Inspired by this thread. What albums have been an unexpected surprise from an artist that was long past their prime or never really had a prime?
There was discussion about Stevie Nicks in the above thread, noting that her solo work after Fleetwood Mac was pretty sucky. And I agree. But her album Trouble in Shangri-La released in 2001 was actually damn good. Sure, her voice isn’t what it used to be, and there are a few weak songs, but overall it blows her previous solo work out of the water. The album was produced in part by Sheryl Crowe and had numerous guest artists so that may have had something to do with it.
Another band that comes to mind is Green Day, who released the tour-de-force American Idiot after a long career of relative mediocrity dotted with a few singles.
Who else has gotten their groove back unexpectedly?
Bob Dylan was widely considered past his prime when he came out with Time Out of Mind in 1997. He’s been on a roll since.
Paul McCartney’s recent album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard was his best in decades (unless you count the covers collection Run Devil Run). I think it’s even better than Flowers in the Dirt, his last usually-agreed-upon high point.
Nice Cave hadn’t had a really great album since Let Love In, but then he came back with an incredible double album Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus after several pretty disappointing ones.
Wha? Green Day’s been releasing great albums for years; just nobody was paying attention after Dookie.
I agree wrt Paul McCartney’s Chaos and Creation. I think working with Nigel Godrich really woke him up for the first time in decades.
I mentioned Some Girls in the other thread.
The Kinks had a late-period string of great albums (Give the People What They Want, State of Confusion, Word of Mouth) after ten years in which great albums were few and far between.
Sleater-Kinney surprised me by releasing their best album in The Woods after I’d assumed for years that they’d never top The Hot Rock.
What are you Going to Do With your Life? by Echo and the Bunnymen is an amazing, deep, consistent, and modern-sounding album put out in the year 1999. This is after they put out the mediocre Evergreen in 1997, which not only didn’t break any new territory but also seemed like the boys were getting bored with it all and musically entrenched. WAYGTDWYL, OTOH, took just enough elements of modern music such as funky beats and samples to feel fresh, the right amount of soul-searching expected of those approaching middle age, but still contains the classic bass croonings to be expected of the Bunnymen.
Rock Swings by Paul Anka.
Ten New Songs by Leonard Cohen.
Mystery Girl by Roy Orbison.
Reload by Tom Jones.
Mule Variations by Tom Waits.
Vol. 1 by the Traveling Wilburys.
Relly. I think All Hands is great, but One Beat was their weakest since the self-titled. Two or three inspired songs plus so much filler. Just curious, how does The Woods rate for you?
The Bee Gees were considered pretty much washed up when the release Main Course and reestablished themselves with a turn to disco. It was so different from their image that the record company handed out copies of “Jive Talking” to DJs without telling them who the artist was, just so they would not dismiss it without listening.
The Moody Blues had a big hit album with Long Distance Voyager 10 years after their last good album.
Aerosmith was definitely in the “Where are they now” file when they had a huge comback in 1985, 8 years after “Draw the Line”. I heard Steven Tyler once say that a big motivation for his comeback was watching “This is Spinal Tap” and see way too many parallels between his band and Spinal Tap. So he decided to kick it back into gear.
Elton John’s career seemed over after 1975. He had a couple of minor hits between then and 1983, and was looking like a has-been when he had a string of big albums that turned him back into one of the biggest stars in the world.
I have my fingers double crossed that “Endless Wire” will be worthy of mention in this thread when it (supposedly) comes out in October. The teaser EP, “Wire And Glass” sounds pretty good, IMHO.
Though I don’t know if I’d call him “past his prime” (though, chronologically, I suppose he is), Neil Young’s “Living With War” is an amazing album. Even more impressive is the fact that it was written and recorded in nine days during March and April of this year. The majority of the album is a scathing indictment of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
Here is a link from his official site for the video of the first single from the album, entitled “After the Garden.”
My favorite track on the album is “Roger and Out.” That one actually made me tear up when I first heard it.
William Shatner’s Has Been. No, seriously, it was one of the best albums of 2004.
I totally agree with Paul Anka’s Rock Swings, but in defense of my favorite artist Tom Waits, I don’t think he was ever mediocre or past his prime – just not terribly prolific since the early '80s. Mule Variations was a masterpiece (and the first album after a six-year gap), but almost every album he’s ever done has been of top-notch quality.
I just want to give you some props for the cleverness of this entry. Aerosmith has had a ton of comebacks, although I don’t think the last few have been worthwhile.
I hope and pray that Metallica won’t go out with a wimper and that Rick Ruben might mine some gold from that tapped mine with the next album they put out, but I’m not holding my breath anymore.
Faith No More was written off as a one hit wonder, but really hit their stride with the last two albums they put out (King for a Day…Fool for a Lifetime and Album of the Year) and Judas Priest’s latest might be the best thing they’ve done in 20 years.
After Scary Monsters, David Bowie’s music really went downhill. But his most recent album, Reality, is great. I think I’d rank it above Scary Monsters.