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I’ve been idly ruminating about the idea of the opposite of a sophomore slump… cases in which a band has made a big splash with their debut album, only to eclipse it with a followup album that was widely heralded as superior.

The first example that came to my mind was Slipknot; to this day, I still think of Iowa as their masterpiece. Here’s another: System Of A Down (Toxicity is still in my rotation these days, and still pays off).

What do you think? Do you disagree with my choices? Can you think of any sophomore shines to add to the list?

This post has a response:

September 13, 2023 Re: Sophomore shine

Your choices sound great and I like the idea of sophomore shine. How about these possibilities? Megadeth, Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying? Killswitch Engage, Alive or Just Breathing