Amazing "return to form" albums

This.

Not only the best album they ever made, it probably was one of the best albums by anyone that year

 

Nah I just meant I don't think Brian had very much to do with this Joe Thomas record.

 

Randy Newman Bad Love
Jackson Browne I'm Alive
Elton John Songs From The West Coast

 

I think Made In England would qualify!

 

The Kinks - Sleepwalker
The Knack - Zoom

 

How about Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die.

 

Joni Mitchell, Night Ride Home

 

The Allman Brothers-"Seven Turns"

 

I kinda agree about "The One" - the songwriting is great, but the production is terrible, makes the album sound really dated now. And talking about Elton, "Made In England" was another really fine effort, although the real comeback has to be "Songs From West Coast" in 2001, which is the closest he's come to the greatness of his 70's albums.

 

Aerosmith - Pump

 

Blue Oyster Cult - Fire of Unknown Origin

Metallica - Hardwired to Self Destruct

 

Scorpions - Unbreakable

 

"Songs From The West Coast" by Elton John is one of the greatest "return to form" album ever.

 

A more modern example for me would be Risk to Exist by Maxïmo Park. After producing three great albums in the first part of their career, they went off the boil and looked to be in a terminal decline when they released Too Much Information. Their new album is definitely their best this decade.

 

John Lee Hooker.
The Healer/Mr Lucky/Chill Out

 

I think you are mistaken, but to each his own.

 

The most recent releases from the Zombies, Jeff Lynne's ELO and the Waterboys were all quite good.

 

Here's some welcome comebacks:

1. The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome. 11 years after Bigger Bang, and possibly better than Bigger Bang, and best album since Tattoo You.

2. Ray Charles: Genius & Friends. Thanks for Bringing Love Around was horrendous, with an awful update to What'd I Say

3. Kris Kristofferson: A Moment of Forever; after years of political albums, it was great to hear him write some love songs.

4. Jerry Lee Lewis: Last Man Standing: OK, so it has guests galore, but the mix of rock'n'roll and country is fantastic. His previous album was an over-produced, over-dubbed Andy Paley affair. Before that, he had an horrendous time on MCA, with generic songs and Ron Chancey's over-production.

5. Bob Dylan: Oh Mercy. Great comeback. However, I love the follow-up, Under The Red Sky, as it is, possibly, one of the most underrated Dylan albums. It has some good songwriting, not great, but it still has some good material. Knocked Out Loaded, Down In the Groove, and Dylan & The Dead, are pretty thin gruel in comparison.

 

Ah yes, the old "Brian doesn't make his own records" conspiracy.

 

I thought West Coast was too much of a departure from the vintage Elton, which is probably why people like it! I just think Elton's work needs studio production, and I don't think his voice lends itself to that dry T-bone Burnett unproduced production. But, it's just a matter of taste.

 

Amazing "return to form" albums

 

This seems odd to me. Are you talking about the Let it Be single? If you're talking the album, Let It Be, while recorded prior to Abbey Road, was released after. How could Abbey Road be an amazing return to form if it was released prior to LIB?

 

Not really a conspiracy. "Return to form" for me implies (in Brian's case) writing and producing great music. Thomas describes in this interview how the songs are usually written
The Joe Thomas Interview: On Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys Reunion, and That's Why God Made the Radio
... which involves basically running tape for hours on end until Brian comes up with a fragment that Thomas then would work up into a more fleshed out idea. If Brian says he likes it then it goes forward. Sometimes it is a few chords, sometimes it is a melodic riff, sometimes it is just a song title and idea. Yeah, I guess it is unfair to say that he is not involved (and he certainly still has his unworldly ear for harmony and vocal arrangements) but I personally don't consider any of this pieced together stuff to be part of the canon of one of the greatest auteurs pop music will ever hear from. Your mileage will obviously vary.