Here’s a second suggestion - one for you to adjudicate on, Bo.
Best work (I would argue) was her only solo (studio, planned) album; but this after several albums as a key part of The Fugees
Best album: The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
j
Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Good one!
What about MTV Unplugged No. 2.0? Isn’t that her last album? It was recorded live but it was all new material and was recorded so that the songs/performances could be released as part of an album.
If those count, then I might add that there is an argument that Nirvana’s Unplugged might be their best album.
You can make the argument but I’d argue that it was a just live performance album. The arrangements were new but the songs were not. And half of what they played were covers. Aaaaand it wasn’t recorded intending it to be an album.
Lauryn Hill’s Unplugged is 24 songs, 23 of them her own new material.
On which I concede.
J
I think you’re mainly going to find either artists that died or bands that split up…
So I’ll add Anodyne by Uncle Tupelo.
ISTM that a lot of bands achieve a huge success, then cash in with a live double album or something experimental, but never again approach that level of success.
Who had a big album and then died in a plane crash, overdosed, etc. and thereby were prevented from releasing a lesser followup?
And BTW I think “The Beatles” (White Album) is their best. The fact that it’s a double album makes it that much more awesome. Abbey Road would be #2.
Leonard Cohen. His last album, You Want it Darker, was released when he was 82. He also did some recordings in his dying days, released posthumously as the album Thanks for the Dance. Somehow or another, he surpassed You Want it Darker with that one.
I’m not familiar with his later works, but I’ll give them a listen. Are there any particular songs you recommend?
Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper.
If you know the original, this is even more impactful.
Not going to argue with Bo on that one. I’ll just quietly add this:
j
I think that’s what makes it an interesting question. Very, very few artists are making an artistic statement that, once made, they can now be silent. For most, this is how they earn their living, so they continue to produce work and try to sell it, sometimes right up until they are no longer physically capable of doing it anymore.
OTOH, one of my favorite bands did achieve their ideal and simply stopped.
Bolt Thrower kept refining their sound and songwriting over 20 years until they finally produced the album they had been dreaming of (2005’s Those Once Loyal) and then they stopped writing new songs. They played shows for another 10 years or so and then the drummer passed away unexpectedly. The band stopped playing live shows and a year later said:
Later, vocalist Karl Willets confirmed it:
Not only is their last album a fucking banger, the band showed incredible cohesion and integrity throughout and in every aspect of their career.
Here’s another: Gay for Johnny Depp.
Fantastic band; simply one of the greatest punk rock bands ever. In February 2011 they released What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You and 8 months later called it quits.
In my opinion, L. A. Woman is the last album by the Doors. The band didn’t exist without Morrison and everybody knew it.
L. A. Woman is a terrific album, with two all-time classics on it. Their best? Well, they’re better, more mature, musically. The first album, one of the best debut albums ever, is hard to top, admittedly, but L. A. Woman was pretty much designed as a last album to go out on top with, so it’s in the running.
Make it Big by Wham! was their last album. But, they only had two. I haven’t heard either album but Make it Big was their biggest selling album.
Not really their best album, but Sky Full Of Holes by Fountains of Wayne has what’s probably my favorite song of theirs, “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart”.
With Otis Redding, it’s hard to say what his last album was, but the best candidate is “The Dock of the Bay,” the product of his last effort to make an album — and some say it’s his best (e.g., five stars on AllMusic).
If we’re avoiding artists who died around their creative peak, I’d suggest maybe The Pogues. Their last album with Shane MacGowan (as integral as Morrison was to the Doors) was “Hell’s Ditch.” It’s my favorite album of theirs (though many would disagree).