DCC Archive Biggest letdown for a follow up album...

For me it has to be Peter Frampton's tribute to the Beatles. What a bloody joke! And to think he had the entire rock world in the palm of his hand after Come's Alive (Can't remember where I'm In You fits in).

I still have it for the one jewel out of the quagmire: Strawberry Fields.

 

Hmmm. That's a tough question. I usually find that the steps of lameness usually take a couple of records, but here it goes ...

IMHO

Genesis

Genesis -> Invisible Touch (IT was the straw the broke the back on this Gabriel Era fan. I haven't bought a disc from the band after that - and I have just about everything else.)

King Crimson

Red -> Discipline (I think Fripp should have just let go of the KC name and just called Belew and company the League of Gentlemen Part II, or something like that)

U2

Achtung Baby -> Zooropa (U2 finally decided they wanted to do syth-based techno-hop. They haven't fully recovered from their pop banalities. "You are stuck in the middle and you can't let go of the pop - oh no!")

I know some will sharply disagree but hey, it's just my view.

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: Browserman ]

 

Well, the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Bomb on RSO for the Movie of the same name, the music was definately not right; although very amusing. The artists (most of them) had their own special personalities that just did not go well with Beatles sound. Oasis, well... maybe. Closer, definately.


On Genesis, when I was growing up in high school, the "Genesis" Lp (w/ Mama, Geometric figures on the cover) I thought was nothing short of brilliant. I even learned the melody to "Home By The Sea" on a Yamaha synth. The lyrics on "Throwing It All Away" on Invisible Touch I thought was also a brilliant "You Tore Out My Heart" love song.

Oh, yeah. Then I got a hold of "Foxtrot" one Sunday in college and locked myself in with Peter Gabriel.

Then I "got it". I really like Genesis, and the albums they've released over the years, and I can't ignore the brilliance of Phil Collin's "Face Value", but the real raw energy that lied with the band though it's more creative period weakened after Abacab, Genesis (S/T). These albums were still great, but you have to experience "Lamb Lies Down", "Selling England By The Pound", "Foxtrot", etc.... Gabriel was completely ahead of his time, and that's an understatement.

-Sckott

 

John Fogerty from Centerfield to Eye of The Zombie

 

The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo to Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde

Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life to Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants

The Band: Stage Fright to Cahoots

R.E.M.: Automatic For The People to Monster

Liz Phair: Exile In Guyville to Whipsmart

Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years to One-Trick Pony

The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street to Goat Head's Soup (far from their worst album, but still a big letdown)

Elvis Costello: Trust to Almost Blue (though Trust is a bit of a letdown after Get Happy!!)

Michael Jackson: Thriller to Bad

The Beatles: Abbey Road to Let It Be...if they ever reissue Let It Be, I hope to god that they make it a twofer and add the original Get Back sans Phil Spector's meddling

Bruce Springsteen: went from Tunnel Of Love to Human Touch (Lucky Town is pretty good, but man, get a load of Bruce's duds...YEEESH!)

Prince: Sign O' The Times to the Black album

[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: Camarillo ]

 

Interesting. I like KC in all their phases, although I'm counting "early" as LTIA, Starless, and Red. I'm not crazy about ITCOTCK and the real 'early' period. I really like the red, yellow, and blue albums, and Thrak blew me away the first time I heard it. The latest from them I thought was pretty weak. Still a great live show.

 

Hmm... I thought Let It Be was recorded before Abbey Road.

Anyways, my pick:

Fleetwood Mac: Rumours -> Tusk

Now, don't get me wrong - Tusk has it's moments, and is a very interesting hodge podge of experimental noodlings by Lindsey, but overall it's extremely unsatisfying.


Honorable mentions:

Donald Fagen: The Nightfly -> Kamakiriad
ELO: Time -> Secret Messages
Rush: Power Windows -> Hold Your Fire

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: Holy Zoo ]

 

Yeah, for the most part, Let It Be was recorded right after the White Album (Across the Universe and I Me Mine came from different sessions before and after the Get Back sessions, respectively), but it seemed to spoil the elegant swanswong the Beatles had in Abbey Road. They went from a polished, immaculate record to an uneven collection of songs. Some of the "loose" moments like "Maggie Mae" and "Dig It" don't seem funny to me, just real amateurish, and then there's "Long and Winding Road," just drowned in sappy orchestration. I'm not that crazy about the reworking of "Across the Universe" either; the way they slowed the original tape to a druggy crawl, again drenched in overdubs...I prefer the original unfutzed tape. All acoustic, a guitar and some Indian instruments, it's an effective, understated recording compared to Spector's work (I love the guy, but he just lost it when it came to Let It Be).

 

Beach Boys: "Pet Sounds" to "Smiley Smile". Yeah, I know lots of people like Smiley Smile, but I still think it's the worst of the BB's 60s albums.

The Replacements: "Pleased to Meet Me" to "Don't Tell a Soul": The best band of the 80s tries to become commercial, and ends up sounding like Bryan Adams. Blech.

Lou Reed: "New York" to "Magic and Loss": The first is a great comeback album. The second is one of the bleakest, most tedious records I've heard.

 

I think Spector gets too much of the blame. He did the best he could with what he was given, aside from his lapses into excess with Across the Universe and Long and Winding Road. Spector's mixes of Let it Be and Get Back are better than the single versions of the same songs (by Martin or Johns, I forget who). Let it Be is certainly a more entertaining album than the Glynn Johns Get Back album.

 

Metallica's "Load". I have been a fan of Metallica since "Ride the Lightning". The whole package was crap all the way down to the wank off photos inside the booklet. I still haven't been able to make it through the whole album in one sitting.

Bonnie Raitt "Longing in their Hearts" I think that was the name of it. I got rid of it fast. It seems like she even won another grammy for it. About half of it was good, but the other half was unbearable.

Queensryche "Empire" I still think that this is their weakest album. I picked up the DCC gold CD with the hope that DCC will eventually put out "Rage for Order" or "Operation Mindcrime".

Concrete Blonde "Walking In London" Some decent songs on there, but the sequencing is really poor and most of the songs just sound like a collection of out-takes.

Hawkwind "It is the Business of the Future to be Dangerous" A really lame follow up to the great "Electric Teepee". Ambient stuff is ok, but I need a couple of rockers in there to mix it up!

Jethro Tull "A Little Light Music" Supposed "semi-acoustic" album was a real disappointment coming from my favorite band. Not acoustic enough and some poor performances and HORRIBLE EDITING!

Kate Bush "The Red Shoes" I love her other albums, but this one is pretty lame as a whole. What the hell is Prince doing on a Kate Bush album? Geez.

Tom Petty "Into the Great Wide Open" I reached the TOTAL burn out stage with Jeff Lynne's production sound on this album. Some great songs, but I would much rather listen to "Full Moon Fever". At least it has a sense of humor about it, unlike "...Great Wide Open"

Maria McKee "Life is Sweet" Truely the "revenge of Maria McKee". After a series of good albums with Lone Justice and solo, she screwed the pooch on this one. Not a single listenable song on the whole damn album. I don't know why she tried to be Alanis Morrisette. Even Alanis should know better.

I would keep going, but nobody really cares what I think anyway, and I am sleepy...

Tony

 

And the undisputed winner is

Geroge Harrison with

All Things Must Pass
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|
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Living in the Material World

 

pink floyd:
THE WALL-to-THE FINAL CUT

led zeppelin:
PRESENCE-to-IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR

kraftwerk:
COMPUTER WORLD-to-ELECTRIC CAFE

rolling stones:
SOME GIRLS-to-EMOTIONAL RESCUE

the pixies:
DOLITTLE-to-BOSSANOVA

later, chris

 

And now for the artists most of you probably have never heard of or don't care. Yeah I know that these aren't from 1st to 2nd albums but still a huge let down.

Aldo Nova
from Subject Aldo Nova to Blood On The Bricks

Gerry Doucette
from The Douce Is Loose to Price Of An Education

Boston
from Third Stage to Walk On

The list could literally go on forever.

 

Ahhhh, the mother of all letdowns. That was a sad day...

 

This brings up the question that if a follow-up doesn't appear for 5 years or more, do you expect *more* from the album because it took so long to create--or do you expect *less*, because the artist's style is bound to have changed, or at least be no longer in style.

Actually I thought Twitch was the follow-up to Subject; but your point is taken. Blood On The Bricks was that collaboration that Aldo did with Jon Bon Jovi, methinks. It actually isn't a bad bit of hair metal, but it was a day late and a dollar short when it came out--the movement had already run its course. Perhaps the disappointment is more that Aldo went from being a *trailblazer* in the early 80's to being a *tag-along* in the early 90's.

I'm actually very moved by "Walk On". While it was nothing but a rehash of music styles and lyrics that were probably done better on the first 3 albums, it leaves a strong bittersweet taste. When I first heard it, I just *felt* that this would be the last I ever heard from Tom Scholz & Co. The whole CD hits me like a requiem.

So I'm not sure it's fair to hang the "letdown" label on what are clearly "swan songs". I reserve "letdown" for 2 chronologically close albums when an artist was at the *top* of his/her/their game, and you had every reason to expect an album that was at least 50% of what the previous was. That's why "The Final Cut" will probably always be the archetype for letdowns.

[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: BitShifter ]

[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: BitShifter ]

[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: BitShifter ]

 

BitShifter,
Where are you from? I thought only Canadians knew about Aldo Nova, at least that was the impression I had from speaking with quite a few Americans.
My mistake, you're right about Twitch being first, I had forgotten that that one was the let down album and believe me it was.

 

i just thought of some more...

the cars:
HEARTBEAT CITY-to-DOOR TO DOOR

the kinks:
SLEEPWALKER-to-MISFITS

roxy music:
MANIFESTO-to-FLESH + BLOOD

little feat:
TIME LOVES A HERO-to-DOWN ON THE FARM

nine inch nails:
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL-to-THE FRAGILE

later, chris

 

Oh man, I never thought about doing the same album. I just listened to Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds the other day, and it really seems to peter out on the second half.

 

Biggest letdowns... Hmmmmm...

Kate Bush
The Hounds Of Love -> The Sensual World
A disappointing drop indeed

Deep Purple
Made In Japan -> Who Do We Think We Are
This is what happens When Ritchie Blackmore puts no effort into an album

The Cranberries
No Need To Argue -> To The Faithful Departed
I only listened to "...Faithful..." once and was sorely disappointed.

Metallica
Master of Puppets -> And Justice For All
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this one but... They should have packed it in after Cliff died.

Boston
Boston -> Don't Look Back
The first one was great. The second sounded like a copy of the first.

Genisis
Lamb Lies Down... -> Trick Of The Tail
Once Peter Gabriel left there was no real reason to listen.

Yes
Yessongs -> Tales Of Topographic Oceans
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Van Halen
1984 -> 5150
I'll take my VH WITH David Lee Roth ty.

The Who
Who Are You -> Face Dances
Another one that should have receeded into plesant memory... But noooooooo.

Led Zep
Houses Of The Holy -> Physical Grafitti
That could have been whittled down to one record.

Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream -> ...Infinate Sadness
See above

Ozzy
Diary Of A Madman -> Bark At The Moon
His sound never quite recovered after Randy died

The Sugarcubes
Life's Too Good -> Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week
The debut was astonishing. The followup was nothing short of embarrassing (that can be pinned on Einar Orn). Makes one wonder why Bjork didn't go solo sooner

 

Hey, here in the Midwest we *love* Canadian hard rock of the 70's and 80's, and not just the usual suspects (Loverboy, Rush, Triumph) but the lesser-knowns as well (Prism, Honeymoon Suite).

 

Boy, I disagree on that one. Misfits is a nice little album. It's not brilliant, but then, neither is Sleepwalker. I always rated them about the same. Now, Misfits to Low Budget... THERE'S a decline for you.

 

Loverboy is hard rock?

 

Originally posted by Bit shifter.
Hey, here in the Midwest we *love* Canadian hard rock of the 70's and 80's, and not just the usual suspects (Loverboy, Rush, Triumph) but the lesser-knowns as well (Prism, Honeymoon Suite).

Hey Bitshifter you forgot all the important ones. ie.(Jerry Doucette, Chilliwack, and Streetheart)etc. LOL