Top 5 - Rock And Roll Comeback Albums
You’ve seen it over the years. A band has a mega hit or a mega album, maybe a string of hits, but starts to wane and subsequent albums don’t do as well. Maybe they used to headline and sell out stadiums, but are now only touring clubs. Then, all of the sudden, lightning strikes again and wha-la, another mega hit or album. Sometimes lightning does strike twice! Here are my Top 5 comeback albums of all time!
5. Supernatural - Santana - 1999 Before Sanatana released Supernatural in ‘99 his last big hit album was 20 years before in the early 80’s. Supernatural was the perfect album for the time. The legendary guitarist teamed with some red hot acts of the time and made some very accessible hits with a latin flair.
4. Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath - 1980 For most band, losing a lead singer like Ozzy Osbourne could have been the death of the band. But, grabbing Ronnie James Dio as a replacement was brilliant and the result is awesome. Dio’s distinct voice creates a new era for the band and the album itself became an instant classic.
3. Razor’s Edge - AC/DC - 1990 The boys from down under sure kicked off the new decade with a bang! Razor’s Edge came after two lackluster late ‘80’s albums that felt like retreads of past albums. This album has two of AC/DC’s biggest hits, maybe as big as the Back in Black!
2. The Rising - Bruce Springsteen - 2002 The only album Bruce released between the dual releases of Human Touch & Lucky Town was the awesome acoustic folk album The Ghost of Tom Joad. It would be another seven years before The Rising and this longest period Springsteen waited between albums. This was also his return to playing with the E Street Band in nearly 20 years. The result was a return to form as well as a #1 album.
1. Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith - 1987 My goodness, talk about a band that got a second life. Huge in the 70’s, but the drugs and partying, as well as a bit of infighting, led the band to a couple of ho-hum albums in Rock in a Hard Place and Done With Mirrors (notably without Joe Perry), then along came Permanent Vacation, and bam! back on top baby! Didn’t hurt that they were smack dab in the middle of the MTV heights and Run-DMC boosted their cred by covering Walk This Way. Clean and sober (maybe) and original line-up back together, the band went on to have another string of hits.
Lots of albums that could have been considered for this list. Who would you have added? Kiss’s Lick It Up or maybe Tina Turner’s Private Dancer.
