The Sophomore Slump
Tomorrow will see the release of Mos Def's new album (EDIT: Apparently Mos's release was delayed until later this year. My bad.) as well as Lily Allen's second album. Can Lily avoid the sophomore slump that hurt The Mighty Mos? I called her a one hit wonder a while back but her new song "The Fear" is pretty catchy. What I've heard of the album, however, makes it seem pretty disposable. Maybe the kids will like it. At the very least, I doubt that she'll find her face in the bargain bins any time soon. (Well, that is until all CD stores go broke and become one huge everything must go bargain bin). This got me thinking, what were the most disappointing second albums of all-time? Of course, I can't really answer that since music is so subjective but I can give you a list of the second albums that I found the most disappointing. Mos Def doesn't make it because I never really listened to his second record. And I don't even want to start a Pinkerton debate so Weezer's not on the list either. I know I'm going to forget a lot of albums here so feel free to comment and add your own. (Note: I try to include groups with great first albums and not one hit wonders)
10. Bush - Razorblade Suitcase: Not that I was a huge fan or anything but the first album made it seem like this could be a pretty good pop rock outfit and then this second album came out and I didn't mind when people dissed Gavin and his mates. The same thing happened with Jet after the release of Shine On.
9. Bloc Party: A Weekend in the City: Bloc Party's first album was so good that technically their second album was a remixed version of their first album "Silent Alarm". However their second album of new material was "A Weekend in the City" and I immediately stopped caring about the band. I still really want to like it and I keep giving it more chances but every time I listen I'm disappointed. Hopefully they can make a comeback like Live did after Secret Samadhi (or whatever it was called) tanked.
8. Nas - It Was Written: It's not really Nas's fault. He was following one of the best rap albums ever made.
7. The Stone Roses - Second Coming: I was never a huge Stone Roses fan but I remember this album being a big release that got maybe one or two plays before my brother threw it in the 100 cassette organizer and it was never heard from again. Throwing Muses' second CD also met the same fate (assuming the Real Ramona was their first album. It was the first one I ever knew about).
6. Young MC - Brainstorm: Yeah, a lot of people consider Young M.C. a one hit wonder but I loved his debut album. Non Stop, Know How, Got More Rhymes, My Name is Young: even the deeper cuts were fun. The second album? Not so much. Although he does get points for having a song called "Keep it in Your Pants". Ironically, he then tried to get hard (he had an album "Ain't Going Out Like That" filled with similarly grammatically incorrect titles) and it was over.
5. Jewel - Spirit: On this blog, I've already admitted to liking rom-coms so I'm not going to start lying about my manhood when it comes to Jewel. I was a huge fan of her first album. It was stripped down and real. Yeah, "real", I wrote it! The second album was just kind of there. Nothing all that interesting and my fascination with Jewel was over. Well, with her music, at least.
4. Black Sheep: Non-fiction: I know some fans put this one in the category of musical shifts that turned off a group's fanbase. The king of that group is the Beastie Boys' classic album Paul's Boutique. Other examples are De La Soul is Dead, Labcabincalifornia by The Pharcyde, and Blowout Comb by Digable Planets. Non-Fiction, however, does not fit in that group. It just wasn't a good album. Every song was too long. Dres had one of the best voices/flows in hip hop IMO but nobody wanted to hear him go on for five minutes over a repetitive beat. I was a huge fan of "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" but the group was basically done once (or possibly before) their second album dropped. Honorable mention here goes to Camp Lo, whose second album was also stillborn. I just wasn't as big of a fan of them as Black Sheep.
3. The Killers - Sam's Town: I really thought The Killers could be the next great band but then they appeared on SNL with the first single from Sam's Town and I immediately jumped off of the bandwagon. Things didn't get better when I heard the actual album. The latest album is just more disappointment.
2. Wu Tang Clan: Wu Tang Forever: I know I might be in the minority on this one but after 36 Chambers and the great solo projects from the Clan, I was expecting something amazing. I honestly can't remember any of the songs from this album. I do remember part of the video for Triumph but that's not saying much. To keep the clan together, I'll also tie in Tical 2000 to this one.
1. Lauryn Hill - Unplugged v 2.0: Yeah this is a bit unfair since Ms. Hill hasn't really had a real second record but The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a classic R&B record and after it all we got was an awkward unplugged set of songs that I can't believe were actually finished material. I'm still holding out hope that we could see a return but she sees to be a Lost One. If that album does come out, I'm not sure if it will be able to survive the hype. It's fast becoming R&B's Chinese Democracy.
