Best Second Album

mehfesto2

Some bands suffer from second band syndrome, in that having toured the success of their first album, they have less time to work on a second album, now that they are in the spotlight and produce and album that is poor in comparison to their first.

What are your favourite 'Second Albums'?

Personally, I'd have to go with:

• Pixies -Doolittle
• Travis - The Man Who
• Oasis - What's The Story (Morning Glory)

All obvious choices, perhaps!

Black NG-60-90

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Pixies - Doolittle
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Radiohead - The Bends
Nirvana - Nevermind (slightly cliched i know!)

Thats all i can think of at the mo

Creamy Goodness

weezer - pinkerton.

biffy clyro - the vertigo of bliss

field music - tones of town

jimmy eat world - clarity

foo fighters - the colour and the shape

ash - 1977

aereogramme - sleep and release

loyatemu

super furry animals - radiator
kings of leon - aha shake heartbreak (all downhill since then though...)
the smiths - hatful of hollow, or meat is murder - depending on which you consider their second album, they're both much better than the debut.
orbital - brown album

Bubs101

Wilco - Being There
Oasis - Morning Glory
Radiohead - The Bends
KOL - Aha Shake
Ryan Adams - Gold
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors

Aridstarling

I'll echo all that have been mentioned so far and add Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Interpol's Turn Off The Bright Lights.

11811

Aridstarling wrote: »

I'll echo all that have been mentioned so far and add Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Interpol's Turn Off The Bright Lights.

Not to be smart but Turn Off the Bright Lights is Interpol's first album...
But it is a cracker,

Joy Division's Closer is a great 2nd Album
QOTSA - Rated R

noby

loyatemu wrote: »

the smiths - hatful of hollow, or meat is murder - depending on which you consider their second album, they're both much better than the debut.

Meat is murder, surely. The other was a compilation.

Anyway:
Belle & Sebastian - If you're feeling sinister
Wedding Present - Bizarro


Of course their other albums were good too.

stevoman

the stone roses - the second coming ( i think it was their second album).

Aridstarling

Cuddleworthy wrote: »

Not to be smart but Turn Off the Bright Lights is Interpol's first album...
But it is a cracker,

Sorry, you're dead right, I meant Antics, I can never remember which came first!

Pighead

Dog Man Star by Suede. The pressure was on after their critically acclaimed debut album but they delivered in style. Bernie and Brett eat pressure for breakfast. Their best album.

11811

Aridstarling wrote: »

Sorry, you're dead right, I meant Antics, I can never remember which came first!

And in fairness Antics is a great 2nd record too!

sockpuppets

Kerbdog - on the turn
Weezer - pinkerton
Foo Fighters - the colour and the shape

eclectichoney

noby wrote: »

Belle & Sebastian - If you're feeling sinister

That album is just so bloody perfect tbh. That, and the early EPs are *gold*

SFA - Radiator (as mentioned above)

Modest Mouse - Lonesome crowded west

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

Red House Painters - S/T (Rollercoaster)

Pavement - Crooked Rain

xOxSinéadxOx

eeemmmm

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
Radiohead - The Bends
Blondie - Plastic Letters
Kanye West - Late Registration
The White Stripes - De Stijl

Photi

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

bottlerocket

Pighead wrote: »

Dog Man Star by Suede. The pressure was on after their critically acclaimed debut album but they delivered in style. Bernie and Brett eat pressure for breakfast. Their best album.

I hate to say it but Pighead's right. Now with that piece of unpleasantness out of the way....

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake
Radiohead - The Bends
Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish
Ryan Adams - Gold
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Eels - Electro-Shock Blues
Damien Dempsey - Seize the Day

Xavi6

Muse - Origin of Symmetry
Doves - The Last Broadcast
Interpol - Antics
Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows
Brand New - Deja Entendu
JJ72 - I To Sky (I loved it anyway )
Seafood - When Do We Start Fighting?
Stereophonics - Performance & Cocktails
Delays - You See Colours

keane2097

Siamese Dream obviously.

Honorable mention - Ágætis byrjun by Sigur Rós

ANarcho-Munk

Stereolab - Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements
McCarthy - The Enraged Will Inherit the Earth

Pighead

bottlerocket wrote: »

I hate to say it but Pighead's right.

Pighead has heard bottlerocket utter those words, millions of times over the years but it still sounds just as good as it did all those years ago.

Xavi6 wrote: »

JJ72 - I To Sky (I loved it anyway )

Wahey! So you're the other fella who bought and enjoyed the album! Knew there had to be somebody else out there. The fact that I To Sky sold so poorly still baffles me to this day. It's a cracking album.

Speaking of underrated second albums, Shed Seven's A Maximum High deserves more respect! Boo to the Shed haters! Getting Better, Bully Boy, On Standby, Going For Gold, Where Have you Been Tonight and Parallel Lines all on the same album! What more could you ask for.

Boo-yah

Weezer - Pinkerton
Eels - Electro-Shock Blues
NMH - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen

A.C. Newman (singer of The New Pornographers) has just released a fantastic second album called Get Guilty

JaneyMc

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
The Knife - Deep Cuts
Brand New _ Deja Entendu
Muse - Origin of Symmetry

Creamy Goodness

Xavi6 wrote: »

Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows
Brand New - Deja Entendu

Boo-yah wrote: »

Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen

JaneyMc wrote: »

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones

i want to add these please bob!

paddyb125

The Libertines - The Libertines

funktastic

Galaxie 500 – ‘On Fire’ CRIMINALLY underrated band
Ride – ‘Going Blank Again’
AR Kane - 'i' Again CRIMINALLY underrated
Public Enemy - 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back'
Brief Candles - 'They Live We Sleep'
Led Zeppelin II
NWA - 'Straight Outta Compton'
Neil Young - 'Everybody Knows This is Nowhere'
Explosions In The Sky - 'Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever'
Guns N Roses - 'Lies'
Jimi Hendrix Exp - 'Axis'
My Bloody Valentine - 'Loveless'
Oasis - 'Morning Glory'
REM - Reckoning
Rory Gallagher - 'Deuce'
The Verve - 'A Northern Soul'
Whipping Boy - 'Heartworm'

xOxSinéadxOx

paddyb125 wrote: »

The Libertines - The Libertines

that's not great really! nothing compared to the first anyway

Xavi6

Pighead wrote: »

Wahey! So you're the other fella who bought and enjoyed the album! Knew there had to be somebody else out there. The fact that I To Sky sold so poorly still baffles me to this day. It's a cracking album.

I even have my copy signed! :cool:

I think it's an amazingly diverse album. So many different sounds from the piano-laden 'Nameless' to the soaring guitar in 'Formulae', not forgetting the great use of drum machine in 'City' and my own personal favourite - 'Brother Sleep'. That's one of my favourite songs ever.

Criminally underrated album.

tony 2 tone

Troublegum - Therapy? If you count Pleasure Death and Baby Teeth as EPs.

cherryghost

Blur - Modern Life is Rubbish

mercuroman

A lot of whats been mentioned especially Nirvana, Kerbdog * smashing Pumpkins but gotta add:
Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Tool - Ænema

exiot

xOxSinéadxOx wrote: »

that's not great really! nothing compared to the first anyway

its a great album, they made two top notch albums. You never hear of a band recording an album written about them breaking up
oh and to add

Weezer - Pinkerton

Captain Darling

Doves: Last Broadcast
Led Zeppelin II
Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dreams

Pighead mentioned Shed Seven earlier.

/token insertion of a fuppin brilliant track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1thW_UHL82E&feature=related

nlgbbbblth

Quite a few titles mentioned are not 'second albums'.

Pixies - Doolittle
Their third. First album is Come On Pilgrim, second Surfer Rosa

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Their fourth after This Is Your Bloody Valentine, Ecstasy*, Isn't Anything

* not Ecstasy and Wine

Therapy? - Troublegum
Again their fourth after Babyteeth, Pleasure Death and Nurse.

Labelling some of the above as 'EPs' is problematic.

All sold for album prices here at the time
All featured in the independent album charts. There is no EP chart, just singles or albums.
All have a sufficient number of tracks deemed to qualify the work as an album.
i.e.
Come On Pilgrim - 8
This Is Your Bloody Valentine - 7
Ecstasy - 7
Baby Teeth - 7
Pleasure Death - 6

Slint's Spiderland has six tracks. Nobody has ever disputed its album status. That's an amazing second album.

more
Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
Chicago - Chicago (aka Chicago II)
The Fall - Dragnet
Slowdive - Souvlaki
The Jimmy Cake - Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead
Felt - The Splendour Of Fear
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Elton John - Elton John

Sútalún

Joy Division, Interpol and Radiohead. I sound like such a happy person! :pac:
All cracking second albums though.

loyatemu

bottlerocket wrote: »

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish

+1

"Leisure" is rubbish bar 2 tracks - "Modern Life..." is an amazing turnaround, they completely revamped their sound and image and kicked off Britpop into the bargain. A great great record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F156egcVGp0

xOxSinéadxOx

exiot wrote: »

its a great album, they made two top notch albums. You never hear of a band recording an album written about them breaking up
oh and to add

Weezer - Pinkerton

personally, I can't really listen to the whole think, I skip a song here and there or whatever. plus mumbling carl singing what katie did?

Ryaller

loyatemu wrote: »

+1

"Leisure" is rubbish bar 2 tracks

"Sing" and "She's So High"?

"Modern Life Is Rubbish" and "Dog Man Star" are the two that I immediately thought of when I read the thread title, good to see both mentioned a couple of times already. Blur really should have got the attention for this one, rather than Parklife. They then went on to disappear up their own arseholes with "The Great Escape". And came back out again for "Blur".

"Dog Man Star" is perfect Suede. Should be on anyone's top 10 list. Of course it all went pear-shaped for them after.

eviltimeban

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Red House Painters - Red House Painters (aka Rollercoaster)
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5.55
Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love
Pearl Jam - Vs
Lou Reed - Transformer
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Daft Punk - Discovery
Tom Waits - The Heart Of Saturday Night
Stina Nordenstam - And She Closed Her Eyes

PaulByrne'sBald

power, corruption and lies by New Order

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=xDysZ_-87F4&feature=related

yerayeah

The Bends, Seperation Sunday by the Hold Steady, Antics, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Origin of Symmetry for me.

judas101

Aridstarling wrote: »

Turn Off The Bright Lights.

isnt it turn on the bright lights?

AdultSlashChild

Pavement - Crooked Rain.

No Survivors!

Kwl

The Strokes - Room on Fire (Good Album, but not as good as their 1st)
Muse - Origin of Symmetry (Muse's best?)

My opinions anyways

tailgunner

Feeder - Yesterday Went Too Soon
Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith
Nine Inch Nails - Broken

eZe^

Tool - Aenima
Soulwax - Much Against Everyone's Advice
Interpol - Antics
65daysofstatic - One time for all time
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient works
Daft Punk - Discovery
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Biffy Clyro - Vertigo of Bliss
At The Drive In - In casino out
Deftones - Around the Fur
Between The Buried And Me - Alaska
Explosions in the Sky-Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Dredg - El Cielo
Nas - It was Written
Rakim - The Master
KRS ONE - Krs One
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II


I know that's a mix of all different genre's, but meh, a good 2nd album is a good 2nd album! Missed out on loads there too...

keane2097

eZe^ wrote: »

Tool - Aenima
Soulwax - Much Against Everyone's Advice
Interpol - Antics
65daysofstatic - One time for all time
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient works
Daft Punk - Discovery
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Biffy Clyro - Vertigo of Bliss
At The Drive In - In casino out
Deftones - Around the Fur
Between The Buried And Me - Alaska
Explosions in the Sky-Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Dredg - El Cielo
Nas - It was Written
Rakim - The Master
KRS ONE - Krs One
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II


I know that's a mix of all different genre's, but meh, a good 2nd album is a good 2nd album! Missed out on loads there too...

+1 for the two in bold - can't believe I forgot them...

ByrdsFan

Jefferson Airplane : Surrealistic Pillow
Grateful Dead : Anthem Of The Sun
Quicksilver Messenger Service : Happy Trails
Spiritualized : Pure Phase
Cream : Disraeli Gears
Santana : Abraxas
The Velvet Underground : White Light / White Heat
Neil Young : Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Love : Da Capo

nlgbbbblth

ByrdsFan wrote: »

Jefferson Airplane : Surrealistic Pillow
Grateful Dead : Anthem Of The Sun
Quicksilver Messenger Service : Happy Trails
Spiritualized : Pure Phase
Cream : Disraeli Gears
Santana : Abraxas
The Velvet Underground : White Light / White Heat
Neil Young : Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Love : Da Capo

great list, love all those LPs

Dudess

Ride - Going Blank Again. It's as good as, perhaps better than, Nowhere. It's certainly very different to it.
The Breeders - The Last Splash (similar story to Ride).

Dudess

Aridstarling wrote: »

I'll echo all that have been mentioned so far and add Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Interpol's Turn Off The Bright Lights.

I'm a Neon Bible preferer.

Cuddleworthy wrote: »

Joy Division's Closer is a great 2nd Album

+ a zillion

noby wrote: »

Wedding Present - Bizarro

Oooh, I love you!

stevoman wrote: »

the stone roses - the second coming ( i think it was their second album).

Such a disappointment though...

bottlerocket wrote: »

Primal Scream - Screamadelica

'Tis their third.
But thanks for mentioning it anyway as the mere sight of the title makes me happy.

ByrdsFan wrote: »

Jefferson Airplane : Surrealistic Pillow
Grateful Dead : Anthem Of The Sun
Quicksilver Messenger Service : Happy Trails
Spiritualized : Pure Phase
Cream : Disraeli Gears
Santana : Abraxas
The Velvet Underground : White Light / White Heat
Neil Young : Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Love : Da Capo

Oh I love that musical era so much.