Which album was a band's creative zenith/magnum opus before falling off?

Hal-5700X@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 131 points –

Demon Days by Gorillaz

Silent Alarm by Bloc Party

Metallica (Black Album)

180

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Claude Debussy - Claire de Lune

The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

Weather Report - Heavy Weather

Rush - 2112

Mr. Bungle - California

Dr. Dre - The Chronic

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Wu Tang Clan - Enter the 36 Chambers

Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Getz/Gilberto/Jobim - The Girl from Ipanema

Mozart’s Requiem (good place to peak!)

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Cynic - Focus

Death - Human

Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten

Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom

Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare

Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Radiohead - Kid A

Deftones - White Pony

Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Horizons

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

The Allman Brothers - Live at the Fillmore East

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

The Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Bruhhhhhhhh

White Album? Abbey Road? I mean, even if you aren't a big fan of Yellow Submarine or Magical Mystery Tour, how can you say freaking Abbey Road is a comedown from Sgt Pepper's?

Actually, you might be right. I’ll take the Beatles out. They were good all along.

Yeah Mozart really fell off after he died.

Kid A was genius, I'm curious on your thoughts of In Rainbows?

Meh. Didn’t suck but nothing will have the cohesiveness of that album.

Hard disagree on Rush's 2112 being peek, if anything that album was the start of one of the greatest streaks in music history. They did like 4-5 excellent albums after that. Personally if I were to rank Rush albums, I'd put Farewell to Kings above 2112, maybe hemispheres too if only for La Villa Strangiatto. Not that I don't love 2112, but relative to the other albums in that streak I think it's a little tiny bit overrated

Agreed. Peak Rush is Hemispheres (Circumstances is possibly the best rock song ever written) for me, but really I love almost everything from Fly by Night to Grace Under Pressure. That's 8 albums I can easily listen to front-to-back.

Whelp. As I typed I realized I forgot about Caress of Steel. I suppose that says something...

Man, if you liked deloused I get why you'd be disappointed by what comes after, but Francis the Mute is something else. It's structured way different, it's a damn opera, but 20 years on that is my all time favorite album.

Do you like guitars? Yngwie, Vai, Johnson.

Yeah. But I’m just naming ones I can think of where the album was never eclipsed. It just so happens that that is the case for those guitar players…and it’s not like we’re going to hear Yngwie or Johnson somehow suddenly reinvent themselves this late in their careers.

For example, I’m a HUGE fan of Khruangbin and Julian Lage but….what will Julian Lage or Khruangbin give us in the future? We may never know if they have peaked until that time has passed.