Lament wrote:stip wrote:Kevin Davis wrote:Yeah, I can't fathom there aren't hundreds of exceptions. In addition to what you are saying, I think with widely recognizable artists it is easier to identify a sort of widespread "perception" of certain records, which helps steer the conversation away from just being a list of artists that people (meaning individuals) generally dislike but happened to produce one record that they can tolerate. I think the only interesting spin on this conversation almost has to involve a recognition of these more widespread perceptions, such that it looks at artists who really managed to make a splash -- not just commercially but also critically and/or culturally -- with one record but otherwise ultimately ceased to be relevant. Otherwise the thread just becomes a list of various artists' best albums, or what I described above.
What about Liz Phair?
Liz Phair is a good choice
PryTo would vehemently disagree were he here.
I probably wouldn't though (even though I legitimately enjoy the first five records).
Exile seems to fit the description of what the OP was aiming for. It's a great album and really the only one that received widespread acclaim. Not my personal favorite though. For some reason, lots of metal bands come to mind here, but I'm not sure how acclaimed any of those bands were. And you've got bands like the Gin Blossoms. They had one big album and I never heard a peep out of them again. But there were some good little pop tunes on that album: Allison Road, Found Out About You, Hey Jealousy. I wouldn't kick those tunes out of bed for eating crackers. I guess most one-hit wonder bands would fit the description. There were a bunch of bands like that in the 90s -- Matchbox 20, Hootie, and so on. But again, I'm not sure how acclaimed those groups were and none of them lasted long, at least in the mainstream sense. But if the OP was after big acts that put out hit albums and had real careers, I can only think of two that fit the bill.
1. Van Halen - 5150. I'm only counting the Sammy Hagar-era VH here. It was a fantastic album, but the only good one they did with him.
2. AC/DC - Back in Black. Again, I'm only counting Brian Johnson-era AC/DC here. A terrific album, but it was one and done.
Both bands had a song or two afterwards that were decent, and both sold a gajillion followup records and had massive tours. But neither band released another album after these that was anything close to being as good. So I guess if you lose your original, better singer, you may have enough material still in the can to make it work with the new guy. I would not call 5150 or Back in Black the best albums from these bands, but they were easily the best albums released with those singers.
