Your favorite "difficult 3rd album(s)"

not_the_dj

(not a parody thread)

You don't tend to get these much nowadays. Bands used to have a couple of LPs out before the big breakthough, but now it seems it's massive debut or you're dropped.

Thinking about these, which were all 3rd albums:

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

The Waterboys - This is the Sea

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast

Def Leppard - Pyromania

ICBM

Much easier than the favourite first albums, for some reason…

Blondie - Parallel Lines

Calvin Harris - 18 Months

Heather Nova - Siren

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Kate Bush - Never For Ever

Led Zeppelin - III

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Mainstream

Neil Young - After The Gold Rush

U2 - War

Wishbone Ash - Argus

and that's just to start!

axisus

Just been playing one today: Marillion - Misplaced childhood. A beautifully crafted album.

Also Queen - Sheer heart attack.

not_the_dj

axisus said:

Just been playing one today: Marillion - Misplaced childhood. A beautifully crafted album.

Of course!

dtr

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

The Clash - London Calling

Primal Scream - Screamadelica

Pavement - Wowie Zowie

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space

FelineGuitars

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

MSG - Assault Attack

Dokken - Under Lock and Key

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Y&T - Earthshaker

Ozzy - Bark at the Moon

Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime

Rammstein - Mutter

Sad Cafe - Facades

lasermonkey

Cocteau Twins- Treasure (which, along with Victorialand, is my favourite album of all time)

REM- Fables Of The Reconstruction

The Chameleons- Strange Times

Big Star- Third/Sister Lovers

Teenage Fanclub-Bandwagonesque

The Posies- Frosting On The Beater

Boards Of Canada- Geogaddi

Black Sabbath- Master Of Reality

Massive Attack- Mezzanine

The Cure- Seventeen Seconds

Radiohead- OK Computer

vasselmeyer

Third albums are often really good stuff. Here are some of my favourites:

Bryan Adams, Cuts Like a Knife

Queen, Sheer Heart Attack

U2, War

ZZ Top, Tres Hombres

The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night

These are all strong records which show the musicians hitting their stride despite some of them being "difficult".

DarnWeight

REM - Fables Of The Reconstruction

Weirdly thick-sounding Southern storytelling par excellence.  It's my favourite REM album, despite containing their worst "early-period" single by a mile (Can't Get There From Here).

quarky

+1 wis for Pyromania.

Also

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie

RocknRollDave

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible.  All day long. One of the best albums ever recorded.

Also

The Jam - All Mod Cons
Down - Down III: Over The Under
Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Morrissey - Your Arsenal




+1 for Toys In The Attic, Sheer Heart Attack and War.

richardhomer

Making Movies - Dire Straits
Peace At Last - The Blue Nile

xSkarloey

I thought second albums were the difficult ones?

I am in no position to contribute. I am very bad on group chronologies.

not_the_dj

Skarloey said:

I thought second albums were the difficult ones?

I am in no position to contribute. I am very bad on group chronologies.

Can't recall who said it, but something along the lines of, you get your whole life to write the first album, the second one is the stuff you didn't fit onto the first one and usually rushed, but that clears the decks for the third one, which is the real test of an artist.

xSkarloey

not_the_dj;1047433" said:

Skarloey said:

I thought second albums were the difficult ones?



I am in no position to contribute. I am very bad on group chronologies.










Can't recall who said it, but something along the lines of, you get your whole life to write the first album, the second one is the stuff you didn't fit onto the first one and usually rushed, but that clears the decks for the third one, which is the real test of an artist.

That's interesting.

You're right about the current scene. You either hit and hit big, or you get the flick.

Then again a few artists hit big early then either are no longer flavour of the month or just burn out.

Wazmeister

London Calling - The Clash.

Wow.

thecolourbox

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

(who would have guessed I'd have suggested that one eh?)

I also quite like the Strokes' First Impressions on Earth. Some of the guitaring on that is incredible

The Black Keys - Rubber Factory

Oh and I like The Kills- Midnight Boom though I'm not sure it's generally considered their best

sev112

Long Live a rock and roll - Rainbow

Philly_Q

Wishbone Ash - Argus

Scorpions - In Trance

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Y&T - Earthshaker

Clutch - The Elephant Riders

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Santana - III

Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend

Rollins Band - The End of Silence

Jethro Tull - Benefit

Helmet - Betty

Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark

(I know I'm duplicating some existing suggestions)

StageStruck

Status Quo - Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon
Black Crowes - Amorica
The Who - Sell Out
Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On
The Faces - A Nod's As Good As A Wink....

duotone

Blur - Parklife