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Post by beentherenow on May 1, 2014 9:04:43 GMT -5
Following on from the disappointing follow-up thread, it got me thinking about bands which instead really nailed their 2nd album.
I know there have been a lot of great 2nd albums but I'm not really thinking of great 2nd albums following equally great debuts. Using Oasis as an example, DM already established them as a great band, MG followed on from that and it wasn't entirely surprising so doesn't really count in my opinion.
I'm more specifically thinking about 2nd albums which followed either decent, just ok or even drab debuts and took everyone by surprise to become something greater.
Some examples I can think of;
Radiohead- The Bends; Pablo Honey was ok (it wasn't the car crash a lot of people say it is) but definitely didn't showcase where this band were eventually going to go. The Bends is superior is every single way. It rocks harder, it's got more melody, the songs are in a different universe. With The Bends you got a glimpse of the genius the band had. Songs such as Street Spirit and Bulletproof showcased a sound they hadn't showed but were going to expand upon with OK Computer.
Nirvana- Nevermind; Bleach was decent but if anyone tells you that in 1989 after hearing it they though Nirvana's follow-up would be one of the most important records of the 20th century, they are fibbing to put politely. Nevermind although not radically changing Nirvana's sound was again better in everyway. Songs were bigger, more polished and showcased Cobains songwriting credientials better than anyone could have ever thought after their first album
Nine Inch Nails- Downward Spiral; I acutally like Pretty Hate Machine a lot but it is quite pale compared with the Tour-de-force this album brought. PHM was a very 80's sounding electro pop record. TDS is a heavy, thunderous, concept album where no two songs sound the same. The emotions shown in TDS, I don't think will ever be matched again, when listening you got the impression Trent Reznor has literally poured every once of energy and feeling into this
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Post by alcohollemonhaze on May 1, 2014 9:44:29 GMT -5
Beady Eye - BE  - It's the nice recovery after that as people say "disastrous" DGSS. I love the variation of these album the most because I'm the kind of person who gets bored when listening halfway through the album because the songs always have the same styles. This is the only album I never skip whenever I listen to it and listen to the whole thing (even the bonus tracks). I couldn't say anything more about BE for now, but it really changed my life that's for sure. Coldplay - AROBTTH - The only Coldplay album that I never get tired of. The thing I love about this era the most is the B-Sides, the dark and gloomy theme and the meaningful love songs. |
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Post by defmaybe00 on May 1, 2014 9:53:47 GMT -5
Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish
Travis - The Man Who (their first was ok though)
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Post by Sternumman on May 1, 2014 10:06:27 GMT -5
Following on from the disappointing follow-up thread, it got me thinking about bands which instead really nailed their 2nd album. I know there have been a lot of great 2nd albums but I'm not really thinking of great 2nd albums following equally great debuts. Using Oasis as an example, DM already established them as a great band, MG followed on from that and it wasn't entirely surprising so doesn't really count in my opinion. I'm more specifically thinking about 2nd albums which followed either decent, just ok or even drab debuts and took everyone by surprise to become something greater. Some examples I can think of; Radiohead- The Bends; Pablo Honey was ok (it wasn't the car crash a lot of people say it is) but definitely didn't showcase where this band were eventually going to go. The Bends is superior is every single way. It rocks harder, it's got more melody, the songs are in a different universe. With The Bends you got a glimpse of the genius the band had. Songs such as Street Spirit and Bulletproof showcased a sound they hadn't showed but were going to expand upon with OK Computer. Nirvana- Nevermind; Bleach was decent but if anyone tells you that in 1989 after hearing it they though Nirvana's follow-up would be one of the most important records of the 20th century, they are fibbing to put politely. Nevermind although not radically changing Nirvana's sound was again better in everyway. Songs were bigger, more polished and showcased Cobains songwriting credientials better than anyone could have ever thought after their first album Nine Inch Nails- Downward Spiral; I acutally like Pretty Hate Machine a lot but it is quite pale compared with the Tour-de-force this album brought. PHM was a very 80's sounding electro pop record. TDS is a heavy, thunderous, concept album where no two songs sound the same. The emotions shown in TDS, I don't think will ever be matched again, when listening you got the impression Trent Reznor has literally poured every once of energy and feeling into this Good examples but I think most people consider Broken as the follow up to Pretty Hate Machine even though its classified as an EP. Fiona Apple-When The Pawn The Fugees-The Score |
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 1, 2014 10:10:45 GMT -5
A Rush of Blood to The Head is pretty great.
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Post by derektrotter on May 1, 2014 10:15:36 GMT -5
Queen-A Day At The Races
Manic Street Preachers-This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
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Post by beentherenow on May 1, 2014 10:19:00 GMT -5
Following on from the disappointing follow-up thread, it got me thinking about bands which instead really nailed their 2nd album. I know there have been a lot of great 2nd albums but I'm not really thinking of great 2nd albums following equally great debuts. Using Oasis as an example, DM already established them as a great band, MG followed on from that and it wasn't entirely surprising so doesn't really count in my opinion. I'm more specifically thinking about 2nd albums which followed either decent, just ok or even drab debuts and took everyone by surprise to become something greater. Some examples I can think of; Radiohead- The Bends; Pablo Honey was ok (it wasn't the car crash a lot of people say it is) but definitely didn't showcase where this band were eventually going to go. The Bends is superior is every single way. It rocks harder, it's got more melody, the songs are in a different universe. With The Bends you got a glimpse of the genius the band had. Songs such as Street Spirit and Bulletproof showcased a sound they hadn't showed but were going to expand upon with OK Computer. Nirvana- Nevermind; Bleach was decent but if anyone tells you that in 1989 after hearing it they though Nirvana's follow-up would be one of the most important records of the 20th century, they are fibbing to put politely. Nevermind although not radically changing Nirvana's sound was again better in everyway. Songs were bigger, more polished and showcased Cobains songwriting credientials better than anyone could have ever thought after their first album Nine Inch Nails- Downward Spiral; I acutally like Pretty Hate Machine a lot but it is quite pale compared with the Tour-de-force this album brought. PHM was a very 80's sounding electro pop record. TDS is a heavy, thunderous, concept album where no two songs sound the same. The emotions shown in TDS, I don't think will ever be matched again, when listening you got the impression Trent Reznor has literally poured every once of energy and feeling into this Good examples but I think most people consider Broken as the follow up to Pretty Hate Machine even though its classified as an EP. You're right a lot of people do and you could almost apply what I said about TDS to Broken, it was also a giant leap from PHT (arguable bigger than from Broken to TDS) but as you say it's technically an EP (albeit a damn fine one) |
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 1, 2014 10:24:57 GMT -5
The Man Who by Travis.
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Post by beentherenow on May 1, 2014 10:30:49 GMT -5
Yeah Travis and Coldplay are both great shouts,
Especially AROBTTH, I honestly didn't see that coming. Best thing they've done by a mile
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Post by oasisserbia on May 1, 2014 10:37:03 GMT -5
Lonerism
RAM
Imagine
Lust for Life
Closer
Transformer
Music for the Jilted Generation
...Nothing Like the Sun
Favourite Worst Nightmare(maaaybeee)
The Libertines(maybeeee)
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Post by Elie De Beaufour 🐴 on May 1, 2014 11:13:08 GMT -5
Primo Victoria-Sabaton. Metalizer may have been the worst thing ever by them, but PV made complete sense.
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Post by John William Anglin on May 1, 2014 11:53:31 GMT -5
Smell the Glove.
God bless.
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Post by lahaine on May 1, 2014 12:59:21 GMT -5
Foo Fighters- The Colour and The Shape
The Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
Muse- Origin of Symmetry
Bob Dylan- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Blondie- Parallel Lines
Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith
The Beatles- With The Beatles
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
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Post by NYR on May 1, 2014 13:03:42 GMT -5
Smell the Glove. God bless. That wasn't a sophomore effort. There was Intravenus de Milo, Rock n Roll Creation and Shark Sandwich before that. God bless. |
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Post by kingcrawler on May 1, 2014 13:18:12 GMT -5
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Horrors - Primary Colours
The Maccabees - Wall of Arms
QOTSA - Songs for the Deaf
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Bar The Horrors, none of those bands had bad debut albums but their 2nd album's were a big improvement.
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Post by defmaybe00 on May 1, 2014 13:49:32 GMT -5
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
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Post by Cast on May 1, 2014 13:51:58 GMT -5
the Verve - A Northern Soul
don't get me wrong I think there first is really great but they went to another level from this point forward. They were a good shoegaze band and i love their early work but as a band they got tighter and their songwriting improved by leaps and bounds. Never really thought they could do a song like History in their early days
Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde
Their first album is actually really good but I never thought they would have matured so well. They traded nuggets-esque lofi punk for anthemic glam rock and it worked wonders for them. This album might be my favorite album of the 2010's. Their debut was a stylish short set of songs but this one showed that they could write really really good songs and the production could actually enhance those songs.
Wilco - Being There
Debut was okay but this double album pretty much showed us what we would eventually see from Wilco. Very expansive and it has some of Tweedy's best songs on it.
Stars - Heart
First album was alright. This album is their second best and it is one of the best pop albums of the 00's as far as I'm concerned.
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
Still one of my favorite MMJ albums. At Dawn, Lowdown, Way That He Sings, Phone Went West. Songwriting just went up another level and they just improved on their first one in nearly every aspect. It isn't that different from their debut but it is just stronger in nearly every aspect. I think this album kinda established what MMJ would become.
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Post by matt on May 1, 2014 17:41:10 GMT -5
I agree with most folk here about A Rush of Blood To The Head - even just for Politik, as it is one of the greatest album openers ever, and it has one of the most amazing outros I've ever heard - the last two minutes pack in so much passion and emotion than most bands can do in an entire career.
I would also go with Modern Life Is Rubbish. In my opinion, it is on a par with Parklife - perhaps nothing that quite reaches the peaks of This Is A Low for example, but it runs very close with classic tunes like Chemical World and For Tomorrow, and for sheer consistency it is equal to Parklife. The first album is actually decent but very derivative of the era. The album Leisure is the sound of a band that doesn't quite know what it wants to be - seems stuck between Madchester or shoegazing, never quite making up its mind. But Modern Life Is Rubbish is the album that inspired the next two albums. They found a perfect niche there - almost like a modern day Kinks with it's observations on life in modern England, packed with pop melodies with a hint of old traditional English music hall mixed with contemporary rock. That album is really the start of 'Britpop' and is the perfect example of a response to the grunge music that dominated British alternative music charts previously. A great concept album and one that really made Blur. The only niggle I have is that they didn't find a place for the b-side Youn and Lovely, would have made a great album even greater.
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Post by Elie De Beaufour 🐴 on May 2, 2014 11:53:40 GMT -5
Apart from the aforementioned:
Dream Theater-Images and Words
James LaBrie-Static Impulse (for the record, his Mullmuzzler albums are to me not solo releases)
Marillion- Fugazi
Porcupine Tree-Up the Downstair
Opeth- Morningrise
Blind Guardian- Follow the Blind
And I'll stop because I'll send people to sleep
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Post by xo0oo0ox on May 6, 2014 22:28:11 GMT -5
A few more...
Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
Slowdive - Souvlaki
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5