the difficult second Lp

the clash, give em enough rope--to my ears a weakish, overtly commercial followup to the classic debut--i just don't think the songs are there.

doors, strange days--vastly inferior to the debut; "when the music's over" sounds like a watery retread of "the end,", albeit without a theme. the next couple were even weaker, but they're the odd band who regenerated creatively towards the end and finished as strong as they started.

as for "adventure", i agree with both phase and clio--it's not as groundbreaking or essential as marquee moon, but vg on its own terms--"glory" and "foxhole" are great songs.

ty lindisfarne. to switch to the "greatly improved second album" mode, you'd have to look at "astral weeks" (which i've always regarded as a tad overrated, but still great) and "the bends".

couldn't sleep last night, so instead of counting sheep i though of two others:
1. moby grape--wow. depending on my mood i believe their first record was the greatest pop album ever (or at least the greatest debut), but this one's a mess, with all sorts of misplaced strings, horns and other such drivel. the songs themselves are actually quite good--skillful/clever--but it just don't swing. i don't think anyone's ever listened to the "grape jam" on disc 2.
2. the byrds--turn turn. by no means a bad record (the gene clark songs are among his greatest), but most of the rest sounds like leftovers from the first record.

phase, it's hard to argue that cheap trick's second was a drop in quality--it's got 4-5 certifiable classics and, fwiw, is generally regarded as their masterpiece. that said, i also preferred their first, which i maintain is one of the best rawk records of all time. it didn't sell that much, so you can't blame 'em for opting for the glossier, more commercial direction that followed.
as for the cars, i respect their craft but was never a huge fan--they always sounded a bit like the 1910 fruitgum company to me (which is not necessarily a bad thing--"123 red light's" a cool song). looking back, their second album isn't close to their first, but the last track, dangerous type, is awesomish.