10 Bands Who Should Have Stopped After One Album

The Stone Roses’ debut is a record that defined a genre and inspired countless bands of varying qualities. It remains a favourite of both those who fell in love with it at the time, and a younger generation still discovering it today.

Then came Second Coming. Their sophomore effort is not a disaster by any means: Love Spreads is a classic of their oeuvre, and the Roses should be praised for trying something different. It’s far too long, but a failure it is not. It also isn’t the first album. There was no way they could win.

Trot out another jangly radio friendly record and they’d be accused of lack of ambition. Veer off into a wild new direction and they’d risk haemorrhaging fans. Second Coming was doomed from the off by wild expectations, and the quality of what came before it.

It’s a tribute to the strength of the first album that just about every song from it remains beloved to this day. Second Coming didn’t damage the band’s reputation (though it is a byword for the difficult second album) - but as far as the majority of fans go, there might as well only be one album.