Huge Leaps Between a Band's First 2 Albums

Interested to hear of any bands' first two albums you feel saw them go from average to outstanding, ordinary to extraordinary, Quickiemart to Harrods, Smartcar to Bugatti Veyron......etc etc etc......

Two that immeadiately spring to mind are Sigur Ros's Von and Agaetis Byrjun, and Radiohead's Pablo Honey and The Bends. Mind you atleast Radiohead's Pablo was 'average', whereas Sigur's Von was just plain dreadful

Actually, a lot of Radiohead fans don't count it as an album because they think it's that bad.

Definitely Genesis, From Genesis To Revelation is just painful...Trespass is a massive improvement,

Blur's 1st album wasn't particularly good. Mind you, the second wasn't either

Prob say the same for Travis as well

I think that Foals 2nd album was far far better than their first.

I did like Antidotes but i really wasn't expecting Total Life Forever to be anything like it was, I think its a fantastic album

MagicalTrevor wrote:

Prob say the same for Travis as well

Comercially, The Man Who went stratospheric. I think Good Feeling is a far superior album though.

First one that came to mind was Beastie Boys. Licensed To Ill was a good, solid piece of work for a first go-round, but Paul's Boutique was massive. It's one of those albums that even the casual hip-hop/rap fan (like myself) can listen to and say, "Wow, that's amazing!" You can really hear how much deeper they went into the construction and production of the tracks on that one.

I'd also suggest Wilco's second album, Being There. On their first LP, A.M., they were still pretty straight-up alt-country. But on Being There, they began making changes which set them apart from a lot of other alternative music of the time, and it set the course for the more experimental and improvisational style they'd end up mastering later on in their career.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica - OK it's their third album but light years away from the first two. Although a lot of that was down to Andy Weatherall's production.

Totally agree with Chrissie re. Paul's Boutique, again part of that could be down to the Dust Brothers production

NeonChoir wrote:

Actually, a lot of Radiohead fans don't count it as an album because they think it's that bad.

I expect that's because they heard it after The Bends and OK Computer... it's hardly classic Radiohead but it's not a bad album, in fact I prefer it to Kid A!

MagicalTrevor wrote:

Blur's 1st album wasn't particularly good. Mind you, the second wasn't either

Heretic! Modern Life is brilliant - in fact I'd go so far as to say their best album. Even Leisure isn't half bad (well, "Bang" is a bit cheesy).

Lee Spoons wrote:

NeonChoir wrote:

Actually, a lot of Radiohead fans don't count it as an album because they think it's that bad.

I expect that's because they heard it after The Bends and OK Computer... it's hardly classic Radiohead but it's not a bad album, in fact I prefer it to Kid A!

No, I wouldn't say it's awful. It has songs like "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and "Vegetable." (which is my fave off that album <3) I will say that it's subpar compared to the rest of their discography. Granted, this was their first one, so that would make sense.

Speaking of which, let me get back on topic. I'mma talk Muse for a second.

"Origin of Symmetry" is bounds better than "Showbiz." The band were 20/21 when "Showbiz" was released, and it sounds obvious when you listen to it. Is it good? Yeah. However, it's unrefined. They did a much better job of that in "Origin of Symmetry." It sounds much more cohesive.

HattyMarris wrote:

I think that Foals 2nd album was far far better than their first.

I did like Antidotes but i really wasn't expecting Total Life Forever to be anything like it was, I think its a fantastic album

Absolutely great choice Hatty - Antidotes left me cold but TLF was everything that the debut wasn't.

My Bury Vest wrote:

HattyMarris wrote:

I think that Foals 2nd album was far far better than their first.

I did like Antidotes but i really wasn't expecting Total Life Forever to be anything like it was, I think its a fantastic album

Absolutely great choice Hatty - Antidotes left me cold but TLF was everything that the debut wasn't.

Yeah Antidotes was good but sounded very immature. Total Life Forever showed how much they've matured since then

I'm risking a backlash here, but how about Supergrass ? ? ? ! !
Now to be fair their 1st album "I Should CoCo" is by no means a 'stinker' or anything like that, but "In It For The Money" which followed is, for me atleast, their best work. So many great hooks, riffs, songs - this time around far more focused.
'Richard III' prob my fave Supergrass single ever, and 'It's Not Me' may well be their prettiest song


(Incidentally 3 people I know thought 'Going Out' had been by Oasis!!!??@#/\*)

So much of a difference between Del Amitri's first self titled album and the classic Waking Hours that many people think that Justin Currie only joined the band after the first album, as they don't believe it's him singing.

Compare and contrast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65yFoFdauMg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUWAE76PmMY