Blog author: Alex Stojanovic I know it's a cliché to say, but it's the truth. Bands have their entire lives to write their first record, and it lays the foundation. A band's infancy is when they're hungriest and still finding their feet, but when it comes time for album #2, that's when the pressure starts because you need to prove that you have what it takes to make your next record just as great as the debut or even better if possible. |
With some bands, the second effort fails to live up to the majesty of the first record, and the album unfortunately is given the "sophomore slump" title. However, there have been many second albums released over the years that managed to match the greatness of the debut, or surpass the debut in terms of greatness, and it turns out to be some of their best work ever.
After just doing a list of my favourite debut albums, I thought it would only make sense to follow it up right away with a list of my favourite sophomore albums. With most of the albums featured below, you could see and hear how each band matured as songwriters and musicians.
After just doing a list of my favourite debut albums, I thought it would only make sense to follow it up right away with a list of my favourite sophomore albums. With most of the albums featured below, you could see and hear how each band matured as songwriters and musicians.
10. BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE - Scream Aim Fire
When Bullet For My Valentine arrived on the scene with The Poison in 2005, the album got rave reviews and it was heralded as one of the best metalcore albums of the 2000s. On the other hand, there was the segment of people claiming the band wasn't "metal" enough. Yeah, those idiots. The band then decided to write a more "metal" record, so they went in a more thrashier direction on Scream Aim Fire. Even though the band have admitted that after they made the record, it wasn't the record they should've made or wanted to make because they felt forced into it, I and many other people believe that this record is the band's best, especially with songs like "Scream Aim Fire", "Eye Of The Storm", "Waking The Demon", "Take It Out On Me" and "End Of Days". Even though there's a couple of love songs on here, there's more aggressive lyrical themes. I can't get into the lyrical themes on The Poison because they lean a bit too emo, and I was never into that. Although some of the topics are better here, some of the lyrics are still pretty wussy, but the music is great.
When Bullet For My Valentine arrived on the scene with The Poison in 2005, the album got rave reviews and it was heralded as one of the best metalcore albums of the 2000s. On the other hand, there was the segment of people claiming the band wasn't "metal" enough. Yeah, those idiots. The band then decided to write a more "metal" record, so they went in a more thrashier direction on Scream Aim Fire. Even though the band have admitted that after they made the record, it wasn't the record they should've made or wanted to make because they felt forced into it, I and many other people believe that this record is the band's best, especially with songs like "Scream Aim Fire", "Eye Of The Storm", "Waking The Demon", "Take It Out On Me" and "End Of Days". Even though there's a couple of love songs on here, there's more aggressive lyrical themes. I can't get into the lyrical themes on The Poison because they lean a bit too emo, and I was never into that. Although some of the topics are better here, some of the lyrics are still pretty wussy, but the music is great.
09. ANTHRAX - Spreading The Disease
I will fully admit that I'm not really a fan of Anthrax's Fistful Of Metal, except for like one song, but with the arrival of Joey Belladonna, Anthrax went to another level on Spreading The Disease. It was the album that put Anthrax on the map. At the time, Joey was a newcomer to the metal scene. "Madhouse" was the very first Anthrax song I ever heard when I was 14 years old. Interesting story about the album is that "A.I.R." was the last song recorded for the album. That song was actually the start of the writing process for Among The Living. In a live setting, the band play "Madhouse", "A.I.R." and "Medusa" pretty frequently, and they did bring back "Lone Justice" on a few occasions over the last couple of years, but wouldn't it be awesome if they also brought back tunes like "Armed & Dangerous", "The Enemy" and "Gung-Ho"? I don't see it happening, but you never know.
I will fully admit that I'm not really a fan of Anthrax's Fistful Of Metal, except for like one song, but with the arrival of Joey Belladonna, Anthrax went to another level on Spreading The Disease. It was the album that put Anthrax on the map. At the time, Joey was a newcomer to the metal scene. "Madhouse" was the very first Anthrax song I ever heard when I was 14 years old. Interesting story about the album is that "A.I.R." was the last song recorded for the album. That song was actually the start of the writing process for Among The Living. In a live setting, the band play "Madhouse", "A.I.R." and "Medusa" pretty frequently, and they did bring back "Lone Justice" on a few occasions over the last couple of years, but wouldn't it be awesome if they also brought back tunes like "Armed & Dangerous", "The Enemy" and "Gung-Ho"? I don't see it happening, but you never know.
08. BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid
With the release of the first two Black Sabbath albums in 1970, metal was born! In the 70s, most bands would release a new album each year or sometimes two a year, especially early in their career. With Black Sabbath, the first album had big chart success in the U.K., so the band wanted to capitalise on that, so they returned to the studio only four months after the album came out. Paranoid gave birth to one of the biggest songs and most recognizable riffs in music, which is "Iron Man", but also other signature songs like "Paranoid" and "War Pigs". These may be the biggest songs on the album, but how can you forget about tracks like "Electric Funeral", "Hand Of Doom" and "Fairies Wear Boots"? Interesting fact, this album was released on the day Jimi Hendrix died.
With the release of the first two Black Sabbath albums in 1970, metal was born! In the 70s, most bands would release a new album each year or sometimes two a year, especially early in their career. With Black Sabbath, the first album had big chart success in the U.K., so the band wanted to capitalise on that, so they returned to the studio only four months after the album came out. Paranoid gave birth to one of the biggest songs and most recognizable riffs in music, which is "Iron Man", but also other signature songs like "Paranoid" and "War Pigs". These may be the biggest songs on the album, but how can you forget about tracks like "Electric Funeral", "Hand Of Doom" and "Fairies Wear Boots"? Interesting fact, this album was released on the day Jimi Hendrix died.
07. SAVAGE MESSIAH - Plague Of Conscience
When you compare the first Savage Messiah album Insurrection Rising to the second album Plague Of Conscience, you could easily notice the difference. Plague is a bit more melodic and Insurrection was a little heavier. Plague definitely has a lot of heavy stuff on it, but it's more melodic and more ambitious. The songwriting was more complex, especially on tracks like "Plague Of Conscience", "Six Feet Under The Gun", "Carnival Of Souls", "Architects Of Fear" and "The Mask Of Anarchy". I always felt that Savage Messiah were one of the most intelligent of all the new heavy/thrash bands, both lyrically and musically, and new bands like that are few and far between. If you're into melodic thrash, I highly suggest checking Savage Messiah out. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
When you compare the first Savage Messiah album Insurrection Rising to the second album Plague Of Conscience, you could easily notice the difference. Plague is a bit more melodic and Insurrection was a little heavier. Plague definitely has a lot of heavy stuff on it, but it's more melodic and more ambitious. The songwriting was more complex, especially on tracks like "Plague Of Conscience", "Six Feet Under The Gun", "Carnival Of Souls", "Architects Of Fear" and "The Mask Of Anarchy". I always felt that Savage Messiah were one of the most intelligent of all the new heavy/thrash bands, both lyrically and musically, and new bands like that are few and far between. If you're into melodic thrash, I highly suggest checking Savage Messiah out. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
06. EVILE - Infected Nations
Infected Nations was the first Evile album I heard, followed by Enter The Grave a couple of weeks later. When you compare the two albums, it's like night and day. The production on Infected Nations blew me away when I first heard it, and you could see and hear the band's maturity as musicians and songwriters. There was both a maturity in the music and the lyrics. Enter The Grave was pure thrash all the way through with lyrical themes about death and war, but Infected Nations saw the band starting to delve into themes about society and personal themes. They've also incorporated some slower tempos and some more darker sounding riffs and melodies, adding a more progressive element to the music. Sadly, this would be the last album to feature bassist Mike Alexander, who died while the band was on tour in Sweden with Amon Amarth just two weeks after the album's release. R.I.P. Mike.
Infected Nations was the first Evile album I heard, followed by Enter The Grave a couple of weeks later. When you compare the two albums, it's like night and day. The production on Infected Nations blew me away when I first heard it, and you could see and hear the band's maturity as musicians and songwriters. There was both a maturity in the music and the lyrics. Enter The Grave was pure thrash all the way through with lyrical themes about death and war, but Infected Nations saw the band starting to delve into themes about society and personal themes. They've also incorporated some slower tempos and some more darker sounding riffs and melodies, adding a more progressive element to the music. Sadly, this would be the last album to feature bassist Mike Alexander, who died while the band was on tour in Sweden with Amon Amarth just two weeks after the album's release. R.I.P. Mike.
05. IRON MAIDEN - Killers
There's no way that you can have a list of the best metal sophomore albums and not have Iron Maiden's Killers on it. As I mentioned in my list of my favourite Maiden albums, if I had to choose between the first two albums, my choice is Killers. Reason being is that with Killers, the production and songwriting levels ascended to greater heights from the first album, and that's not a slap in the face to the first album because it's a classic, but it's apples and oranges when you compare the two albums. With the production, this would be the first of the many Maiden albums produced by Martin Birch, up until Fear Of The Dark. This would also be the introduction of Adrian Smith. "Ides Of March" into "Wrathchild" is one of the best openings for a record, but you also have amazing tracks like "Murders In The Rue Morgue", "Killers", "Genghis Khan", "Another Life" and "Innocent Exile".
There's no way that you can have a list of the best metal sophomore albums and not have Iron Maiden's Killers on it. As I mentioned in my list of my favourite Maiden albums, if I had to choose between the first two albums, my choice is Killers. Reason being is that with Killers, the production and songwriting levels ascended to greater heights from the first album, and that's not a slap in the face to the first album because it's a classic, but it's apples and oranges when you compare the two albums. With the production, this would be the first of the many Maiden albums produced by Martin Birch, up until Fear Of The Dark. This would also be the introduction of Adrian Smith. "Ides Of March" into "Wrathchild" is one of the best openings for a record, but you also have amazing tracks like "Murders In The Rue Morgue", "Killers", "Genghis Khan", "Another Life" and "Innocent Exile".
04. TESTAMENT - The New Order
In a way, The New Order has become Testament's signature album so to speak, even though they have big hits and fan favourites on every record. The fact is that in 2018, when it comes to playing the old material, the band still plays more songs from this album live. You will never see a Testament show where "Into The Pit" isn't on the setlist. You can hear the maturity in the songwriting when you put The New Order right next to The Legacy, especially on tracks like "The New Order", "Trial By Fire", "Discples Of The Watch" and "Eerie Inhabitants". If you've seen my recent list of my favourite albums from 1988, you'll see that my only complaint with The New Order is that with the drum production, when the thrash beat is played, the snare sounds way too muffled, whereas the snare on The Legacy and the albums that followed from Practice What You Preach, onward, the snare is more pronouced.
In a way, The New Order has become Testament's signature album so to speak, even though they have big hits and fan favourites on every record. The fact is that in 2018, when it comes to playing the old material, the band still plays more songs from this album live. You will never see a Testament show where "Into The Pit" isn't on the setlist. You can hear the maturity in the songwriting when you put The New Order right next to The Legacy, especially on tracks like "The New Order", "Trial By Fire", "Discples Of The Watch" and "Eerie Inhabitants". If you've seen my recent list of my favourite albums from 1988, you'll see that my only complaint with The New Order is that with the drum production, when the thrash beat is played, the snare sounds way too muffled, whereas the snare on The Legacy and the albums that followed from Practice What You Preach, onward, the snare is more pronouced.
03. TRIVIUM - Ascendancy
Back in 2003 when Trivium came on the scene with Ember To Inferno, not much really happened in terms of sales, but it did get the band its first few tours with God Forbid, Iced Earth and Machine Head, but when Ascendancy came out in 2005, that's when things started snowballing for Trivium. Of course, when you compare the two albums, there's a huge difference. The production, the songwriting, the performances, they all increased exponentially on Ascendancy. The U.K. really embraced Ascendancy and it was named Album Of The Year in Kerrang! I've said many times that this was the album that made me embrace screaming vocals and get into the more underground bands when I was 14 years old. Matt Heafy was only 18 years old when this album was recorded. The combination of screaming and melodic vocals was just one of the elements that drew me in, aside from the mind-blowing performances, especially from Travis Smith. This was the first time I heard the machine-gun double-bass that I've heard a million times now. It's been 13 years since Ascendancy came out, and it still sounds as fresh today, and we're all still talking about it. A modern metal classic, without a doubt, and if I may add, one that changed my life pretty immensely.
Back in 2003 when Trivium came on the scene with Ember To Inferno, not much really happened in terms of sales, but it did get the band its first few tours with God Forbid, Iced Earth and Machine Head, but when Ascendancy came out in 2005, that's when things started snowballing for Trivium. Of course, when you compare the two albums, there's a huge difference. The production, the songwriting, the performances, they all increased exponentially on Ascendancy. The U.K. really embraced Ascendancy and it was named Album Of The Year in Kerrang! I've said many times that this was the album that made me embrace screaming vocals and get into the more underground bands when I was 14 years old. Matt Heafy was only 18 years old when this album was recorded. The combination of screaming and melodic vocals was just one of the elements that drew me in, aside from the mind-blowing performances, especially from Travis Smith. This was the first time I heard the machine-gun double-bass that I've heard a million times now. It's been 13 years since Ascendancy came out, and it still sounds as fresh today, and we're all still talking about it. A modern metal classic, without a doubt, and if I may add, one that changed my life pretty immensely.
02. METALLICA - Ride The Lightning
After taking the metal scene by storm with Kill 'Em All, Metallica's songwriting and performance skills elevated greatly within a year's time on Ride The Lightning. This album also marked the beginning of what would be the trilogy of albums Metallica recorded in Denmark with the legendary Flemming Rasmussen, or the holy trinity of the Rasmussen-produced Metallica albums, whatever you want to call it. Kill 'Em All paved the way for thrash, and when Ride The Lightning came out, people were accusing Metallica of selling out with "Fade To Black" just because it featured acoustic guitars, and it was a slower song and not warp-speed thrash. If you still feel that way after 34 years, you're nuts.
After taking the metal scene by storm with Kill 'Em All, Metallica's songwriting and performance skills elevated greatly within a year's time on Ride The Lightning. This album also marked the beginning of what would be the trilogy of albums Metallica recorded in Denmark with the legendary Flemming Rasmussen, or the holy trinity of the Rasmussen-produced Metallica albums, whatever you want to call it. Kill 'Em All paved the way for thrash, and when Ride The Lightning came out, people were accusing Metallica of selling out with "Fade To Black" just because it featured acoustic guitars, and it was a slower song and not warp-speed thrash. If you still feel that way after 34 years, you're nuts.
01. MEGADETH - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
While Killing Is My Business is a great debut album, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? is just on another level of greatness. It was also the start of Megadeth's long-term partnership with Capitol Records. Since the band spent half of the money they received to record Killing Is My Business on food and drugs, making them need to fire their producer and self-produce the album, that's one of the main reasons for the album's muddy production, but on Peace Sells, not only is the production better, but the band was more focused, they grew as players and Dave Mustaine matured as a songwriter. This is one album I would love to hear performed in its entirety, but I don't see it happening. "The Conjuring" is my top favourite Megadeth song ever. Even though Mustaine said he was re-considering his decision to never play that song ever again, I know for a fact he's not going to do it, which is unfortunate. Regardless, due to songs like "Wake Up Dead", "The Conjuring", "Devil's Island", Good Mourning/Black Friday" and "My Last Words", as well as superb songwriting, great raw production and incredible performances, Peace Sells always will be one of the greatest albums of all time.
While Killing Is My Business is a great debut album, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? is just on another level of greatness. It was also the start of Megadeth's long-term partnership with Capitol Records. Since the band spent half of the money they received to record Killing Is My Business on food and drugs, making them need to fire their producer and self-produce the album, that's one of the main reasons for the album's muddy production, but on Peace Sells, not only is the production better, but the band was more focused, they grew as players and Dave Mustaine matured as a songwriter. This is one album I would love to hear performed in its entirety, but I don't see it happening. "The Conjuring" is my top favourite Megadeth song ever. Even though Mustaine said he was re-considering his decision to never play that song ever again, I know for a fact he's not going to do it, which is unfortunate. Regardless, due to songs like "Wake Up Dead", "The Conjuring", "Devil's Island", Good Mourning/Black Friday" and "My Last Words", as well as superb songwriting, great raw production and incredible performances, Peace Sells always will be one of the greatest albums of all time.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (No Order)
There are so many more albums that are deserving to be featured that I really love like Dio's The Last In Line, Venom's Black Metal, Van Halen's Van Halen II, King Diamond's Abigail, Deicide's Legion, System Of A Down's Toxicity, Death's Leprosy, Def Leppard's High 'N' Dry, Lamb Of God's As The Palaces Burn (not counting the Burn The Priest record) and Cannibal Corpse's Butchered At Birth just to name a few. I could go on forever with these.
There you have it, folks! My favourite sophomore albums! What are YOUR favourite sophomore albums?
There you have it, folks! My favourite sophomore albums! What are YOUR favourite sophomore albums?