Friday Discussion : : Great Sophomore Albums
Most people talk about slumps when they talk about sophomore albums, but our friends at AbsolutePunk posted a Thursday discussion yesterday on great sophomore albums. We wanted to get in on some of the action today, so I wrote up a list of some of my favorite sophomore albums and I’m hoping you’ll let us know what albums fit that criteria for you. Check out the list below and feel free to reblog this post or comment in the AP.net thread!
blink-182 - Dude Ranch
You can find people who like more than “Carousel” and “M+M’s” on Cheshire Cat if you dig deep enough, but Dude Ranch is the album that opened blink-182 up to new found fame. Enema Of The State is undoubtedly the band’s most well-known, popular, and mainstream release, but such a jump in fan base and touring recognition could not have happened without Dude Ranch. There will always be an argument among some over whether Dude Ranch or Enema is blink’s “key” pop-punk release, and it’s certainly a fair one to have on different levels. And really, “Dammit” serves as one of the greatest set closers of all time. So thank the blink bunny for that.
Brand New - Deja Entendu
The Devil And God is my favorite Brand New album, but there’s no question that Deja Entendu changed so much for so many, myself included. Following Your Favorite Weapon, the album transcended any typical “great record.” It created a new craze and movement and certain level excitement that is so rare. The album is near ten years old now and will go down as a signature classic like Green Day’s Dookie,Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity, blink-182’s Enema Of The State, and those other select albums that change so much so quickly.
The Wonder Years - The Upsides
Every once in a while a band surprises you in a big way, and that’s exactly what happened with The Upsides. There’s no way around saying that Get Stoked On it! is a bad album. Is it fun? Sure. Is it good? The band will be the first to tell you it isn’t. But boy did things turn around fast. Not only did the band change their sound, but they changed their image, focus, and brought new meaning and excitement to a genre that so many felt was stale. Annoying or not, “I’m not sad anymore” become one of the most popular status updates, meme creation, and argued lyric of 2010 for fans of this scene.Armor For Sleep - What To Do When You Are Dead
I’m a sucker for concept records. There’s just something about knowing that when I hit play on a ten to twelve song album there will be a general theme to carry me all the way through. Dream To Make Believe, the band’s first full-length, is a feat in itself. The production quality might sound a little shaky and you’re clearly listening to a band that has yet to fully develop, but What To Do When You Are Dead shows the band at its finest and is an incredible record. I highly recommend seeing the band in New York City this July one last time if you can make it.
PropertyOfZack Review : : The Forecast
Peoria, Illinois’ The Forecast have spent the last decade churning out plainspoken midwestern emo and country-tinged rock to relatively little fanfare. Perhaps that lack of recognition is unsurprising for there is nothing flashy to what they do: no costumes or theatrics (visual or musical), no overt artsy-ness, no craven catering to either the over or underground. The Forecast specialize in honest, hardworking nose-to-the-grindstone Rock and Roll — and they do it very, very well. If they never rise above cult status, it at least appears that their cult has got their backs: Everybody Left was funded by fan donations via Kickstarter.
And while Kickstarter can be a dodgy prospect at times, in this case it is hard to imagine anyone walking away disappointed. Everybody Left recaptures the spark of the band’s finest work, 2006’s In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen, and if nothing here quite matches the giddy, desperate highs of that album’s “(May You One Day) Carry Me Home”, the soaring chorus of lead single “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts” sure comes close, with lead vocalist Dustin Addis and bassist Shannon Burns singing in the tight harmony that typifies their best moments. It is the most reliable trick in their toolbox, and it works just as well two songs later on the raging “Skyline”, a headlong rush into new love that sounds as sloppily exuberant as the real thing.
But while Everybody Left is more about refinement than reinvention, there’s still some new territory being explored. “Take Me Down” finds Burns taking over the lead vocals which are layered demurely over what sounds to be her own gorgeous harmony coos as the track builds to an explosive chorus, begging an absent lover to “take [her] to the limit”. Meanwhile, the band has augmented their straightforward, heartland rock with little splashes of 90’s-era inspiration. It first breaks through in the phased, flange-y wah of the rhythm guitars on the title track, recalling the more shoegaze-inspired moments of alt-rockers Superdrag and Sugar, and crops back up in the draggy, alt-country-meets-Promise-Ring melancholia of “Skipping Stones” (For that matter, Addis claimed in a recent track-by-track that he was trying to channel The Promise Ring’s “Very Emergency” on the chorus of “Like A Habit”, though he seems to have accidentally cloned Third Eye Blind’s “Never Let You Go” instead). The little tweaks keep things fresh. Everybody Left retains The Forecast’s core sound but dodges the air of stagnation that crept into the band’s 2010 self-titled album.
