Are there any artist(s) who, many years after the quality of their work had dwindled or halted altogether, actually came back and released another significant album?

But for the latter description:

Kate Bush - Aerial
Joni Mitchell - Night Ride Home

I'd argue that Bowie and Johnny Cash put out significant albums after an extended period of mediocrity.

I guess I meant that in a context that it was assumed the well had run dry based on the quality of the records dwindling, until a return to form occured.

And i'm talking about more than just putting out a "good" or "decent" record after putting out a bunch of bad ones. But an actual return to form. A sense that the artist had tapped back into whatever magic makes great music occur.

forget "decades" -- name artists who released great stuff after just three bad albums.

Neil Young?

King Crimson?

Mission Of Burma?

Pere Ubu?

Brian Wilson?

Wire?

All relative, obv....

Good call.

Todd Rundgren?

Joe Strummer's Global A-Go Go is another example.

Blount was telling me a while back about some thread or review where someone wrote something to the effect of, "If James Taylor next week released the BEST record he'd ever done, period, it would still just get the same review as any other record he's released in ages, you know, 'competent, solid, aging well, good tunes, etc." Once an artist is out of the spotlight it's spectacularly unlikely that they'll regain momentum in people's minds, so even something really great doesn't register as such, or doesn't get heard by the people who need to hear it. Brian Wilson's "Smile" is certainly the best non-Beach Boys thing he's done, and as a piece of music is competitive or better than Pet Sounds... but the buzz mostly focused on the history of the project and the novelty etc. How long will it take for Brian Wilson's wikipedia entry to declare "Brian Wilson is an American pop songwriter, arranger, and vocalist, best known for the song-cycles 'Pet Sounds' and 'Smile'"?

Mark Hollis, though that one's also questionable.

Dylan definitely--after "Knocked Out Loaded" and "Down in the Groove" there was no reason to suspect he'd ever be good again, let alone AWESOME.

Johnny Cash!

Does Kate Bush qualify? Would not have guessed that "Aerial" would be as fine as it is.

Robyn Hitchcock - after four disappointing albums for A&M, I thought his two Warners LPs were fantastic (the film soundtrack for the Demme concert film, also on the WB, is quality as well).

Paul Westerberg - I don't care much for the last two Replacements albums and his first three solo records, but his newer indie label records mostly deliver the goods.

Is a four album gap long enough for the topic?

After hitting their creative peak with The Unforgettable Fire they went on to MOR success with The Joshua Tree but confirmed with Rattle & Hum that they had run out of ideas and were ready to buy themselves villages back home in Ireland and call it a career. Fans would remember them fondly as that band who did that song about that guy, and we would all have a moment when we did our 80s poll.

Then boom, the one-two punch of Achtung Baby and Zooropa.

It does seem to be a rather short list, mind you. It's depressing how unwilling artists are to do something genre-shattering; my respect for someone like James Taylor or Sarah Mclachlan would skyrocket if they'd suddenly come out with a hard rock, balls-to-the-wall-amps-at-11 album instead of album after album of lilting piano ballads and (to misquote Lester Bangs) Jesus-Leading-Us-Down-The-Country-Road pastoral litanies.

First there was the amazing CCR run then really nothing until the two 80s albums then nothing some more until the new one.

And I never heard it myself, so I can't speak for it, but I read good reviews of the Free Design's return from (25?)-year hiatus.

And Bobby Darin should be a part of this conversation, and maybe Rick Nelson too.

I would say "Play" by Squeeze.

^ OTM. It's as good as Argybargy and East Side Story. It took some time to reveal it's greatness--there aren't as many instantaneous upbeat pop songs as usual--but the songwriting is beautifully mature, and Tilbrook's vocals are amazing throughout.

there's a new squeeze album?

blah portishead amirite blah

six by seven's post-reformation album was superb

haha oh wait you're talking about an album that came out in 1991 :/

Did anyone say Dinosaur Jr.?

i know i'm all broken record about this, but MES owns this thread...

blah portishead amirite blah

you're not right.

xpost on Robyn Hitchcock. It's a stretch to call Respect disappointing. I think it got lost in the shuffle after Perspex Island, but it's very good.

Van der Grraf Generator, whose 2005 Present came out 27 years after their previous effort. It doesn't quite hit the heights of their 70s stuff but then again neither does anything else.

um thats Graaf

I've been enjoying Fleetwood Mac's Say You Will recently. It's not quite up there with Rumours and Tusk, largely because Christine's barely on it, but it's really, really good.

a recent example would be gil scott-heron?

I think Grace Jones fits here. Her previous album had come out in 1989 and she hadn't released any new records for almost 15 years, then in 2008 she put out an album that was among her best ever, certainly the best thing she'd done since 1983.

Dylan - Time Out of Mind (why are people saying Love and Theft when this came four years earlier?)

Don't get the love for Love And Theft either, but Dylan's real return to form was Oh Mercy.

xxpost

Liking everything I hear from that Gil album so yeah

Suicide, American Supreme. Barely did anything after the first two self-titled albums, then came back with this stormer.

Van der Graaf Generator, whose 2005 Present came out 27 years after their previous effort. It doesn't quite hit the heights of their 70s stuff but then again neither does anything else.

did not want to sound like a stuck record and was thus waiting for someone else to do this - I defy anyone to wait 27 years and then release anything quite as spectacular and vital as 'Every Bloody Emperor'

Slapp Happy, whose 1998 album Ca Va came out 18 years after their last one and is IMHO their best album.

..Norton Folgate by Madness.

"Norton Folgate" is not at all bad, but I'd be hard pressed to consider it "significant"

we'll have to agree to disagree geir.
i reckon the album, and the julien temple movie of the live airing, really brought the band back into the minds of many more than any of the bands other non-classic era releases (wonderful/dangermen sessions etc)

That last Manics album

Various blues artists

Edgard Varèse

we'll have to agree to disagree geir.
i reckon the album, and the julien temple movie of the live airing, really brought the band back into the minds of many more than any of the bands other non-classic era releases (wonderful/dangermen sessions etc)

It is definitely a much better album than "Wonderful". But "The Rise And Fall", which is more natural to compare with, consider it is a concept album and perhaps their best, is much better than "Norton Folgate" IMO.

rise and fall was many years ago - hence the plug for norton .. as it is indeed a return to the glory days of rise and fall

i.e norton therefore falls under the premise of the thread i thought ?

It's OK. Just a question of exactly how much better it is than what was between. :)
They have been broken up for most of the in-between period, releasing only one album during the interval (and, sure, it's much better than that album was)

How about "The Byrds"?

They sort of dwindled away saleswise in the UK, until they came over and did a big number around "Untitled" which gave them a big hit album and the "Chestnut Mare" single...

no

2-3 years is not many years. also, uhhh "sweetheart of the rodeo". also, while the uk may have stopped givin an f, we here in the u.s. didn't forget em.

Black Devil - Disco Club (1978) --> [...28 years pass...] --> Black Devil Disco Club - 28 Later (2006)?

Dylan's real return to form was Oh Mercy.
Respectfully and vehemently disagree. Oh Mercy was better than anything since probably Street Legal (altho you could make an argument for the first two xtian albums maybe) but the writing still wasn't all that great, and he limped along through the first half of the 90s without much oomph.

and Empire Burlesque, grotesqueries and all, trumps Oh Mercy in the song department.

The Go-Betweens

Tina Turner.

Don't get the love for Love And Theft either, but Dylan's real return to form was Oh Mercy.

Some would claim "Infidels" as well.

I may be alone on this one, but still think that the last two Undertones albums are a near-complete return to form for all involved.

Did anyone say Dinosaur Jr.?

― WharfRat, Monday, March 22, 2010 9:51 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the thing about the last couple albums is they're really not substantially better than or different from the J Mascis & The Fog albums and the later Dinosaur albums w/ Lou and Murph. it's all reunion hype imo.

in fact most days I'd gladly take Hand It Over or More Light over Beyond or Farm.

meant to say "w/o Lou and Murph" obviously

How about "The Byrds"?

They sort of dwindled away saleswise in the UK, until they came over and did a big number around "Untitled" which gave them a big hit album and the "Chestnut Mare" single...

― Mark G, Thursday, 25 March 2010 16:55 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
no

2-3 years is not many years. also, uhhh "sweetheart of the rodeo". also, while the uk may have stopped givin an f, we here in the u.s. didn't forget em.

― guammls (QE II), Thursday, 25 March 2010 20:56 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I agree with Mark, at least for the UK. 2-3 years in the 60's is equiv to around a decade today in terms of a band's productivity.

frequency of releases was definitely different back then but let's not get crazy, 2-3 = 10 years is a bit rich

I would say Neal Morse deserves a mention here. Involved in several excellent albums with Spock's Beard and Transatlantic until he became a born-again Christian and wasted several years singing the praise of the Lord. Return in 2009 as the main creative brain behind Transatlantic's great "The Whirlwind", which is probably the best thing he's ever been involved in.

I'm really surprised that Sparks didn't get a mention in this thread. Outside of No. 1 in Heaven a lot of their post-Big Beat work is questionable, and I would say that with In Outer Space it wound up dropping off altogether. I dug Balls quite a bit but the turnaround they did with their last three albums (not just great, but genuinely groundbreaking) was the first thing I thought about for this thread.

Dunno about their 00s material, but Gratuituous Sax and Mindless Violins is really good.

otm both

I'm a longtime Sparks fan, but I just tried again with GS&MV recently, and I cannot get into that one.

Probably not a popular pov but for me they peaked with Propaganda then went into decline for a few albums before bouncing back with No. 1 in Heaven.

This seems like quite a common thing these days. So many people coming back out of an extended middle aged wilderness it seems. Maybe a metaphor for life?

Black Sabbath

Did anyone say Kevin Ayers yet?

Surprised noone mentionned The Emancipation of Mimi. First thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title.

Probably not a popular pov but for me they peaked with Propaganda then went into decline for a few albums before bouncing back with No. 1 in Heaven.

Those "decline" albums are very good, but I think most fans would agree that the ones you mention are the peak of 70's Sparks (along with Kimono, of course!)

I wasn't big on Gratuitous Sax either - When Do I Get to Sing "My Way" is obviously classic, but most of it sounded like a bad Pet Shop Boys album. Balls at least had a bit of edge to it! (and much better hooks)

By the way, I'd also nominate Thomas Dolby for this thread, even though he never really made a bad album (Aliens Ate My Buick is probably his worst, but even that's a pretty fun one), but coming out with perhaps his 2nd best after 19 years out of the business is pretty damn impressive!