Debut stinker followed by a stonker

[silverfoxnik]

Good question!

All very subjective (as has already been said) but, as a life-long David Bowie fan, I think I'm on safe ground in offering up the examples of his early recordings up to and including 'The Laughing Gnome' as being pretty dire, stinkers no less! 

Thereafter, his albums from 'Space Oddity' onwards, up to and including 'Let's Dance' are some of the finest, most stonkingly brilliant records ever made.

Admittedly, I know that this is a very biased viewpoint... 😁

[Strawbs664]

1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

Saxon

Saxon - meh

Wheels of Steel - classic metal

Was just about to say that! Saxon - nothing grabbed me.

Wheels of Steel = 747 Strangers in the Night, Motorcycle Man, Wheels Of Steel, See the Light Shining, Machine Gun!

[bassbiscuits]

Queen and Queen II?

(puts on hard hat and runs for cover....)

[paul_5]

3 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Queen and Queen II?

(puts on hard hat and runs for cover....)

I'll see you, and rain you Led Zeppelin I and Led Zeppelin II!

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Queen and Queen II?

(puts on hard hat and runs for cover....)

 

10 minutes ago, paul_5 said:

I'll see you, and rain you Led Zeppelin I and Led Zeppelin II!

I think I can trump these: Iron Maiden and Killers 😬 

(and seriously I do hold that opinion) (honest!)

[bassbiscuits]

14 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

I think I can trump these: Iron Maiden and Killers 😬 

(and seriously I do hold that opinion) (honest!)

I was thinking of that, but then Number of the Beast trumps them both, surely?

[EliasMooseblaster]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, anyone?

Rising is superb - arguably their best album. But the self-titled début? Maybe not a stinker, but I feel like every other track is rather underwhelming.

[Barking Spiders]

5 hours ago, BigRedX said:

IME if subsequent albums are better than the debut, it is because there has been a major change in the line-up of the band accompanied by new song writers, or a general change in musical direction, and even then it is highly subjective.

For instance is synth-pop of Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" a lesser album than the much darker "Construction Time Again"?

 

Not a fan of the synth-pop of Speak and Spell but once Martin Gore took over the writing and when Dave Gahan become a tattooed frontman  with a certain lifestyle they got better and better

[ZilchWoolham]

This Was isn't a stinker, but I think most people who aren't Mick Abrahams or John Peel would agree that Stand Up is the first proper Jethro Tull album. 

[P-Belly Evans]

On 15/03/2021 at 21:09, Ricky Rioli said:

No one seems to have much to say about the debuts from PJ Harvey, Amy Winehouse and Nirvana. Have to admit I've never listened to any of them! But very very happy with the three follow ups.

Bleach is a killer - well worth a listen. I was lucky enough to see them at Goldwyns in Brum Town around the time of its release too. 

[4000]

On 16/03/2021 at 10:07, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Judas Priest - debut Rocka Rolla, followed by Sad Wings of Destiny.

This was the first thing that came to mind. 

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, P-Belly Evans said:

Bleach is a killer - well worth a listen. I was lucky enough to see them at Goldwyns in Brum Town around the time of its release too. 

Was that when they were supporting Tad? 

[KevB]

On 15/03/2021 at 19:23, skidder652003 said:

ELO 1 and ELO 2 , both pretty rubbish, On the Third Day and onwards until Out Of The Blue, all belters.

ELO2 is an unrecognised masterpiece There, I said so.😉

[KevB]

Black Sabbath debut not a stinker but Paranoid has gone on to be massive.

[steve_p]

The Beatles first album was pretty underwhelming.

[Crusoe]

Radiohead's Pablo Honey was a good album, but a bit ordinary compared with what came after.

[Paul S]

UFO's first 2 albums were forgettable IMO but Phenomenon was phenomenal.

And try saying that after a packet of wine gums.

[Pseudonym]

8 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Was that when they were supporting Tad? 

Yes, although possibly Nirvana and Tad were supporting each other in turns or something like that. I saw them at SOAS in October 1989, I think. In a stellar year for gigs, that one stood out. Most of the people I knew then with wide-ranging taste rated Bleach, and -- tellingly -- didn't think Nevermind was a sellout album from a band with a major-label deal. Nirvana had a terrific run while it lasted.

[Cato]

3 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Most of the people I knew then with wide-ranging taste rated Bleach, and -- tellingly -- didn't think Nevermind was a sellout album from a band with a major-label deal. Nirvana had a terrific run while it lasted

Different topic but I think sometimes you get a band or genre that gets huge success after a few releases that not many people noticed, not because they've sold out, but because the 'mainstream' itself shifts to embrace them.

I'd certainly put Nirvana in that category.

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Cato

[EliasMooseblaster]

16 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Yes, although possibly Nirvana and Tad were supporting each other in turns or something like that. I saw them at SOAS in October 1989, I think. In a stellar year for gigs, that one stood out. Most of the people I knew then with wide-ranging taste rated Bleach, and -- tellingly -- didn't think Nevermind was a sellout album from a band with a major-label deal. Nirvana had a terrific run while it lasted.

Have you ever come across this blog before?

https://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2014/02/nirvana-sheep.html

In short, the guy digs around the various bootlegs and rarities to re-create albums that never were, or nearly were, or how they could have been. If I've understood correctly, this hypothetical reconstruction of Sheep is supposed to recreate how Nirvana's second album might have sounded if they'd stayed on Sub Pop. (Plus all the background info makes for interesting reading!)

[sprocketflup]

45 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

Have you ever come across this blog before?

https://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2014/02/nirvana-sheep.html

In short, the guy digs around the various bootlegs and rarities to re-create albums that never were, or nearly were, or how they could have been. If I've understood correctly, this hypothetical reconstruction of Sheep is supposed to recreate how Nirvana's second album might have sounded if they'd stayed on Sub Pop. (Plus all the background info makes for interesting reading!)

That is awesome, thnaks for sharing that 

[MacDaddy]

Tigertailz

Young and Crazy - meh

Bezerk - Glamtastic!

[Supernaut]

Muse. 

Showbiz? Nah. 

Origin Of Symmetry? Yes! 

[Elfrasho]

Dream theater perhaps? 1st album really quite stinky poo with a stinky poo singer although admitidly some of the tunes to this day still get played live... 2nd album 'images and words'. Change of singer, highly polished production, and every tune is a stonker. If album 2 was to the standard if album 1, they wouldn't have lasted long.