Best Ever Albums

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

JOSweetHeart — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 18:08:52 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 07/18/2022 22:08

^^^ Thank you for pointing that out. 😄 😄 😄

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

hwex9000 — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:41:35 GMT

Author: hwex9000

Posted: 07/18/2022 19:41

MadhattanJack wrote:

Don't forget that Alison's Halo has also made some pretty good records.

Not sure if you're trying to be humorous here, but Alison Krauss has nothing to do with Alison's Halo.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Johnnyo — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 13:31:02 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/18/2022 17:31

MadhattanJack wrote:

Here are three more possibilities:

Scott Walker (Walker Bros.)
Gram Parsons (Flying Burrito Bros.)
Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)

.

Definitely Scott walker and gram parsons. Can’t agree with Steven Wilson.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Johnnyo — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 13:29:28 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/18/2022 17:29

LittleM1971 wrote:

Van Morrison (Them)
Elliott Smith (Heatmiser)

Agree with both of these

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Johnnyo — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 13:26:52 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/18/2022 17:26

Not sure if already mentioned but I would like to throw Paul weller into the mix

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

craola — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 13:10:12 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 07/18/2022 17:10

annie clark (st. vincent) of the polyphonic spree

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

DommeDamian — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 18:12:59 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 07/17/2022 22:12

If I should mention somebody that hasn't been brought up now

Justin Timberlake (NSYNC)
Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
David Crosby (Crosby Stills Nash (& Young), though he's album is not better than the Byrds)
Ice Cube (N.W.A)
Ghostface Killah (Wu Tang)
Jack White (White Stripes)
Alexander Skip Spence (Moby Grape)
Brian McFadden (Westlife)
Robbie Williams (Take That)
Panda Bear (Animal Collective)

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

MadhattanJack — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 16:07:34 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 07/17/2022 20:07

Here are three more possibilities:

Scott Walker (Walker Bros.)
Gram Parsons (Flying Burrito Bros.)
Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)

There's also M. Ward, who started out in a band called "Rodriguez," but I don't think anybody remembers them much, if at all.

Also, would Iggy count? I do like the Stooges, but some people perceive them as just a backup band. Either way, I definitely prefer the stuff he did afterwards.

I guess I agree about Bjork too, but only because that guy who used to shout things into the microphone during Sugarcubes gigs was so annoying — especially after I found out he was a member of the band and they were letting him do it intentionally.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Fischman — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 15:42:04 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 07/17/2022 19:42

Hyggevinyl wrote:

Lauryn Hill.

The Miseducation is better than the Fugees albums.

Also Beyoncé of course.

Sting's best stuff is also arguably better than the best of the Police.

It's an interesting topic, since you could probably find more cases of the opposite. Most solo projects don't go that well.

Can't agree at all on Sting.
Conversely though, I think much more highly of what both Copeland and Summers did after than with The Police.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

JOSweetHeart — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 09:59:55 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 07/17/2022 13:59

MadhattanJack wrote:

Don't forget that Alison's Halo has also made some pretty good records.

If that is an Alison Krauss release, this is the first that I have ever known about it.

God bless you and the angel always!!!

Holly (a fan of her since 1994)

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

MadhattanJack — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 01:54:27 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 07/17/2022 05:54

JOSweetHeart wrote:

This may be a dumb question, but how is Alison Krauss labeled mostly? Her first album only had her name on it. Her second album included the Union Station name. A few more of each were later on released. One album is of her and the Cox Family. Two others are with the legendary Robert Plant.

Don't forget that Alison's Halo has also made some pretty good records.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 01:46:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/17/2022 05:46

LittleM1971 wrote:

theblueboy wrote:

Yep, I agree with Lauryn Hill, Beyonce, Van Morrison & Michael Jackson definitely.

Curtis Mayfield and Brian Eno are two more I’d throw in. Less obviously, I’ll say Belinda Carlisle (some great 80s pop hits) & Jane Wiedlin (one total classic hit). I never really liked the Go Gos much.

Yes Curtis Mayfield definitely….Eno is a tricky one as Roxy were pretty impressive anyway. Eno solo pretty niche. How about Neil young? I Wasn’t around in the 60’s so not sure how famous Buffalo Springfield were.

Oh def Neil Young and good call on Bjork of course. I think Eno fits when you consider his full body of work, including colabs and production. If just solo discography, then still debatable I guess.

I would add Ryan Adams to the list.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

JOSweetHeart — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 23:56:23 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 07/17/2022 03:56

This may be a dumb question, but how is Alison Krauss labeled mostly? Her first album only had her name on it. Her second album included the Union Station name. A few more of each were later on released. One album is of her and the Cox Family. Two others are with the legendary Robert Plant.

God bless you and the angel and her musical circle members always!!!

Holly (a fan of them since 1994)

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

MadhattanJack — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 23:47:39 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 07/17/2022 03:47

Onj wrote:

What i am trying to say is there is no personal truth there are facts. i would think that someone holding that facts vary from person to person would be scary to deal with...

Unless we're talking about sales figures, or maybe aggregate/overall BEA chart positions, every discussion on this site is based on personal preferences and opinions, no? If anything, we have to establish subjectivity as a fundamental precept.

Let's use a less-known example. I personally believe Andi Sex Gang's solo work is better than his work with Sex Gang Children. Not a lot better, but... "better." I personally was under the impression that this was not such an unusual opinion, but here on BEA, Andi Sex Gang's solo discography isn't even in the database at all. There are entries for 8 Sex Gang Children studio albums, which is nearly all of them (I think there might be 10 in all), but for Andi Sex Gang, nada.

So does that mean Andi Sex Gang's solo stuff is objectively worse? I wouldn't think so, since this is a crowdsourced website — and that, in itself, could easily explain the discrepancy. So if someone were to say, "you're an inferior human being because you disagree with the consensus view that Sex Gang Children's discography is better than Andi Sex Gang's discography, particularly since the latter isn't even considered database-worthy," my reaction could be something like, "Okay, why don't I go and start several dozen websites devoted exclusively to promoting Andi Sex Gang's work at the expense of his former band? What are you going to do then?" And of course, you'll probably do nothing, because none of this matters in the slightest and the whole issue is completely silly.

All in all, this site's main purpose is to quantify opinions, right? But that certainly doesn't mean someone's individual opinions aren't valid, or even worth hearing, just because they disagree with the current results of the quantification effort — particularly since those results can change over time.

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 22:38:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/17/2022 02:38

craola wrote:

i don't think that's too controversial - especially if we're lumping genesis together as a whole against peter gabriel. for me, i'd rank peter gabriel's solo career at the top as well, but gabriel-led genesis had some great music too.

peter gabriel
genesis (peter gabriel)
genesis (phil collins)
phil collins

Well maybe if you like you can say i personally prefer peter gabriel to genesis and there is nothing you can say that will make me personally prefer peter gabriel to genesis but that does not make peter gabriel better than Genesis Phil Collins or Kate Bush. Do you agree with that? What i am trying to say is there is no personal truth there are facts. i would think that someone holding that facts vary from person to person would be scary to deal with not that you are that type of person i was lurking 😄

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

craola — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 22:24:41 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 07/17/2022 02:24

MadhattanJack wrote:

That said, the example that springs immediately to mind for me is Peter Gabriel, though that's mainly because I never liked Genesis. At least half of the people on this site probably prefer Genesis, so this is always a good argument-starter.

peter gabriel
genesis (peter gabriel)
genesis (phil collins)
phil collins

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:40:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/16/2022 23:40

MadhattanJack wrote:

fine

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

LittleM1971 — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:35:25 GMT

Author: LittleM1971

Posted: 07/16/2022 23:35

Can’t believe I forgot Bjork

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

MadhattanJack — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:26:00 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 07/16/2022 23:26

Them were a fairly successful band in the 60s — if you're 55 or older you've probably heard of Them. And personally, I liked Them's stuff a lot better than Van Morrison's solo material. In fact, I rarely prefer the solo material after someone's left a band that I like(d).

That said, the example that springs immediately to mind for me is Peter Gabriel, though that's mainly because I never liked Genesis. At least half of the people on this site probably prefer Genesis, so this is always a good argument-starter.

From the new wave/punk era, there's a lot of less-famous examples in addition to Sting (though again, I personally prefer the Police stuff). All of these are highly debatable though — again, I just happen to prefer the solo stuff personally, I'm not trying to suggest it was objectively better in each case.

Billy Idol (Generation X)
Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe)
Captain Sensible (The Damned)
Robyn Hitchcock (Soft Boys)
Emma Pollock (Delgados)
Charlotte Hatherley (Ash)
Nick Lowe (Brinsley Schwarz)
Aimee Mann (Til Tuesday)
Terry Hall (Specials)

There are examples with more obscure bands, too — Edwyn Collins was in Orange Juice, Thomas Dolby spent half-an-hour in a band called Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club, Tommy Keene was in a band called Razz who were terrible, and so on.

Also, there are situations like Karl Wallinger's, where a guy leaves a band and goes on to a solo career but records under a band name (in Wallinger's case, he left the Waterboys and started recording almost completely solo as World Party, and I kinda preferred World Party).

Re: Artists whose solo careers were better than thier groups

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:36:20 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/16/2022 21:36

THis is just plain bad music territory i dont wanna discuss beyonce she is O.K. but not worth my time unless its why you cant find examples of good breakups instead of cherrypicking the back catalog of bad artists