The Stooges: RAW POWER.

Having produced two of the greatest albums in rock history, the band disintegrated, then came back (despite the wishes of almost the whole world) and, now with James Williamson on guitar, produced another of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Wow going back thru some years I would have to say “DEEP PURPLE’S” PERFECT STRANGERS…..ZOWWWEE THAT WAS ROCKIN BACK IN THA DAY!

kiss - psycho circus the original four in makeup back together, although only for the one cd, was great to see and hear

Robbie Robertson “Robbie Robertson” (1987)

Of course RHCP came back in a big way with Californication! It was the return of John to the band. Californication is an awesome album!!

Mariah Carey is not a vocalist,she is a screamer!!!But that is even beside the point,her music is so Boring!!!If you want to listen to one the great female singers of all time listen to Tina Turner.

To take a line from Steven Tyler in the Aerosmith song Amazing…that one last shots a permanent vacation… That album has a lot of “dead wood” on it now so to speak, but at the time it would have made’em or broke’em, and it ended up making them bigger than they had been, which paved the way for “pump” which was their best of that era. PV was a huge comeback album. Love or hate aerosmith, Steven Tyler and the kids would forever be a washed up 70’s rock band had PV not been a hit.

Tina Turner, Private Dancer
Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time
Cher, Believe
Meatloaf, Bat out of Hell 2
Heart, Heart
Aerosmith, Permanent Vacation
Nelly Furtado, Loose

I hope we’ll be able to add pending CD’s from:
Crowded House
Smashing Pumpkins
to the list soon…

Dylan - Nashville Skyline
Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Dylan - Infidels
Dylan - Oh! Mercy
Dylan - Time Out Of Mind

I forgot these comebacks:
New order - Get ready
Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs
I can’t wait Britney’s comeback!!!!!! Without hair and without talent

“I Feel Alright” Steve Earle

Brian Wilson - Smile
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Weezer - The Green Album
Television - Television
Cat Power - The Greatest (her comeback seems an awesome debut!)
Green day - American idiot

LL Cool J “Mama Said Knock You Out”
even if the first line is, “Don’t call it a comeback…”

David Bowie “Let’s Dance”

I support fully the idea of Time Out of Mind (B. Dylan) making the list. (Incidentally, that was the first one that came to mind) I’m not sure is Blood on the Tracks should be on there (even though it is, in my opinion, Dylan’s best album, I’m not sure just how much of a comeback it is). Thanks!

red hot chili peppers californication

and an obvious one
back in black - ac/dc

the best comeback ever shit

Fleetwood Mac “Fleetwood Mac”

If not that, then “Rumours”

St. Anger a Comeback? Ugh, must be joking.

Green Day “American Idiot”

They got massive after that.

The Bee Gees “Saturday Night Fever”

BLOOD ON THE TRACKS- BOB DYLAN

Released in 1974 The album was not only a Bob Dylan comeback but was just as good (some may argue better) than his 60’s heyday!!!

CHART UK-4 USA-1

TIME OUT OF MIND- BOB DYLAN

Before this every decent Bob Dylan release was being paraded as his best since Blood on the Tracks but in 1997 Time out of Mind for sure was not only his best since Blood on The Tracks but one of his best albums!!!

CHART- UK?? USA-10

SOME GIRLS- THE ROLLING STONES

Although The Stones were still big they hadn’t done an album worthy of their biggest band status since 1972’s Exile on Main Street but with 1978’s Some Girls that changed!!

CHARTS- UK-2 USA-1

SMILE- BRIAN WILSON

After releasing their 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds The Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson went back to the studio to complete the follow up that was to be released in 1967. But due to a nervous breakdown he was unable to complete his for sure master follow up.

Now in 2004 Brian was finally able to complete his delayed masterpiece. And a grammy later who can argue that it wasn’t worth the wait???

CHARTS- UK-7 USA-13

THE RISING- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

After having a mediocre 90’s everyone must have thought that The Boss’s best days were over.

But add the tragedy of 9/11 & the re-united E-Street Band then you have a comeback worthy of any other great comeback!!!

CHARTS- UK-1 USA-1

AVALON- ROXY MUSIC

Roxy who had originally split after 1975’s Siren decided to reform & recorded 1979’s Manifesto. Another big hit album Flesh & Blood soon followed a year later.

But admittingly both realeases were mediocre compared to Roxy’s 72-75 heyday.

But after the death of John Lennon the band recorded a cover of Lennon’s Jealous Guy which became a world wide hit!!!

In 1982 inspired by that hit they released Avalon a classy effort that not only was up there with their early 70’s heyday but may even have topped it!!!

CHARTS- UK-1 USA-52(How could you!!!)

Jeff Beck “Blow By Blow”
Loretta Lynn “Van Lear Rose”

Sometimes it’s more a song that brought the comeback:
“Living In America” James Brown

I think Travelling Wilburys brought back Roy Orbison to people’s conciousness.

I may not like the album, but come on, The Emancipation of Mimi IS a truly huge comeback. No Pearl Jam album should be on this list….they never went away, they had nothing to come back from, some of their albums didn’t get the best reviews or sell a lot but they’ve been pretty consistantly making them since they debuted.

A comeback is when an artist is huge, fades away into obscurity/lack of respect and then comes out with a hit/critically acclaimed record. When a band that’s put out several records without any hits suddenly gets huge with one, like No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom or Modest Mouse’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, it doesn’t count either because IT’S NOT A COMEBACK. Seriously, don’t any of you people think before posting? You can’t just pick the records or bands you like and force them into every category RS takes a poll on. This idea may be lost on you, but these aren’t all just about what record or band you like best (unless of course that’s what the poll literally asks, which this one does not).

Radiohead, much as I love them, were a potential one-hit wonder before The Bends, so it’s not a comback, it was a pleasant surprise; nor was Kid A, which was just their next record after Ok Computer. Nothing The Beatles made is a comeback…they’re STILL TO THIS DAY too big to make a comeback (were they all alive to do so). One Hot Minute did sell but everyone agreed it wasn’t as good as Bloodsugarsexmagik and it was generally agreed that the Chili Peppers were done, so Californication IS a comeback, especially because it was the return of their “classic” lineup with Frusciante back on guitar.

U2-All That You Can’t Leave Behind
RHCP-Californication
Gr een Day-American Idiot
Paul Simon-Graceland
Santana-Supern atural
Grateful Dead-In the Dark
Johnny Cash-American Recordings
Prince-Musicology
R od Stewart-The Great American Songbook (listen, I hate those records but Rod went from a joke to…well…a joke that sold millions of records, that, my friends, is a comeback)

I think the soundtrack to “O Brother Where Art Thou” should get some sort of honorable mention, as it was the comeback for an entire genre of music (more than one, even).

Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan
All That You Cant Leave Behind - U2
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
ST Anger - Metallica

Wow I can’t believe mariah carey is even mentioned…I mean come on how about mentioning bands and people who write their own music cuz if not then you can’t give the credit to the “artist” it should be given to the producer. I would say that all this U2 talk is worthless. This again is another band who never really went anywhere to come back from. Green Day-American Idiot is a great example. Look how huge they got with dookie, then insomniac was good but not nearly as big..same with nimrod and warning…then after a while it was like BOOM American Idiot was HUGE like dookie. As far as John Mellancamp goes if I hear one more song about our country or how this is america or freedom I am going to vomit. I love our country but come on think of something original. I hate to say it but your right on the meatloaf. By the way Who the hell put down Pink Floyd Wish you were here??? OMG That was an album coming off of DSOTM!!! One of the Biggest albums in history….so how can you call that a comeback album??? I seriously think a lot of people are getting “COMEBACK” cofused with follow up or just good albums.

First of all: AC/DC’s Back in Black is definitely NOT a comeback album, they were just coming off two of their best releases (Highway to Hell, Let There Be Rock) and the fact that their original singer died doesn’t really qualify it as a “comeback” album. I also disagree with U2’s AYCLB classification as comeback. The real answers:
New York Dolls: One Day it Will Please Us To Remember This.
also Dinosaur Jr.’s new album.

In terms of Classic Rock…

1. “Cloud 9″-George Harrison
2. “Time Out of Mind”-Bob Dylan
3. “Yo Frankie”-Dion
4. “Journeyman”-Eric Clapton
5. “End of the Innocence”-Don Henley

For my money, AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” is the choice. Bon Scott takes a self-inflicted dirt nap and instead of moping around about it, Angus and the boys roar back with an absolute killer ROCK album!

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi
****Great album by a spectacular vocalist***

One grossly overlooked album (except by Topher)is Meat Loafs Bat Out of Hell 2. Who could’ve imagined!! Washed up fat guy singing operatic songs during the peak of grunge! “Do Anything for Love” was like nails on a chalk board to me,but it had massive MTV/radio and sales. We still don’t know what he “won’t do” for love. Also, U2’s ATYCLB was a comeback of sorts. Pop had some good cuts, but even U2 admitted it wasn’t all it should’ve been. U2 even referred to the next tour as the “Reapplication Tour” for biggest band in the world, which worked! Finally, REM’s Automatic was the zenith peak built on all the previous albums. I’ve been waiting since UP for that “truly great” REM comeback album.

Errr Achtung Baby was the follow up to The Joshua Tree.

Rattle & Hum was a live album that also included some new studio tracks (well back then anyway)

Invincible is a decent album but no way a MJ comeback. Hopefully that will come later next year (Fingers crossed).

“All That You Can’t Leave Behind” - U2
(Although “Pop” was no flop. It is a great album. RS even gave it four stars . . . )

“Achtung Baby” - U2
Yes, “Joshua Tree” was successful, but “Rattle and Hum” got slammed by the critics. Then the band reinvents itself once again and puts out their best album. Amazing.

Best comeback album can be interpreted differently. It could be best COMEBACK

- The degree the album took them from forgotten to loved again, ie, how far they slipped, and how high they rose can be measured, in terms of probability of it happening, Tina Turner, and degree of forgotteness, Meatloaf, back to knownness.

or best comeback ALBUM

- You’re favorite album that led to a comeback.

They can be the same, but they can be different.

Correction:SMOOTHENING the edges of his sound.

Michael Jackson-”Invincible”

Truthf ully,I didn’t want to mention it at first,but he deserves credit for still showcasing that luster,especially in r&b/soul which he kind of postponed since “Dangerous”(as heard on “You Rock My World” and “Butterflies”).Also,despite how he ends up and succumbs into all the scandals and allegations vice versa,”Invincible” signaled that what’s more relevant is his sensational,musical creativity and longevity,not the twisted,tabloid-hungry controversy(plus,it wasn’t all that bad of an album anyway).I think Rodney Jerkins deserves credit as well for at least roughening the edges of his sound and putting him back on the same page as “Off The Wall” and “Thriller”.Let’s hope the next supposed “comeback” album will be even more successful.Despite the better/worse situations of Mike’s popularity,the King still reigns supreme(does signature finger snap,spin,and kick)!

To Gideon:
How do you consider R.E.M.’s Out Of Time a comeback? They were on a pretty steady increase of sales and critical acclaim with each album release from ‘83 to ‘92, so they didn’t really have anything to come back *from* when this came out.

As far as I’m concerned, a “comeback” can be either art- or commerce-based. Yes, U2’s Pop is a great album, but you can’t deny that it flopped in the USA. (Well, flopped by their million-selling standards, anyway.) Which set them up for the *popularity* comeback of ATYCLB, where everyone played Beautiful Day 24/7 and they sold out concerts across the country. In this case, how “good” the albums are is irrelevant.
But don’t worry, rock-snobs, you can join the argument of art-based comebacks such as Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind.

When will the sacks of dog shit who run this magazine ever give John Mellencamp his due? Here’s a list of his comeback albums:
Uh-Huh
Scarecrow
The Lonesome Jubilee
Big Daddy
Whenever We Wanted
Human Wheels
Dance Naked
Mr. Happy Go Lucky
John Mellencamp
Cuttin’ Heads
Trouble No More
Freedom’s Road

If it sounds like I listed all of them…..well I did. They’re all great. This man deserves more credit than he’s getting.

Well I think The Rising is a Springsteen comeback as Lucky Town, Human Touch, & Ghost of Tom Joad were very mediocre by Springsteen standards!!!

But comercially they were all hits so again comes that definition thing!!!

Well comeback albums that were great and comercially big comebacks then could be…

Blood on the Tracks- Bob Dylan
Time out of Mind- Bob Dylan
So- Peter Gabriel
Off the Wall- Michael Jackson
The Wall- Pink Floyd
Out of Time- REM

But Blood on the Tracks & Time out of Mind should definitely be there!!!

Gideon, I totally agree with you that “comeback” is open to interpretation; one reason I prefaced my statement with the word “arguably.” Controversy is clearly one of RS’s objectives with these lists, as it attracts more attention. Musically, I would likely agree with your preferences (or be close), as I don’t consider “USA” to be one of Springsteen’s best from a purely artistic standpoint. It’s even arguable he should be excluded from the list altogether, as he’s never made an album that critics universally disliked, unless one mediocre album is enough to require a comeback for the elite artists.

Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith

Cheap Trick - Rockford

Why the hell doesn’t this get more radio play?

Elton John- Too Low for Zero(not a great record but it put him back on the charts).
Steve Winwood-Arc of a Diver
Nick Drake-Pink Moon(though it took a commercial for him to make his comeback).
Yes-90215

Then what is this thread meaning by comeback??

Commercial or quality???

Agreed that Born in the USA was a commercial comeback but The River released 4 years previous was actually world wide a bigger hit than Born to Run but Born in the USA did introduce him to the masses so I do agree that it was a commercial comeback.

But I would say that The Rising was a bigger comeback than USA because The Boss had done nothing worth listening to since Tunnel of Love.

So if we go by commercial comebacks (but not by quality) then we would have…

Queen- The Works (OK not so big in the USA, but worldwide their biggest hit album ever!!!)

U2- All that you can’t leave behind

Led Zeppelin- In through the out door (Biggest selling album since Physical Graffiti & spent 7 weeks at number 1 in the US album charts)

Cosmic Thing- B52’s

Loads of other commercial comeback album that were not classic’s are there too but none spring to my mind at the moment!!!

“Born to Run” was a phenomenon when it came out in ‘76; “Darkness” is a fine follow-up, but not great; “The River” was overly-ambitious, and “Nebraska” is also a fine album, but nobody noticed. “Born in the USA” was released eight years “Run” and is great less for what it was than what it did, which was reintroduce to America the idea that music can be both popular and make a social statement at the same time; face it, it put him back on the covers of news magazines and forced an acting president to embarrassingly misconstrue Springsteen’s message. Agreed that he’s has never made a bad album (I personally prefer “Nebraska” to “USA”, but “USA” was Springsteen’s second “phenomenon” album; the previous three weren’t.

NEW MARIAH CAREY ALBUM - NOVEMBER 2007

I don’t think there’s actually too many cases of an artist making complete shit and then the next album be a return to form masterpiece. It’s usually rather gradual, or there’s a lot of time off involved. Elton John had actually put out some pretty good albums between his 80’s nadir and ‘Songs of the West Coast.’ I highly recommend ‘Made in England.’

David Bowie’s comeback album in most peoples’ minds is Heathen, but was actual comeback record was ‘Outside.’ Here’s a man whose brilliance hadn’t shone through since ‘Scary Monsters,’ then he managed to put out a pretty good records. ‘Earthling’ and ‘Hours’ are pretty good too. Although ‘Heathen’ and ‘Reality’ are probably best suited to Bowie during this time and age. Here’s hoping for another album soon.

I think probably every Nine Inch Nails album since ‘The Fragile’ has been NIN’s comeback album. Simply because he used to take so damn long to make a record, although that appears to not be the case anymore. With ‘Year Zero’ two year after ‘With Teeth’ and another album next year, let’s hope he just releases a kickass album every 1-2 years and no more “comeback albums.” He’s defintely talented enough.

As far as Bob Dylan, Oh Mercy was probably the beginning of the revived Dylan, although I hear the follow-up record isn’t too good. But ‘Time Out of Mind’ is undeniably his comeback record. I think it’s his best latter-day record. I like ‘Love and Theft’ and ‘Modern Times’ but ‘Time Out of Mind’ is just too damned good. Dylan needs to work with Daniel Lanois again. I liked the sound of ‘Time Out of Mind’ even if Dylan didn’t.

Johnny Cash, yeah. The Rick Rubin records are probably the best-staged comeback in music history. It’s sad that Johnny isn’t with us anymore, but at least he went out with a bang and didn’t fade away. Every great artist deserves to go out at the height Johnny Cash did.

Californication is a terrible album. They never came back.

DMB never had a comeback album because they never went anywhere. Busted stuff is only a continuation not a comeback. Everyday was just before busted stuff, and was a huge hit (not with his loyal following but still a huge hit). So sorry I think this album coming out is hopefully going to be the comeback as far as songwriting goes, cuz “Stand Up” was sooooo very very disappointing. Unfortunatly the are using the same producer though. Bring back Steve Lillywhite!! PLEASE!

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi
RHCP - Californication

Even though it’s not rock, The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey is a great album by one of the greatest voices of all time.

Response to Oddjob

Yes I do know what comeback means.

Comeback is when a band hasn’t done anything for years and then comes back with their best album (4-5 star album) for years if not (In Dylan’s case for Time out of Mind) decades.

How you can call All that you can’t leave behind a comeback when it isn’t even better than Pop (PLEASE LISTEN TO POP NOT JUST THE MEDIA) is just silly & pure media hype caused by a band who are now more about money than music.

Big deal if it won a Album of the Year Grammy… So did Mariah Carey!!!

Anyway you are entitled to your opinion & in no way am I saying that All that you can’t leave Behind is a bad album it just isn’t a comeback album!!!

Prince-”Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic”
Stevie Wonder-”A Time To Love”
Brian McKnight-”10″
R.Kelly-”C hocol ate Factory”
Anita Baker”You’re My Everything”
Sade-”Lovers Rock”
Aaliyah-”Aaliyah”
Toni Braxton-”The Heat”
Mary J. Blige-”The Breakthrough”
Alicia Keys-”The Diary…”
Mariah Carey-”The Emancipation…”
New Edition-”Home Again”
Tony!Toni!Tone!-”Sons Of Soul”
TLC-”Fanmail”,
LL Cool J-”10″
Method Man-”4:21″
Ghostface Killah-”Fishscale”
Nas-”Hip Hop Is Dead”
Beanie Sigel-”The B. Coming”
Dr. Dre-”Chronic 2001″
2Pac-”All Eyez On Me”
Snoop Dogg-”Tha Blue Carpet Treatment”
Wu Tang Clan-”The W”
The Roots-”Phrenology”
A Tribe Called Quest-”Beats,Rhymes,& Life”
Beastie Boys-”To The 5 Boroughs”
Kirk Franklin-”Hero”
Lenny Kravitz-”Lenny”
Rage Against The Machine-The Battle Of Los Angeles”
Oasis-”Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants”
311-”Soundsystem ”
Ca ke-”Prolonging The Magic”
Sublime-”Second Hand Smoke”
No Doubt-”Return Of Saturn”
Hole-”Celebrity Skin”
Weezer-”Make Believe”
Metallica-”St. Anger”

And “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” is certainly a comeback too. Everyone thought they were finished after “Pop”, then ATYCLB came out, had four huge hits and was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy. Do you even know what “comeback” means?

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi

****Great album by a phenomenal vocalist with great songs and production****

New Mariah Carey album - November 2007

Just so you emo-kids know…

Weezer’s Green Album is absolutely their “comeback” album. Even though Pinkerton later gained an underground cult following, it was a failure upon its release, having zero hits after the huge potential shown in their first album, and putting the band in limbo for five years.

Born in then USA a comeback album??

Err Nebraska????
Err The River???
Darkness on the edge of town??
BORN TO RUN!!!

Born in the USA is actually one of Springsteen’s weaker classics. But only because of its commercial success does it get talked about so much!!!

P.S

Just finished listening to All that you can’t Leave Behind by U2. No way a comeback. Very very average of its time album!!!

Go-Go’s “God Bless The Go-Go’s” is one of the best comebacks in history. Seriously.

Also - I agree with Brian Wilson SMiLE.

Actually agree with RS’s suggestions overall; additionally, think the “American Idiot,” and “Californication” recommendations are right on. There’s a reason Dylan’s got so many albums named in these posts; he’s just that good. The truth is he’s made at least four albums that brought him renewed attention and critical acclaim, including Modern Times which is a brilliant reinvention. Springsteen’s not Dylan, but he’s got a similar problem. “Born in the USA” was arguably a comeback album, “Tunnel of Love,” was a new direction, and “The Rising” clearly marked his return to prominence. Final thought: While it probably can’t qualify, “Raising Hell” was Aerosmith’s comeback album. They only assisted on one song, but that song–and more importantly the video–put them back on the musical map and piqued public and critical interest in them for the first time in a decade.

Brian Wilson- Smile
Pearl Jam- Pearl Jam
U2- All You Can’t Leave Behind

Graceland is one of the the best ever.
Neil Young never went away, neither did The RHCP realy. and especially not Radiohead

Green Day- American Idiot
Johnny Cash- American Recordings
Nas- Stillmatic
JZ- The Blueprint

For the person who said Neil Young has never made a bad album, all I have to say is “Trans,” “Reactor,” “Life,” “Landing on Water,” and “Everybody’s Rockin’.” I’m a pretty big Neil Young fan, but I can’t get through these albums. Even the CD “Lucky Thirteen,” which culls from these albums, is only partially listenable.

All that you leave behind by U2 IS NOT A COMEBACK.

Both Zooropa & Pop (just) are better albums.

And as for How to Dismantle an Amotic Bomb… The less said the better!!!!

Commercially yes… but quality… no way!!!

U2 are still waiting for their comeback!!!

Hell forgot King of America by Elvis Costello!!!

Ozzy- “Blizzard of Ozz?” How the hell did everybody miss this?? He would be dead right now if it weren’t for that album.
some other common ones-
Aerosmith- “permanent vacation”
AC/DC- “Back in Black”
U2- “all that you can’t leave behind”
Jane’s Addiction- “Strays” (not their best work, but pretty damn good)

I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Learning To Crawl (Pretenders). Granted, it’s not like they were doing poorly in terms of sales up to this point, but this one really made them huge. And to record it after half the band dying…that’s a comeback for sure.

Neil Diamond 12 Songs

Oh and by the way, LISTEN TO U2′S POP FROM BEGINNING TO END BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SLAG ON IT!!! It may be their most underappreciated and misunderstood album. Achtung Baby was their true comeback album. 12 years into their career and they released their best work. All That You Can’t Leave Behind was more of a “welcome back” album.

blondie, bo exit, the curse of blondie, johnny cash, american recordings, ac/dc, back inblack, mark knopfler, sailing to philadelphia

Dylan records mentioned so far:

John Wesley Harding
Blood on the Tracks
Infidels
Oh Mercy
Time Out of Mind
Modern Times

Who the hell includes Mariah Carey on a list like this!We are talking actual music acts and talented people not Screamers with their boobs hanging out!

dinosaur jr. - beyond
built to spill - you in reverse
morrissey - you are the quarrey
lou reed - new york
bob dylan - infadels (kinda)
neil young - freedom
bruce springsteen - the rising
television - television
patti smith - gone again
manic street preachers - everything must go
john cale - hobosapiens
gang of four - return the gift
roy orbison - mystery girl
red hot chili peppers - californication
beck - guero
brian wilson - smile

Lou Reed has had multiple “comeback” albums, including Transformer, The Blue Mask, and New York.

Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
The Beach Boys - Sunflower

harrison’s ‘cloud nine’ was his best since all ‘things must pass’.

Roxy Music’s “Avalon” should be added to the list.

Lick It Up by the awesome KISS !!

Chinese Democracy, GNR, 2009

Aerosmith - Pump

loretta lynn - van lear rose

oasis - don’t believe the truth
Richard Ashcroft - Keys to The World

Bob Dylan - “Time Out Of Mind”

Tom Waits - “Swordfishtrombones”

Steve Earle - “I Feel Alright”

Californication, RHCP

definition of a comeback

Ill Communication - Beastie Boys

Richard Butler’s solo debut!

The Allman Brothers Band -Hittin’ The Note. The album reversed a 20 year slump in creative writing

Nine Inch Nail -With Teeth

Zevon, first in the eighties with Sentimental Hygiene, then he left again, came back a third time with Life’ll Kill Ya. I’m still expecting some sort of Lazarus-like resurrection and a fourth comeback….

How come nobody considered Billy Joel’s An Innocent Man as a comeback or his Storm Front album?

weezer-green album
johnny cash-american recordings
jim carry-23……….

californication red hot chili peppers, they got fruciante back with his awesome riffs

I second the suggestion of Brian Wilson’s “SMiLE.” It brought to light a missing piece of rock history, reintroduced to the world the most talented recording artist in the history of popular music, and most importantly spawned an outpouring of admiration and appreciation for a guy who’s dealt with a lot. Here’s one from me, submitted for your approval- how about Nirvana with the “lost” single “You Know You’re Right” on their self-titled greatest hits album? Dudes had a hit Modern Rock radio single almost an entire decade after their last studio album and with a dead lead singer.

For whoever said R.E.M.’s “Automatic for the People,” their album released before this one had a little song on it entitled “Losing my Religion” that you might want to ask your friends and family about. It had a mandolin and everything.

Blood on the Tracks. Nothing else comes close.

U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Santana - Supernatural
Blink 182 - Blink 182
Sting - Brand New Day
Oasis…oh wait, we’re still waiting on a comeback.

Madonna - Ray of Light
Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi

Paul Westerberg-Stereo/Mono
The Cure-Head on The Door
New Order-Get Ready

Ringo Starr-Time Takes Time

People keep referencing John, Paul, and George, but after a string of hits in the early 70’s, Ringo disappeared into a haze of booze, only to re-emerge sober and more creative than ever in the 90’s. This is a man who hit his personal artistic peak after 50 years of age and kept getting better well into his 60’s, even if few noticed.

Recent comebacks are the only ones I can think of:

Californication: One Hot Minute was good, but this reestablished them as a premier rock act and that has helped spring them onto By the Way and Stadium Arcadium.

All That You Can’t Leave Behind: U2 was on the way towards irrelevency after Pop, and they deserved it. This, while nothing compared to Achtung Baby, resonated in a way that made them relevant again.

Supernatural: The number of times I heard “Hey, have you heard of this hot new artist Santana” has made me sick. But it does prove the point that Santana was not relevant, and then this album came out and he was.

American Idiot: When this album came out I didn’t care. Did anyone care about Green Day? Does anyone now? There you have it. The comeback was achieved.

Nas - STILLMATIC (more so than Hip-hop is dead)
LL Cool J - MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
Common - BE
RHCP - CALIFORNICATION
Pearl Jam - PEARL JAM

not understanding the posts for Plans Transatlanticism is widely regarded as Death Cab’s best album Pearl Jam “Pearl Jam” has gotta be considered

Radiohead never left the building so you can’t name their “comeback” album.

Next!

Also whoever put the Beatle’s No. 1’s is an idiot same goes for whoever put The Wall.

DMB-Busted Stuff
Death Cab For Cutie’s newest album is not a comeback album, transatlanticism (the album before Plans) is alot better than Plans
Paul Simon- Surprise

Neil Young never had a “comeback” record because Neil Young never made a “bad” record. Neither has Wilco. If you want to argue with me, just stop listening to music. Forever. Seriously, its not doing you any good.

My vote goes to Pearl Jam’s eponymous latest album.

great call on Mellencamp’s Freedom’s Road — that album is one spectacular piece of work from one fabulous songwriter. not sure why it’s not getting more run.

“Sky Blue Sky”-Wilco
“Around the Sun”-R.E.M.
“B rainw ashed “-Geo rge Harrison
“White Album”-The Beatles
“Stand Up”-Dave Matthews
“Plans”-Death Cab for Cutie

Captain Beefheart Shiny Beast
(after he couldn’t get the original bat chain puller back from Frank)

Skip James Devil Got my Woman

Marianne Faithful Broken English

We’re an American Band

iron maiden number of the beast
the ramones brain drain
sting …nothing like the sun

peter gabriel 3(most bigger than so)

Muddy Waters, Hard Again

Strays- Jane’s Addiction

Year Zero, although a great album, would not be considered a come back album. A more fitting comback for NIN would be either The Downward Spiral or With Teeth Both coming out after Trent was on hiatus for quite a few years.

Jane’s Addiction; “Strays” was badass, so was Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Last Man Standing, and whether you like it or not Metallica’s “St. Anger” rocked! Also way too many people posting who don’t know the meaning of the word ‘comeback.’

“Rather Ripped” Sonic Youth
“Guero” Beck
“The Woods” Sleater-Kinney
“Achtung Baby” U2

Muddy Waters- Hard Again
U2- All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation. This album brought them back to the top of the charts with hit singles. Of course a little collaberation with Run-DMC around this time didn’t hurt their come back cause

thats because nobody cares about scott stapps solo “effort”

Curt Kirkwood “Snow”
Evan Dando “Baby I’m Bored”
The Lemonheads “The Lemonheads”
Pearl Jam “Pearl Jam”

cowbell made a huge comeback on The Rapture’s Echoes

also nobody mentioned Scott Stapp’s solo effort

Mule Variations-Tom Waits
Time out of mind-Bob Dylan

Genesis - THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY - This progressive rock masterpiece brought it all together for Genesis. Prior recording highlighted their unique hybrid of classical/folk/theatrical rock….but The Lamb - wow!

Peter Gabriel - SO - This album brought Peter’s music to the mainstream.

Brian Wilson - SMILE - This album was a long time coming, but worth the wait.

King Crimson - DISCIPLINE - KC reinvents itself. What I love abought this line-up is the unique interplay between ther guitar work of Fripp, and the guitar work of Adrian Belew. Fripp is like a super precise guitar computer….playing intricate runs and knowing every note he plays. Then there’s Belew…using feedback for sonic howls, bending his neck, he’s all over the place. Nice blending of different styles.

David Bowie - REALITY - Bowie’s a changling, and his career has had many ups and downs. To me, this album was a return to the magical period of Bowie that is my favorite - The Ziggy and Diamond Dog days.

Warren Zevon - SENTIMENTAL HYGENE - Great album! Of course, having the guys from REM sit in as your band doesn’t hurt.

The ultimate comeback alubum that I loved from start to finish was Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask. Love it.

To elaborate on my recent post on Meat Loaf: To qualify as a “comeback” album, you have to actually COME BACK.

I agree with the following, that have appeared in several posts:
American Idiot
Double Fantasy
Centerfield
Cloud 9
American Recordings

But for you folks who selected Bat Out of Hell II, make sure to take your meds every day.

Some people forget “London Calling” came when the Clash’s backs were against a wall when “Give ‘Em Enough Rope” bombed.

“Time out of mind” by Bob Dylan

“Double Fantasy” John Lennon and Yoko Ono
“Cloud Nine” George Harrison
“Musicology” Prince
“You Are The Quarry” Morrissey

this has been buggin me. why is dave’s picture up at the main page link? he’s not mentioned at all. and no, busted stuff was not a comeback album. the crappy everyday album had three huge hits and they were like the 5th biggest touring band that year.

i say santana. with that one album. where he just sat in the background and recycled some solos and made a lot of money.

I wrote ‘know’ instead of ‘no,’ but i’m not going to explain myself to you people, for I’m drunk and so be it…

To all those of you with know ability to hear good rock and roll, let me just inform you that Pearl Jam’s ‘Pearl Jam’ is that good. Aside from that, here are some other options…

Warren Zevon - The Wind (though both a comeback and a farewell…)

Prince - Musicology
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) - An Other Cup
Santana - Supernatural
JOHNNY CASH - AMERICAN RECORDINGS…

RHCP, “Californication”
Stone Temple Pilots, “No. 4″
Pearl Jam, “Pearl Jam”

Haha to whoever suggested Chinese Democracy. If only

Cloud 9 by George Harrison
Sleepwalker by The Kinks
12 Songs by Neil Diamond

You Are The Quarry -Morrissey (not even funny how badly this needs to be on the list!)

Freedom - Neil Young (after the otherwise forgettable 80’s - Rockin’ in the Free World, Wrecking Ball - ’nuff said)

American Recordings - Johnny Cash

Cosmic Thing - B’52s (were bigger than they were originally, which I believe is the best definition of a comeback)

Nick of Time - Bonnie Raitt (see B’52s - set up really great albums from the early 90s)

Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J (despite the opening admonishment to not call it a comeback, it certainly was after “I’m That Type of Guy”)

Van Lear Rose -Loretta Lynn (genius)

The Rising -Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Finally, the Dolly Parton bluegrass records, starting with “The Grass is Blue” I believe.

As far as Automatic for the People, IT FOLLOWED THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUM TO THAT POINT! THEREFORE, IT IS NOT A COMEBACK!

Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead

Oasis - Don’t Believe the Truth

Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind

what kind of idiot puts the cure’s wish on here, that was done right after their disintegration album which was their big one,how could it be a comeback?
also, the wall? what the hell are you guys like 12. also i see alot on here for rem’s automatic album, which is their big album, but honestly they just got down with out of time (duh! losing my religion their biggest individual song)

the chili peppers Californication is the obvious one that is the definition of a comeback album,
more recently, i would call morrissey’s you are the quarry a comeback album
also probably david bowie’s outside started his comeback after his abysmal 80’s output
the cramps-stay sick!
what about wilco-yankee foxtrot hotel, they didn’t really put out a bad album (although, summerteeth is a bit too saccharine at times)
they managed to pull out of a nose dive for that one
not really sure if i agree with the bob dylan one’s as i think good as i’ve been to you and world gone wrong were great albums, people just started paying attention again with time out of mind

Flaming Lips “the soft bulletin”

Sonic Youth “Rather Ripped”

New Order “Waiting For The Siren’s Call”

XTC “Apple Venus Pt. 1″

The Beatles “No. 1’s”

Brian Wilson “Smile”

Robyn Hitchcock “Ole Taranchala”

Morrissey “You Are The Quarry”

Misfits “Famous Monsters”

Now if only Billy Ocean would get out of my car and start working on that comeback album!!!

Steve Earle-I Feel Alright

Although “Train a Comin” was released earlier, IIRC, Steve started writing songs for “I Feel Alright” when he was still in the pokey. Plus it’s way more of a comeback album in theme.

Bob Dylan: Oh Mercy
Solomon Burke: Don’t Give Up on Me
Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird
And have to agree with somebody who mentioned Duran Duran and tha Wedding album + Take That’s return without Robbie Williams. THAT was surprising.

jjjpnuts I know they never had “hits” before Touch of grey but they did have a peak in the early 70’s with American Beauty and Workingmans Dead, and Europe 72.

Santana-Supernatural

nin - year zero

Californication,because the musical genius John Frusciante came back to the band and those four together are magic!!

Definitely “RAGGED GLORY” from Neil Young

One word:

CALIFORNICATION

Eric Clapton - “Unplugged”
Peter Gabriel - “So”
George Harrison - “Cloud Nine”
Melissa Etheridge - “Yes, I Am”

I know everyone’s been saying American Recordings by Johnny Cash, and its well deserving, but Live at Folsom Prison was a big comeback album for him too. That was like his From Elvis in Memphis at the time, he was an afterthought at that point.

Pink Floyd The Wall

Back in Black — AC/DC
Yes I’m A Witch — Yoko Ono
Third Stage — Boston

Yes, American Idiot is a punk album. And yes, I have seen the Buzzcocks live, own two of their records, and I own every album by the Clash. So don’t start with me.

Skull and Bones - Cypress Hill
The W - Wu-Tang Clan
Fishscale - Ghostface Killah
With Teeth - NIN
Battle for Los Angeles - RATM
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard - Paul McCartney

Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
Low Budget - The Kinks
Californication - RHPC

This 3 albums share the same story: the bands were huge, then almost die and finally return to life. Well, The Kinks are dead again but that’s just life and the passing of years.

American Doll Posse - TORI AMOS
The emancipation of Mimi - MARIAH CAREY
Aerial - KATE BUSH

Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones
Violent Femmes: Why Do Birds Sing?
Sonic Youth: Murray Street
Screaming Trees: Dust
Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin
The Fall: Fall Heads Roll

James Gang-Bang. After Walsh left.

Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night (although Rumours is clearly their best album, this one had some brilliant singles)

Bruce Springsteen - The Rising (since Tunnel of Love he’d done hardly anything interesting)

John Lee Hooker - The Healer

David Gray - Life in Slowmotion (despite the fact that he released another album after White Ladder, that one seemed to have done nothing - Life in Slowmotion rocks)

totally agree with “musicology” by Prince(and if anyone wants to see why he’s one of the most underrated guitarists EVER, go on YouTube and watch his performance of “while my guitar gently weeps” at his induction into the rock and roll hall of fame)

Meat Loaf- Bat Out Of Hell II
Pearl Jam- Pearl Jam(Self-Titled)
Prince-Music ology

silverchair? straight lines? have you and I been listening to the same album/song? its an excercise in being an over ambitious wanker . . . and not in the good way (see Pink Floyd, Mike Patton and Tori Amos). While i applaud their attempts at ridding the shackles of being grunge pretenders their past two albums have tanked. just because you have a frontman who has a ‘grand vision’ doens’t equal musical alchemy.

silverchair - young modern, not out in the US yet but massive in aus. straight lines the first single could go number one. seriously.

Ac/Dc - Back in Black
Feeder - Comfort in sound

both of these albums were recorded after the death of a band member

Green Day didn’t come back & kick anyones ass. They put on fashionable trendy eyeliner & wrote poppy avril lavigne-type songs & promoted themselves to death & with the help from a major record label, tricked you stupid twat kids into thinking they’re punk because you never heard a buzzcocks album or even london calling from the clash.

what a joke, green day didn’t kick anyones ass, they just sold out, big difference. I say “sold out”… but it’s not like they had much credbility by the time the HORRIBLE american idiot came along anyway.

“Ragged Glory” Neil Young

Kate Bush - Aerial.
The Clash - Combat Rock ( very few people liked Sandinista when it was released, though they´ll deny it today after it´s been hailed as a masterpiece ahead of it´s time ).
And though technically not a BeeGees album, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever sure worked wonders for their career…

“LETS DANCE”! david bowie!!

Greenday- American Idiot

no on liked greenday..everyone thought they were just another punk band…but they came back with like one of th greatest CD’s of our time!

All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
R.E.M - Automatic For the people
The Cure - Wish
The Beatles - Abbey Road

Paul simon - Graceland and more recenly SMILE

Yoko Ono - ‘I’m a Witch’. After 40 years of being derided for her musical outings,the new century sees her with a number of hit dance tracks and an album getting four and five star reviews. Still doing her thing in her 70’s.

Centerfield by John Fogerty which came out in 1985 after a ten year (!) hiatus. And now, 22 years later, he is among the best of all live performers, giving no feeling of an oldies show that so many others his age inflict on the audience. And his guitar playing seems better than ever. Which is scary because he was always great.

“American Idiot,” Green Day - Everyone counted them out as a bunch of burnt-out, thirty-something punks, but they came back and kicked your ass.

“Don’t Believe the Truth,” Oasis - Same as above.

“Double Fantasy,” John and Yoko - After five years, the greatest songwriter of all time came back to us, if only for one album.

I agree with the one who said “Meddle” by Pink Floyd. After the breakdown with Syd following “Piper”, it was the first real triumph in their new incarnation and it layed the foundation for what would become their sound on the legendary classics that followed.

fleetwood mac “the dance” (even though it was mostly old stuff, there was some great new stuff peppered in, and it was true return to for and a live album to boot)
tina turner “private dancer” (all the world thought her marriage to ike had a better chance of making comeback then her music career, and she rocked it like only she could)
meat loaf “bat out of hell 2″ (who even knew he was still alive until this behemoth of a record came out?)
bonnie raitt “nick of time” (proved everyone and their mother wrong with this one)
carlos santana “supernatural (his best album since abraxas)

I wish Chinese Democracy does it for Axl as THE GREATEST COMEBACK ALBUM IN THE LAST DECADE. And how about ‘Contraband’ by Velvet Revolver featuring the discarded Gunners?

-American recordings- A truly great album by a truly amazing artist, Johnny Cash
-Back in black- Only ac/dc could survive their singer passing away
-American Idiot- Hate the band, but their effort is applaudable

definitely TIME OUT OF MIND (DYLAN)
also:
FLAMING PIE (McCARTNEY)
DOUBLE FANTASY (LENNON)
AMERICAN RECORDINGS (CASH)
SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST (ELTON)
FULL MOON FEVER (TOM PETTY)
UNPLUGGED (ERIC CLAPTON)
SURPRISE (PAUL SIMON)
SUPERNATURAL (SANTANA)
PERMANENT VACATION (AEROSMITH)
SMILE (BRIAN WILSON)
CALIFORNICATION (CHILI PEPPERS)

It seems weird, but Sgt Peppers seems like a big comeback.No one really thought The Beatles would retain their popularity. I mean revolver was awesome, but Sgt Pepper brought back everyone’s attention back to the Beatles

Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
RHCP - Californication
You Am I - Convicts
Tori Amos - American Doll Posse
Slayer - Christ Illusion
Corrosion of Conformity - In The Arms of God
The Stooges - The Weirdness
No Doubt - Rock Steady

Bands needing a comeback album
QOTSA
(Please)APC
The Tea Party
AC/DC
The Smashing Pumpkins
Mr Bungle (we can dream)

Wow, I can’t believe no one has said Beggar’s Banquet by The Stones…definitely has to be up there. Some Girls too, for that matter. Also, I’d throw John Wesley Harding in there, just because Dylan had sort of disappeared for a while there. Blood on the Tracks and TIme Out of Mind are other Dylan comeback albums. Northern Lights - Southern Cross was a bit of a comeback for The Band, although not a complete return to form. Good call on Abbey Road and Morrison Hotel.

Also, one album I’d call a comeback is Meddle by Pink Floyd. They had Piper, then Barrett left and they sort of meandered around for a few years, but then they came around with a very good album in Meddle that consistently had very well written songs for the first time since Piper, and it allowed them to continue on into Dark Side of the Moon.

Cheap Trick, “Rockford” (2006)

Achtung Baby was really U2’s comeback record, and definitely one of the best ever. Rattle and Hum had just tanked as the kinda-follow-up to the hugeness of Joshua Tree, and they came back with an undeniable masterpiece that was written in an entirely new musical language (for them). It was arguably the biggest succesful asthetic switch of a major rock act since Sgt Pepper.

Excellent call by one of the posters about Back in Black.

I also include the last Pixies LP because it was a wild rock album after the let down of Bossanova, and they enjoyed their largest touring audience behind that record, shortly before breaking up.

My top five would be

Dylan - time out of mind
Cash - American Recordings
U2 - Achtung Baby
AC/DC - Back in Black
Pixies - Trompe Le Monde

How about a list of bands that need a comeback record and might realistically do so? Here’s five who I still have faith in:

Stephen Malkmus (as Pavement or solo)
Metallica
Wilco (I mean, I loved the last one, but everyone else seems to hate it)
Strapping Fieldhands
Jandek

AHA, I thought “in the dark” too, but you could make the case that you can’t have a comeback if you were never there in the first place. Before “touch of gray” the grateful dead never had a previous mainstream hit.

Shawn, you pointed out “Ragged Glory” by Neil Young. Although that was a great album, and I believe his best, the album before that (I believe it was called Freedom) included “Rockin in the free world” and was the more important overall album and I believe was the comeback album. When Young is referred to as the “godfather of grunge” I believe they are referencing not only the Live Rust material, but the Freedom/Ragged Glory era.

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry

Here are a few to think about.
Johnny Cash - Amercian Recordings
Santana-Supernatur al
Bob Dylan - Blood on the tracks
AC/DC’ - Back in Black
J. Lennon/Y. Ono - Double Fantasy
I would also count,
The Traveling Wilburys - Vol 1, as a comeback for all 5 of them.
I can’t believe nobody said, The Greateful Dead - In The Dark, the biggest comeback of the late 80’s and the birth of touch of grey heads every where.

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever, not only a comeback album, but his greatest achievement.

Physical Graffiti
Morning View
The Devil & God Are Raging Inside me
Because of the Times
Legend / Marley
Aenima

Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go. A true comeback album - their best and most successful work, and a mere year after losing the key member of the group…

I’ll give one. How about The Bends by Radiohead. They were stashed away as a one hit wonder, then dropped that album out of nowhere. NOBODY expected an album of that magnitude from those guys.

for anybody who mentions madonna’s “ray of light”…evenn though “betime stories” wasn’t her most successful album, it is not even close to a career lowpoint since it contains “take a bow”, her best selling single to date. that alone should take ray of light out of contention for this list

Morrison Hotel

Chris- you Overacheiver, you…let’s start a music rag.

My vote would be for “Sgt. Pepper’s”. People forget that there were rumors going around that the Beatles were going to break up after they quit touring.

Duran Duran - the wedding album!

May not be remembered today, but in the early 90’s it brought them back from obscurity. Included Come Undone and Ordinary World.

those are all great choices. but you are (surpisingly) forgetting number 1…”Time out of Mind”. Even though was always amazing, that is the album that proved to everyone that even when he hes almost 60, he’s still 100000 times better than anyone at their best, and “love and theft” and “modern times” are just as good. when you make a trio of records 40 years into your career that are better than any other trio of consectutive records (besides dylan himself,the beatles and the stones) , thats really saying something

Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt’s record label was about to give up on them until Dont’t Speak became a huge hit

“Surprise”, Paul Simon

bat out of hell 2 - Meatloaf

Read the criteria people. A comeback album doesn’t have to be *the best* of that particular artist/band, rather a return to form after a successful career defibrillation following (a) the death of a prominent member or members (b) a losing-streak of lousy material (c) rehab (d) self-imposed hiatus.

The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
Iggy Pop - The Idiot
John Farnham - Whispering Jack
AC/DC - Back in Black
Inxs - Switch
Rush - Vapor Trails
RHCP - Californication
John Lennon - Double Fantasy
Santana - Supernatural
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern by the Grace of God (Live)
Tears For Fears - Elemental

Foo Fighters debut (while a great album)is technically not a comeback: it’s a completely different band to Nirvana.

Jimmy, The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi came after The Soft Bulletin, which many consider their best. If anything it was a continuation of their success. Plus, the albums from “Transmissions…” on grew by leaps and bounds and we all good except MAYBE Zarieeka, and that’s simply because its so hard to listen to all 4 discs at once that I know I usually gloss over that one.

weezer - green album
radiohead - kid a

Steve Earle- Train A Comin’

A fine record from a man who’s life reads better than a behind the music. 5 years without recording an album followed by a year in jail…Train A Comin’ was his first in a long run of 6 great records.

Also, Bob Dylan “Time Out of Mind”

Baby I’m Bored- Evan Dando
The last Wedding Present cd

I second the love for George Harrison’s Cloud Nine.
McCartney has had a comeback per decade:
80’s- Flowers in the Dirt
90’s-Flaming Pie
00’s-Chaos and Creation in The Backyard.

pearl jam - pearl jam

Anyone mention Dylan’s “Time out of Mind”?

Matthew makes a good point about Beck and Kings of Leon.

I disagree with him on the Chili Peppers however…..they may have sold a bunch of copies of One Hot Minute, but if you go back and compare it to Californication it doesn’t come close….especially when you look at perception of the band in 1999 compared to 1996.

U2- All that you can’t leave behind
Bruce- the rising
Dylan- modern times

How was Californication a comeback album? One Hot Minute sold 4 million copies! And it was a VERY good, underrated album. So quit posting it and Guero by Beck. Sea Change was his artistic peak, he didn’t come back from it, he came down from it. And Kings of Leon? It’s their newest album, jackasses, not a comeback. The last album was a breakthrough success for them. How is this a comeback?

Aerosmith - Pump

Judas Priest- Angle of Retribution

Selections are arranged in no particular order and extend beyond the rock genre. I also tried to balance critical praise with commercial achievement:

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (re-established her in the UK and gave her her second US Hot 100 hit since her debut album in the form of “Running Up That Hill”)

Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded (career burnout to clubland’s new royalty of melancholy)

Aimee Mann - Magnolia OST (well, technically it’s not her solo album, but you get the idea…)

David Bowie - Let’s Dance

Kylie Minogue - Light Years (literally resuscitated her career by returning to her pop roots, but this time done with camp and kitsch)

Texas - White on Blonde

Blur - Blur (squandered Parklife’s momentum by having “The Great Escape” compete with Oasis; they had the last laugh though with this one)

U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind (focus regained, back to creating pure pop-rock songs)

Maybe it would be more of a debut, but if you can call All Things Must Pass by George Harrison a comeback (he was underappreciated in the Beatles but successful none theless) then that should be near the top of the list.

Some that I think are missing from the list:

U2- All You Can’t Leave Behind
(Some classics on here)
Green Day- American Idiot (One of the best rock albums in years)
Nas- Hip Hop is Dead (One of the best rap albums in years)
Bruce Springsteen- The Rising (I put this one out cause it introduced a new generation to Bruce)

Jeff Beck - Who Else?
King Crimson - Discipline
Tina Turner - Private Dancer
Mitch Easter - Dynamico
The Bears - Car Caught Fire
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature

I agree on Mellencamp’s Freedom’s
Road
and Bowie’s Earthling

Definitely Green Day’s American Idiot.

Can’t wait for The Killers comeback album…Sam’s Town didn’t cut it - too pretentious, too soon.

flaming lips - yoshimi battles the pink robots

All That You Can’t Leave Behind - U2
Californication - RHCP
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam

and hopefully we will see Rage Against the Machine on this list in the somewhat near future.

californication
All that you cant leave behind

Neil Young - Freedom
Green Day - American Idiot
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Cheap Trick - Sex, America and Cheap Trick (box set)
U2- All That You Can’t Leave Behind

whats with the picture of dave matthews.

They have never had a great comeback album, nor are they on your list.

If it’s in response to the underrated bands list..they are not underrated…they are extremely overrated considering their last three releases.

Paul McCartney : Chaos and Creation In The BackYard

George Harrison : Cloud Nine

John Lennon : Double Fantasy

u2 all that you cant leave behind after pop they where ready to quit. and it also had americas come back song in my opinion in walk on

“What’s Wrong With This Picture?” by Van Morrison. With 1991’s “Hymns To The Silence” being his last previous great release, this 2003 disc restored his reputation after a series of so-so recordings through the mid to late 90’s. In fact, the five best songs on this disc rank with the best stuff he’s ever done, and that’s saying something.

Cheers

Kings of Leon “Because of the Times”

RHCP- Californication
The Band- Northern Lights-Southern Cross
Def Leppard- Hysteria
Santana- Supernatural
Bruce Springsteen- Born in the USA
ZZ Top- Eliminator
Pearl Jam- Pearl Jam
Duran Duran- The Wedding Album
Peter Gabriel- So
Steve Winwood- Back in the High Life
Elvis- 68 Comeback Special
Muddy Waters- Hard Again
King Crimson- Discipline
Funkadelic- One Nation Under a Groove
Kiss- Revenge
Neil Young- Rust Never Sleeps

1. RHCP: Californication
2. NIN: Fragile/With Teeth
3. Weezer: Green Album
4. Depeche Mode: Ultra
5. The new Smashing Pumpkins (can’t wait to buy it!!!)

Green Day-American Idiot
RHCP-Californication
Pin k Floyd-The Wall (Just b/c Animals wasn’t a huge success, despite the fact of it being a good album)
Led Zep-IV (Same reason as the above in the case of III)
George Harrison-Cloud Nine
AC/DC-Back In Black

Mary Weiss - Dangerous Game
Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind

Do you ever get the feeling that RS is mostly written by old people trying to reclaim their youth?

Tina Turner - Private Dancer
Boston - Thrid Stage
Warren Zevon - The Wind
John Lennon - Double Fantasy
Bruce Springsteen - The Rising
Prince - 3121
Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard
Billy Joel - Piano Man

Green Day, “American Idiot”

Mariah Carey-Emancipation of Mimi (that was a HUGE comeback!)

Tina Turner-Private Dancer

Loretta Lynn-Van Lear Rose

Extraordinary Machine-Fiona Apple (AMAZING ALBUM!)

I’m hoping that Tori Amos’ new album American Doll Posse joins this list, it’s a really good album and might get her the recognition she had in the 90’s.

Let’s try a few from this decade:

Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First (As a side note… their next album, “New Maps of Hell”, is due out July 10th)
Neil Young - Prairie Wind
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind

PJ’s selftitled also works, since it was a commercial comeback and, as the band’s stated, it was a difficult record to make.

There aren’t too many great comeback albums… and there’s a reason why.

You guys nailed it with the five up there: no question, it’s “From Elvis in Memphis,” the greatest album-proper he ever recorded. Actually, the NBC TV special he made contains his (and perhaps rock’s) greatest performances in those “sit-down” shows he did with Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, etc. He was the King, and he cemented his legacy from ‘68-’69.

Think about this aLOT…
“ABBEY ROAD”…even though it was released BEFORE Let it Be, we now know it was recorded AFTER.
They had lost the thread…(where is the DVD of the Movie?)and decided to give it “one more shot”, as it were, and their BOSS-in-the-studio, Sir George Martin laid down the law and said, “no nonsense boys, we do it like in the old days.”
And our heroes dropped their ladle into that kettle of Beatles-Magic ONE MORE TIME…the comeback of all time.

David Bowie - “Earthling”
Stone Temple Pilots - “No.4″
Loretta Lynn - “Van Lear Rose”
Depeche Mode - “Ultra”
The Cure - “The Cure”
Johnny Cash -”American Recordings”
Tom Petty - “Wildflowers”
Moby - “Play”

Petty’s Highway Companion.
Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl.

Pearl Jam-self titled

Freedom, just proved neil young’s music will never die, still relavent today, and as an after thought he’s the best guitarist ever just listen to hurricane.

Time Out Of Mind- Bob Dylan

Unplugged- Eric Clapton

Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple

Pig Lib- Stephen Malkmus

Icky Thump- The White Stripes (hopefully)

Madonna, “Ray of Light.” I guess she really hadn’t veered too far off the commercial path, but neither “Erotica” or “Bedtime Stories” packed the sales or critical punch that her previous records, especially “Like A Prayer” or “True Blue” did. “Ray of Light” sold as many copies as “Like a Prayer,” handed her a bunch of Billboard top 10’s, more than a few Grammys, and (most importantly) garnered her some serious respect within the industry, which she’d never really had much of before. More recently she’s pulled out of a commercial tailspin with “Confessions on a Dancefloor”; from which “Hung Up” tied her with Elvis as the artist with the most top 10 hits EVER (take that mariah). And since she’s currently working with Pharrell, Timbaland, and Justin Timberlake… it’s probably safe to say her next offering may end up being among her biggest!

Guero - Beck

Don’t Believe The Truth - Oasis

Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan, and earlier in his career “Blood on the Tracks”

weezer- the green album
Leonard Cohen- I’M Your Man

Best comeback albums ever are definately Bob Dylan “Time Out of Mind” and Paul Simon “Graceland.

Johnny Cash-American Recordings
AC/DC-Back in Black
Tina Turner-Private Dancer
U2-All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Bob Dylan-Time out of Mind
and yes, Mariah Carey-The Emancipation of Mimi

Babyface-”The Day”
D’Angelo-”Voodoo”
Musiq -”Luvandmusiq”
Janet Jackson-”The Velvet Rope”
Faith Evans-”The First Lady”
Erykah Badu”Worldwide Underground”
The Notorious B.I.G.-”Born Again”
Jay Z-”The Black Album”(even though it was released another year after the last album-and every last album before it-it really defined his streak)
Lil’ Kim-”The Naked Truth”
Beck-”Guero”
Green Day-”American Idiot”
Stone Temple Pilots-”No. 4″

RHCP “Californication”
Kings of Leon “Because of the Times”
Pearl Jam self titled
U2 “Before These Crowded Streets”

king crimson - discipline
nine inch nails - fragile
new order - power corruption and lies.
ween - the mollusk
meat puppets - too high to die
flaming lips - clouds taste metallic or the soft bulletin

stillmatic-nas
fishcale-ghostf ace

IMHO it’s gotta be Aerosmith’s “Permanent Vacation.”

If REM do one, that would make my day.

“Back in Black” AC/DC
C’mon. Their lead vocalist died only to replace him and record their most loved work.

Merle Haggard - If I Could Only Fly

King Crimson- Larks’ Tounges in Aspic
King Crimson- Discipline
King Crimson- Thrak
Yes- 90215
Brian Wilson- Smile
Martin Newell- Greatest Living Englishman
XTC- Apple Venus
Boston- Third Stage

“The Bends” - Radiohead

Graceland- Paul Simon
Blood On the Tracks- Bob Dylan
Van Leer Rose- Loretta Lynn
Smile- Brian Wilson

This is continued from my last one, The Dixie Chicks, i’m not a “country” fan but that album is great—Kudos R.Rubin. One of my fav’s of the year

If I could only fly - Merle Haggard

Loretta Lynn’s Von Lear Rose
Chili Peppers- Californication
Bruce Springsteen- The Rising

12 Songs-Neil Diamond
Full Moon Fever-Tom Petty
Oh, Mercy-Bob Dylan
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard-Paul McCartney

George Harrison’s Cloud Nine. It came after a five year layoff, and proved that he was as vital as ever.

The idiot that said Beck’s Guero…uhhhh, did you listen to Sea Change, they album before that? It’s his best album, a masterpiece.

It pains me, but Buckcherry were DEAD before that album they released last year. I mean, they were Flock of Seagulls dead…

And icons coming back from bad albums due to drug addictions don’t count, people!

Pearl Jam - “Pearl Jam”

Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers

Dolly Partons first bluegrass album ( can´t remember it´s name ). OK, so it´s not “rock”, but neither is Mariah and many other mensioned here. Paul Simon is a great example, and that album isn´t really “rock” either, so I guess the list is open to all genres. Edwyn Collins “Gorgeous George” made him famous with people who had never heard of him before, or listened to the Orange Juice, but I don´t know if that counts.

A couple of people have already mentioned that Dylan has had several comebacks - Blood on the Tracks and Time Out of Mind are just two of the most notable. Although Elton John isn’t quite in the same league - he has also had several returns to form. Someone mentioned Sleeping With the Past, you could also put in Made in England and The Captain and the Kid.

Part of this is that he’s inconsistent, though. He puts out a poor album, you figure he’s spent artistically, spending too much time partying with other stars, then he surprises you with a good one.

Lennon’s Double Fantasy wasn’t really much of a comeback. The album was released to ho-hums from the critics & public alike. It only took off after his death.

Joe Strummer’s “Streetcore” was a wonderful return to form..his best work in 23 years.

Maybe we should have something on “best swan songs”.

The Who -Endless Wire!

3121- Prince
Mama Said Knock You Out- LL Cool J
Contraband - Velvet Revolver (A big comeback for the individuals as opposed to the band)

Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
All That You Can’t Leave Behind - U2
American Idiot - Green Day

Bob Dylan- Time Out Of Mind
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication
Pearl Jam- Pearl Jam
U2- All You Can’t Leave Behind
Brian Wilson- SMiLE
Eric Clapton- Unplugged

“Midnight Love” by Marvin Gaye

How can it be anything but Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell 2? The other albums people mentioned might have brought an artist back from a string of disappointments or out of obscurity, but Bat Out of Hell 2 was a resurrection.

Oh - and Neil Young’s Ragged Glory

sleepwalker by the kinks

Why is Bob Dylan the greatest artiste of all time? Cuz he’s the only one to have not one, but TWO career comebacks with Blood On The Tracks in the 70s and Time Out Of Mind in the 90s. No one comes close

Beastie Boys- To the Five Boroughs

Bruce Springsteen - The Rising
Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (he never really left, but it had been a while since he was really the man, this shot him up huge, the second half of his great career)
Wallflowers - Rebel, Sweetheart (if anybody would have listened to this they would have realized that its a masterpiece)
Blues Traveler - Bridge
(last ones were if it doesn’t matter if “comebacks” are commercially huge, i don’t think they need to be)

Honestly, I think one of the best comebacks has to be Wierd Al’s Straight Outta Lynwood.

RHCP “californiacation” and Mariah carey’s “the emancipation of mimi”. both awesome albums by awesome artists.

Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard

tina’s private dancer
mariah’s mimi
weezer’ green album

here’s what i think…and remember it’s just my “opinion”…nothing more…

-american idiot by greenday
-stillmatic by nas
-chronic 2001 by dr. dre
-the emancipation of mimi by mariah carey…albums very average…but mariah carey’s career was like DONE…this saved her ass big time…
-untitled by blink-182

pearl jam “pearl jam”
Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”
Bruce Springsteen “The Rising”

I’m pretty surprised that no one’s mentioned this, but Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys resurrected a career that had long-since been considered dead in light of their then widely misunderstood previous release, Paul’s Boutique.

Sure, now everyone (or everyone in the know) agrees that Paul’s is one of, if not the, greatest rap albums ever made. But at this time, it was widely seen as a commercial flop and the beasties were written off for several years.

Check Your Head was then released and, well, the rest is history.

American Idiot - Green Day : one of the best albums in the past 20 years. An instant classic.

Tool - Lateralis : schism still rocks hard

NIN - the fragile : awesome record. love trents slow stuff

Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction : not as much of a comeback album as their biggest album after a 15 year career, but a huge influence on me

Beck - Guerro : the album that brought the awesome combo of Beck with the Dust Brothers back together. I wish the Beasties would follow suit…

Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam

American Idiot - Green Day

Whatever album rage against the machine might record this year

Ray of light - Madonna
American Idiot - Green Day
don’t believe the truth - Oasis
Gone Again - Patti Smith
Hip hop is dead - Nas
Stories from the city, stories from the sea - Pj Harvey
Lateralus - Tool
Taking the long way - Dixie Chicks
Year Zero - Nine Inch Nails (with teeth was a bit weak, on year zero trent is back and at full force.)

The Dixie Chicks managed to have a hit with Taking the Long Way even after pissing off their entire redneck fan base.

Lou Reed, New York
the last three Dylan albums
and I’d say that the Freedom was just a prelude to Neil Young’s real comeback album, Ragged Glory

Bryan Ferry - Frantic
David Bowie - Heathen
Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
Rush - Snakes and Arrows
Roxy Music - Avalon
Roger Waters - Amused to Death
Brian Eno - Another Day on Earth

why is weezer even mentioned here? they have had a fantastic career that has suffered no real breaks that would suggest they needed to even make a comeback?

is Supernatural by Santana a comeback album or his finally giving up his own music to make a commercially successful product? and that GUNS AND ROSES thing is a tired joke.HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY !

I would say “Pinkerton” was more Weezer’s comeback album than the Green Album.

i mentioned it before and i’ll agree with “k”…PRIVATE DANCER by Tina Turner probably tops the list. nobody thought she had an icecubes chance in hell of ever making music again. nobody saw this one coming at all

Haha… I’m surprised I haven’t seen Smile listed on here yet.

Everyone though Brian Wilson just became a recluse who relased a few mediocre not-so-great albums. As soon as he released Smile, he was touring again and making music that only he is capable of making.

How about Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth? After a few albums of Kim Gordon’s b.s. you get good pure rock and roll, maybe a bit different (and straightfoward) than their usual sound, but hey… I’ve heard them on mainstream radio, and I’d say that = comeback.

Tina Turner- private dancer

guns and roses chinese democracy?
democracy will truly come to china before this supposedly great comeback album ever see’s the shelf of any store

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

ment to say their initial sucess from Gordon.

Barenaked Ladies-Stunt
after their huge sucess their next two albums went a bit under the radar until Stunt exploded onto the charts.

Chinese Democracy - Guns N’ Roses!!!!

Chinese Democracy.

TLC - Fan Mail

“no scrubs” girlfriends

‘CHINESE DEMOCRACY’….IF IT EVER COMES OUT LOL!

Kid Rock, “Devil Without a Cause” his first album was released in the early 90’s and sat there in obscurity. Blew up with this album MANY years later.
Tom Petty, “Wildflowers” I don’t know if this guy ever really came back from anything, but after a few ho-hum solo efforts, made one the best albums of the 90’s.
Beck, “Odelay” Made a couple of less-than-exciting albums, then went megolithic with this one.

OK..two more that gotta be on the list:

Let’s Dance - David Bowie
John Fogerty - Centerfield

Santana- “Supernatural”

Madonna- “Ray of Light”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Californication”

Two Against Nature - Steely Dan

award winning comeback

Cheap Trick- Rockford

Oh Yeah…one other major comeback…

Cosmic Thing - B52s

Most of these already posted, but all belong on the comeback list.
Nick of Time - Bonnie Raitt
Chicago - 16 (and 17)
The Dance - Fleetwood Mac
90125 - Yes
All That You Can’t Leave Behind - U2

John Lennon Double Fantasy whatwhat

supernatural-santana
believe- cher
2001-dr.dre
permanent vacation-aerosmith
back in black-ac/dc

don’t forget that to actually have a comeback album, you have to have a career that is considered dead for a few years at least. nobody thought that most of the ones i mentioned would ever make ANY music again, and i know there are many others like them

Pearl Jam’s “Pearl Jam” really isnt that good, they havent put out anything great since Versus. The best comeback album ever is Green Day’s “American Idiot”, no one ever puts out the best album of their career 10 years into their career. It’s amazing without question

nas stillmatic is definately a solid album…i dont really knwo if you can count this as a comeback but with being dropped from their label and all of the adversity that they faced i think yankee hotel foxtrot by wilco

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Neil Diamond - 12 Songs

I will have to admit, I got a strange feeling that this upcoming Zeitgeist record by the Pumpkins will be one considered to be a great comeback record. Just from reading the few reviews of the album and comments from various artists who have heard it, I have a strange feeling this will start a new era for the Pumpkins. And as much as James and D’arcy are essential (image of the band), we all know that Billy and Jimmy are the core Pumpkins. Adore, was technically Billy’s solo record. Zwan was trying too hard to not be the Pumpkins.

nick of time-bonnie raitt
private dancer-tina turner
bat out of hell 2-meat loaf
hell freezes over-the eagles
the dance-fleetwood mac

Rolling Stones “Some Girls” Stones were in a lull bewteen 74-77
John Lennon “Double Fantasy” first record in five years
Green Day “American Idiot” their careers were dead, their best record since Dookie
Aerosmith “Permament Vacation” by far, the most unexpected comeback in all of rock hsitory
ACDC “Back in Black” how many bands get better after their lead singer dies?

Ozzy - Blizzard of Ozz; his first solo album after getting fired from sabbath;

ac/dc - back in black; you know cuz they just lost the coolest singer in rock and stuff

steve earle - train a comin; the whole prison thing and shit

supersuckers - evil powers of rock and roll - not really a comeback, i’m just hoping someone is curious who they are and checks them out

that aerosmith thing. you know.

Rush - Snakes & Arrows - as intense, dynamic, well-produced, intriguing, inspiring, transportational and rocking as they come these days; very inventive and well-conceived. Relentless hard work pays off. Right here, right now. You know it’s really good at a first listen and then it keeps geting better. Will be seen as a classic; it’s got just about the best of everything. And they rock their asses off. When they play Main Monkey Business live this summer everyone else will have to bow down.

Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Neil Young - Freedom

U2 has never had a bad album! Pop is a great album cover to cover, but because critics said it sucked, the sheep follow along and say it sucked. Some absolutely great songs came off POP.

Aerosmith - Pump or Permanent Vacation
Simply Red - Home (great album)
Rush - Counterparts
Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels
Robert Plant - The Principle of Moments
RHCP - Californication (One Hot Minute was not so hot)
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Ozzy - No More Tears
Green Day - American Idiot
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Depeche Mode - Violator & Playing the Angels

Ray Davies
Gang of Four
Patti Smith came back after a decade and slowly started becoming significant again.

American Idiot- Green Day
Like Matt O. said, it showed they could grow up and has sold something like 10 million copies.

i love that one guys suggestions of “The Rising” and “Supernatural.” they definitely go on the list. how about a more recent one with the Dixie Chicks’ latest album? they certainly enjoyed some success from that one after being dumped on for a few years and “sent out to pasture.”

pearl jam by pearl jam

wow, this is tough. So many “comeback” albums are crappy. From Elvis in Memphis and Graceland are perfect choices. How about Van Lear Rose which introduced Loretta Lynn to a new crowd.

Johnny Cash - Amercian Recordings
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation and Pump
Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl

AC/DC Razors Edge
Green Day American Idiot
The Stones Tatoo You

Van Halen - 1984
Aerosmith- Permanent Vacation
Foo Fighters - In you Honor

“Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Stree Shuffle” - Springsteen’s 2 albums pre-”Born To Run”

Also, Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”

Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic

Broke him out of Soul Coughing for good.

In order of unexpectedness
Chili Peppers - Californication
Green Day - American Idiot
Graceland
Dylan - Blood On the Tracks
Stones - Some Girls

Worst “comeback” I own - Mick Jagger’s Goddess In the Doorway. 5 stars Jann? I never trusted Rolling Stone again.

This is more Hip-Hop than Rock, but Nas Stillmatic. I know you guys hated it as you always seem to do with Nas. But that was the album that gave Nas his respect back in the Hip-Hopm community and despite what the mainstream media thinks most Hip-Hop fans feel he destroyed Jay-Z in their batle.

Lets hold the praise on the new Smashing Pumpkins album, at least until we can hear it. I know the feeling is that Jimmy and Billy were the important element of the Pumpkins and that James and Darcy didn’t matter. But Billy and Jimmy were also Zwan and if they come back with an all new lineup and plays weird arrangements of the old hits it won’t feel at all like the Pumpkins and people will ignore it just like the last two records.

Would Transformer by Lou Reed count as a comeback record?

Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie (huge return to form..has been on a nice creative run since)
Oasis - Don’t Believe The Truth (big comeback after two disappointing albums)
Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (hasn’t gone away since)

Nirvana “In Utero” ( a musical metamorphosis from beginning to end )

Prince “3121″ ( although “Musicology” was already the beginning of an uphill climb )

Björk “Vespertine” ( I didn’t think she could top “Homogenic” )

Dinosaur Jr. “Beyond” ( Pretty good, pretty good… minus 2 tracks, it’s near perfect! )

Paul Westerberg “Stereo/Mono” ( not widely known… my idea of a perfect, a very moving and heart-warming record!!! Go Paul!!! )

well its not out yet but on july 07,2007 the smashing pumpkins will put out there comback album out zeitgeist that will be the best cause billy and jimmy are geniuses so there people get ready to be amazed

ps californiacation is the best chilli’s album blood sugar sex magic is second

Brian WIlson’s self titled debut.
Jackson Browne’s “I’m ALive”.

Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond

Good call by I Can Tell with Californication. I completely forgot about that one. Is there anyone who thought the Chili Peppers would be relevant after the Navarro/One Hot Minute experiment fell apart, let alone come out with their 2nd best album and one of the strongest of the decade?

American Idiot - Greenday,
All That You Can’t Leave Behind - U2,
Hail to the Thief - Radiohead,
and of course Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco.

How about The Stones “Tattoo You”

Chili Peppers - Californiacation

This record had to be so good that it would forever erase the ridiculous “My Friends” and “Aeroplane” videos from our memories…and it succeeded.

Santana-Supernatural (Yes, the formula became stale and poppy in later years, but when this album came out, it reinvented Santana for a whole new era)

Bob Dylan-Time Out Of Mind (After critically maligned releases in the ’80s and early ’90s, this dark, reflective gem was the first of 3 successive masterpieces)

U2-All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Confirmed everyone’s hopes that Pop would be just a one-off dud)

Green Day-American Idiot (A career-defining album that successfully accomplished what so few punk bands have been able to do–grow up)

Bruce Springsteen-The Rising (Released months after 9/11 and seven years after the folky, divisive Tom Joad, this reunion with the E Street band had Bruce in classic form. The Rising was a spirited tribute from a voice America was happy to hear from.)

Californication-RHCP

Mariah Carey “The Emancipation of Mimi”

not the greatest album ever made, but the top selling album of 2005 and a best R&B album grammy is a helluva comeback…

How about John Mellencamp’s current album “Freedom’s Road?” Not sure what he’s coming back from since his previous releases have all been excellent, but “Freedom’s Road” is a tremendous piece of work.

NIN - “With Teeth”

You have to admit it’s not exactly reznor’s best work, but it helped him get his own shit straight. Without “With Teeth”, would we have seen or heard the phenomenon that is “Year Zero”?

Guns N’ Roses - Chinese Democracy!!!!!!

-oh wait……

Great call on Elton’s “Songs From The West Coast” a terrific album, although I would also suggest that his 1989 release “Sleeping With the Past” is also worthy of comeback status.

My picks would probably be Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind and the Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go (although the latter obviously didn’t make a dent on this side of the Atlantic; huge in Europe, though).

i’d have to go with frog dio kicked ass in black sabbath with heaven and hell but still not as good as ozzy though!

weezer - weezer(green album)

While not the most artistic record out there, Chicago 16 certainly brought one of America’s biggest selling bands back from obscurity.

Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell 2 brought his career back fron the dead.

Bob Dylan - Blood on the tracks
Pearl Jam - Pearl jam
Graceland is an excelent choice! best album of the 80’s.

Good call on 90125 by Yes. What about Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers or AC/DC’s Back in Black?

Green Day - American Idiot
U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation

I also think Metallica’s next album will put them on this list… just a hunch.

Allman Brothers Band- Seven Turns (Brought in Warren Haynes and Allen Woody to help rejuvenate these old road dogs.)

this is harder than your last list.

idk about anything as amazing as how you described it but….

Pearl Jam

and dinosaur Jr. new album

OHOHOHOHOH! got the perfect one!!!!

R.E.M.-Automatic for the People

they were going downhill before that album and they came back! so most definitely REM.

Neil Young’s 2nd last album “Prarie Wind” is much better than “Freedom”, in fact, “Greendale” was unreal too, this guy didn’t need a comeback because he never fell off in the first place.

Black Sabbath-Heaven and Hell

90125 by Yes,released late 1983,and included Billboard #1 hit single, Owner of a lonely heart.Yes had completely changed their sound, with a new guitarist & new producer.

Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs
Neil Diamond - 12 songs

Stone Temple Pilots, “No.4″
Depeche Mode, “ultra”
Pearl Jam, “Pearl Jam”