It seems to me that a lot of bands produce their (arguably) best work with their second album. While there are many examples of great debut albums (Nocturnal Silence, Black Future, Metal Church, Left Hand Path, The Legacy), these following bands perfected their style with their second album:
Death - Leprosy
Megadeth - Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?
Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane
In Flames - The Jester Race
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
Rainbow - Rising
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Summoning - Minas Morgul
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I
What do you think? Why does this seems to be so common? Are there other examples of this?

Written by F3ynman2000 on 08.07.2021 at 10:14

What do you think? Why does this seems to be so common? Are there other examples of this?

I think a lot of (certainly not all) bands are at their most creative, passionate, and energetic in the early years of their careers. At the same time they are still inexperienced. The experience and success of releasing a first album combined with the fire and excitement of starting out as a band can result in some great music that the band won't be able to replicate later.
That's my take.
Off the top of my head, I'd add Kreator - Pleasure To Kill (and take out Helloween )

EDIT: Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider

Written by F3ynman2000 on 08.07.2021 at 10:14

What do you think? Why does this seems to be so common? Are there other examples of this?

I actually don't believe that it's particularly common. Sure, I could name some more bands with sophomore albums marking the peak of their career (Paradise Lost - Gothic, Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes, Unanimated - Ancient God Of Evil, Cemetary - Godless Beauty), but my - totally subjective - list of excellent third albums would most probably be longer:

Mgła - Exercises In Futility
Hypocrisy - The Fourth Dimension
Sentenced - Amok
Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Edge Of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows
Tribulation - The Children Of The Night
The Meads Of Asphodel - Damascus Steel
Antimatter - Planetary Confinement
The Black Dahlia Murder - Nocturnal
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
Dark Lunacy - The Diarist
Rotting Christ - Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers
Faith No More - The Real Thing
...

Zap already nailed it.
But many bands just need a little longer to break away from the beaten path of their respective genre and to create something really original and ingenious. In the beginning of their career, most bands still struggle with the inevitable banalities of the music business which inhibit any originality and independence. The freedom to create a real milestone comes much later. Or never, and those are the bands we're not even talking about here because they simply gave up before they could appear on anyone's radar.

Starvynth, now that you mention it, I don't think it is that common either. I stand by my previous comment about why a band's second album could be their best, but looking at some of my favourite albums by favourite bands;

- Mastodon - Crack The Skye (4th album)
- Metallica - 2nd album
- Opeth - don't know which one to pick but it's between 3, 4, 5 and 7.
- Esoteric - 6th
- Judas Priest - 2nd
- Enslaved - 6th or 11th
- Primordial - 5
- Nevermore - 4

I don't see a pattern. Every band is different and reaches their peak at a different point. I'd say it's actually rather unfortunate when that happens to be very early in their career (so first or second album). I prefer it when bands take years to evolve into something truly special. Releasing an album like Axioma Ethica Odini late into a career sort of feels like a pay off.

Written by Zap on 08.07.2021 at 13:57

Starvynth, now that you mention it, I don't think it is that common either. ...
I don't see a pattern. Every band is different and reaches their peak at a different point. I'd say it's actually rather unfortunate when that happens to be very early in their career (so first or second album).

Ok, I know it won't be true for ALL bands, but if it's just a coincidence (since you said you don't see a pattern), isn't it strange that many of the most well-known bands reach their peak with their second album? (Metallica, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Death, Rainbow)

Written by F3ynman2000 on 08.07.2021 at 19:59

Ok, I know it won't be true for ALL bands, but if it's just a coincidence (since you said you don't see a pattern), isn't it strange that many of the most well-known bands reach their peak with their second album? (Metallica, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Death, Rainbow)

Except that even going by what users on here think is the 'peak' of those bands' catalogues, only Sabbath and Rainbow have their second album as the most highly rated - Master of Puppets, Rust In Peace, Painkiller and Symbolic are the highest rated by the other four.

Personally, my favourites by those six bands are Ride The Lightning (2nd), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (5th), Rust In Peace (4th), Defenders Of The Faith (9th), Individual Thought Patterns (5th) and Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (3rd).

And (as I've said before), that is the beauty of music. Taste is subjective, and so will be what everyone thinks is the 'peak'.

Hmm, so my personal favorites are:

Death - 6th
Megadeth - 2nd (5th comes close)
Judas Priest - 12th
Rainbow - 2nd
Metallica - 3rd (5th comes close)
Black Sabbath - 3rd (2nd comes close)
Helloween - 2nd
Iron Maiden - 5th (Close race, 4th, 7th and 10th and 12th are also up there for me)
Opeth - 5th
Agalloch - 3rd
Savatage - 6th
Queenrÿche - 3rd
Dream Theater - 5th
Led Zeppelin - 4th
Slayer - 1st
Tool - 3rd
Rammstein - 3rd
System of a Down - 2nd
Slipknot - 2nd
Korn - 3rd
Rush - 8th (4th comes close)
Deep Purple - 6th
Nevermore - 4th
Mastodon - 4th
Gojira - 3rd
Mercyful Fate - 1st
Alice in Chains - 2nd
Uriah Heep - 4th
Anthrax - 11th
Testament - 8th
Motörhead - 4th
Guns N' Roses - 1st
Machine Head - 1st
Pantera - 6th
Kreator - 13th
Accept - 12th
Deftones - 3rd

I know, some of those are probably controversial, but even ignoring those, I don't see much of a trend. It does seem, the norm is that the best album is among the first 6.

This is very very subjective. I think there's a huge chance that the first album you listen from a band forms an emotional bond and becomes your favorite. I know plenty of people whose first Iron Maiden album was Fear of the Dark and it remains their favorite, even though it's considered lower tier Maiden. I know folks who first heard Iced Earth around the The Glorious Burden, even though it's largely regarded as lower tier IE. For others, The Pupper Master is their fav King Diamond album. Same for many other bands. So, i think it really depends on which album you hear first.

Also, i've read many interviews where musicians say that it's actually the third album which defines the career of the band. The first album is usually all ideas scattered around mixed into the songs. Second album is the same formula but more focused. The third album is where the band need to show they're not just a one trick pony. Not all bands are AC/DC, the majority need to stay fresh in order to remain relevant.

With that said, there are plenty of cases where bands release their magnum opus even after the third album.

It's funny OP mentioned Megadeth, when Rust in Peace is generally considered their best album.

Images and words

Deftones : Adrenaline