Bands with great second albums

elvis costello, this years modelgraham parker, heat treatmentmeat puppets iielliott smith s/twire, chairs missingjoy division, closerposies, frosting on the beaterloudon wainwright, album ii

waltersalas, vg list, altho i though "leave home" was decidedly weaker than the debut.

agree with you on "adventure"--the songs are definitely there, esp. "glory" and "ain't that nothing", but the sound is a bit too polished and new wav-y. i haven't heard too tough to die in years--i remember it being something of a throwback to their punky days; gonna give it another listen. 

bdp, my issue with leave home isn't the musicianship but the songs, which are just a little less inspired than the debut and sound just slightly contrived. by the time of their classics, rocket to russia and road to ruin, they were essentially a pop band, where studio craft (and a better drummer) really did matter.now, for another disappointing second album i'd throw out give em enough rope by the clash, which is surprisingly flat compared to the classics that preceded and followed it. likewise the stone roses, who get hilariously namedropped in "shaun of the dead"

i think "translate slowly" was the debut, but it's a great record--curiously unavailable on spotify, so i found the disc and it really does hold up well. their later records aren't as good.

i'll also throw out dwight twilley "twilley don't mind"--not sure if it's got better songs than "sincerely," though it's certainly better-produced. also, "meat puppets ii", a timeless classic which was a huge evolutionary leap from their noisy debut.