Some artists go under the radar for years after being dumped by a fickle record label or are victims of current trends. Some of the artists listed below also had their own personal battles to deal with, but came out at the other end with these killer comeback albums. Craig Stephen presents ten of the finest comebacks …
Tina Turner - Private Dancer (1984)
How low did she go?
After the breakdown of Ike
and Tina - both the act and the marriage - Turner became something of a
nostalgia act, playing in small venues and Vegas-style cabaret shows to pay off
her debts. She’d released two solo albums under her own name since leaving Ike
and that last one was in 1979. Love Explosion was a disco-tinged funk album
which was not even released in the United States. There followed five years of
dead air.
What happened next?
Turner was in her 40s but
in an era of Madonna copyists and other young female artists, a major record
label took a chance on her. The end result was Private Dancer. It was a team
effort with eight producers including Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 credited, and
Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck also on board. There are several covers but
Turner’s vocal talents stand out and several singles from it became mega
worldwide hits. Commercial radio continues to pound their listeners with
‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ to this day.
Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (2004)
How bad was his shit?
Dropped by his record
label following 1997′s dismal Maladjusted, Morrissey retreated to the Hollywood
Hills, where he would become a bit of a recluse. His devoted fans sat twiddling
their thumbs but no one else seemed to be bothered if Morrissey released
another record.
What happened?
In 2002 Morrissey went on
a world tour parading new songs and a year later signed with Sanctuary. A
single, ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’, heralded a beefier sound and the album
was along the same lines. Sales of You Are The Quarry on both sides of the
Atlantic were excellent and critics generally gave it a thumbs up. The missing
years had been dispensed with; Morrissey was a rock star again.
Johnny Cash - American Recordings (1993)
Where are we at?
Like many stars of the 60s
and 70s, such as Dylan, Johnny Cash was rejected and neglected in the 1980s.
Columbia dropped him and his next label, Mercury, didn’t care much. Health
problems, drug issues … yep those too.
Yeah … so?
Cash was offered a deal by producer and American Recordings head Rick Rubin. His label specialised in rap and metal so this was a bizarre sideways move. The recordings were just Cash and a guitar but the critics loved it. The NME said it was "uplifting and life affirming because the message is taught through adversity, ill luck and fighting for survival". In the end of year best album reviews, American Recordings was up there with the best pop, rock, rap and metal albums around, including being rated No.4 in the British monthly Mojo’s annual round-up.
Down the toilet?
By mid-1968, Presley was
at a personal and professional low point. He had gained weight, his musical
career had been taken over by a series of mediocre movies, and pop music had
changed with all the ‘super’ bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The
Doors. He had been left behind.
What did he do next?
Collaborating with NBC
Television, and sidelining his conservative and controlling manager, Colonel
Tom Parker, The King appeared on his own show, Singer Presents …. Elvis, but more
commonly known as The ’68 Comeback Special. It was a one-hour concert that
aired in early December. This was the old Elvis, the leather-jacket wearing
rocker and he played hits and new songs. The watching public loved it and the
following year Presley released singles such as ‘In The Ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious
Minds’ and he was back as pop star rather than a bad actor.
David Bowie - Black Tie/White Noise (1993)
The lowdown:
Bowie’s solo career had
slipped with the disappointing Never Let Me Down in 1987. His next move was
surprising: a four-piece called Tin Machine was his attempt at being part of a
band again. The self-titled debut was reasonably well received but Tin Machine
II is generally considered a poor cousin and received some rather abrasive
reviews. The band split due to personal issues.
The comeback:
Bowie’s first solo album
in six years was presaged by the brilliant single ‘Jump They Say’ about the
tragic life of his brother Terry. Bowie was in Los Angeles at the time of the
1992 riots and Black Tie/White Noise is about that and a plea for racial unity.
It isn’t one of his best post-80s albums but it kick started a more productive
period.
The House of Love - Days Run Away (2005)
Where were they at?
When guitarist Terry
Bickers famously spat the dummy mid-tour in 1989, the band was left without its
talisman. By 1993 the band had run itself into the ground and Audience With The
Mind, was by far the poorest of the four albums they recorded to that point.
They split soon after and didn’t lay a glove on the world for more than a
decade.
What happened next?
The troubles of the past
seemingly resolved and with Bickers back in the gang, the House of Love got its
groove back with the result being this excellent collection. The Guardian was
happy with the result. “Their sound is back to its subtle best, all Velvet
Underground rhythms and guitars swooping over gentle melodies.”
Dexy’s - One Day I’m Going to Soar (2012)
Dexy’s Midnight Runners’
main man Kevin Rowland was suffering from financial problems, drug addiction
and depression following the dismal reception to his first solo album The
Wanderer in 1988. Over the next few years he was in and out of rehab and signing
on the dole.
What happened next?
There was a band reformation in 2003 but little activity until 2012 and the release of One Day I’m Going to Soar. They were now called simply Dexys and featured old hands like Pete Williams, Mick Talbot, Big Jim Paterson and a new, female vocalist, Madeleine Hyland. Mojo wrote of the album: “Intense, painfully frank, hysterically funny, and in the end, exultant... ODIGTS isn't always an easy listen, but it does offer a fearless experience that invests pop with more theatricality than the form can usually tolerate.”
Jackson was the Queen of
Rockabilly, a massive star in the 1950s and early 60s. But once rock’n’roll
became passe so did all those great stars, and Jackson then recorded country,
blues and gospel albums. She had never retired and her most recent prior record
was in 2006. But as numerous as they were, those albums couldn’t release her
from the tag of the former Queen of Rockabilly.
What happened next?
White Stripes’ Jack White
offered to produce … and who says no to him? White looked to reconnect the
73-year-old Jackson with her teenage style, resulting in frantic horns and
White's fuzzed-out guitar. The result was the surprise return of rockabilly in
the 2000s with an album that stood on its own.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy (1980)
Please explain:
In early 1975 Lennon
released an almost forgotten collection of 1950s and 60s standards, and
followed it later that year with a compilation, Shaved Fish, which sold
moderately. Lennon spent the next few years as a house-husband.
What happened next?
In 1980, Lennon was
inspired by the 2-Tone and new wave scenes that spawned the likes of Madness,
The Pretenders and the B-52s. The album he and Yoko Ono made, Double Fantasy,
was the ideal comeback, a fresh start for a couple ready to greet the world again.
Alas, it turned out to a sad farewell as three weeks after its emphatic
release, Lennon was killed by a lone gunman.
AC/DC - Back In Black (1980)
Which ditch were the band
in?
Scots-born singer Bon
Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning in early 1980. The end seemed nigh for
the band with the remaining members considering closing this chapter. Instead,
they roped in Brian Johnson, ex of British rock band Geordie.
And then?
Back In Black was recorded
over seven weeks in the Bahamas and released in July 1980. It had the signature
guitars and hard rock of AC/DC. The album's all-black cover was designed as a
"sign of mourning" for Scott. It sold 50 million copies worldwide and
is regarded as one of the best heavy metal albums of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment