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Sophomore albums are a tricky beast. For one, chances are that a band’s first album had to be pretty solid if a label is willing to front the funds to make a second. Combine that with higher expectations and it’s a potential recipe for disaster. Nonetheless, despite the odds,some of music’s most epic moments have come when bands regroup for a second go-round. Since Hollywood Undead dropped their second release, American Tragedy, today, we thought we’d take a look back at 10 of the best sophomore albums in music history.
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1. Nirvana- Nevermind
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As far as impact albums go, the first major label release, and second overall from Seattle’s grunge kings — which knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts back in 1991 — doesn’t get much bigger. Its cover-shot of a submerged baby, wee-wee dangling in the water, became one of the decade’s most recognizable images, but it’s the music — with Kurt Cobain’s emotions siphoned through the juxtaposition of soft-loud-soft verse/chorus interplay, best demonstrated by breakout single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — that truly resonates. While certainly not as bleak as Bleach, Nirvana’s debut, songs like “Lithium” and “Breed” wallow in a tempered angst, exploding in an unfiltered rage. Sadly, the album serves as a biting reminder of a songwriter shackled by the weight of success; nonetheless, its ability to inspire shall never be enslaved.
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2. Dr. Dre-2001
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After a seven-year break following his breakout LP, The Chronic, Dr. Dre’s return to the gangsta-pop spotlight, was one of the most oddly-titled (the album came out in 1999), commercially successful rap albums of the decade. For Dre, 2001, commonly referred to as The Chronic 2001, was a low-riding joy-ride back to hip-hop prominence. Its themes — snappy jabs at being forgotten (“Forgot About Dre”), hip-hop machismo (Still D.R.E.)” and warnings of impending domination (“The Next Episode”) — smack you in the face, but the producer-at-heart’s vintage-sounding G-Funk beats (“Xxplosive”) and bromance with newfound game-changer Eminem define the album’s ultimate proclamation: I’m back.
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3. Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP
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Eminem was angry from the get-go — slaying his lady’s lover (“Guilty Conscience”) and throwin’ his girl in the trunk (“Bonnie and Clyde ‘97″) — on his debut, The Slim Shady LP. But his second go-round was straight grim, harsh and hilarious. “Think I won’t choke no whore/Til the vocal chords don’t work no more?” Mathers, now going by his given name, ponders in “Kill You.” Pop radio portrayed a fragile, sensitive rapper by latching onto the emotional fragility of the album’s Dido-featuring emo-anthem “Stan,” but it was the ferocious growl of “Marshall Mathers,” the party boy kiss-off of “Drug Anthem” and the gut-punch of “Criminal” that showed the rapper’s true blood-stained colors, better yet answering his own question (“Will the real Slim Shady stand up?”) by showing that, at that time in hip-hop, Marshall Mathers was unimitatable in skill, wit and pyschofied drive.
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4. Van Morrison- Astral Weeks
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To the uneducated, Van Morrison is the singer of candy-coated prom-queen-in-the white-Cadillac pop gem “Brown Eyed Girl.” But Astral Weeks, the North Irish singer/songwriter’s second effort, is easily his most lush, memorable and beatific. Backed by a four-piece jazz ensemble, Morrison went into the studio with no plan; legend has it he never told the musicians what he wanted from them, or what the lyrics meant. Over eight tracks, and 47 minutes, the then-23-year-old narrates warm, soothing song-based poetry that stretches the boundaries of his pillowy voice, each song’s charm landing like feathers on a rose-covered mattress. While lament peeps its head (“Beside You”), it’s the hopeful, slinky melodies (“Sweet Thing”) and tempered charm (“Ballerina”) that exhibit a songwriter hitting a peak, armed with a smile and a trusty acoustic.
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5. Metallica- Ride The Lightning
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Kill Em All, Metallica’s debut LP, established the LA crew as metal’s next big-thing, but with Ride The Lightning, the band took a gigantic leap forward, bounding outside the constraints of speed-metal. Lightning sets the tone for the band’s later releases: firebomb riffs (Fight Fire With Fire), slow chugging death struts (“For Whom The Bell Tolls”) and, most notably, intricate metal symphonies (“Fade To Black”). And, while the b-side retains the band’s signature knuckle-punch melodies (“Escape”), the closing track, “The Call of Ktulu,” — an epic, expertly constructed-type anthem that later albums like And Justice For All would perfect — signals a crew breaking away from convention, lifting American metal on its collective shoulders and taking no prisoner.
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6. Pearl Jam- Vs.
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The weight of the world lay heavy on frontman Eddie Vedder following his band’s breakout smash, Ten. The praise following the album’s massive success, it seemed, proved too much to bear. Retreating to record its follow-up in Nicasio, Calif., at what became known as “The Site,” Vedder was quoted as saying, “I fucking hate it here…How do you make a rock record here?” Nonetheless, despite the pressure and unideal setting, the Californian-by-way-of-Chicago, and his band crafted a funky, heavy and powerful sophomore effort. Whereas Ten seemed expertly molded for radio, Vs. just happened to be catchy; even the acoustic tracks “Daughter” and “Elderly Woman Behind A Counter In A Small Town” seem off-the-cuff. Clearly, as was the case with their debut, Vedder used these 10 songs to sound off on his perceived ills of the world: ineptitude (“Daughter”), greed (“Rats”) and misunderstanding (“Dissident”). But it’s the crisp guitar lines, swinging rhythms and, most notably, Vedder’s gravelly howl that burn through the angst.
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7. Sublime- Sublime
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The tragedy of frontman Bradley Nowell’s sudden passing makes the massive success of his band’s self-titled release all the more heart-wrenching: the praise thrown at the forever 28-year-old songwriter’s newest batch of songs was never to be felt — Nowell overdosed two months prior to its release. While technically the third album by the SoCal beach rats (the oft-overlooked Robbin’ The Hood was technically the sophomore effort), as the band’s first major label release following the renowned 40 Oz. To Freedom, we like to think of their self-titled release as their second major exposure. The laudatory reception to Sublime’s exclamation on the ska-punk genre, the result of a 17-song collection of arguably some of the most widely-covered songs in recent history- —”What I Got,” “Wrong Way” “Santeria,” etc. — are still relevant over a decade later: band members Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson have recruited a new singer to carry on Brad’s timelessly mellow, beach-bum vocal licks.
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8. Weezer- Pinkerton
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Rivers Cuomo hated Weezer’s sophomore effort. And so did critics. “It’s a hideous record,” the Buddy Holly glasses-wearing frontman said shortly after Pinkerton’s release. Time, however, changes even the most adamant of emotions: over the next decade-and-a-half the band’s second effort– veering from the pop-leanings of its debut– has become widely regarded as the band’s most influential LP, and one of the 90’s most personal, honest and compelling sets of songs. In fact, it recently got a deluxe makeover that debuted in the Top Ten. Recorded while studying at Harvard, Cuomo channeled the feelings of heartbreak, loss and self-wallowing pain. It’s a collage of a confusing, yet highly-relatable palate of emotions (confusion (“Pink Triangle”) and rejection (“El Scorcho”)) all hidden under the guise of catchy choruses and vocal swirl of a singer still unsure of his own brilliance.
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9. Led Zeppelin- II
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From January 1969 to November 1971, Led Zeppelin cranked out 33 songs, four albums and some of the heaviest riffs, solos and vocal licks in rock n’ roll history. On their second go-round, just nine months removed from their bodyslam-of-a-debut, Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham gave you “every inch” of their love, emphasizing their evolving sonic experimentation (“Whole Lotta Love”) and musicianship (“Moby Dick”) but more than anything, the second of a four-part series of gems shows a band beginning to dedicate themselves to their bluesy intuitions (“The Lemon Song,” “Bring It All Home”). That it would be two more albums before their supposed “peak” speaks less to their early albums accessibility, but rather more to people’s increased acceptance of the Zep’s game-changing, balls to the wall rock n’ roll grime.
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10. The Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
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While Siamese Dream, was technically the second release from the Billy Corgan-led Chicago alternative act, the success of its debut, Gish, was quite unexpected, leaving Siamese to represent for many their first true Pumpkins experience. Corgan took this to heart. His need for perfection and subsequent writer’s block caused a rift in the band, while the inner-relationships were slowly being shattered due to drug problems and tarnished love. But the music — championed by mountains of overdubbed guitar parts — led to a sonic depth not previously explored. Album opener “Cherub Rock”’s opening drum-roll and conjoined riff, are fluid and crisp, yet emotionally jarring — in many ways, akin to a siamese dream.
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