One of mine is Commit This to Memory by Motion City Soundtrack. I basically took the title verbatim and know the album word for word. And while I would love if it did, the rest of MCS’s stuff just doesn’t hit the same way.
And if you’re not an album person, maybe a period of time in the artist’s work? Whatever works for you.
*Lots of mentions of hit debut albums that subsequently petered out, which follows with the dreaded sophomore slump that hits many artists. Anyone with mid or even later career albums that stand alone? Those always intrigue me.
Infected Mushroom.
Classical Mushroom is fucking amazing to the point I can hear the whole album in my head including every note if I want. But after that it just fell apart.
The album Colours from Graffiti6 was so good, I’m still mad about the crap album they released after that (it was also their last)…
And to a lesser extend, Miike Snow’s first album was sooo good. Everything they’ve put out after that was mediocre at best.
Alt-J has also been going down hill ever since the first album. It’s still decent, but if I had to rate the albums from good to bad, it would be equal to the release order. Saw them live two years ago and it was meh as well.
Pearl Jam Ten. I wore that album out and everything they put out afterwards just wasn’t even remotely the same for me.
Endtroducing by DJ Shadow was life-changing, but everything after that… meh.
challenge. and yeah, i could have gone for something more recent, but i figured if you like endtroducing and haven’t heard this, you will probably appreciate it.
Metallica: Ride the Lightning
I love this album, but can’t stand any of their other stuff.
I prefer Master of Puppets to Ride the Lightning for the overall heavier sound, and the distinct lack of acne in Hetfield’s voice. However, those two albums are definitely their top two.