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Last Post 8/21/2006 1:57 PM by  stroller
First album syndrome.
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stroller
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8/21/2006 1:57 PM
    What artists do you think reached their creative peak with their debut albums and have being unable to recreate the standard they set for themselves for the rest of their career? I'm going to start the ball rolling with Badly Drawn Boy and Gomez.
    iliketechno
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    8/21/2006 2:28 PM
    Leftfield - leftism However these guys did a lot of work under different names beforehand so maybe they used up a lot of their juice on previous projects but sure anyhow just to get it started.
    Flux
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    8/21/2006 2:34 PM
    Two very obvious ones... The Stone Roses Television
    Una
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    8/21/2006 2:36 PM
    The Stone Roses Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction Oasis - Definately Maybe
    iliketechno
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    8/21/2006 2:41 PM
    defintely maybe is definitely not maybe a contender ;- )
    comet
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    8/21/2006 2:52 PM
    Stereophonics - Word Gets Round Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern JJ72?
    Una
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    8/21/2006 2:55 PM
    f**k, remember Mansun?
    iliketechno
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    8/21/2006 2:58 PM
    It is them with the songs - wide open space and tax loss. Iremember buying a certain brand of guitar strings because they used them - god almighty
    benni
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    8/21/2006 2:58 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by comet
    Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern
    ah that was a deadly one. I always thought (altho we'll never know cause he died n all ) that the Sketches stuff by Jeff buckley wasn't nearly as impressive as Grace. I know it wasnt all completed but even the first few finished bits werent as good. Futureheads would be an abvious more recent example - I was HIGHLY dissappointed. And Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - loads of people disagree with me but I thought they're debut was by far superior.
    off the post
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    8/21/2006 3:04 PM
    The House of Love De La Soul- 3 feet High Violent Femmes
    Una
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    8/21/2006 3:11 PM
    "I always thought (altho we'll never know cause he died n all ) that the Sketches stuff by Jeff buckley wasn't nearly as impressive as Grace. I know it wasnt all completed but even the first few finished bits werent as good." yeah, there's a lot of filler, but it still has my favourite JB song - Morning Theft, plus Yard Of Blonde Girls is on there too, which is an awesome track.
    Pol
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    8/21/2006 5:17 PM
    HMMMH pinkerton was great but weezer definetly peaked on the blue album .''This bottle dum dum of stephens ......''
    Unicron
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    8/21/2006 5:19 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by benni
    quote:
    Originally posted by comet
    Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern
    ah that was a deadly one. I always thought (altho we'll never know cause he died n all ) that the Sketches stuff by Jeff buckley wasn't nearly as impressive as Grace. I know it wasnt all completed but even the first few finished bits werent as good.
    But ... but Morning Theft, And The Sky Is A Landfill.
    brindle
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    8/21/2006 6:29 PM
    hi all - first time posting
    quote:
    Originally posted by off the post
    The House of Love De La Soul- 3 feet High Violent Femmes
    I always prefered Hallowed Ground, the second violent femmes lp. First lp is undoubtedly a classic but Hallowed Ground contains possibly their greatest tune - Country Death Song.
    Antistar
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    8/21/2006 6:54 PM
    Power Of Dreams- 'Immigrants, Emigrants And Me' Garbage-'Garbage' Curve- Their first batch of EPs are all extraordinary, but never followed them up with a decent album.
    yoshimi
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    8/21/2006 7:41 PM
    Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk
    elmo95
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    8/21/2006 7:41 PM
    Nah always thought Add it Up or maybe Ugly were there best, Blister in the Sun being the one EVERYONE knows. I remember dancing to that in Doyles once. My friend made me pull my t-shirt and start slapping my belly in rhythm. Needless to say I was drunk.
    Binokular
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    8/21/2006 9:12 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by iliketechno
    Leftfield - leftism However these guys did a lot of work under different names beforehand so maybe they used up a lot of their juice on previous projects but sure anyhow just to get it started.
    Yeah, Leftism is absolute class, such a impossibly brilliant album it would be hard to surpass. Mind you, Rhythm and Stealth wasn't bad either. From rougly the same era, Daft Punk never quite surpassed "Homework" and Fatboy Slims "Better Living through Chemistry" just towers over his later work. I think The Stooges debut stands out as a first album that was never surpassed. It's probably a slightly bizarre choice considering it was such a mess of an album, with maybe only three songs that really stand out as bona fide classic tracks. The thing is, neither Iggy or the Stooges were ever as much fun as on that debut. You don't have to be a great band to fall down after the first album either. Stereophonics even on their first album were a band that you'd politely describe as "workmanlike" but once they'd used up all their weird little welsh village stories, the songwriting managed to sink to mindboggling depths of mediocrity. Slightly off topic, but the acts I find really, really tragic aren't the ones who churned out slighly disappointing 2nd albums, it's more the acts that are at least technically still functioning bands/artist but somehow still haven't managed to follow up a spectacular debut. Where the hell is that Avalanches 2nd album? and what about a follow up to Miss Kittins debut solo album? I Com is to my mind, a total landmark in the history of Electro. OK, it's only been two years, but I wish she'd stop mucking about with DJ sets and get back in the studio!
    Daragh
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    8/21/2006 9:59 PM
    going old school, Crosby Stills & Nash, what a debut! Also the Strokes, was listening to Is This It? the other day n its pretty savage, anything since hasn't really grooved for me though.
    Basic
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    8/22/2006 9:49 AM
    RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
    Mully
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    8/22/2006 9:58 AM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Basic
    RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
    'Battle of Los Angeles' is better than 'ratm'.
    Basic
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    8/22/2006 10:02 AM
    but did it make as big an impact ..... i don't think so !!!
    iliketechno
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    8/22/2006 10:38 AM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Basic
    but did it make as big an impact ..... i don't think so !!!
    Impact is a major key it too. Most bands come out and its not the first album is so accomplished and sonically/lyrically brilliant but the fact that it is new and fresh. Many bands make good second albums but expectations are un naturally high that band/act can break new ground or come back and be as fresh as before even though we know all or alot of their tricks and other artists have mimmicked them and developed the ideas better than ever could have. Also a lot of fans will always cherish the first album the most because it really the fans album. Its when you first discovered them and that image of the potential of the sound is what you will always remember.
    Mully
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    8/22/2006 11:04 AM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Basic
    but did it make as big an impact ..... i don't think so !!!
    No it didn't, but thats for a different thread. Regarding the question put on the opening post here, Rage Against The Machine didn't reach "their creative peak with their debut albums and have being unable to recreate the standard they set for themselves for the rest of their career?". As I said, LA is a better album, so they didn't peak at the start of the bands life. I think for alot of bands they have a few yrs before recording their debuts, then the 'difficult 2nd album' happens when they've to write & record new material in only a few months. I presume the recording process is different 2nd time around. If they hit it big straight away, then they can sit in a studio messing about. Its less focused than the recording of the first. Music becomes a job.
    stroller
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    8/22/2006 1:12 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by off the post
    De La Soul- 3 feet High
    No Way. The follow up De La Soul is Dead is their best album.
    JJFoxx
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    8/22/2006 1:36 PM
    What about the first Gomez album? Wasn't so mad about anything after that.
    off the post
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    8/22/2006 1:46 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by stroller
    quote:
    Originally posted by off the post
    De La Soul- 3 feet High
    No Way. The follow up De La Soul is Dead is their best album.
    Fair enough...
    Mully
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    8/22/2006 1:48 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by JJFoxx
    What about the first Gomez album? Wasn't so mad about anything after that.
    New one is very good.
    Peejay
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    8/22/2006 1:49 PM
    George Harrison - All Things Must Pass I think all the four Beatles debut and subsequent albums were their best efforts but none was as impressive and ambitious in scope as Harrisons. Also, like the other three, the quality control went down the crapper as the decade continued. Its easily Harrisons best album, and possibly the best solo Beatles album too. His songwriting and guitar playing is at its best, and Spectors kitchen-sink production elevates Harrison to the level he deserved during all those years of taking the backseat.
    klootfan
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    8/22/2006 1:50 PM
    Yeah, new one is quality alright. Some girl must have p*ssed em off mightly though
    Una
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    8/22/2006 2:14 PM
    Franz Ferdinand ... but they're a singles band really so maybe albums don't count.
    bonzo
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    8/22/2006 2:26 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Una
    The Stone Roses Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction Oasis - Definately Maybe
    Use Your Illisuion could have been a great album had it not been a double album. Oasis - disagree. Morning Glory is a good album and the new one is not too bad either. Stone Roses. Again have to disagree. Second Coming is a good album. Bros with 'Push' is an obvious example.
    phil.b
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    8/22/2006 2:56 PM
    quote:
    Originally posted by Pol
    HMMMH pinkerton was great but weezer definetly peaked on the blue album .''This bottle dum dum of stephens ......''
    No chance!! the blue album's good, but Pinkerton cannot be beaten. Best weezer album by far, it's the definition of a creative peak! Shame Rivers went a bid bonkers after its commercial failure..
    yoshimi
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    8/23/2006 12:42 AM
    If we're talking impact as opposed to quality - there's a million out there. But in terms of not matching up to first albums - will anyone ever outdo alanis morissette on that score??? :) :) ais.


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