Final Albums (that weren't)

You know the drill...band makes one final album that gets hyped up as a grand finale and a way to go out "on top", eventually think better of it in a few years, and then come back as though nothing has happened

such as:

King Crimson - Red
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Orbital - Blue Album
Shpongle - Nothing Lasts...but Nothing is Lost

How many of these exist?

Jay Z The Black Album

The Fall's Hex Enduction Hour was supposed to be their final album, but I don't know if it was hyped as such (not for long, anyway, since Room to Live came out later the same year).

I seem to remember Iggy Pop saying Post Pop Depression would be his last album, but they he did this EP with Underworld.

Buzzcocks - "Parts 1-3" EP

Too $hort's Gettin' It was advertised as his last album and he even calls it "the last album" on the first track.

Jay-Z also pulled a similar move on Hard Knock Life. Remember that whole intro about how Memphis Bleek was going to take his spot.

Rappers seem to do this a lot.

Was Bloodflowers supposed to be the last Cure album? Or did Robert Smith have a habit for a while of declaring the most recent record probably the last one?

yes and yes iirc

Pollard was pretty adamant about Half Smiles of the Decomposed being the last GBV album

the Who, Quadrophenia. As recording sessions wound down, Pete Townshend drafted a letter to his lawyer, saying he'd decided to leave the band. He never sent the letter.

the Who, The Who By Numbers. Not hyped/publicly stated as such, but it was intended at the time to be their final album.

the Who, It's Hard. "I wanna get out of the Who!" said Townshend, who kept his word this time by not recording a Who studio album for 24 years.

Wasn't Orbital's Blue Album supposed to be their swan song?

Hmm, tbf King Crimson pretty much did call it quits, and when they came back they not only sounded totally different but they were not even going to be called King Crimson.

xp: op

bob mould, the last dog and pony show

Machina/The Machines of God

idkm about Smashie Pumpies, but wasn't Machina 2 always meant to follow Machina 1?

Hmm, tbf King Crimson pretty much did call it quits, and when they came back they not only sounded totally different but they were not even going to be called King Crimson.

LCD and Orbital didn't come back as if nothing had happened either, the latter especially had a big-deal reunion and a significant change in writing credits when they subsequently did a new album

the new albums totally sounded like them, though

Maybe, tho I do remember one or the other (or maybe the whole concept) as being presented as the end of the road.

Wikipedia sez:

On May 23, Corgan announced on KROQ-FM that the band would be breaking up at the end of the year.[4] The band reconvened in a studio to finish off the leftover Machina tracks, but Virgin remained uninterested, so the band released Machina II on their own in September, handing them off to fans to distribute free over the Internet.

(I admit I am no great Pumpkins scholar, while there are others here who are...)

Every cure album was meant to be the last one, apart from the last one. Funny, that.

Machina II, yes.

"the final cut"

Pollard was pretty adamant about Half Smiles of the Decomposed being the last GBV album

i think he meant the last gbv album that week.

Half Smiles was definitely the last GBV album at the time. There was a 6 or 7 year break. I guess he needed the name to ride on to pay bills again, because, when it comes down to it, GBV is really just the most popular name for him to release 20 songs at a time under.

Yeah, they played a "last ever gig" and everything.

Robert Smith declared every Cure album from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me the "last Cure album", but I think Bloodflowers really was supposed to be and Smith was considering winding down the band after reaching his 40th birthday. I was surprised when it was announced they were working with Ross Robinson - all the praise from nu-metallers and alt. rockers must have given him the energy to continue.