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

Anyone who was in on the ground floor of the Manchester scene probably remembers where they were the first time they listened to the Stone Roses' debut. While the alternative scene already had a firm hold on the culture with bands like the Smiths, this was a breath of fresh air, taking dance textures and putting them against rock songs with blaring guitars. For many, this album was the perfect precursor to Britpop. In retrospect though, it may have been a bit too good for the Roses to replicate.

Succumbing to second album syndrome, The Roses went into the studio trying to move forward from their old sound, with fairly limited results. Around the time that they were working on Second Coming, the rest of the Britpop scene had come up in their wake, now having to compete with people they inspired like Oasis. Across the runtime of their second album, it feels like the band are trying to find their new sound in the studio and fumbling around for something that clicks.

That's not all that dissimilar to what was happening in the studio either, as most of the band couldn't get on the same page and the sessions grinding to a halt time after time as they scrapped the average cuts to deliver something different. Some bands might have the stamina to top their debut, but the Stone Roses ducked into the studio and were never seen again.