I’m currently listening to an obscure Italian prog rock band called Cervello. Their debut album was released in 1973. They took their time getting the follow-up right - It was released last year.
Can we beat 52 years between studio albums? Live albums, compilations, and whatnot don’t count. Only the time between studio albums. For instance, Cervello put out a live album in 2017, but I’m not counting that. It was 52 years between proper studio albums.
ETA: I guess I should have done a little more research. That “second album” is just previously unreleased tracks from the same time period as the first. Still an interesting topic though, maybe? I’ll have to dig through my music to come up with a proper example.
I did a little sleuthing, and two of the members of Earthrise are deceased, one in 2019 and another in 2020, so a 3rd album is probably not forthcoming.
For bands which had more than a couple of studio albums, Electric Light Orchestra comes to mind. The group broke up after Balance of Power was released in 1986, and fifteen years passed before the release of another studio album, Zoom, in 2001; then, another 14 years passed before the release of Alone in the Universe in 2015 (though that album was credited to “Jeff Lynne’s ELO”).
Oasis put out their last studio album in 2008. They are of course now touring again and have made some comments about recording again, although it’s notoriously difficult to rely on anything the Gallagher brothers say. A new studio album, assuming they don’t kill each other recording it, would be a gap of at least 18 years; certainly not the longest, but very notable for a group of their stature and enduring popularity.
Big Star:
Memphis-based pioneers of power pop. Third/Sister Lovers* was released in 1978, and In Space came out in 2005 – 27 years later.
[*This has been designated a Big Star record by everyone except those who performed on it.]
Vashti Bunyan:
This English folk singer released her debut, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. The LP gradually attracted a cult following, and she followed up with Lookaftering in 2005 – 35 years later.
That reminded me of the MC5: 53 years between “High Time” (1971) and “Heavy Lifting” (2024). Granted, the latter only was Wayne Kramer and a tributary band consisting of many prominent like-minded and influenced people, because all other original band members were already dead, and it turned out to be Kramer’s swan song, too, he died a short time after, but the album was officially released as an MC5 album.
How about spoken work comedy albums? 26 years between the last two albums. However, some of the material on both albums were performed live, and some without an audience.
2000 and Thirteen with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks - 1973
Tom Petty’s first band, Mudcrutch, had a 33-year gap between the release of new studio material: the 1975 single “Depot Street” was followed by their debut self-titled album in 2008.
Of course, this doesn’t strictly fit the parameters of the OP, since it’s not a gap between albums, and in any event, other posters have already reported other artists with longer gaps. But I thought I’d mention it as an interesting case.
Arguably may not meet the thread constraints, but the David Lee Roth led version of Van Halen had a 28-year gap between 1984 and A Different Kind of Truth.
Found another one in my collection: Acqua Fragile, another Italian band. Their second album was released in 1974; their third album in 2017, for a 43 year hiatus.
