Brilliant Debut Albums and then nothing...

I was listening to Guns N' Roses (I've chilled out again now, though) and I got to thinking which other bands had made brilliant debuts and then either broken up, or simply never approached those initial highs ever again? Two immediately sprang to mind - Stones Roses & The Pistols.

So we have:
Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Stone Roses - Stone Roses
Never Mind The Bollocks - Sex Pistols

Any others?

An obvious one that springs to mind would be The La's.

Without thinking long I'd say
A Pacific Model.
Did a nice record somewhere between Radiohead and Elbow (the singer sounds a lot like Guy when he shouts)
but till now nothing new...according a note on the myspace-site they might be disbanded yet...

But I guess you mean bands, that released some more records but only the first one was the good one...
Speaking of ol' Gn'R, I found the follower of their first record quite good, "Estranged" is one of their best tracks. But after that the coolness went down the drain...

lemme see...anyone else in that type...I know a lot bands where I like the debut most but the next records too...have to think about it...

The XX...OK maybe I'm being a little too hasty!

Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast.

Excellent first album followed by a soundtrack album with two good tracks and the rest filler and then................nothing but rubbish.

Propaganda - A Secret Wish

One excellnet debut then nothing at all apart for a badly conceived reformation with hardly any of the original line-up and an atrocious record.

maybe Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill - stonking record, probably just 'too' big
and wasn't able to replicate. To be fair some of her other stuff is good.

My nominees would include:

Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Pretenders - although my fave ever track by them is on their 2nd LP, nothing ever matched the overall quality and impact of that first eponymous album.

The Slits - Cut

De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising

Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties

i'd go for Highly Evolved by The Vines - a top piece of work, once you ignore the Nirvana cheap comparisons - saw them live - was waiting to be disappointed, as they always were hit and miss - and was impressed, a shame they never really kept it going, I know it had a lot to do with Craig's Aspergers Syndrome, if memory serves.

As for The La's and Badly Drawn Boy, great shout's ! amazing pieces of work.

Top thread Mr K !

One of the best débuts of all time was "It's Great When You're Straight Yeah" by Black Grape, Ryder was on form but the second album was awful!
Elastica would be another one too, as would Lo-Fi Allstars who could never match "How To Operate With A Blown Mind"...
Delakota, Longpigs too...

I usually hold up Third Eye Blind as an example. First album -- massive. Subsequent albums -- barely made a dent.

Liz Phair is another good choice. Brilliant debut, followed by a lot of meandering. (I do like her later work, though. Her self-titled album providing some surprisingly interesting insights into the female perspective on relationships at a moment when I needed them.)