The Great Sophomore Albums

Submitted by dcstar on Tue, 06/08/2004 - 12:52
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  1. The Band/ The Band
  2. Doolittle/ The Pixies
  3. Astral Weeks/ Van Morrison
  4. Reckoning/ R.E.M.
  5. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain/ Pavement
  6. You Forgot It In People/ Broken Social Scene
  7. Chutes Too Narrow/ The Shins
  8. This Year's Model/ Elvis Costello & The Attractions
  9. Transformer/ Lou Reed
  10. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/ Bob Dylan
  11. The Lonesome Crowded West/ Modest Mouse
  12. More Songs About Buildings and Food/ Talking Heads
  13. Meat Puppets II/ Meat Puppets
  14. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere/ Neil Young
  15. White Light, White Heat/ Velvet Underground
  16. Bows and Arrows/ The Walkmen
  17. Power, Corruption, and Lies/ New Order
  18. Axis: Bold As Love/ Jimi Hendrix
  19. Milo Goes To College/ Descendents
  20. The Bends/ Radiohead
  21. Led Zeppelin II/ Led Zeppelin
  22. Disraeli Gears/ Cream
  23. Closer/ Joy Division
  24. Leave Home/ Ramones
  25. Appetite for Destruction/ Guns and Roses
  26. Regatta De Blanc/ The Police
  27. Nevermind/ Nirvana
Author Comments: 

Second albums that acheived greatness or followed up a great debut.

ash_campbell06/08/2004

It's a good list, stretching across time as it does. Depending on whether you think the EP Come on Pilgrim (1987) counts as a debut or not (I don't), I think The Pixies' Doolittle (1989) has to be one of the best sophomore efforts out there.

dcstar06/08/2004

I would also count 'Doolittle' as a sophomore album. I didn't think of it when creating this list. Although I do have a burned copy that I have listened to a total of two times, I don't really know if I would place it higher than any of these.

However, I'm sure a few of these artists were strongly influenced by the Pixies, so I might just replace 'Nevermind' with 'Doolittle'.

jokow1106/08/2004

I think most artists can be classified by their second albums. The bands that take a long time to make it usually have a set of honed good songs for the first album. If they have talent they can come up with a second album worth. Most tour and then have to write an album's worth of stuff in a few weeks instead of years and they bomb horribly. Then there are artists that don't have direction and take awhile to find their groove. Since so much emphasis is based on sounding exactly like the current "big thing", it's hard to see new bands grow any more. Radiohead is an exception but most can't last long enough to make more than 2 albums and evolve. Plus with CDs being 70+ minutes, theres a lot more filler than good stuff. Nothing left for the next album.

stooky06/08/2004

Astral Weeks is a sophomore album?

But more to the point...Talking Heads-More Songs...Pearl Jam-Vs...Hole-Live Through This...PJ Harvey-Rid Of Me? any of those even close to the list?

Tallyho

:?)

dcstar06/09/2004

According to AllMusic, Morrison's first album was called "Blowin' Your Mind!". I think it's only remembered for the super hit, 'Brown Eyed Girl'.

I've never been a huge Hole fan. But I do own "Live Through This". This would be close to making the list. But, "More Songs..." would be closer, and I might end up including it.

Never heard "Rid Of Me" and "Vs." is strong but, not in the top 20.

davebreal08/07/2004

Good Topic!
Here's a couple sophomore releases I like:
Goldfinger - Hang-Ups
Rancid - Let's Go!
Catch 22 - Alone In A Crowd
Fugazi - Repeater
Juliana Theory - Understand This Is A Dream
Weezer - Pinkerton

Wezzo08/26/2004

Unsure if it's the kind of band that fits here, but They Might Be Giants' Lincoln was agreat sophomore effort.

openstacks08/26/2004

I second that.

JoeGraham03/03/2005

I was thinking about this list and the only albums I have to add are;

1.Outkast-ATliens
2.Weezer-Pinkerton
3.Wilco-Being There
4.Limp Bizkit-Significant Other

Ok so the last one was a joke...