10 Best Follow Up Albums In Hard Rock

Any band would kill to have a classic album in their discography. Once you've hit on that perfect combination of heaviness and melodicism, it's almost as if you've reached another plain of rockstardom that few others are able to match. While the success is great, it does beg one question: what do you do once you've hit the top?

Much like the second installments in film series, the followups to these great albums have a lot to prove from the first few notes that blare out of the speakers. Not only do you have to have something that is wholly unique, but something that also pays tribute to your previous work without coming off like a one-trick pony. It's a daunting task for sure, but these acts are examples of artists that took the gamble and won.

A good portion of these albums not only are an improvement on the band's winning formula, but also show the band getting even heavier. Even if you were only into these bands for the riffs, their second offerings showed they would not crack under the pressure of their past success. It may seem like you have a mountain to climb after a huge album, but these acts were up to the challenge of conquering the music world a second time around.

By 1995, Dave Grohl had done the near impossible with the Foo Fighters. After years of being the animalistic drummer of Nirvana, Grohl quickly transitioned into a completely different musical outfit far removed from the aura of Kurt Cobain. However, since the band's debut consisted of songs Grohl had been stockpiling since the early 90's, even some of the band members were skeptical as whether the group had any future.

Going into the studio with Pixies producer Gil Norton, the band crafted possibly the greatest post-grunge album of all time, with songs that had just as much punch as the debut but with a greater sonic sheen. With the first record being a glorified demo tape with Grohl performing almost every note, this record shows him stepping into the frontman role with the greatest of ease. Even if the stories on the last record didn't make a ton of sense, the lyrics on here are incredibly heartfelt from the lovelorn "Everlong" to the praise of the everyman on "My Hero."

Up until this point, the Foos were known as a good band, but didn't seem to have a clear path. After the Colour and the Shape, Dave Grohl was prepared to conquer the hard rock world for a second time.