Posted on 04/15/2021 7:21:36 AM PDT by mylife
Rock bands tend to peak early in their life cycles, riding the wave of youthful inspiration. It's hard enough to keep a project going for years. It's almost impossible to make great albums up through the end.
In other words, not all "final albums" are created equal. Some long-haul acts slowly fizzle, trickling out average material every few years — mostly as an excuse to rev up the touring engine and play the greatest hits. Others keep the machine running organically, hitting the brakes due to inevitable creative tension, oversized egos or commercial backslides. In cases like Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughan, projects end in tragedy.
Some final albums are tougher to categorize. Take David Bowie's 2016 swan song, Blackstar, which he recorded after being diagnosed with liver cancer. The art-rock icon knew this batch of songs would likely be his last, and he left it behind like an artful goodbye — dying two days after its release.
We took an objective approach in compiling the Stories Behind 41 Classic Rock Final Albums. The LPs are sorted chronologically, rather than being ranked by quality. And you'll notice that, in some cases, we applied the phrase "final" liberally: While the Doors and Lynyrd Skynyrd both continued to record after L.A. Woman and Street Survivors, respectively, both of those LPs marked the end of distinctive musical eras.
We rounded up the final studio records from more than 40 of classic rock's most notable acts, diving into the music's creation, reception and broader legacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at ultimateclassicrock.com ...
Many of these are arbitrary determinations.
Band members died or quit or took a sabbatical during or after. Others continued to even release more albums.
Let It Be was the swansong.
LA Woman was an end as Jim went off afterwards.
Doubtful Janis was going to stop at Pearl.
Might as well put Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks on the list. One and done.
WHAT ABOUT THE DUKES OF STRATOSPHERE?
That’s certainly what he and Scorcese think. I’m not so sure. They did good stuff without him. And he’s done good stuff without them.
Wasn’t that more of a project band?
How about Zappa’s “The Yellow Shark”?
It’s a great album. The song “I’m Gonna Crawl” is under appreciated IMO.
I’ll second that.
I’ll second that.
I’m just being a dick :)
ABBA’s final album probably deserves a mention, mainly for “The Day Before You Came.”
Also the Sneaker Pimps’ final album Bloodsport. Their big hits were on the first album, but their last one is fantastic even if no one knows about it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.