Acts whose entire album output has always been on the decline, with no exception

Fat Boys definitely.

Somebody three years ago threw out the Black Flag name, but let's take a closer look. Could it be true that

Early EPS > Damaged > My War > Family Man > Slip It In > Loose Nut > In My Head?

I myself would say no, but--unwilling to let this die--I'm trying to imagine someone who might posit such a thing . . . .

And can't. Let's assume everyone loves the early stuff, and if that means "Jealous Again" over Damaged for the purposes of this thought experiment, then OK.

But HC diehards would hate Family Man more than Slip It In or Loose Nut or In My Head, it seems, while those with bullshit artpunk leanings like myself would dig that crazy Family Man/Process sound more than the stoopid metal vibe of the flipside of My War.

So interesting to think about, but NO.

Kid Creole & the Coconuts?
Off the Coast of Me>Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places > Tropical Gangsters > Wiseguy > Doppelganger
was never able to get into any of the subsequesnt records.

Nah, I like Kid Creole's You Shoulda Told Me You Were a lot, and they were as consistent as Nick Lowe, really, who probably really belongs on this list.

Terence Trent D'Arby? Altho his second album, the one with "She Kissed Me," is kinda cool

Manfred Mann? That first record is so great but then they went space-doodle.

Cyndi Lauper?

A case could be made for Ice Cube, though some days I feel that Lethal Injection is a slight improvement on A.M.W.

Whoops - substitute Death Certificate for Lethal Injection

House of Love's Butterfly LP is better than first LP anyway

How many times have the Pistols been mentioned?

Plenty? Sorry

Black Flag - w/o a doubt - eventhough 'My War' was my youth bible - it's served me really well.... Fuck you Greg Ginn/Dale Nixon. All your fault.

RAMONES. they never topped it (Their debut). High bar, but...

dj shadow for sure

yeah, unless you count the albums with Cut Chemist, like xhuck is doing for Johansen

How about Portishead?

They weren't that good to start with but I guess the Mission UK would fit the bill

I think mentioning artists who have released only two albums is kinda pointless, because it's like 50-50 chance they're second album is either better or worse than the first.

Like Kula Shaker, who fell out of this category last year as that album was better than "Pigs, Peasants and Astronauts".

The Walkmen

Ratt?

I retract this now. (New album is really good.)

Hongro

Allan Sherman -- at least judging from the four albums I heard that were reissued this year: My Son the Folksinger (11-'62) >>>> My Son the Celebrity (1-'63) >> My Son The Nut (8-'63) >>>>>>> For Swingin' Livers Only (11-'64). (But I've never heard his two albums that charted between those last two, namely Allan In Wonderland and Peter And The Commissar. Still seems his creativity was on a clear downhill slide since the start, though. But I basically still like the first three albums, at least enough to keep them.)

two posts to get to a major Clash challops.

Rush
Luther Vandross
Goldie
Kanye West
Pram

but 'moving frontier' is much better than 'museum of imaginary animals' and really are you saying that 'gash' is pram's high point then?

buzzcocks

EPMD fucking mumble over Zapp. I like thier first few singles, but lost interest quick.

sbed pappawheelie for this

b-52s?

cosmic thing tears it up, imo

Funplex is the best post-Ricky Wilson album too.

Nona Hendryx, as far as I can tell. (Haven't heard much beyond her first four albums, though; maybe she got her groove back later? Kinda doubt it.)

ashlee simpson

Tindersticks

Rush

This is so so so wrong. I can understand, even if I don't fully agree, that some might say they've been on a gentle downward slope through the 80s and 90s - but to suggest that somehow the ST debut and Caress of Steel are better than 2112 or Permanent Waves or Hemispheres is just plain silly.

Gang of Four

― -stefan, Thursday, May 19, 2005 2:35 PM

Wow, no one refuted this? Absolutely WRONG as "Shrinkwrapped" was INFINITELY better than "Mall". I am cautiously optimistic about the forthcoming "Content" as well.

metric

The Avalanches

xhuckx i'm suprised you picked ratt upthread!

or do you like that first thing with the ratts climbing up the sexy ladies stocking better? (isn't that before out of the cellar)?

Yeah, that EP was before Out of the Cellar.

Metric is actually a pretty good call.

Art of Noise is probably a good answer. (Though IMO their second album is overrated, even if the initial ZTT releases were somewhat better.)

By always on decline, doesn't that mean each album is less good than the previous one? In that case, about 95% of these are dead wrong. Though I think cases can be made for Jimi Hendrix.

If there wasn't so much good stuff cranked out during the Mellon Collie era, I'd say the Smashing Pumpkins would totally fit this.

If it hadn't been that "Honey's Dead" was better than "Automatic", the J&MC would have a slightly declining line, pretty much.

xhuckx i'm suprised you picked ratt upthread!...or do you like that first thing with the ratts climbing up the sexy ladies stocking better? (isn't that before out of the cellar)?

Well, I actually disowned my Ratt vote later on in the thread, when their new album (which I liked more than anything they'd done in decades) came out this year. As for that first indie EP with "Walking The Dog" (on Time Coast Records I think? whatever that was), let's just say I really really wish I still owned it, and I'd absolutely trade Out Of The Cellar for a copy anyday, seeing how I've got "Round And Round" on 45. But that doesn't necessarily technically make it better, I guess. (Or maybe EPs don't count? I'd have to check the rules.)

I wish Martin Popoff was here so he could nominate Def Leppard

Actually, these days I'm increasingly considering nominating them myself. (Though I guess their covers album a couple years ago was better than some things they did in the '90s, so maybe not.)

Wu-Tang is the super obvious answer

not otm tho

Black Eyed Peas

Pink Floyd, arguably. (Actually I don't think this but I figure a case could be made).

Definitely.

Wu-Tang is the super obvious answer

Except that The W was better than Forever, and 8 Diagrams was better than Iron Flag.

lol gtfo

The Feelies is the only one I can think of that really works, though all four of their albums are pretty good. But Crazy Rhythms is an all-time classic and The Good Earth is great, the other two decent but kind of unremarkable, and I think Only Life is the better of those too. So there you go..

Devo nearly works (without the new album); but I do also think Freedom of Choice is better than Duty Now by a bit. Also Smooth Noodle Maps > Total Devo but that's like comparing cow turds and horse turds

Deee-lite works but who cares

Junior Boys certainly seem to be heading that way.

p.s. thinking it's Floyd is ridiculous. Do you really think that Ummagumma and Saucerful and Atom Heart Mother >> Dark Side, WYWH, Animals, and the Wall?

Guns n Roses is the obvious answer.

Time For a Witness >>>>>> The Good Earth

as I've recently learned