The adage says: You take your entire life to write your first album and 18 months to write your second.
Strictly from a time standpoint, that’s true. Record labels sign you on what you’ve already got in hand, but they keep you on the strength of what you give them afterward.
That’s why some artists never surpass that first record. Pressure and time constraints make it impossible to step up to the same level again. They may have some great songs in the future, but taken as a whole, their records don’t have the same impact as that first one.
All of us know one of those artists that you grabbed their first album, quickly snagged the second when it came out and thought: Well, it’s good, but …
Let’s look at a few of those unmatched debuts: