Keith Richards, Talk Is Cheap: But you know what? Keith Richards can do whatever the hell he wants with whoever he wants. Nobody puts Keef in a corner.

John Lennon, Some Time In New York City: It's not so bad if you compare it to most other solo album by lesser gods. At the time it was a bad Lennon misfire, now it could pass a decent MGMT album with Karen O on part-time vocals.

Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace: Pipes of something, alright, and it ain't good times. "Say Say Say" had Michael Jackson on board as the sole redeemer on this 1983 album, to go with plenty of period production values.

Roger Waters, Radio K.A.O.S.: Typical Waters lyricism, awful '80s production and too many horns.

Scott Stapp, The Great Divide: There was truly almost no difference in Creed singer Scott Stapp's lone solo outing after his band broke up, the first time, in 2004. More of a mopier Creed than anything, the album was a non-starter in the sales department, but helped to at least keep Stapp from being completely forgotten until the band reunited in 2009.

Gene Simmons, Asshole: How did Simmons ever think that covering Prodigy's "Firestarter" would be the path to solo success? The worst part was the fifth grade detention lyrics, especially on the title "track": "You think that you're so cool/ That you're nobody's fool / But you've got a personality / Just like a bucket full of pee". The real mystery here is how he got Bob Dylan to write a song for Asshole. Who did Dylan kill in the '70s to owe Simmons something like "Waiting for the Morning Light"?

Steve Perry, Street Talk: Do you remember anything other than "Oh Sherrie"? Shoulda been gone!

Billy Corgan, The FutureEmbrace: If you want to get technical and conspiratorial, every Smashing Pumpkins album has been a solo album with featured players. But alas, this was Corgan's first album that featured a solo billing. It's more of an Adore 2 than anything else, with a mass of droning guitars and icy warble on top.

Sting, Brand New Day: You know what's fucked up? We don't turn off "Fields of Gold" or "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" when they come on the radio, but that harmonica on "Brand New Day" can lick our collective ass.

Julian Casablancas, Phrazes for the Young: When Phrazes came out in late 2009, the future of the Strokes wasn't exactly set in stone. Members were getting married, having babies, lingering in rehab or, like Casablancas, recording Cars tribute albums. As far as solo outings go, Casablancas' wasn't a snoozer in the least, but he looks a lot better flanked by that familiar brood of shaggy do's.

Guns 'N Roses, Chinese Democracy: Oh, come on. No Slash, no Duff, no Steven Adler, no Izzy, means no G'NR. This was a protracted Axl Rose album. If you think of it as such, and try to not to remember the hallowed name on the front cover, it's easier to listen to. Even then, you get to sit through 15 years worth of Rose experimenting with 15 years of genre whims.