Great Reunion Albums or Shortest Post Ever
By sammymaudlin on Mar 30, 2009
I can only think of a couple of good reunion (or post-reunion) albums. Cheap Trick's Rockford is pretty good but I'm not even sure that counts as they never took more than 4 years between releases. Did they ever officially call it quits?
I digress.
The Buzzcocks Flat-Pack Philosophy is pretty good and clearly a post-reunion album.
I thought about this other day when Simply Saucer's reunion album, Half Human, Half Live, (and actual only official album release) was recommended. I picked it up on eMusic and it is good, but not great.
Am I missing something obvious? Are there any great reunion albums?
48 comments
Meanwhile, the Stooges' reunion album is an absoute disgrace, sounding like nothing more than one of Iggy's worst solo records.
Can't say that I was that impressed with The New York Dolls reunion. Though, honestly, I'm not really all that taken with the Dolls as a whole so my opinion may not count.
Any Dolls fans out there want to stand-up for their great reunion album?
I agree completely about The Stooges' reunion album. What a turd!
The s/t Television is OK but nowhere near their 1st 2 albums.
Cheap Trick never broke up, but I much prefer the '97 s/t one to Rockford, which sounds like one of their mid '80s albums to my ears (and without the songs).
My choice for best reunion album? Mission of Burma's The Obliterati. I liked their 1st reunion album, 2004's OnOffOn, but it was (as one of their song titles go) "Good, Not Great". The Obliterati, on the other hand, is a crushing powerhouse of thrills that at times rivals some of the finest moments on Signals, Calls and Marches and Vs. I'm not kidding. Skeptics who are curious should check it out. At the time, it was favorite album of 2006.
Overall the comeback record has the same fate as the "post drugs" record that we discussed a few weeks back. At best it's a shadow of another record.
I liked "God Save The Smithereens" but again they didn't really break up, just lost their label.
The new Gary Louris / Marc Olson record is fantastic, but since it is not billed as "The Jayhawks" it may not count.
Mudcrutch, maybe? Never had a real first time to come back from (on record at least)
Steely Dan's comeback record got good reviews (and a Grammy) but I never play it. Same with Blondie.
I kinda like Big Star's comeback record, it's no where near as good as the original ones, but I do play it from time to time.
Is Flat Pack Philosophy the Buzzcocks comeback? I liked that self titled album better. Sick City Sometimes is an awesome song, and the rest of the album is pretty crackin' too.
I'll give you two excellent ones, though. I mean excellent as in as good as anything they ever did. I'll throw in a third bonus that's awesome, too. First, Mission of Burma's OnOffOn. It's terrific and fits into their career perfectly. It's like they never went away, but it's also like they were growing and changing. Second is Dinosuar Jr.'s Beyond. Same thing as Mission of Burma. It's like they never stopped and they rock impressively.
For a bonus I'll toss in The Lemonheads self titled album for a Boston Trifecta. It's a really solid album and sounds like Evan Dando benefitted a lot by having two guys from The Descendents working with him. It's a cool album, if you ask me.
I though Trade Test Transmissions was the Buzzcocks comback record
I'm also including anything post-reunion.
Mudcrutch is interesting. It is a reunion album and it is great...
Everyone here should have paid attention to KingEd's review of Mudcrutch and ignored it. I'm out six bucks cuz I had to hear it for myself and it's aural Ambien.
I can't speak for any of those Mission of Burma albums, because I lose interest in them following the two singles that the bassist wrote. For me, as some of you know, they go into that category of Calesthenics Rock.
It's hard to believe there aren't more *great* comebacks, simply as a result of the numbers in recent years. I'm sure we're forgetting a few excellent examples.
The Crowded House disc from last year was good but not quite great.
Play is not a Squeeze reunion disc. They had gotten back together, making albums again, about five years previous. Play is okay, but a lot of the latter-day albums I heard are incredibly dire. That band really wore out its welcome in my life.
Cheap Trick never broke up.
really really good. but great? maybe.
it's funny, though..."rock time" elapsed more slowly then than it does now: that album came out only three years after "drama", but i remember my yes fan friends talking about those two albums as if an eternity existed between them. nowadays, that's not considered such a long time at all.
pylon's reunion album, 'the chain,' aint great either.
I'll second the Tenement Year. It wouldn't be inconceivable that someone might pick that as a favorite over Modern Dance or Dub Housing. It was right up there.
If I didn't know, I wouldn't be able to tell.
Feel free to agree with me.
I like the Television reunion almost as much as Adventure, the first saltpeter record.
Only on Rock Town Hall! You're competing with your own Comment of the Month candidate, Geo:) Seen this way, however, I am almost in agreement with you!
Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell.
There is a Bat Out of Hell III. Not sure if it's subtitle is Bat Out of Hell III: Bat Back Out of Hell Again.
Costello and the Attractions for Blood and Chocolate.
that stuff doesn't hold up very well...
Costello and the Attractions for Blood and Chocolate.
Indeed.
This is the only Dischord band I like. Maybe Jawbox too, but they are not just a Dischord band.
Go Away White, the 2008 studio album by Bauhaus was not embarrassing. Maybe a bit soul-less, not bad after 25 years.
British folk rock enigma Vashti Bunyan made a surprisingly sturdy comeback record a few years back, only her second record ever.
How 'bout The Stooges? One of the greatest live comebacks of all time, followed by one of the worst recorded ones.
I'm a fan of the afore mentioned revival of Mission of Burma (that song 2twice is as pwerful as anything they've done), Steely Dan's TWO AGAINST NATURE and Television's third. Not a fan of Big Star's Fourth.
Has anyone heard Justus, the 1996 reunion album by The Monkees? It's probably as good as anything they did in the 60s (as a group), but it's an okay album I pull out from time to time. It's hard to take that one very seriously, though. It's The Monkees, after all.
The 2001 ELO is pretty great, but like The Who record, it's essentially an ELO album in name only. Jeff Lynne played pretty much everything on the record with a couple of guest spots from original ELOers Ringo and George. I like the record, though. It will definitely please Lynne fans.
TB
Reminds me of an old joke my pals and I had back in the eighties: "Hey! Didja hear Bob Dylan is getting back together?".
Just heard a cut from the new Dylan; sounds like he's fronting Los Lobos.
The Lynne ELO Zoom album is good if you're at all into Lynne: he didn't lose anything in his voice and it sounds exactly what a respectable 20-years-later ELO record should sound like, complete with references to the old songs. But, yeah, it can't count as a reunion album. It's almost the exact opposite, since it was his way of pushing Bev Bevan and the "ELO Part 2" guys even further out of the way, and only one other actual ELO member makes a cameo.
Regarding Little Village, I think Hiatt was actually the problem, a little case of frontmanitis. Plus the album didn't exactly set the charts on fire, as perhaps various managers had led them to expect, and the tour that followed went sour.
Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner did a couple of benefit gigs towards the end of last year, and Cooder and Lowe will be doing a short European tour this summer, so there don't seem to be any problems there.
It's a little bittle heavy on the rockin' side and none of the numbers are going to blow your mind, but it's worth a spin or two. I'd give it 3 stars on a 5 star scale.
TB
Mr. Chicken, I think that 3rd Meatloaf album was called,"Bat Out of Hell III: Bat Out of Hell One Mo' Time Again". Or maybe it was, "Bat Out of Hell III: Rise of the Machines", I don't quite remember.
Thog by Gray Matter is better than all of their albums from their original career. Broke up in mid 80's got back together in 90.
As a big fan of Gray Matter, I have to seriously disagree with you here. Thog, while a good record, is nowhere near as powerful as Food for Thought or Take It Back. Saturn, will you back me up on this one?
Second is Dinosuar Jr.'s Beyond. Same thing as Mission of Burma. It's like they never stopped and they rock impressively.
GREAT call on this one, 2000Man. I can't wait to see them next month and to hear the new album as well.
For a bonus I'll toss in The Lemonheads self titled album for a Boston Trifecta. It's a really solid album and sounds like Evan Dando benefitted a lot by having two guys from The Descendents working with him. It's a cool album, if you ask me.
I like that Lemonheads record, too, but I'd definitely rate it as solid or good rather than great. Plus, they never really broke up, did they? I know Dando did a few solo records, but he's basically the only constant member anyway, right?
This also reminds me that the two Descendents albums released in the last dozen years or so (Everything Sucks from '96 and Cool to Be You from '04) are both solid and more consistent than their last 2 '80s albums (though the peaks aren't as high, if that makes sense).
Play is not a Squeeze reunion disc. They had gotten back together, making albums again, about five years previous. Play is okay, but a lot of the latter-day albums I heard are incredibly dire. That band really wore out its welcome in my life.
Here's how I would rate them.
Cosi: awful
Babylon and On: side 1 is great, but most of side 2 is indeed dire; also hurt by overproduction, though nowhere near as bad as Cosi
Frank: OK (some highlights)
Play: An absolute stunner! I think it's one of their best albums, actually!
Some Fantastic Place: Everyone loves this one but I've always thought it was merely good and far from great
Ridiculous: a few great songs but mostly dire
Domino: I never bothered with it
The Go-Betweens three reunion albums are amongst their finest albums, particularly for me, Bright Yellow Bright Orange, which is my favorite album of theirs. A totally great comeback album.
I agree with you completely on The Friends of Rachel Worth and especially their last album Oceans Apart (which I thought was easily their best since 16 Lovers Lane and one of their best albums overall as well), but Bright Yellow Bright Orange is one I've just never been able to get into. "Too Much of One Thing" is a great song, though. I'll have to revisit that one at some point.
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