Bjork - Post
Breeders - Last Splash
Dirty Three - Dirty Three
I’m surprised to see Nirvana, PJ Harvey, and the Pixies mentioned. In Utero is quite a bit better than Nevermind, Is This Desire? (which PJ considers her best) is at least as good as Rid of Me, and Surfer Rosa is at least as good as Doolittle (probably better).
Not sure why Doolittle surprises you. Doolittle as the Pixies greatest work is not a controversial statement among fans. It’s not a consensus, but it’s a popular choice, and one I happen to agree with.
I do think In Utero is better and more mature than Nevermind, but the sheer impact of Nevermind caused me to bring it up, in addition to it being one of the greatest sophomore albums by any band in the last generation.
Note that I do say “all these are arguable.” I will defend Doolittle, personally, as clearly being the best Pixies album. For me, there is no question on that. Nirvana, I can go either way on.
Nevermind is the album that got me hooked, but IMO I think In Utero is their best.
They Might Be Giants comes close - I think it’s almost universally agreed that “Flood” was their best album. That was their third, though.
CAKE pretty much peaked with “Fashion Nugget”.
Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
Paradise Lost - Gothic
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans
Candlemass - Nightfall
Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky
Seems to be a lot of metal bands peaking with their second albums…
Well it’s certainly better than Vision Thing, but I like the raw energy of F+L+A slightly better than Floodland. But there’s hardly a bad track on either of the two albums (and there are even good songs on Vision Thing, but hardly the whole album.)
Ummm…are we not counting Come On Pilgrim because it was an EP? In my mind Surfer Rosa is #2 and Doolittle #3 in terms of actual releases.
Not that it matters in this case, as I prefer Surfer Rosa as well 
( though not by much ).
Yes, Come On Pilgrim was an EP, so generally doesn’t count as an album (at least when I’ve had these discussions, EPs were excluded.)
Just to stir things up, I’m going to throw Led Zeppelin II out there. 
I was waiting for somebody to throw that out. 
I can see that as being defensible.
I’m gonna start a “band’s whose best album was their third” just to disagree with you!
And of course Live Through This by his wife’s band, Hole. Their first album is so abrasive it’s practically unlistenable.
Do EPs count as first albums?
If so, I nominate Murmur - R.E.M.
(Their first album being the EP Chronic Town.)
The most obvious one of all! Pretty on the Inside does have some interesting melodies beneath all the noise, but overall Live Through This is 100 times better.
Jethro Tull, Stand Up. I love all their early LPs but that remains my favorite.
Overall, I think the Allman Brothers Band’s Idlewild South is my favorite LP by them.
I know she doesn’t meet the definition of “enduring” but my favorite album featuring Janis Joplin is Cheap Thrills (the second Big Brother LP). I would say the same for Cream’s Disraeli Gears. Another candidate is Simon & Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence.
Fairport Convention took a big leap forward with What We Did on Our Holidays, but I’m not sure I would call it their best. Similarly, Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is great, but probably narrowly beaten by its successor. And The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is great, but he did a couple other pretty good ones after that…
I guess it wasn’t officially settled, but by the voting here and in the first album poll (where Murmur gets a mention), it likes like no.
There’s a good argument that it’s their best all-studio album. In terms of their whole body of work, not a lot of people are going to put Idlewild South ahead of At Fillmore East and Eat a Peach.
(Not sure if this counts given the nature of the group, but…)
Déjà Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
This is true, but I’m a bit of an outlier… I actually think Eat a Peach is a little overrated. Lots of excellent stuff, but I find it a bit bloated.