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after the Rush thread, does one exist? Does any band create music as good as their first, in their later years?
Most have 3 good albums IME (except the Fall of course) at most, lucky afterwards to have more than a smattering of decent tracks per album.
Nick Cave. Consistently brilliant.
OK, forget consistently good...
Hmmm. Someone who went rubbish/quiet for a bit and came back awesome.
*scuttles off to look at spotify*
I thought the first two Iron Maiden albums when Bruce Dickinson returned were very good (not so keen on the more recent ones though)
[s]The Spaghetti Incident[/s]
Chinese Democracy is pretty good, though.
Europe's latest album is way, way better than anything they've done before.
Dinosaur jr's comeback album, Beyond.
*scuttles back to spotify*
at Flash 😆 😆
I want aware Mark E Smith and his rent a band had made one good album let alone 3 😉
I've always been a big fan of Magnum (not the PI) since the 80's.
Their stuff now is consistently good now rather then one good track, one poor track albums of the past.
I know it's cool to dislike it, but American Idiot.
Californication.
Really liking the new Cult album, astbury has benefitted from being with the remains of the doors.
may be surprising to some, but i just didnt/dont get the paul weller adulation after the jam. ive thought his music was bland, boring sh*te.
but.....after hearing his latest album on 6music, i cant believe its the same bloke! excellent stuff.
New Model Army - never went away, and have been consistently excellent (IMO) for over 30 years.
Alice in Chains: Never done a poor album and the "comeback" one was superb.
Iron Maiden: Getting better with age.
There are a number of bands over 20 years old still producing damn fine albums (Neurosis being a fine example).
[i]Does any band create music as good as their first, in their later years?[/i]
Of course they don't.
The Wedding Present - later albums are different to their early ones for sure, but no less good (some would say better)
Back to the OP, not sure the new Rush album is a "comeback" album. They've never really gone away!
Does any band create music as good as their first, in their later years?
It probably is as good, but just doesn't have the same emotional resonance that it did back then.
In the case of Iron Maiden: I think "the Talisman", off the Final Frontier, their latest album, is one of the best songs they've written...ever!!
😯Chinese Democracy is pretty good, though.
Europe's latest album is way, way better than anything they've done before.
Now that wouldn't be difficult...
Take That more bearable second time around??
*runs and hides*
Johnny cash did ok . if you count cover versions
Agree mikey74 on Alice in Chains. The last album was brilliant.
Dinosaur jr's comeback album, Beyond.
+1
Nada Surf:
In the case of Iron Maiden: I think "the Talisman", off the Final Frontier, their latest album, is one of the best songs they've written...ever!!
Must say i thought that album was very overblown and almost prog rock
Hallowed be thy name is still my favourite although Paschendale runs it a close second
Must say i thought that album was very overblown and almost prog rock
Nothing wrong with that 
+1 for The Talisman and Final Frontier. I like all their albums...
Does Machine Head Unto The Locust count?
Pretty much every Wildhearts album since their first has been a comeback album (no band in the history of the world has split and reformed as often), and mostly they've been great.
Everything Must Go by the Manics?
Dinosaur jnr - Farm
Orbital - wonky
Great thread! Plenty of the above novelty/comedy acts,were never any good..
the first band to spring to mind when i looked at this thread was dinosaur jr, with "farm". not quite on a par with "you're living all over me" or "bug", but very very close...
Beastie Boys (arguably) consistently got better & better..up until and including the under rated Hello Nasty.
Rolling Stones stand out for me as a band who just kept pushing the boundaries and getting better and better over a 15 year period (mid 70's heyday), but that's too obvious a choice.
I'd be keen to see what the Killers came up with next (if anything) as I think they were showing real potential..
Beck - his last couple of albums haven't been big mainstream hits but they always include at least a couple classic tracks. And his masterpiece so far (Sea Change) was something like his 8th studio album.
Foo's?
You're right though, in general the creative juices appear to dry up after the 2nd or 3rd attempt
Song writing in general has always fascintated me. If I were blessed with the ability, i've always thought i'd owe it to myself & the human race to drain every drop of creativity and originality out, even if by the 3rd album I was as rich and as big a ****t as Bono.
It seems the harder they try, the bigger they fail. The greatest albums have always seemed to be the spur of the moment/Zeitgeist type affairs.
Exile on Main Street probably being my prime example.
There's some great footage on youtube of Pete/Roger et al working on The Who's comeback tracks for the Then & Now compilation a few years ago. It was incredible to see how hit & miss the process of song writing is, and how a very rough diamond can sometimes be refined into a classic. Somehow they pulled it out of the bag (IMO) with 'Real Good Looking Boy' & it's B side 'Old Red Wine'. Good stories behind both tracks too.
Thank heavens for Eel Pie Island, it seems to have been a hub for incredible music throughout 50 years now.
Dexys - One Day I'm Going To Soar?
I'd be keen to see what the Killers came up with next (if anything)
They are working with Stuart Price I think, so it's bound to be good.
The one I'm waiting for is the MBV comeback album though. Kevin Shields is still saying it could come out within a year or so.
I never ceased to be amazed.. some people on this forum appear to have lived in a parallel universe where punk never happened.
Van Halen - A different kind of truth.
But then you have to be a fan in the first instance, but hey, it ain't a bad crack at the classic line up and I can actually see this being an album they would have made had they continued with this line up..(all be it slightly modified)
madonna - ray of light
Machine Head - did two brilliant albums (Burn My Eyes and The More Things Change), then did two terrible ones (Burning Red and Supercharger). I genuinely thought that was it, they were over, but somehow they managed to come out with Through the Ashes of Empires, The Blackening and Unto the Locust.
Wish Metallica could do the same. -_-
I never ceased to be amazed.. some people on this forum appear to have lived in a parallel universe where punk never happened.
we are not all 50 😉
I never ceased to be amazed.. some people on this forum appear to have lived in a parallel universe where punk never happened.
Someone mentioned Green Day!
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+1 for Green Day, American Idiot. 21st Century Breakdown is excellent too. Very prog like. As in progressive. Constantly evolving around a stable theme. Brilliant stuff.
And great pre-ride pump up music.
Porcupine Tree. Springs to mind with consistently high quality albums. One of the greatest bands live too.
some people on this forum appear to have lived in a parallel universe where punk never happened.
It happened. It just sucked. 😉
(Blue touch paper lit.... )
I don't mean you should like punk (I hardly ever listen to it now).
Explaining musical stuff to someone who listens to [i]Europe[/i] is never going to be a worthwhile exercise.
Because, of course, your musical opinion and taste are both far superior aren't they?
Punk was discordant tosh. Two years or so of utter rubbish that thankfully died an early death. Some of the remnants were excellent, such as Talking Heads (A sort of post-punk art house thang going on there, I think).
🙂
Wish Metallica could do the same. -_-
I though death magnetic was the best thing since black. Granted that probably doesn't say much 😀
Maiden - I really like Fear of the Dark, but HBTN is a great track.
I really rate Chinese Democracy. Seriously.
I am hoping the forthcoming Sabbath album nails it...
Punk was discordant tosh. Two years or so of utter rubbish that thankfully died an early death.
Like The Clash, The Jam, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, X-Ray Spex, XTC,
The Stranglers, The Human League, Spiz Energy, The Buzzcocks, Gang Of Four...
All of whom I saw in Bath around 1977, except for GoF, who I never got the chance to see. Discordant rubbish, all of it... 😈
Not a fan of newer Green Day stuff at all. Dookie was awesome.
Last Prodigy album was a pretty awesome comeback.
mastiles_fanylion - MemberI really rate Chinese Democracy. Seriously.
Madagascar's a tune and a half. Shackler's Revenge is the most comically awful song ever recorded. Bit of give and take
Seconding Crag; Invaders Must Die has to mark among one of the ultimate comeback albums.
Aerosmith- Permanent Vacation. which lead on to Pump and Get a Grip.
Kind of went downhill gradually since then.
Fingers crossed the new album will be better.