# Artists who derailed their careers with radically different followups.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 28, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797 "2007-06-28T17:52:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/1 "2007-06-28T17:52:55Z")
Not just flat out bad efforts, moreso a decent offering that was not what the original audience liked.
For example, Terence Trent D’arby followed up his multiplatinum pop/soul/rock debut with Neither Fish Nor Flesh…, a decent but radically different self-indulgent album with ponderous song titles, psychedelic overtones and Songs With Deep Meaning. The lead single “This Side of Love” is a good track, but nothing like anything on the first album, or like anything else out at the time. The second single was about a friend with AIDS- not really a popular topic with the 80’s pop crowd. As a result of this ambition, his massive career was pretty much over, to the point that the third album contained a brillaint ballad “Delicate” that went nowhere.
Another- The Spin Doctor’s. First (major label) album had several radio friendly hits that made them huge stars, but the first release from the follow up was “Cleopatra’s Cat” a bizarre piece of art funk that sunk like a stone and pretty much ruined the momemtnum built from the first album.
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### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/2 "2007-06-28T18:03:50Z")
Or just flat out inferior efforts as well would be interesting.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/3 "2007-06-28T18:12:56Z")
Sinead O’Connor followed up “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” with “Am I Not Your Girl,” a collection of standards. While she had other issues that contributed to her career derailment, the album certainly helped the push.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/4 "2007-06-28T18:18:33Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Another- The Spin Doctor’s. First (major label) album had several radio friendly hits that made them huge stars, but the first release from the follow up was “Cleopatra’s Cat” a bizarre piece of art funk that sunk like a stone and pretty much ruined the momemtnum built from the first album.
[/QUOTE]
Didn’t their lead singer come down with some medical condition that made it impossible for him to sing? Not sure where that falls on their career timeline, but if it’s close enough to the release of their second album, it makes it questionable wether that album was the cause of their disappearance from the pop culture stage.
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### Author:  [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/5 "2007-06-28T18:33:11Z")
Tricky always fell under this category for me. Coming off of the noir-hop of _Maxinquaye_ and the dub paranoia of _Pre-Millennium Tension_,he was totally set up to become one of this generation’s most interesting and idiosyncratic artists, “the black Tom Waits.”
97’s _Angels with Dirty Faces_ took care of that though - it’s a completely incoherent and mostly unlistenable record that still sounds as terrible 10 years later as it did the day it was released. It was all downhill from there, including a terrible “hardcore rap” record (neutered by the fact that Limey voices just sound funny when trying to posture like original gangstas), culminating in 2001’s _embarrassing_ “Blowback,” which featured collaborations with that wanker from Live, a reggae cover of Nirvana’s “something in the way,” and (you can’t make this stuff up) a cover of the theme song from the old “Wonder Woman” TV show with the Red Hot Chili Peppers as his backing band.
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### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/6 "2007-06-28T18:41:04Z")
Metallica following up the Black Album with _Load_ was a grossly miscalculated career move. Sure, it still sold four million copies, but it chased off their core fans in droves and proved to be the first real chink in their armor.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/7 "2007-06-28T18:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
…proved to be the first real chink in [Metallica’s] armor.
[/QUOTE]
😛
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/8 "2007-06-28T19:22:54Z")
Though Lou Reed never actually derailed his career, it wasn’t for lack of trying. He followed up his two most commercially successful LPs, _Transformer_ and _Sally Can’t Dance_, with the starkly depressing _Berlin_ and the unlistenable\* _Metal Machine Music_, respectively.
\*Well, I love it, but I’m weird.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/9 "2007-06-28T19:23:09Z")
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s following up to “Jesus Christ Superstar” a musical called “Jeeves” damn near killed his career.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/10 "2007-06-28T19:24:46Z")
Alanis Morissette got over her anger in time for her second US album, _Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie_, but most of her fans were still bitter with life. It didn’t go quite as well.
Maybe money does buy happiness.
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### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/11 "2007-06-28T19:31:10Z")
Side question- are there examples of radically different efforts like this that were just as or more sucessful?
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### Author:  [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/12 "2007-06-28T19:31:52Z")
I’d say **Styx** shot themselves in the foot with the release of “Paradise Theater.” (Theatre?) “Kilroy Was Here” seemed to further progress their downward spiral towards career suicide.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/13 "2007-06-28T19:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Side question- are there examples of radically different efforts like this that were just as or more sucessful?
[/QUOTE]
Well, ALW followed "Evita"with “CATS”
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### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/14 "2007-06-28T19:41:41Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Side question- are there examples of radically different efforts like this that were just as or more sucessful?
[/QUOTE]
Oh, sure. Ministry’s first album, _Cold Life_, was a weak 80s synthpop affair that sounded like a vaguely sinister Pet Shop Boys. Their next album, _The Land of Rape and Honey_, was a complete reinvention (and set the course for the rest of their career), making them the most important artist (except maybe Nine Inch Nails) of the second wave of industrial music.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/15 "2007-06-28T19:43:50Z")
Queen hit the jackpot in lots of ways with “The Game” and followed it up with “Hot Space,” widely regarded as their worst album ever. It was certainly the beginning of the end here in the US.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/16 "2007-06-28T19:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Side question- are there examples of radically different efforts like this that were just as or more sucessful?
[/QUOTE]
Dylan going electric?
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/17 "2007-06-28T19:57:29Z")
A few that I can think of…
**The Flaming Lips** had a huge commercial hit w/ the song “She Don’t Use Jelly” and were even featured at The Peach Pit on 90210. They followed that up w/ another well recieved album, but as a bit of a backlash to their sudden mainstream success (and some other issues plaguing the band), they put out _Zaireeka_, which was a 4 CD album which was intended to have all 4 discs played at the same time from different stereos. I think that effectively closed the door on that achieved success.
\*\*Barenaked Ladies \*\* were known after their first album, “Gordon”, for creating witty, funny, light-hearted pop songs. The album didn’t make a splash in the US, but was huge in Canada. Their second album, “Maybe You Should Drive”, was a lot mellower and darker. The album bombed and they nearly broke up. It would be a few albums later when they finally achieved their greatest success w/ the album “Stunt.”
Also, I don’t know if this counts - but \*\*Liz Phair \*\* went from indie-rock queen to \*\*Sheryl Crow \*\* wannabe and lost a lot of fans for the career shift.
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/18 "2007-06-28T20:51:41Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja]
Also, I don’t know if this counts - but \*\*Liz Phair \*\* went from indie-rock queen to \*\*Sheryl Crow \*\* wannabe and lost a lot of fans for the career shift.
[/QUOTE]
::raises hand:: Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville I think is one of best rock albums of all time. Her followup is the shittiest shit that eve shit the shit.
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### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/19 "2007-06-28T22:26:40Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3]
(neutered by the fact that Limey voices just sound funny when trying to posture like original gangstas
[/QUOTE]
Well, Dana Dane pulled it off ok. And Slick Rick was a master at it! And plus, I loved that album, **Angels with Dirty Faces**.
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### Author:  [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-derailed-their-careers-with-radically-different-followups/409797/20 "2007-06-28T23:13:43Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Side question- are there examples of radically different efforts like this that were just as or more sucessful?
[/QUOTE]
Radiohead’s _OK Computer_ and _Kid A_ were both critical and commercial smash hits. _OC_’s progressive art-rock vs. _KA_’s cool, abstract electronica.
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