I agree about 1984. But while it was not technically recorded by the classic lineup, 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth was the first album since 1984 to feature the guy who preceded the traffic offender. Not as good as 1984, but loads better than the band’s 1998 effort (the last full length album).
I don’t know if this counts, but the last Lp that Janis Joplin worked on before her induction into the 27 Club - Pearl - is a winner, and probably her very best work. (There were several posthumous releases, but this Lp was the last she explicitly intended as a commercial release.)
In fact, it’s a particularly tragic example in that it was THE album in which she came into her own. Janis was a superstar based largely on her live performances, but her releases up to that point never lived up to her promise. She recorded two Lps with the band Big Brother & the Holding Co (including the massively successful “Cheap Thrills”), but listening to them now - Big Brother was simply not a good band. Joplin’s first solo Lp “Kosmic Blues” had a slapped together feel, tried just too damned hard, and consists of unmemorable songs.
Pearl was the album where Joplin finally had a great band backing her, solid material that suited her personality, and perhaps most importantly was clean & sober throughout the recording sessions (until the unfortunate relapse just before they ended.) It is the disc that proves she did have the talent to live up to her hype, and should have been a major musical force of the 1970s. Instead it was her epitaph.
The final album by the original incarnation of Spirit, The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is one of the top ten rock albums of all time. The group knew that they were breaking up at the time, and really wanted to make something special.
It’s hip to hate the Eagles, but The Long Run is a pretty good album.
Blind Faith only had one album, so that can count.
Cream’s Goodbye
Shoot Out the Lights was the last album Richard and Linda Thompson did together, and is still one of the best things he has done.
I’ll prolly be back with more, but for me the best example of this phenomenon is Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come; it’s not only their final album, it’s prolly the single greatest rock album I’ll ever hear. Yes, most days I do rate it even higher than The Clash’s Combat Rock (tho only slightly).
ETA: oh yeah and add in Bolt Thrower’s Those Once Loyal; it’s not my personal favorite but the band has not recorded since because they feel that they finally released the perfect Bolt Thrower album. Ya gotta respect that, IMO.
This is one of my favorite rock albums of all time, but Spirit did make a lot of albums after that, albeit with a revolving door of band members. Did they break up after Twelve Dreams and re-group?
There are several answers along the lines of “album X-- I don’t count albums Y and Z, because ____ band member had left”. I like the answers in general, because it’s giving me some ideas for music to listen to I’ve either overlooked or haven’t heard in awhile. But if I was to make rules for this post, they would be bands who kept on making albums under the same band name, regardless of personnel changes, without having broken up and reformed in the interim. In other words, it’s only ok to not count a later album if the band broke up, then re-formed years later and put out a crappy album. So sadly, I wouldn’t count The Door’s ‘LA Woman’ or Van Halen’s ‘1984’.
Three fifths of the group left and the two remaining were not songwriters. Al Staehely – the new member – wrote most of their songs, with a couple by original member John Locke (Ed Cassidy, while the “face” of the group, was not a songwriter nor a singer). So that’s essentially a different group – sort of like Ringo going out with a few musicians and saying it’s the Beatles.
Randy California would come back from time to time, but it was more a reunion than the same group (and since other people here listed other groups who continued with a new lineup, Spirit clearly fit).
Don’t know if many of the fans who were into their more hardcore earlier stuff would agree, but Husker Du went out on a high note with Warehouse: Songs and Stories. The Pixies would have been strong contender if they hadn’t released the godawful Indie Cindy last year. Also controversial among fans, but I think The Gift by The Jam is a great record.
They did follow it up with an EP of covers, but Lulu, the last full album by Trip Shakespeare, is one of my all-time favorites.
I hadn’t thought of the Eagles (probably because Hell did indeed freeze over in 1994, which brings up the question of whether The Long Run was their last album, but that’s a point over which I have no interest in quibbling) – I’ve been listening to The Long Run quite a bit in the last couple of months. Other than a couple of misfires (King of Hollywood and Teenage Jail), it’s a great album. In The City and The Sad Café are two of my favorite Eagles songs.
I didn’t know you could do that with Amazon Prime, and I’ve been a member for a number of years now. Thanks!
It’s a recent perk. Available the last 6 months to a year or so.
When it comes to the Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden is still very good, so either way they ended on a strong note.
So, for that matter, are some of the other albums that people are mentioning (like Naked and The Long Run).
Yep – that’s how I’ve been listening to The Long Run. 
Seriously, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, there’s a lot of free music available and not all of it is crap. I added about 300 songs to my Amazon Music player this afternoon.
Me too.
Yeah, I spotted a Coltrane album and albums by Getz/Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis (live), and Charles Mingus.
Soda Stereo left on a high note with their last album, their farewell tour, and their “back-for-one-more-tour”
The Division Bell by Pink Floyd is an excellent album.