Yeah I was baffled by that. I came in to mention someone who I have liked for about 30 years whose most recent album is clearly (IMHO) the best thing he ever did but since he was never homeless and busking on street corners to get enough for a burger I guess I better forget about posting it.
This was who I was coming in to mention. Her 2-disc 2005 “Willst du mit mir gehen” was an amazing work and arguably the best she’s ever made. It’s now one of my favorite/most-played albums of any artist on my iPod.
Reductio ad absurdum much? I thought the examples in my first few posts were of artists who make enough money on the royalties of their hit(s) that they don’t need another, yet they keep creating music that is only bought by die-hard fans. There’s a big difference between that and “…homeless and busking on street corners to get enough for a burger”.
Ludovic with Echo and the Bunnymen, GargoyleWB with Nena, Justin_Bailey with Fastball, cactus waltz with Sparks and Ataraxy with Richard Thompson are great examples.
Early success with one song or style of music can damn a talented musician to a musical ghetto as well. For instance, back in 2001, Alan Parsons got a group of musicians together to do “A Walk Down Abbey Road” - two sets, one of the performer’s hits, the second of Beatles tunes. Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson of Heart, John Entwistle of The Who and David Pack of Ambrosia with Entwistle’s backing band. And it was David Pack, the presumed lightweight with two sappy hits - “The Biggest Part Of Me” and “How Much I Feel” - who was the revelation. He has a great voice and is a very talented guitar player and did great versions of the Beatles tunes and the Alan Parsons Project songs.
Nick Lowe’s “At My Age” could fit into this category. I think the success of (What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding on the soundtrack from “The Bodyguard” gave him the freedom to get away from power pop ditties. His lyrics are still as sharp as a knife, but he’s gone more into a country/soul musical direction, with very pleasing results.
Cheap Trick’s Rockford (2006) is a favorite of mine. Commercially they’ve been MIA since 1988’s Lap of Luxury. Artistically, most albums since Dream Police (1979) have consisted of a few killer singles and a whole lot of filler. But this time they came up with a great batch of songs (+ one clunker), got a lot critical raves, and made me happy to play the “new Cheap Trick” instead of putting on Heaven Tonight for the whateverth time. Unfortunately, no commercial recovery so far.
I saw them on the Rockford tour. They kicked ass.
(Stumbled across this on a Loudon Wainwright III search…worthy of a bump)
Props to Dickie, but the Allman Bros’ 2003 release “Hittin’ The Note” was a real winner, from a band that was obviously not content with fading into the sunset.
Ian Hunter was playing in the Ringo Starr All-Star band when he put out Rant in 2001.
At the risk of completely misinterpreting this thread, and also exposing myself to thrown tomatoes, I would like to nominate “12 Songs” and “Home Before Dark,” Neil Diamond’s two most recent albums. After being popular in the 60’s and 70’s, he faded from the public eye, except for his most hardcore fans. He came back in 2005 with “12 Songs,” which reached #4 in the U.S. and in 2008 with “Home Before Dark,” his first #1 album in his career. Both albums were produced by Rick Rubin, who produced Johnny Cash’s acclaimed series of albums for American Recordings.
Lou Reed’s candle never quite dimmed, but it was a dark period for John Cale before they got together to record their Andy Warhol tribute album Songs for Drella.
In my opinion the only other album to bust as big for an all-but-dead-and-buried-in-an-unmarked-grave-career would be Paul Simon’s “Graceland”.
Yes, there are some of us diehards who suffered thru the doldrums of both Clapton and Simons’ mid 70s-until mid to late 80’s mostly-forgettable-but-often-painfully-void-of-talent output, but I didnt know ANYONE who didnt own a copy of Eric Clapton Unplugged and Paul Simon’s Graceland when they were released.
The image of the down and out ballplayer, up at bat in the bottom of the 9th, hitting one last glory shot over the fence to salvage thier legacy; a powerful reminder of it not being over till its over…
Brian Wilson put out an amazing album in 2004. He did another one last year that got similar reviews, but I didn’t care for it as much.
Blondie’s comeback album, No Exit, featured what I consider their best song ever, “Maria.” Bonnie Raitt, always a respected “musician’s musician,” didn’t emerge as a commercial success until about 20 years into her recording career.
Bonnie Raitt’s “Nick Of Time” album was a masterwork that will continue to be enjoyed for as long as people listen to music…
It’s my understanding that Full Moon Fever was kind of a resurgence for Tom Petty, rocketing him to greater fame than he had known in the first 10 years of his career.
Johnny Cash’s 1996 cover of Rusty Cage got some airplay on alternative and mainstream grunge stations. And he was a 64-year old who most people thought of as a country artist.
His commercial peak was in the late 80’s.
Sweet Warrior is great. “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” is far from the best song on the album, it just got the most attention.
The song is about 15 years older than the movie.
Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
Rush has done some great work in recent years and IMHO 2002’s Vapor Trails was as good as anything they were doing in their '70s heyday.
You didn’t like Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft? Tsk. Amazing stuff from someone who had spent years issuing junk. Which doesn’t count the two acoustic folk albums just before them, which must have recharged his batteries, and which are quite good.