10 Legendary Music Artists That Never Got Better Than Their Debut Record

10. The MC5

Most of the magic that comes with being garage rock is the spur of the moment music that happens whenever you play. Nothing is ever going to sound the same way twice, so you may as well give your all to every single song that you're going to play. When that had to translate to the studio though, the MC5 seemed to not bring that trademark spark along with them.

Granted, that's not to say that everything that the MC5 worked on in the studio was bad by any stretch. Across their discography, you can have a listen to the old school rock and roll band that they wanted to be, taking the sounds of Little Richard and injecting them with musical steroids to sound absolutely massive. Once you have a listen to their debut live album Kick Out the Jams though, it's like night and day trying to go back into the studio.

This was always a band that fed off of their live show, and the energy that they bring throughout their entire performance is a lot more visceral than what they could have produced when they only had the audience behind the mixing board. Then again, the most important instrument here might be the audience, as the band fed off of their energy throughout their live album and never let up for even a second. Although you could argue that this album was a lot more sloppy than what they turned in at the studio, somewhere in that sloppiness was also the magic behind the group.