I was wondering about your thoughts on who would generally be considered mediocre bands (pop/non pop) that have made an absulotely stunning album.

I will start off with:
Powderfinger - Internationalist (I may get deported for saying this)
Live - Throwing Copper (at least I thought it was in highschool)

AFI - Sing the Sorrow
Nirvana - Nevermind

Thank you Butch Vig! The man who makes average bands sound amazing!

I'd agree with Live, the rest of their stuff sucks.

Another one that springs to mind for me is Counting Crows. Their second album, "Recovering the Satellites" is great, but the rest of their stuff is totally bland.

I might get some hate posts for this, but I'd also say the Violent Femmes. While their debut is arguably one of the greatest albums ever, everything they've done since is pretty mediocre.

I'm sure we can think of more....I call this the "One Album Wonder" syndrome.

Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

I'll be in my foxhole.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

They somehow managed to write a bunch of really good pop songs all at the same time.

(Nirvana mediocre? Are we talking instrumental talent or creative ability? I think they're one of the most creative bands in the last twenty years.)

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Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

They somehow managed to write a bunch of really good pop songs all at the same time.

Fleetwood Mac mediocre? You should check out the Peter Green era - Then Play On, English Rose, Live at Boston Tea Party, Blues in Chicago, Mr. Wonderful etc. or the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (a bit of an overkill though). Anything after that is a huge letdown for me.

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(Nirvana mediocre? Are we talking instrumental talent or creative ability? I think they're one of the most creative bands in the last twenty years.)

It's hard to say with Nirvana, because we only have a small supply of Nirvana music. Like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, they burnt out before they faded away.

My two cents is that "Nevermind" is a great collection of songs, "In Utero" is about half excellent, and "Bleach", with the exception of "About a Girl" is a steaming pile of crap.

It's tough to say though. If you would've told me in the mid-90s that Pearl Jam were destined for mediocrity I'd have called you a liar. But I stand corrected.

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Originally posted by m.leland:
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Well, the only other album they did was On Avery Island, and yeah, that wasn't great.

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Originally posted by Hemorrhoids:

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Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

They somehow managed to write a bunch of really good pop songs all at the same time.

Fleetwood Mac mediocre? You should check out the Peter Green era - Then Play On, English Rose, Live at Boston Tea Party, Blues in Chicago, Mr. Wonderful etc. or the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (a bit of an overkill though). Anything after that is a huge letdown for me.

I'm basing that only on Bare Trees and s/t. I haven't heard anything after Rumours. I could be wrong.

Oh, another one. It's way too early to say, but I strongly suspect that Arcade Fire - Funeral is destined to land in this category.

The blues era was in the 60s, long before s/t, Rumours and even Bare Trees. The s/t album provides a bit of confusion since their first album (long before their pop era) was a s/t one too, although referred to as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

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Originally posted by Bobthespirit:

quote:

Originally posted by Hemorrhoids:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

They somehow managed to write a bunch of really good pop songs all at the same time.

Fleetwood Mac mediocre? You should check out the Peter Green era - Then Play On, English Rose, Live at Boston Tea Party, Blues in Chicago, Mr. Wonderful etc. or the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (a bit of an overkill though). Anything after that is a huge letdown for me.

I'm basing that only on Bare Trees and s/t. I haven't heard anything after Rumours. I could be wrong.

Oh, another one. It's way too early to say, but I strongly suspect that Arcade Fire - Funeral is destined to land in this category.

grrr...we shall see.

but maybe...considering the circumstances under which it was recorded. I hope you're wrong though.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit
It's way too early to say, but I strongly suspect that Arcade Fire - Funeral is destined to land in this category.

I have to strongly disagree there, they new stuff they've tried out live is pretty good, and their old stuff isn't bad either, especially if it got the production that Funeral did.

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Originally posted by dano:

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Originally posted by m.leland:
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Well, the only other album they did was On Avery Island, and yeah, that wasn't great.

I couldn't disagree more. I just listened to On Avery Island for the first time in a while, and was stunned at how good it was. It's no Aeroplane but it is still fantastic. I'll admit, I'm obsessed with NMH (I had a dream about Jeff Mangum the other night), but I think On Avery Island is underrated.

Remy Zero- Villa Elaine
Travis- The Man Who

These are two bands that I was really excited about for a while, and while their subsequent work wasn't bad it just didn't do much for me.

Nice one superbound with Travis. They certainly were good on that first album.

What is even more interesting though, are bands who spent years making average albums, and then snap, a masterstroke 10 or so years into their career..........like The Flaming Lips with the Soft bullitin (I'm not saying their early stuff in't good, but the leap they made for TSB was Huge)

Yes, I will go out on a limb ans say that Nirvana's Bleach was mediocre and Nevermind was a stunner thanks to the great production of Butch Vig. Same with In Utero with Steve Albini. If it wasn't for these producers I still think they would have done Bleach-type work. Same with Butch's work with AFI. Before Sing The Sorrow, they sounded like any other punk band. Butch brought in strings and he just is a wonderful producer. That's my 2 cents.

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Originally posted by Backcountry:
Nice one superbound with Travis. They certainly were good on that first album.

What is even more interesting though, are bands who spent years making average albums, and then snap, a masterstroke 10 or so years into their career..........like The Flaming Lips with the Soft bullitin (I'm not saying their early stuff in't good, but the leap they made for TSB was Huge)

Yes, it was a huge leap from prior work to the Soft Bulletin, but earlier Flaming Lips is certainly well above average. There really aren't many bands who make mediocre/average music for years, and then make a "stunner". I think what we see here a lot are bands who peak early, and just fail to continue making interesting music. Most of the examples we've seen are first or second albums. The "follow-up albums" thread addresses this issue in more detail. And hey, I'll back you up on liking that Live album back in high school, but man did they ever go bad, fast.

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And hey, I'll back you up on liking that Live album back in high school, but man did they ever go bad, fast.

I was really into Mental Jewelry, Throwing Copper and even a little of Secret Samadhi in high school and college. It was a well-guarded guilty pleasure. I mean, you can't have god-rock sitting next to Godflesh. What would the cool kids say?

This is an interesting idea, but it seems to have quickly degenerated into people trying to be shocking and irreverent by naming a great band and pretending they were actually mediocre and just happened to produce one great album. Nirvana? Fleetwood Mac? (even if you don't like the Peter Green-era Mac, the band's "Fleetwood Mac" and "Tusk" albums prove they were not, even in their mid-70s incarnation, a mediocre band.)

The best suggestion so far was Travis -- a truly bland band who made one very charming record. I suspect Keane will fall into the same category. And, frankly, Coldplay.

My vote goes to Ryan Adams, though. His debut, "Heartbreaker", was truly a stunner, and everything since then has been boring, uninspired genre experiments. The guy seriously needs to take a break and stop making albums out of every little ditty he dreams up on the toilet. "Cold Roses" has some okay stuff on it, but it is hardly a return to form.

What about The Cars -- another superb debut, and everything else was pretty much complete crap.

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Originally posted by Peewee:

My vote goes to Ryan Adams, though. His debut, "Heartbreaker", was truly a stunner, and everything since then has been boring, uninspired genre experiments. The guy seriously needs to take a break and stop making albums out of every little ditty he dreams up on the toilet. "Cold Roses" has some okay stuff on it, but it is hardly a return to form.

What about The Cars -- another superb debut, and everything else was pretty much complete crap.

Ryan Adams is a good one. He went from first to worst quicker than just about anyone I can think of.

I don't know about the Cars though. "Shake it Up" and "Candy-O" had their moments.