Just wondering what some of your favourite comeback albums are?, album's where band's or solo artists have been away for a while then come back with a really good album. Here's a few of mine:

The Cars - Move Like This

New Order - Music Complete

Suede - Bloodsports

The Verve - Forth

Echo and the Bunnymen - Evergreen

Prince - AOA

Crowded House - Time on Earth

Santana - Supernatural

Bob Dylan-Time Out of Mind

[Edited 4/16/18 2:41am]

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Tina Turner's Private Dancer, in retrospect, that was her comeback of a comeback album...

Basia - It's That Girl Again

Original 7ven - Condensate
Van Halen - A Different Kind Of Truth
The Monkees - Good Times
Gap Band - Y2K: Funkin' Till 2000 Comz
George Harrison - Cloud Nine
El DeBarge - Second Chance
Johnnie Taylor - Good Love
Sade - Soldier Of Love
Stevie Wonder - A Time To Love
Tears For Fears - Everybody Loves A Happy Ending
John Fogerty - Centerfield
Brand New Heavies - Get Used To It
Bell Biv DeVoe - Three Stripes
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Marigold Sky
Black Ivory - Continuum

Genesis - We Can't Dance

Bobby McFerrin - VOCAbuLarieS

Donald Fagen - Kamakiriad

I dont know .. I guess I am thinking a 'comeback' has to imply a massive return to commercial success or widespread awareness.... I suppose a 'comeback' could be an artist finally delivering a good album again.. for me, I am sticking with... big names who were either on thin ice or completely lost who came back bigger and more widely acclaimed than before and making everyone remember why they were so great in the first place.

5 instantly come to mind:

Tina Turner : Private Dancer, probably the bible on what a comeback album looks like.

Mariah Carey: Emancipation of Mimi, Im not a fan but she came back hard when the chips were down.

B-52's : Cosmic Thing, it felt like musical trends had just passed them by and then all of a sudden Love Shack and Roam.

Madonna : Ray of Light, yes even won her a golden globe.. but she needed HITS and needed to reassert herself as a leader and not as a follower... and she pretty much kicked everyone's ass with this.

Cher : Believe come on, she was no where and then had the biggest single of her life.

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

I dont know .. I guess I am thinking a 'comeback' has to imply a massive return to commercial success or widespread awareness.... I suppose a 'comeback' could be an artist finally delivering a good album again.. for me, I am sticking with... big names who were either on thin ice or completely lost who came back bigger and more widely acclaimed than before and making everyone remember why they were so great in the first place.

5 instantly come to mind:

Tina Turner : Private Dancer, probably the bible on what a comeback album looks like.

Mariah Carey: Emancipation of Mimi, Im not a fan but she came back hard when the chips were down.

B-52's : Cosmic Thing, it felt like musical trends had just passed them by and then all of a sudden Love Shack and Roam.

Madonna : Ray of Light, yes even won her a golden globe.. but she needed HITS and needed to reassert herself as a leader and not as a follower... and she pretty much kicked everyone's ass with this.

Cher : Believe come on, she was no where and then had the biggest single of her life.

Agree with your vision abouit it and agree with your choices espcially Madonna, Mariah and Cher, really bog comebacks.

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

I dont know .. I guess I am thinking a 'comeback' has to imply a massive return to commercial success or widespread awareness.... I suppose a 'comeback' could be an artist finally delivering a good album again.. for me, I am sticking with... big names who were either on thin ice or completely lost who came back bigger and more widely acclaimed than before and making everyone remember why they were so great in the first place.

5 instantly come to mind:

Tina Turner : Private Dancer, probably the bible on what a comeback album looks like.

Mariah Carey: Emancipation of Mimi, Im not a fan but she came back hard when the chips were down.

B-52's : Cosmic Thing, it felt like musical trends had just passed them by and then all of a sudden Love Shack and Roam.

Madonna : Ray of Light, yes even won her a golden globe.. but she needed HITS and needed to reassert herself as a leader and not as a follower... and she pretty much kicked everyone's ass with this.

Cher : Believe come on, she was no where and then had the biggest single of her life.

Great post.

I am not sure I would call Ray of Light a "comeback" though. Madonna was still very commercially popular in the 90's but I do think this album was her peak artistically and I feel critics began taking her serious as an artist (and not just an entertainer) after this album.

I think a better example for her is the Confessions era. It was a successful tour and a great commercial album. That album really introduced her as legend to the new millenium.

mjscarousel said:

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

I dont know .. I guess I am thinking a 'comeback' has to imply a massive return to commercial success or widespread awareness.... I suppose a 'comeback' could be an artist finally delivering a good album again.. for me, I am sticking with... big names who were either on thin ice or completely lost who came back bigger and more widely acclaimed than before and making everyone remember why they were so great in the first place.

5 instantly come to mind:

Tina Turner : Private Dancer, probably the bible on what a comeback album looks like.

Mariah Carey: Emancipation of Mimi, Im not a fan but she came back hard when the chips were down.

B-52's : Cosmic Thing, it felt like musical trends had just passed them by and then all of a sudden Love Shack and Roam.

Madonna : Ray of Light, yes even won her a golden globe.. but she needed HITS and needed to reassert herself as a leader and not as a follower... and she pretty much kicked everyone's ass with this.

Cher : Believe come on, she was no where and then had the biggest single of her life.

Great post.

I am not sure I would call Ray of Light a "comeback" though. Madonna was still very commercially popular in the 90's but I do think this album was her peak artistically and I feel critics began taking her serious as an artist (and not just an entertainer) after this album.

I think a better example for her is the Confessions era. It was a successful tour and a great commercial album. That album really introduced her as legend to the new millenium.

You're right that's her comeback album

Toofunkyinhere said:

Just wondering what some of your favourite comeback albums are?, album's where band's or solo artists have been away for a while then come back with a really good album. Here's a few of mine:

The Cars - Move Like This

New Order - Music Complete

Suede - Bloodsports

The Verve - Forth

Echo and the Bunnymen - Evergreen

Prince - AOA

Crowded House - Time on Earth

Santana - Supernatural

Bob Dylan-Time Out of Mind

[Edited 4/16/18 2:41am]

Absolutely! Both albums are terrific and the accolades well deserved.

Mariah's "Emancipation" maybe?

Hamad said:

Mariah's "Emancipation" maybe?

Maybe not

Empress said:

Hamad said:

Mariah's "Emancipation" maybe?

Maybe not

Why not? It was a redeeming moment from the time she suffered the press/critics when she did Glitter & Charmbracelet (I prefer those two over "Emancipation" though).

Hamad said:

Empress said:

Maybe not

Why not? It was a redeeming moment from the time she suffered the press/critics when she did Glitter & Charmbracelet (I prefer those two over "Emancipation" though).

I was just kidding. I'm not a fan, but for those who are, I guess it could be considered a good comeback album.

Hamad said:

Why not? It was a redeeming moment from the time she suffered the press/critics when she did Glitter & Charmbracelet (I prefer those two over "Emancipation" though).

The OP didn't ask for albums that became hit records or that critics liked, but albums you liked from acts who had hadn't released anything for awhile, in which The Time/O7 would qualify. Other than Jam & Lewis productions, nobody from the group had released much since Pandemonium. I did list a few commercial successes from acts who hadn't had any in awhile (John Fogerty, George Harrison, Hall & Oates). John was about as obscure as Tina Turner was chart wise, when Centerfield came out. I don't think he had any hits since CCR in the 1960s although he released a few solo albums. Cloud Nine was George's most successful album since All Things Must Pass.

Ah I see, duly noted

EmmaMcG said:

I don't know if it would be considered a "comeback" album but Michael Jackson's Invincible album would be my choice. Very underrated even amongst Michael Jackson fans, it had MJ experimenting with new sounds and yet it still has that classic MJ magic. It was exactly what he needed at that point and had his label promoted the album properly, I have no doubt it would have been a huge hit instead of the big hit it was. Musicology is another great example of a comeback album done right. Of course, we know that Prince never technically left but public awareness of his late 90s and early 2000s music was an all time low so as far as most were concerned, Musicology was a comeback album. It was also an album that saw Prince work well with his record label and yeah, the music might be seen as "too safe" by a lot of people but given that this was his return to a major label, and return to the public eye, any excessive experimentation would have been counter productive.

IMO, Invincible wasn't a comeback album to me just simply because his previous albums were commercially successful (similiar to the argument about Ray of Light). I do think the era was cut short though and Invincible could have been a bigger era than what it was. YRMW and Butterflies was very popular on urban stations and they played YRMW on every music channel. Then you had the amazing and iconic 30 anniversay special with all the brothers.

Invincible is a very underrated album and has the bonafied classic Butterflies (which imo is one of Michael's best moments as a vocalist as well as Break of Dawn). I think Invincible showed he still had it although it wasn't a come back.

Although there was no album, Michael's real come back was selling out those 50 02 arena shows in 4 hrs (selling 1 million tickets in 1 city) despite the media backlash and not having toured in over a decade. It proved he was the undisputed KOP and GOAT.

On Prince I agree with Musicology, He was everywhere that era and I remember BET playing the Musiciology video non stop and he even got a MTV award. I miss Michael and Prince

[Edited 4/17/18 17:52pm]

Gary Numan - Sacrifice

Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind

Marianne Faithful - Broken English

Deep Purple - Deep Purple

Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl

Killing Joke - Pandemonium

Black Sabbath - 13

Johnny Cash - American Recordings

The Mission - Aura

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

ATCQ - We got it from here...

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis

[Edited 4/17/18 20:11pm]

mjscarousel said:

EmmaMcG said:

I don't know if it would be considered a "comeback" album but Michael Jackson's Invincible album would be my choice. Very underrated even amongst Michael Jackson fans, it had MJ experimenting with new sounds and yet it still has that classic MJ magic. It was exactly what he needed at that point and had his label promoted the album properly, I have no doubt it would have been a huge hit instead of the big hit it was. Musicology is another great example of a comeback album done right. Of course, we know that Prince never technically left but public awareness of his late 90s and early 2000s music was an all time low so as far as most were concerned, Musicology was a comeback album. It was also an album that saw Prince work well with his record label and yeah, the music might be seen as "too safe" by a lot of people but given that this was his return to a major label, and return to the public eye, any excessive experimentation would have been counter productive.

IMO, Invincible wasn't a comeback album to me just simply because his previous albums were commercially successful (similiar to the argument about Ray of Light). I do think the era was cut short though and Invincible could have been a bigger era than what it was. YRMW and Butterflies was very popular on urban stations and they played YRMW on every music channel. Then you had the amazing and iconic 30 anniversay special with all the brothers.

Invincible is a very underrated album and has the bonafied classic Butterflies (which imo is one of Michael's best moments as a vocalist as well as Break of Dawn). I think Invincible showed he still had it although it wasn't a come back.

Although there was no album, Michael's real come back was selling out those 50 02 arena shows in 4 hrs (selling 1 million tickets in 1 city) despite the media backlash and not having toured in over a decade. It proved he was the undisputed KOP and GOAT.

On Prince I agree with Musicology, He was everywhere that era and I remember BET playing the Musiciology video non stop and he even got a MTV award. I miss Michael and Prince

[Edited 4/17/18 17:52pm]

Agree, the album after Invinciblr would have been the real comeback album.

black sabbath--- heaven and herll

ozzy osboutrne-- blizzard of ozz

Midnight Love- Marvin Gaye

Scorp said:

Tina Turner's Private Dancer, in retrospect, that was her comeback of a comeback album...

Oh yeah and I would like to add:

Musicology: Prince

Emancipation of Mimi-Mariah Carey

Extraordinary Machine-Fiona Apple

Last of the Independents-The Pretenders

Midnight Love-Marvin Gaye

There are many more, but I am drawing a blank right now, lol.

[Edited 4/19/18 17:08pm]

Hard to argue with Tina Turner's Private Dancer ... I'll chuck Madonna's Ray of Light in there though, not just a great comeback album but one of her all time best.

214 said:

mjscarousel said:

Great post.

I am not sure I would call Ray of Light a "comeback" though. Madonna was still very commercially popular in the 90's but I do think this album was her peak artistically and I feel critics began taking her serious as an artist (and not just an entertainer) after this album.

I think a better example for her is the Confessions era. It was a successful tour and a great commercial album. That album really introduced her as legend to the new millenium.

You're right that's her comeback album

I'd argue that there was no comeback needed before Confessions ... there was a longer gap between Ray of Light and Bedtime Stories and she'd left music behind largely to focus on raising Lordes. It really did feel like where's Madonna? ... is that it from her? ... is she too old now?

The success of ROL carried her forward for quite some time after. If felt like, this is the older Madonna and she can still kick it. Carried her through Music (not a great album IMO) and American Life. It still felt like we were in the glow of ROL when Confessions came out.

If there was a break for me it felt like it happened between Confessions and Hard Candy. She split from Guy Ritchie so fans were expecting HC to be epic, the way Like A Prayer was her breakup record after Sean Penn. Didn't happen though, HC was just a bit m'eh. As much as I enjoyed Rebel Heart (and the tour was her best since Confessions, maybe even better than that) it feels like she needs another big come back now

DaveT said:

214 said:

You're right that's her comeback album

I'd argue that there was no comeback needed before Confessions ... there was a longer gap between Ray of Light and Bedtime Stories and she'd left music behind largely to focus on raising Lordes. It really did feel like where's Madonna? ... is that it from her? ... is she too old now?

The success of ROL carried her forward for quite some time after. If felt like, this is the older Madonna and she can still kick it. Carried her through Music (not a great album IMO) and American Life. It still felt like we were in the glow of ROL when Confessions came out.

If there was a break for me it felt like it happened between Confessions and Hard Candy. She split from Guy Ritchie so fans were expecting HC to be epic, the way Like A Prayer was her breakup record after Sean Penn. Didn't happen though, HC was just a bit m'eh. As much as I enjoyed Rebel Heart (and the tour was her best since Confessions, maybe even better than that) it feels like she needs another big come back now

She really does, I do think Music is a very good album not as good as Ray, though.

Hamad said:

Empress said:

Maybe not

Why not? It was a redeeming moment from the time she suffered the press/critics when she did Glitter & Charmbracelet (I prefer those two over "Emancipation" though).

100% facts. I liked Emincipation more than those albums but it wasnt like they didnt have good songs on them. Emancipation just worked better as a entire project.