In a recent All-Star Jam, I submitted the idea that, in the pantheon of horrible follow up albums, Gary Wright‘s The Light of Smiles may be the winner.
Of course, Peter Frampton‘s I’m In You was immediately mentioned and Cheap Trick‘s Dream Police also got a nod.
However, those albums at least had hits — and songs you’ve heard. Following The Dreamweaver — which like it or not — was kind of a big deal, The Light of Smiles is a true stinker. If you ever had a copy (probably from the cut-outs), you couldn’t help notice the lavish cover art and glossy packaging. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., and Gary Wright fans, the songs inside were pretty bad.
Gary made three albums from 1974 through 1977 — one was with a reformed Spooky Tooth (featuring Foreigner’s Mick Jones) that had a bad song on it called “Fantasy Satisfier” . . . then his solo hit “Dreamweaver” . . . then on The Light of Smiles, another crappy song called “Phantom Writer.” On The Light of Smiles — he finally went overboard with the other-worldly deity stuff — and the album killed any career momentum from The Dreamweaver.
So, what’s your nominee for worst follow-up album ever?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a lick from that Gary Wright album, but boy, that’s a bad album cover! Come to think of it, a follow-up album with a similarly themed bad album cover comes to mind as a contender: The Beach Boys’ Smiley Smile following Pet Sounds.
What’s wrong with Dream Police? While it might not have been up to the three previous Cheap Trick studio albums, it’s still pretty good with several strong cuts. Now the next album All Shook Down is where the band fell off a cliff. Other potential candidates for worst follow-up:
Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup (after Exile on Main Street)
Lennon’s Some Time in New York City (after Imagine)
Deep Purple’s Who Do We Think We Are? (after Machine Head)
In no particular order:
Pink Floyd “The Wall”>”The Final Cut”
Oasis “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory”>”Be Here Now”
Asia “Asia”>”Alpha”
The Who “Who Are You”>”Face Dances”
Pearl Jam “Vitalogy”>”No Code”
Fleetwood Mac “Rumours”>”Tusk”>”Mirage”
and of course…
Run DMC “Raising Hell”>”Tougher Than Leather”
aloha
LD
“Meat Puppets II”> “Up on the Sun”
I’m claiming only that “Up on the Sun” was a bad follow-up, not the worst.
Interesting, Up on the Sun is my favorite Meat Puppets album.
I think your Dream Police argument works for Goat’s Head Soup as well. Nothing was going to match Exile and GHS has it’s dodgy moments but it has some really good stuff on it too.
The difference between Who Are You and Face Dances is the same difference between a turd and a gigantic turd that clogs the bowl.
I have to admit, I’m curious to hear Face Dances again (haven’t since high school). I have “You Better You Bet” on my iPod and I actually think that’s a fine song. And I heard “Did You Steal My Money” on the radio recently, and I didn’t hate it! Is Face Dances underrated? It’s no Who’s Next, I know, but maybe it holds up next to Empty Glass after all!
Nice work RaoulG, it’s hard to argue with any of those choices.
I know it was felt that Son of Schmillson was a lemon after the artistic and commercial success of Nilsson Schmilsson, though I do like that album myself.
What’s going on with that album cover? Here’s a larger version, for inspection: http://download.feiyr.com/cover/65/26/8180019391_1000.jpg
Gary is definitely nude behind that foliage, that much I’m sure of with higher resolution. But I can’t quite figure out the scale. Is he just a regular-sized creepy nude guy peeking at you from his jungle hiding spot? Or, going by that tiny stream behind him, is Gary actually some kind of giant, sphinx-like mythical creature (who is also nude, creepy and peeking at you) behind giant rainforest trees?
Regardless of his size, he likes what he sees, so that’s nice, I guess.
Oats, you know how this works. Start the Critical Upgrade: Face Dances post.
I’ve previously gone to bat for Goat’s Head Soup (in a relative sense, at least), and I think tonyola is right that Dream Police isn’t a total cliff drop.
I’ll also say that – and you can take this in any way that makes sense – “All Around The World” on Be Here Now was probably Oasis fulfilling their destiny.
That lyric about “open arms and open legs” is so stupid. Neon light for a visa? What?
I know, I know. It’s dopey. It occurred to me recently that this song possibly is about a woman who was not Pete’s then-wife. I think in that case it’s written in code, a la “Norwegian Wood.”
You really had to hold this thing in your hand to get the total effect. It had a super glossy finish — the detailed liner notes show that he was quite proud of the art direction.
If you’ve never heard anything off it — here’s a homemade video of the title track.
http://youtu.be/-3iWecoYngg
His next album — “Headin’ Home” — features Gary shirtless — sailing on his boat — and uses the typeface of his hit album.
http://www.media.wmg-is.com/media/portal/media/cms/images/200909/081227787967_xl.jpg
Headin Home is a better album than Light of Smiles — it was actually my first exposure to him other than Dreamweaver and Love is Alive on the radio — and then I went through the Spooky Tooth back catalog and also learned he played a lot with George Harrision. He’s now a member in good standing of Ringo’s All-Star band. Another fun fact — Gary’s from Cresskill, New Jersey.
Well, there’s the Asian-themed framing, but the jungle scene and childish dimensions remind me of the works of Henri Roussau. Perhaps Wright wanted to pose nude:
http://www.buamai.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/4262233356_2ddac1ee21_b-700×500-700.jpg
I was probably never more disappointed in an album I bought than Face Dances — I worshipped The Who at the time. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stand that album. Pete was hogging the good songs for his solo albums.
Excellent call. I wonder if Gary has the orginial hanging up at his beach house in Malibu.
It’s difficult to dispute the disappointment of Be Here Now, at least there were reasons why Smiley Smile was a shambles, although I don’t think it’s as terrible as it might have been in the circumstances.
others which spring to mind are The Stone Roses – “The Stone Roses” followed five years later by “The Second Coming”, a horrible clunker without a memorable song even after several listenings, The Jam’s “Modern World” after “In The City”, while The Clash offer the tempting double-bill of “Give Em Enough Rope” as the sequel to their classic debut, pursued by the far-from-tempting sonic blancmange of “Sandinista!” after “London Calling”. (I may be being unfair about “Sandinista” as I’ve never got all the way through it, but am reasonably secure in the opinion that I’m not).
Number one on the list for me is the Stranglers – I’ve never quite understood how the band (who I was very fond of up to and including “The Raven”) could go from the enjoyable “The Raven” to the quite respectable “La Folie” via “The Gospel According to the Meninblack”.
Described now as “experimental”, I have clear memories of listening to it repeatedly in a vain attempt to glean any pleasure from it – an apparently bottomless pit of tuneless twiddly sub-prog, (I am sure that Tony could suggest someone he holds in deep contempt for crimes against the Prog) compared to which the most self-indulgent of that genre is elevated to listenable by comparison. Hugh Cornwell has been quoted as citing it his favourite of their oeuvre, I assume he was employing a particularly dry form of classic British irony. It really is a terrible, terrible album.
The Residents and Mark of the Mole.
After a long string of brilliant lunacy culminating in the perky and annoyingly catchy one-minute jingles of The Commercial Album, the Tuxedoed Eyeballs decided to get serious and produce a series of concept albums about the conflict between the Moles and Chubs – two groups who respectively embrace weirdness and complacency. Big mistake, guys. First, the Residents wanted us to actually pay attention to the storyline. Second, they dropped the child-like fun that made their previous albums compelling. Third, they attempt to go prog with the idea that throwing in enough strange sounds would make up for the lack of chops and thematic ideas. As far as I’m concerned, the Residents never really recovered from this change in direction. Even though they managed to achieve some real success and notoriety as the ’80s wore on, something was gone forever.
You can’t fool me! That’s Sammy Hagar on the cover of “Headin’ Home”!
I know this is a silly thing to say, but where else can I say it: I strongly disagree. This second part of the Mole Trilogy, following the also excellent Tunes of Two Cities (or was it the other way around?), is among their strongest albums, if you ask me. (I know, you didn’t.) My beef is with everything that followed, including the “4th part” of the trilogy, The Big Ball. Those dual-artist works were amusing at first (eg, George and James), but by then all the stuff you found as a “big mistake” with the direction of Mark… certainly applies!
You’re right about “All Around The World” fulfilling their destiny. Have you ever seen the video for the song?
It’s like their version of Yellow Submarine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MywWolXGIx8
I am not very familar with The Stranglers, but really enjoyed streaming the Greatest Hits 1977-1990 album last week. I need to check out the albums you mention.
I remember my teen self getting scared for a bit about liking this album — where should earring be? — left ear or right ear? How ironic I became a huge Husker Du and R.E.M fan three years later.
I would probably like You Better You Bet more than anything off of Who Are You but for Roger’s over enunciated vocal stylings that we discussed not so long ago (“…and I look pretty crappy SOMETIMES!”)
Tunes of Two Cities was the second of the two Mole albums and I’ll grant that it was more interesting than Mark of the Mole, particularly in the Residents’ take on lounge music. However, it’s still pretty thin stuff. The dual-artist albums, as you say, ran out of steam pretty quickly, as did the Elvis-themed The King and Eye. I think this points out what happened to the Residents – they got hung up on high concepts over the willful silliness that was their real strength.
Come on, now… seriously. Forget about Motorhead; the original Band With Only One Song is Oasis. At least Motorhead’s one song is good.
I’ve always felt Goat’ sHead Soup’s biggest problem was shitty, muddy production and too many slow songs. The Virgin remaster seems to clean away a lot of murk and it sounds much brighter and while it still has too many slow songs, it’s still better. It’s no Exile, but it’s not awful.
Me too.
I like the second Stone Roses album better than the first. I like that Shaun in Shaun of the Dead wouldn’t let his friend throw it at the zombies. I think Driving South and Love Spreads are pretty damned good.
I think I’ll toss Big Generator by Yes on the heap. Sure they had some clunkers, like Tormato, but even that has On the Silent Wings of Freedom so it’s not totally awful, but I’ve never even listened to Big Generator all the way through, and it left such a salty taste in my mouth that I haven’t paid attention to Yes ever since.
I thought 90125 was the big drop-off for Yes until I heard Big Generator. That album was a complete betrayal of everything that was special about Yes. Like you, that’s where I gave up on the group.
Grateful Dead – Shakedown Street
While few groups had careers as spotty as the Dead, until the late 1970s their albums were never bland and dull even if they weren’t always very good. They made two musically ambitious and interesting albums in 1975-1977 with Blues for Allah and Terrapin Station. It seemed that the Dead were maturing in a good way. So what did they do in 1978? They made a disco tune “Shakedown Street” and used it as the title song of their weakest and most lightweight album yet. Other sins included a really lame cover of the Rascals’ “Good Lovin'”. This is where a lot of would-be Dead fans got off the bus.
90125 was really different, but I thought it was mostly interesting. It was kind of cool to see a band I had liked for so long seem to get some really well deserved acclaim,. even if it wasn’t exactly why I liked them. I didn’t think they’d keep doing it, though.
I can’t speak for the quality of any Dead album, but the song “Shakedown Street” is unintentionally hilarious.
The first three albums demonstrate them at both their very best while also (particularly on No More Heroes) at their laddish lyrical worst, “Bring on the Nubiles” springs to mind. Rather like the recently much-discussed Slade, the singles show them in their best light, Rattus Norvegicus is the great sub-Doors burst of energy (Down in the Sewer is fantastic), No More Heroes sounds fantastic but lyrically fairly juvenile, Black and White is probably the closest they came to making a consistently great album, and on its release came with a 7″ single of their version of Walk On By, which is as good a version of a Burt Bacharach song that has ever been committed to vinyl. Approach their canon with some caution, but there is some very, very enjoyable stuff in amongst the early albums.
Sophomore albums can have a huge drop off from a great debut. The Strokes Room on Fire was nowhere compared to This is It . Worse yet, I still kind of enjoy the 1st Dada album w/ “Dizz Knee Land” but the 2nd one, American Highway Flower , may be the worst album I’ve ever paid for.
Is it fair to note the album that came after “Combat Rock?”
All from the most disastrous year in music: 1980
The Cars – Candy O > Panorama
The English Beat – I Just Can’t Stop It > Wha’ppen?
The Romantics – The Romantics > National Breakout
I have to take issue with Panorama. I like it better than I do Candy-O. Sure, it’s on the dark side for a Cars album but that gives it weight that the previous album lacked. The title song is amazing and hypnotic. The single “Touch and Go” is actually one of the weakest song on the record.
Also, any year that has albums like these is hardly disastrous:
Remain in Light
Get Happy!!
Autoamerican
Scary Monsters
Freedom of Choice
The Age of Plastic
Empty Glass
Peter Gabriel (melt)
Drama
Zendatta Monyatta
Doc at the Radar Station
Seconds of Pleasure
These more than balance out such 1980 wretchedness as Emotional Rescue.
I’m with on you Dream Police, Tonyola! I may have to come up with a full Critical Upgrade treatment of this album. On re-listen, the tracks are collectively stronger than I remembered.
pince nez: All Shook Up
Two pure awesome power pop debut albums that had weak sophomore follow-ups with songs I can barely remember:
Paul Collins Beat – The Beat > The Kids Are The Same
20/20 – 20/20 > Look Out!
U2’s first album Boy is rough and simple, but was sort of sonically revelatory to me. The follow-up October is one I like somewhat but after the opening two songs, the rest is a big letdown that sounds bleak and unpolished.
Good call on The Romantics! I do like Panorama, though.
An excellent point, although I’d refer the witness to CDM’s point concerning the Oo above
I love Shakedown Street. It’s produced by one of my heroes, Lowell George. It’s a rhythm album. And btw the Dead had been playing Good Lovin’ since they were the Warlocks, I think even before the Rascals covered it, based on the Olympics version.
Later this month Hugh Cornwell is starting a US tour with Glen Matlock and Clem Burke. They’re playing here in Kansas City at a bar that’s like a pseudo roadhouse/biker/Americana type place. I just checked and tickets are $10 (!).
I think The Kids Are the Same is terrific. Paul’s not as consistently good a writer as Peter Case, but his lesser songs still aren’t awful. He’s got some really good songs on there. It’s not as muscular as the first Beat album, but it’s got On the Highway and that’s enough to save just about any album.
I hate Panorama all that much. I was just following the thread. That album stopped The Cars momentum in it’s tracks. Except for Touch and Go there isn’t anything really as catchy or hooky as anything on the previous Candy O and subsequent Shake It Up. For the average fan, there is little to cull from this album.
Tony, I hear you but few of those albums represent bands at the top of their game.
I’ll give you Look Out! but I have trouble conceding TKATS as a huge drop off.
All right guys, I will at least have to give TKATS a few spins and let it sink into my brain and give it another chance.
You’re in the minority on Shakedown. Even the hardest-core Deadhead friends of mine had a difficult time justifying the album – they winced when I told them it was Disco Dead but they didn’t even try to argue the point. I wouldn’t give too much credit to Lowell George here – he was very much dissipated and off his game by 1978 and so was Little Feat. He was dead less than a year after Shakedown was released. I don’t hear a thing he adds to the Dead album. As for “Good Lovin'”, you’d think the Dead would get it right after playing it all those years.
Remain in Light
Get Happy!!
Freedom of Choice
Empty Glass
Peter Gabriel (melt)
Zendatta Monyatta
I’d say those represent the artists at or near their peak.
The album that came after Talking Heads’ Remain in Light pretty much BLOWS beside “Burning Down the House,” and even that’s not much to write home about. That said, I don’t know if I’d say it’s The Worst follow-up album. At least it’s well-done crap.
I’d take issue with some of those, but it is a positive reminder that 1980 was not all terrible. Over here we had a shedload of classic Indie music, particular highlights for me being:
Athletico Spizz 80 – Do a Runner;
The Fall – Totale’s Turns, followed later in the year by Grotesque (for me still their crowning achievement);
Echo and the Bunnymen – Crocodiles;
Teardrop Explodes – Kilimanjaro;
Cabaret Voltaire – Voice of America;
Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth;
Swell Maps – Jane from Occupied Europe;
Joy Division – Closer (which, if it had been the only album released in 1980, it would still have a very strong claim to have been a great year).
The “Union” tour was almost too much. The best parts were the solo sections. The chemistry just wasn’t there IMHO. I’m not saying it wasn’t still awesome.
I agree about “Big Generator”. With 90125 you could still relate a nugget of their sound to the original Yes… I suppose.
Steely Dan’s “Gaucho” after “Aja”. I like Goucho well enough but Aja was a monster.
Toto would be another but I don’t want to take the chance and look up which albums. I don’t need a Toto song in my head, I’ll let sleeping dogs lie.
“Fire on the Mountain” dude!
You don’ like “This Must Be the Place”??? That’s like one of the best songs Byrne has ever written.
I love 90125. It’s the album that introduced me to Yes. I went back and picked up their back catalog (generally available in the Boscov’s bargain bin for $1.99 – $2.99 in the mid-80s) because of it. I saw that incarnation at the HersheyPark Ampitheatre in Hershey, PA in ’84 – KIX opened, somehow – and I dug the show. It was also the first time I saw public pot smoking on a mass scale, and while I did not indulge that evening, it may have shaped my opinion of the event.
Big Generator, though? Nah. Saw that tour at the swingin’ Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, PA and the band was a snooze. I actually went for a walk during “Shoot High, Aim Low” out of boredom.
I have to admit to having owned and liked “Dream Time.” However, I started there and then worked backwards to “La Folie” which is a wonderful record. The 2 albums sound like 2 different bands.
Thank you, Stan!!!!
In agreement.
Whatever the second album by Dream Syndicate is called. The Days of Wine & Roses is so great, but I’ve blocked the follow-up lp from memory.
I forgot that’s from that album. It’s OK, but like everything else that’s OK on that album I find it suffers from 2 things: 1) it sounds like something the band had already done, in this case “Big Country,” which I love, and 2) it sounds more sterile than tools in a dentist’s office. That may be the most sterile-sounding album ever made. I can’t stand the sound of it!
I’d forgotten all about Dreamtime, I don’t remember owning a copy, but having looked at the track listing think that it must have been the last of theirs I bought. If you were then to work back to GATTMIB you would be met with something that sounds like a third band, but one which I’d not recommend to a friend…
Great song. But I do find that the album as a whole is pretty repetitive. Too many songs have the same groove at almost the same tempo, and without a really strong hook.
“Bring on the Nubiles” is Punk Rawk Gold!
By no means terrible, Ghost In The Machine is a pretty weak follow up to Zenyatta Mondatta.
I think the first side of Medicine Show is quite good, actually. The second side not so much.
Wouldn’t a lot of one-album wonders show up i answering a question like this? The Violent Femmes second album, for instance.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES? My favorite T-Heads record. LITTLE CREATURES is the dog, whatta suburban record that is.
I’d say Robert Hazard and The Hooters both dropped the ball after their regional releases, Hazard with 1984’s WING OF FIRE and the HOOTERS with their national debut NERVOUS NIGHT from 1985.. Goofy as their regional releases are, the stripped down production served them much better than those turgidly turd-like production of their “glossy” major label debuts.
Yes, to me that’s way worse but right in the middle of one of the most pergectly sloped downward runs by a great band. I so think, however, they bounced back on Naked.
True dat. There’s a future thread: local heroes gone to gloss in their major label debut.