# Enduring musical artists whose first albums were never bettered **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410 "2011-06-14T10:31:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/121 "2011-06-16T16:52:57Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Traffic: **Mr. Fantasy** ??? John Barleycorn Must Die & Low Spark of High Heeled Boys were both way better. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/122 "2011-06-16T16:56:37Z")
She hasn’t proved very enduring, but so far not much attention is being paid to that aspect of the OP…seems like people are coming up with a lot of artists who really only had that one big first album that mattered. So allow me to throw this in for the 2020 version of this thread: Fiona Apple. Tidal Was amazing. Not so much since. And while I’m at it, Tori Amos ( Little Earthquakes) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/123 "2011-06-16T17:17:47Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > While I love a few of these, they are not enduring artists, in fact, at least one of them (Ian Curtis of Joy Division) is long dead.☹ Are we defining “enduring” as still alive and still playing? I took the word in a less literal sense, more like “influential” and “still considered important and listened to today.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/124 "2011-06-16T17:24:16Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Traffic: **Mr. Fantasy** Tough call on Traffic. I think I might have to go with _John Barleycorn Must Die_ or _The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys_. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/125 "2011-06-16T17:27:47Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Dave Clark Five** (Glad All Over) I’d have to rate _Weekend in London_ a little higher – but yeah, they didn’t exhibit a lot of growth. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/126 "2011-06-16T17:53:17Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > **John Barleycorn Must Die** is superior all the way through, even so. > [@Stoid](#): > > John Barleycorn Must Die & Low Spark of High Heeled Boys were both way better. > [@cjepson](#): > > Tough call on Traffic. I think I might have to go with _John Barleycorn Must Die_ or _The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys_. Man, no psychedelia fans around here, I take it. I’d give you _Low Spark_, but I think _John Barleycorn_, while good, is overrated. “Freedom Rider,” “Empty Pages,” and the title track are great songs, but “Glad” opens the proceedings with a blatant rip-off (of Ramsey Lewis’s arrangement of “The ‘In’ Crowd”), and the album as a whole is a bit mired in stodgy tempos that don’t groove like the slow tracks on _Low Spark_ do. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/127 "2011-06-16T18:02:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Are we defining “enduring” as still alive and still playing? I took the word in a less literal sense, more like “influential” and “still considered important and listened to today.” I would agree with that interpretation, and Joy Division’s influence may be described as enduring, I’m not so sure about the others listed. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/128 "2011-06-16T18:02:45Z")
Morrissey is a terrible choice! He has put out tons of solid material. Viva Hate is not better than Your Arsenal, Vauxhall and I, or even Ringleader of the Tormentors IMHO ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/129 "2011-06-16T18:13:17Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I would agree with that interpretation, and Joy Division’s influence may be described as enduring, I’m not so sure about the others listed. Still\*, Joy Division only ever made two real albums, so saying that they never bettered the first one isn’t saying much. - Ha! ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/130 "2011-06-16T19:25:46Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Still\*, Joy Division only ever made two real albums, so saying that they never bettered the first one isn’t saying much. > > - Ha! Their second album was better than their first one anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/131 "2011-06-16T23:18:06Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > While I love a few of these, they are not enduring artists Sure they are. Richard and Linda Thompson - 6 albums Tindersticks - 8 albums Rasputina - 6 albums Magazine - 4 albums Orange Juice - 4 albums The Apples in Stereo - 7 albums Not exactly one hit wonders (one hit wonders are the opposite of “enduring” as defined by the OP). They all endured, and they all have at least 2 good albums… just none as good as their first. Belly I’ll grant you. They only released 2 “real” albums and 1 sort-of-new album. I was cheating by combining these with Tanya Donelly’s solo albums. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/132 "2011-06-16T23:29:53Z")
One more vote for Pearl Jam: Ten. The sad thing is they were just considered Nirvana posers back then. Now they’re largely respected and seen as hugely influential…but have never put out a better album than Ten. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410/133 "2011-06-17T02:19:12Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > One more vote for Pearl Jam: Ten. > > The sad thing is they were just considered Nirvana posers back then. Now they’re largely respected and seen as hugely influential…but have never put out a better album than Ten. The odd thing is, they’re fairly dissimilar, musically, to Nirvana. (At least to me, Nirvana was the odd grunge band out.) _Ten_ was, indeed, as perfect a debut (and album) as you can hope for. I actually prefer _Vitalogy_ and maybe even _Versus_, but _Ten_ is the most coherent and even from start to finish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enduring-musical-artists-whose-first-albums-were-never-bettered/585410.md?page=6)