definitely Maybe (1993), (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

MISS: Be Here Now (1997)

THEIR first album (Definitely Maybe) helped them conquer the UK, but ...Morning Glory? helped Oasis take over the globe and bring the emerging Britpop sound to the masses. With the precocious Gallagher brothers telling the world they were bigger than The Beatles or Jesus or God and two big records already under their belt, anticipation for the third was out of hand. The fickle UK music media helped build up the hype, despite the band's management trying to keep things quiet. Upon release Be Here Now was the fastest-selling album ever in the UK and the reviews weren't bad. But when the buzz died down, so did the sales and the album was re-evaluated as over-the-top, messy and lacking in songs. Tellingly, no songs from Be Here Now were included on their recent `best of' Stop The Clocks.

Smashin g Pumpkins

HIT: Siamese Dream (1993), Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)

MISS: Adore (1998)

WITH two definitive alternative albums in the bag, Smashing Pumpkins went into meltdown post-Mellon Collie. Heroin killed their keyboardist and put their drummer in jail, and frontman Billy Corgan lost his mother and his mind. He also apparently lost his electric guitars for this album, which ditched the trademark rocking Pumpkins wall-of-guitars sound for acoustic guitars, pianos and electronica. While Adore had its fans, the low sales (especially compared to Mellon Collie) weren't helped by Corgan refusing to play most of the old Pumpkins songs on tour.

The Darkness

HIT: Permission To Land (2003)

MISS: One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back (2005)

BANDS have always borrowed (stolen?) from past bands, but few had borrowed quite like The Darkness. The leotarded English quartet brought '80s hard rock back in a big way with singles like Get Your Hands Off My Woman and Love Is A Only Feeling. But their follow-up proved they were a one-joke band and no one was laughing any more. The reviews for One Way Ticket... were mixed at best and didn't sell anywhere near as well. The band eventually broke up.