10 Most Frontloaded Albums In Rock History

Over the course of a 15-year career, Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, has morphed from art pop provocateur to Grammy-winning arena rocker, without sacrificing her indie cred or outsider ethos. Her most fascinating album perhaps remains her third, though, which seems to bridge the edgy cool of her older work and the more mainstream appeal of the later albums.

The tracks, however, are stacked the other way around, with the record taking off into the pop stratosphere after the spooky, spindly “Chloe In The Afternoon”. “Surgeon” is a skittery earworm of a tune, and “Cheerleader” a stomping rocker that saw Clark take her first step into mass appeal. “Cruel”, meanwhile, made the best case to date that St Vincent was one of the great guitar heroes of our era.

The second half, meanwhile, provides far more of a downtempo sound. From the title track through to closer “Year Of The Tiger”, Clark ditches the ripping guitar solos and infectious choruses for lush soundscapes and oblique lyrics. It’s a record that shows all sides of a great artist, but it’s no surprise she took side A’s sound onward to great success.