Rev Jules Veteran Member Posts:1041  
| 10/2/2006 4:01 PM |
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Its one of the sacred cows of orthodox music journalism, the second album that never really lives up to the debut but here are three classics that were second albums
'The Bends' - Radiohead
'Transformer' - Lou Reed
'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' - Bob Dylan
True or myth, you decide
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Antistar Advanced Member Posts:544
| 10/2/2006 5:14 PM |
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Nirvana- 'Nevermind' is another one.
I don't think it's a myth. Many less talented bands than those listed above pour a lifetime's worth of creative angst into their first album and then have nothing left over for the second, thusly the difficult second album syndrome. Or maybe not.
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Garret Basic Member Posts:244
| 10/2/2006 5:25 PM |
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I To Sky - JJ72
*hides*
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Vandal_with_Handle New Member Posts:23
| 10/2/2006 5:28 PM |
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THE BAND!!!
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nerrawBasic Member Posts:475
| 10/2/2006 5:36 PM |
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The Prodigy Jilted Generation another.
Some bands are just one hit wonders. Happen to be in the right place at right time. I predict the same will happen for a lot of the current crop of indie bands
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nonemoreblackNew Member Posts:21
| 10/2/2006 5:40 PM |
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Depends on the band I suppose.
Most first albums are the results of years of song writing as the band have spent all that time trying to perfect things and get a deal. So if the first album is a hit then the pressure is really on to get another one out there and most bands dont have the luxury on time on their side. I blame the record companies for being too eager to make a quick profit.
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 10/2/2006 5:49 PM |
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damien rice "9"
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PeejayBasic Member Posts:340
| 10/2/2006 6:07 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nonemoreblack
Depends on the band I suppose.
Most first albums are the results of years of song writing as the band have spent all that time trying to perfect things and get a deal. So if the first album is a hit then the pressure is really on to get another one out there and most bands dont have the luxury on time on their side. I blame the record companies for being too eager to make a quick profit.
Exactly. A debut album could have been twenty years in the making/planning/conceptualizing...whatever. Then suddenly the same group of musicians are expected to come up with all new material in one year, usually in between touring.
Some musicians work well under pressure and rise to the occasion - Supergrass for instance came out with a great second album - while others need the time and freedom to start the creative process from scratch. Frank Zappas second album, Absolutely Free, was a bit of a rush job, released only a few months after Freak Out!, and it shows.
Its something people like to worry themselves with. Its like a successful debut is seen as the fluke while the real test of an artists worth is the follow-up. Bulls**t of course, but, you know, it happens.
Neil Youngs debut was a hell of a false start. All fuzz-tone guitars and backing vocalists, with Everybody Knows.... a year later he really found himself. |
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DaraghAdvanced Member Posts:666
| 10/2/2006 6:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Vandal_with_Handle
THE BAND!!!
whooooo!
(just cause theyre so great, and im gonna stick on "the shape im in")
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, great 2nd album
Led Zeppelin 2 - in my opinion, miles better than the first. mainly cos it doesnt have dazed n confused, though it does have moby d**k, great riff then w**k w**k w**k |
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Rev JulesVeteran Member Posts:1041
| 10/2/2006 6:31 PM |
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Here's another one
'Kitty Jay' - Seth Lakeman
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PeejayBasic Member Posts:340
| 10/2/2006 6:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Daragh
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, great 2nd album
It wasn't, but Axis:Bold As Love certainly was.  |
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dermot_trellisNew Member Posts:69
| 10/2/2006 7:11 PM |
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That supposed thing of having "your whole life" to write a debut album is kind of a fallacy, it's really about 4 or 5 years I'd say on average between somebody starting to write songs and finishing a first album, whereas the follow-up typically gets around 18 months to 2 years, if a band has signed a record deal. Another factor is that sometimes a lot of the songs on the second album are actually older than the ones on the first (e.g. with Talking Heads second album). I don't think it's that second albums are actually worse, it's just that a lot of the time they suffer from having lots of pre-expectations around them and it's generally harder to surprise people the second time around.
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jmc105Basic Member Posts:188
| 10/2/2006 7:20 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nonemoreblack
Depends on the band I suppose.
Most first albums are the results of years of song writing as the band have spent all that time trying to perfect things and get a deal. So if the first album is a hit then the pressure is really on to get another one out there and most bands dont have the luxury on time on their side. I blame the record companies for being too eager to make a quick profit.
but by that logic every album after the first one would suffer from 'second album syndrome'. |
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aidanAdvanced Member Posts:638
| 10/2/2006 8:11 PM |
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'dog man star' by suede is a wonderful second album, as is 'protection' by massive attack. however, the new scissor sisters album stinks (I loved the first one).
I guess 'the second coming' by the stone roses will always be shorthand for second-album syndrome....
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DaraghAdvanced Member Posts:666
| 10/2/2006 8:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Peejay
quote:
Originally posted by Daragh
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, great 2nd album
It wasn't, but Axis:Bold As Love certainly was.
oops my bad! i thought axis came after, well, hmmmm, difficult keep the groove going album then!  |
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kavobagginsBasic Member Posts:199
| 10/2/2006 11:59 PM |
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Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream.
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kavobagginsBasic Member Posts:199
| 10/3/2006 12:15 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by kavobaggins
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream.
ooh, and Stoosh by Skunk Anansie springs to mind too for some reason. |
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stephenBasic Member Posts:201
| 10/3/2006 3:20 AM |
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Great second albums?
Radio City - Big Star
Being There - Wilco
Disappointing second albums?
Adventure - Television (after the quite stunning Marquee Moon)
Franz Ferdinand's second album was a clunker... the less said about Razorlight, Futureheads and Kasabian's recent efforts, the better.
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strollerAdvanced Member Posts:576
| 10/3/2006 3:46 AM |
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More great second albums;
Whipping Boy - Heartworm
TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Weezer - Pinkerton
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Death In Vegas - The Contino Sessions
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
The Chemical Brothers - Dig You Own Hole
Hot Chip - The Warning
The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Super Furry Animals - Radiator
The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Interpol - Antics
PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
The Rapture - Echoes
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
Edan - Beauty & The Beat
David Holmes - Let's Get Killed
Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R
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| 10/3/2006 6:03 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by aidan
'dog man star' by suede is a wonderful second album, as is 'protection' by massive attack. however, the new scissor sisters album stinks (I loved the first one).
I guess 'the second coming' by the stone roses will always be shorthand for second-album syndrome....
Teh thing about 'Second Coming' is that it's a decent album, it's just that it took so long & people were so expectant that it left most people cold. Unfortunately. |
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