Kingdom Come - In Your Face (1989)

This follow-up to Kingdom Come's commercially successful but critically abused debut was a surprising failure, shocking even to those most disgusted by the band's perceived plagiarism of Led Zeppelin. In one of hard rock's most intense backlashes, Kingdom Come redefined the term "one hit wonder" before In Your Face even hit record store shelves, sealing the record's fate. Stuffed with mid-tempo AOR anthems like "Gotta Go (Can't Wage a War)," "Just Like a Wild Rose," and others, this 1989 release has all the commercial rock trappings of the times, plus a few direct Zep knockoffs like "Perfect 'O'." During the late '80s, there must have been dozens, if not hundreds of hard rock releases that were inferior to, and better received than, In Your Face. But the bile reserved for this sophomore effort suggests that it is better to be directionless that patently derivative when it come to making rock & roll.