When the bar has been raised so high sometimes follow up albums seem really limp in comparison. But maybe in retrospect they're not half as bad as they initially appear. I'll nominate 'The Difference between you and me...' by Mclusky. If you take this album on its own merits it's really not bad at all and it's lukewarm response was partly brought about because of the love for 'Do Dallas'. 'The Great Escape' is NOT an example of this.
agreed.
this was the album which immediately sprung to mind. I prefer it to ..do dallas.
Neon Bible too...
NIN - The Fragile
Deftones - S/T
^Deftones
following White Pony is pretty much impossible, I really liked the album. Saturday Night Wrist got pretty short shrift too.
i thought both were WAY better than White Pony.
^^^ this
All 3 are amazing,
White Pony was a big album for me when it came out though, and it marked a massive departure & sounded like nothing else around. It's still my favourite, but in terms of quality there's not much to separate them
I would nominate
Amnesiac and/or Hail To The Thief
News & Tributes
You Could Have It So Much Better
This Is Hardcore
Room On Fire and/or First Impressions Of Earth
Futures
There Is Nothing Left To Lose
Human After All
Tyrannosaurus Hives
nah, Human After All was just pretty shit IMO.
It had some alright moments, but it was written in about 6 weeks and it definitely showed
It's decent,
but most people portrayed it as truly shocking.
6/10 as opposed to 4/10, basically.
i'd go for an even 5/10
not truly shocking, but not great
Once again
I'm going to do my 'sticking up for Human After All' thing. Have you listened to it recently? On a decent system? It was way ahead of its time.
I had no idea they'd made it in six weeks. If that's true they're geniuses.
futureheads
News and tributes, definitely. i much preferred it to the debut once i'd got my head around how different it was
The Earlies
I hear The Enemy Chorus is very good but I don't listen to it becuase I totally bum These Were The Earlies.
Re: Room on Fire
Really? When I first heard it I thought yeah maybe I'm expecting it too much here and it's not that bad but I can honestly say...what...six years on I have no intention of playing this album ever again. It's a stinker, no?
Can't believe I'm the first to mention
Adventure by Television.
Winning Days
wasn't THAT bad, was it? Sure, there's a couple of howlers on there, but nothing to justify the kicking it got.
Winning Days is brilliant,
the howlers are easily overlooked in my opinion, because of the strength of the rest of it, but people were too ready to hate The Vines by then...
Foxhole
Glory
Ain't That Nothin'
Incredible in my eyes
I have loved all 3 Strokes albums and Room On Fire is amazing the more you listen to it. I was never fond of it till lately an now I absolutely adore it.
IMO
the best strokes album.
all wu tang clan post 36 chambers
^ bingo!
thats because its all terrible
Yo could hardly get an ep of good materil off the 2nd album
Warnings/promises
Idlewild...it was pretty great really!
Literally
Dreadful.
How about Sufjan Stevens' post-Illinois works?
Nu-Clear Sounds by Ash
Mobile Home by Longpigs
...
Yeah, agree with those two. 'Mobile Home' I think suffered from the same problem as Elastica's 'The Menace' in which by the time it finally came out people had ceased giving a fu*k about them. I love 'Mobile Home'. I think it's far better than 'The Sun is Often Out'.
...
I wouldn't go that far. Still ace, mind. NCS on the other hand is probably even better than 1977.
Mobile Home
Another vote from me. Lost classic - it must make them sick to think so few people gave it a proper listen.
Yeah
I'd agree about Mobile Home too, I think it's a genuine classic, such a shame that people had lost interest by the time it arrived. Still, 'On and On' isn't a terrible legacy to leave behind.
I'd perhaps say 'Book of Bad Breaks' by Thee More Shallows. It obviously doesn't hit the heights of 'More Deep Cuts', which was always going to be a tough ask, but I still think it's a really good record that's worth persevering with.
south of heaven
pretty hard to follow raining blood
ALL IS DREAM
BY MERCURY REV
Jesus & Mary Chain 'Automatic'
got unfairly slated after following 'Darklands' but is still a brilliant piece of work.
Damn right!
I've never understood why Automatic was mauled and Honey's Dead got praised as a return to form.
miss machine...
... following calculating infinity.
Re strokes
id agree with room on fire, the middle section has weak moments but the likes of reptilla and the end has not end are still genius. For the structure/guitar work alone. The Strokes get a hard time but were still a level above the majority of 'indie' bands around today in terms of songwriting/ guitar work. Lyrics aside
What about
Under Control and 12:51 too; brilliant songs
I honestly
cannot name a bad song from that album. At first I found it boring and forgettable but now every song to me seems to just slap me round the face with how good it is.
Ryan Adams
Love Is Hell
Much better than Gold
Stupid record company
Agree with Miss Machine following Calculating Infinity
Also...
You Fail Me by Converge following Jane Doe. I struggle to decide which I prefer.
Antenna by Cave In. Yes it's a major departure from the earlier stuff, but take it on it's own merits and it's a really good album. And I love Stephen Brodsky's voice.
This Is Hardcore
totally, its actually my favourite Pulp album, and also would probbaly be in my Top 100
Beethoven's Sixth Symphony
It was when he first performed it and continiues to be (not maligned) but overlooked (but not underperformed) to this very day.
It's kind of a sister symphony of the Fifth Symphony but much much more mellow. I made a compilation of the two symphonies with their movements all mixed up. It didn't fit on one disc so I had to delete two movements but I wound up with a cool "new" Beethoven symphony.
and
"Antics" by Interpol
Not so much these days (but somewhat still). I think Antics suffered some in the wake of Turn On The Bright Lights as well as Our Love To Admire also has done some needless servitude in shadows of it's predecessors.
Also I agree with Television's "Adventure" mentioned above which I have named on other underrated threads. In the case of "Adventure" thoug; I think it has suffered more from pure neglect rather than being eclipsed by Marquee Moon- it seems to me that Marquee Moon was kind of overlooked back in the day too. Marquee Moon's momentum has been building ever so slowly over the years and eventually "Adventure" will get it's due as will "Television" S/T and much of Tom Verlaines solo work.
Everyone into Position
By Oceansize after Effloresce.
Very Fast Very Dangerous by Reuben after Racecar Is Racecar Backwards.
wake up by the boo radleys
following up giant steps was always going to be tough. And the album is i think unfairly maligned because of the ridiculous success of WAKE UP BOO! as a single, successful and overexposed to the point that most people would be happy never hearing it again. So the boo radleys take a step in a delicious POP! direction just as britpop is emerging and make an album that could only be a let down to the wider public (not being 13 tracks of wake up boo!) and a let down to the Indie fanbase by leaning very much toward a pop structure. Almost a no win situation, except the album is VERY GOOD. After this, They would burn all their remaining bridges and release the very weird C'mon Kids, the title track of which is responsible for one of very few times i have ever killed a dancefloor totally and completely
a weekend in the city
by bloc party
Monster by REM
Yes it is indeed patchy and weak in places, but there are still some excellent songs on it, and it probably was panned a little too much, based on the fact that it wasn't Automatic For The People 2.
Also Figure 8 by Elliott Smith, again overshadowed by XO a lot and is probably regarded by many as his worst album, but still rather good.
Agree with this
It seemed to get slated rather a lot which i thought was a bit unfair...yeah its not up there with silent alarm, and the production/lyrics makes me vomit at some points, but it's still a fucking class album...
^^
absolutely - EIP is by no means worse than Effloresce as most ppl say
futures by jimmy eat world
Elevator by Hot Hot Heat
if it counts as maligned
Our Love To Admire
Is far stronger than I had previously realised.
I mean, TOTBL is a 10/10 record and Antics pushes for a 9, but I can't begrudge OLTA any less than 8. It has some really strong tracks, and though it can't match either of its predecessors I think it holds up well a year down the line.
Yes!
Well said. I agree completely, Pioneer, Rest My Chemistry and Lighthouse are some of Interpol's best.
ROOM ON
FIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE
Liars followinf Drum's Not Dead
I am guilty of that as well, I unfairly maligned the newie when really it's pretty damn good.
very fast very dangerous - reuben
shatterproof is not a challenge - hundred reasons
the more things change - machine head
happy hollow - cursive
sumday - grandaddy
takk - sigur ros
suede
dog man star
Certainly true on its release
although I reckon now DMS would win many "best Suede album" votes...
Some loud thunder
nobody liked it when it first came out...apart from me
I loved it...
and still do. It was in my top 5 albums of the year!
It is completely different from it's predecessor, obviously, but so intricate and layered and beautiful and wonderous. I think I actually prefer it to the debut.
Likewise, I also really think "Walk It Off" by Tapes 'N Tapes has been a bit unfairly maligned.
In Utero
in my eyes