Bands Whose Last Album is Their Best

[Jorge]

the former feminist/anti-establishment vibe around their band had transformed into one approaching hipness.

Elaborate?

[tragabigzanda]

[tragabigzanda]

[matt reeder]

the former feminist/anti-establishment vibe around their band had transformed into one approaching hipness.

Elaborate?

When I moved to Olympia, WA in 2001, there was an authentic mystique around their band, and a palpable energy of change. I was personally looking for a musical community to join, and had become so bored and/or disgusted by what the other guys were listening to. I couldn't stomach Connor Oberst, the whiny little brat...But Sleater-Kinney scratched a deep punk itch, and when I joined up with the Rock N' Roll Camp for Girls, I felt part of a punk ethic that was active, subversive, and committed to actual change. I loved their music, and I loved the energy around it...

By the time they toured behind NCTL, it seemed like a lot of people were excited to see this throwback band, featuring Carrie Brownstein from NPR and Wild Flag, plus two other girls. People weren't plunking down $30 to see a band that inspired them to get engaged in social change, but were rather paying upwards of $100 to see a band that would remind them of a time in their lives when they were committed to change. That price tag left a really bad taste in my mouth, and the uneven record didn't help.

I'll be a Sleater-Kinney fan for life but I agree with all of this. I felt the same way when I moved to Portland in 2005 (which was, in small part, because of Sleater-Kinney). The Woods did alienate some of the band's fan base, and I remember the show I saw in Portland in 2005 (with Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Quasi) did not sell out; but overall the band was more or less beloved here.

Everything is different now, and I think a lot of it has to do with Carrie's stardom. At least NCTL was good; I'm not sure they are capable of making a bad record. But it's different, and I'm not sure it's for the better.

[digster]

Where did they charge 100 bucks per ticket? My memory is fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that's well over double what I paid.

Anyways, NCTL may be their sixth best or so, but that's due to the strength of their catalog than anyone problem on the part of that record. They continue to probably have one of the most consistent winning streaks in terms of great records. I'd agree that it doesn't scale the heights of The Woods, but I can think of few albums that do.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[matt reeder]

Where did they charge 100 bucks per ticket? My memory is fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that's well over double what I paid.

Anyways, NCTL may be their sixth best or so, but that's due to the strength of their catalog than anyone problem on the part of that record. They continue to probably have one of the most consistent winning streaks in terms of great records. I'd agree that it doesn't scale the heights of The Woods, but I can think of few albums that do.

Seattle or PDX, can't remember which.

It wasn't Portland. I paid $40 for the one show they've played in their hometown since reuniting.

Anyway, to get this back on topic:

I would have said Soundgarden and Sleater-Kinney both but they've since reunited and released new albums. Ditto the Buzzcocks. Nirvana is obvious but they only released three albums, so maybe it doesn't count. So anyway, I'm submitting Hum's Downward Is Heavenward, which is their best album in addition to being their last album. There may be a new album on the way, though...so who knows.

[Jorge]

the former feminist/anti-establishment vibe around their band had transformed into one approaching hipness.

Elaborate?

When I moved to Olympia, WA in 2001, there was an authentic mystique around their band, and a palpable energy of change. I was personally looking for a musical community to join, and had become so bored and/or disgusted by what the other guys were listening to. I couldn't stomach Connor Oberst, the whiny little brat...But Sleater-Kinney scratched a deep punk itch, and when I joined up with the Rock N' Roll Camp for Girls, I felt part of a punk ethic that was active, subversive, and committed to actual change. I loved their music, and I loved the energy around it...

By the time they toured behind NCTL, it seemed like a lot of people were excited to see this throwback band, featuring Carrie Brownstein from NPR and Wild Flag, plus two other girls. People weren't plunking down $30 to see a band that inspired them to get engaged in social change, but were rather paying upwards of $100 to see a band that would remind them of a time in their lives when they were committed to change. That price tag left a really bad taste in my mouth, and the uneven record didn't help.

Oh right, OK, I thought you meant something different

[Kevin Davis]

I am tempted to say Sufjan Stevens here

[epilogue]

I am tempted to say Sufjan Stevens here

I'm tempted to second that.

[Superblood Wolfmoon]

Yeah yeah, Let It Be is considered their "last" album, however it was recorded before Abbey Road. So technically, this was their last album.

[Norah]

That's a bullshit technically. The chronology of a band's discography is determined by release date.

[Birds in Hell]

It's perhaps not fitting with the spirit of this thread but I don't think it's unreasonable to factor in recording date.

Abbey Road is the last Beatles record to me, regardless of Let It Be being released after it.

[tragabigzanda]

[matt reeder]

It's perhaps not fitting with the spirit of this thread but I don't think it's unreasonable to factor in recording date.

Abbey Road is the last Beatles record to me, regardless of Let It Be being released after it.

Team Spenno. Their creative arc ended with Abbey Road, the release date is misleading.

They didn't release Let It Be until after Abbey Road because they were unhappy with it. Abbey Road was intended to be their last album, and it should be treated as such.

[chewm]

Abbey Road is neither the last nor the best album.

[Superblood Wolfmoon]

That's a bullshit technically. The chronology of a band's discography is determined by release date.

I think we should be looking at this through the lens of the band's creativity, not that some record company dickhead wanted to keep making money after the band disbanded and so hired Phil Spector to come in and fuck up some old recordings.

[epilogue]

Either way, it isn't their best record.

[Kevin Davis]

That's a bullshit technically. The chronology of a band's discography is determined by release date.

Completely agree. Any other metric is too murky. It's worth differentiating between contemporaneous releases and deliberately archival releases, but "Let It Be"
was not that (I don't think, anyway).

[melonhead4]

Nirvana-In Utero
Blind Melon-Soup