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Last Post 10/2/2006 4:01 PM by  Rev Jules
Myth of Difficult 2nd Album Syndrome
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Rev Jules
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10/2/2006 4:01 PM
    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
    Antistar
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    10/2/2006 5:14 PM
    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.
    Garret
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    10/2/2006 5:25 PM
    I To Sky - JJ72 *hides*
    Vandal_with_Handle
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    10/2/2006 5:28 PM
    THE BAND!!!
    nerraw
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    10/2/2006 5:36 PM
    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
    nonemoreblack
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    10/2/2006 5:40 PM
    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.
    Pilchard
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    10/2/2006 5:49 PM
    damien rice "9"
    Peejay
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    10/2/2006 6:07 PM
    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.
    Daragh
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    10/2/2006 6:29 PM
    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
    Rev Jules
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    10/2/2006 6:31 PM
    Here's another one 'Kitty Jay' - Seth Lakeman
    Peejay
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    10/2/2006 6:45 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Daragh Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, great 2nd album
    It wasn't, but Axis:Bold As Love certainly was.
    dermot_trellis
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    10/2/2006 7:11 PM
    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.
    jmc105
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    10/2/2006 7:20 PM
    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'.
    aidan
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    10/2/2006 8:11 PM
    '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....
    Daragh
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    10/2/2006 8:44 PM
    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!
    kavobaggins
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    10/2/2006 11:59 PM
    Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream.
    kavobaggins
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    10/3/2006 12:15 AM
    quote:
    Originally posted by kavobaggins
    Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream.
    ooh, and Stoosh by Skunk Anansie springs to mind too for some reason.
    stephen
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    10/3/2006 3:20 AM
    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.
    stroller
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    10/3/2006 3:46 AM
    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
    MarkO
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    10/3/2006 6:03 AM
    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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