Here we celebrate the albums that represent a possible turning point in an artists career. Just a single pothole or has the artist turned into a pumpkin?

1. The Robot Ate Me - Good World [The understated charm and elegance of his last three records are nowhere to be found on this collection of ill-advised semi-finished mini tracks. It plays like a collection of sound effects.]
2. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife [It wasn't good when it was called One of These Nights by the Eagles, and it's not good now. They had a schtick that worked, and it wasn't prog. If the Robot Ate Me album wasn't so ridiculously stupid, this would be a cinch for the most disappointing album.]
3. Geoff Farina - Already Told You [Alright, it's only an EP, but the songwriting was so tepid that it has me worried for the guy responsible for so many great Karate records and one incredible Usonian Dream Sequence.]
4. Roots - Game Theory [Each album has been noticably worse than the previous one. The Tipping Point wasn't great either, but at least it had Guns are Drawn.]
5. Mason Jennings - Boneclouds [More like Suckclouds.]
6. Isobel Campbell - Milk White Sheets [I had written off the awfulness of Ballad of the Broken Seas as due to the presence of Mark Lanegan, but this isn't any better.]
7. Xela - The Dead Sea [What used to be subtle, delicate calm is now just insipid and dull.]
8. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit [Hmmm… you know, someone else on this list hasn't been making much interesting music since she left the group, either.]
9. Beck - The Information [OK, Guero was also terrible, but the two before that were fine. I think he's washed up now.]
10. Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics [Really, not all that bad, just not up to snuff. It's a big snuff.]

Tomorrow: The big kahuna