Bands That Defeat the Sophomore Slump
Friday, September 10, 2010 at 12:01AM A few weeks ago, I was driving along in my car, and I was scrolling through my MP3 player (not an iPod, but rather a Creative Zen X-fi2, as I did not want to buy into the iPod marketing campaign), and I decided upon Hellacious Acres by Dangerous Toys...which was an awesome choice. Listening to this album got me thinking about how, in my opinion, Dangerous Toys totally overcame the "sophomore slump" that many bands suffer when they put out their second album. The theory is that most bands have years to craft the 10 - 14 songs that make up their first album, so they put forth their best possible effort on that album, and then the follow-up album (the "sophomore" album) is lackluster compared to the first, as it is rushed and the band just does not have the material. Hellacious Acres is just an amazing rock album, and I think is actually a better effort than the self-titled debut.
Unfortunately, Dangerous Toys never reached the level of popularity with any of their follow-up albums than they did with their debut, so the tragedy is that many fans of the first album are probably not aware of how great the second album was. So this got me thinking of how many great sophomore albums are out there that I am not aware of. Two more that I can think of, off the top of my head, are Sixes, Sevens & Nines by Junkyard and Freakshow by the BulletBoys.
So what else is out there that I may be missing? What overlooked sophomore albums are out there that actually blow away the debut album, but never got the recognition they deserve? I have a long drive back and forth to work, so any new suggestions are definitely appreciated!
Reader Comments (25)
Except that "Somewhere In Time" does not qualify as an album as it's a greatest hits package!
But, I do like most of the songs on there, except for one...
"2 Minutes To Midnight", which I love, well, most of it, I love, except for a couple of lines Harris manages to hack up, leaving nothing to the imagination, as usual. This guy knows nothing about "between-the-lines" subtlety when it comes to his lyrics. Still, this song is THE shining example of one of the few moments when Maiden was catchy.
Tell, you what, pick a Maiden album out that's a REAL album and I'll listen to it, AGAIN! Whichever one you deem to be the best. Just make sure it's pre-93. I'm not interested in their "Legacy Period". That said, pick out one new song you recommend and I'll listen to that, as well, maybe even put it on my "Nu Metal" iTunes Playlist.
Remember, I told you my band I had back when I was just a little older than you wanted me to do Maiden, so the drummer and the guitarist would lend me different albums but I just couldn't get into it.
Then again, I wanted them to do a Glam Metal version of The Bay City Rollers "I Only Wanna Be With You"...Hahahaha!!!
Hey, as far as W.A.S.P goes, it's funny that you mention liking "Wildchild" better than "Blind In Texas" because about 5 months ago, I actually switched in "Wildchild" to my A-list iTunes Playlist, "Heavy Roxx" and traded out "Blind In Texas" to "Wildchild"'s former position in my B-list Playlist, "Midnight Metal", thinking "Wildchild" was better but I gotta say, I still think "Blind In Texas" is better in the long run. It's just a little more BADA*S, if you ask me, is all.
And, dude, I hear you about the internet. It sucks pretty much just about everywhere except certain parts overseas where they have a wider broadband. Still, it's all we've got when it comes to finding stuff we passed up the first time around, including this site, which does the incredible to Bring Back Glam! everyday!
p.s. Vinyl is cooler, for sure, bro! I'm still buyin' it, when I can't find the CD or it never came out on CD. That's awesome you're 19 and rockin' out to these relics and on Vinyl, too! You're OK, kid! Those college chix better get wise... any dude who's 1) Jammin' to 80's Metal (yeah, even Maiden, tho I don't dig it) and 2) On vinyl yet, is way more "hip" than the usual Hipster dude + hipster crap they try to impress those chix with. Rock On! There are rock chix out there your age. I saw tons at M3 and my ex-lead guitarist is always gettin' mixed up with 'em, hahaha!!! But enuff about that bullsh*t. The music also sounds better on vinyl. I can't wait to bust the old Technics out of storage!
that should work, I should've warned you about the similarity. The one you got is the 07 GH album.
Honestly vinyl is still the best medium somehow, i have a couple of turntables and one i can stop and just move the thing around so the record speeds up and slows down at my finger's will and its histerical to record the sound output. Still haven't found any backwords player LPs though, know any that actually have something on them backwords? I thought the beatles had one.....
BTW - love the first Icon record as well. I thought their sophomore effort was a bit of a step down.It's kind of interesting Metalboy that you don't classify Alice as grunge. I think that Jerry Cantrell is hugely underrated as a songwriter. I think that both of his solo efforts (Boggy Depot and Degradation Trip) are very good, and even the most recent Alice wasn't bad. Jerry does a good job on vocals, although you can't replace Layne.
Love Hotwire as well. Probably Kix's best effort, although not as successful as Blow My Fuse. Got to catch them live some day. And there may not be a better guitarist than Reb Beach.
Kudos Metalboy on mentioning 9/11. Trust me, we won't forget.
Okay - I don't think I can possibly bring up something that you guys haven't already heard, but go find Metalized from Sword, and check out a track called Stoned Again. Great tune. If that's not obscure enough, how about Front Burner from TT Quick (from their Metal of Honor release).
Funny story I bought Icon's record as a joke! I'm a band geek from high school and i'm now their announcer, anywho I love Drum Corps International also since its like the NFL for marching bands. There is a corps, The Spirit of Atlanta that had a show called Icon this year that had a sound effect that randomly said Icon in a computerized voice. My brother and I turbned it into a running gag and when i say the Icon record and looked it over i thought
I'll give it a shot, low nad behold some of the best 3 dollars i've ever spent!!