Albums that are unlike any other album in a band's discography

[5_moves_of_doom 0]

Hmmm...

 

Aphex Twin -- Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2

The Minutemen -- Three Way Tie (For Last)

Black Flag -- The Process of Weeding Out

Leonard Cohen -- Death of a Ladies Man

Sonic Youth -- Confusion is Sex (to an extent)

Pink Floyd -- Piper at the Gates of Dawn

The Residents -- Eskimo (even though it did set the direction for some of their 80's material)

James Chance & The Contortions -- Buy

Pavement -- Slanted and Enchanted (unless you count the singles/EPs that they did before it)

 

Some of those may be slight stretches, but I think that each of them is relatively distinct from the rest of the artist's discography, whomever that may be.

 

Another good one to note would be Zappa's Jazz From Hell, although many of his albums sound entirely different from each other, so I don't know if that should count.

[Guest George's Box]

Jazz From Hell is in the electronic family with Francesco Zappa, plus halves of Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention and The Perfect Stranger.

[Copper Feel 0]

Would you count Were Only In It For The Money as being unlike any other album of Zappa's, Czech? Certainly pieces such as The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny are unlike any other songs of his I have heard.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

A lot of you don't get the point of this thread. Maybe if I explained my first post:

 

Their Satanic Majesties Request was the Rollling Stones's only foray into full-blown psychedelia. Yes, the melodic pop of the previous album, Between the Buttons, was a slight departure of the blues rock of the band's earlier material, but there was still no mistaking it for anything but a Stones album. TSMR, on the other hand, were it not for Jagger's distinctive vocals, seemed like an entirely different band. Only the one-off single prior to the album's release, "We Love You" b/w "Dandelion," hints in that direction. That the Stones followed this largely dimissed (though, in a select group's—myself included—opinion, loved) album with Beggars Banquet, an album that was easily dirtiest, nastiest bit of rawk they had done to that point—and that they never again attempted psych in the ensuing 40 years—only further isolates Their Satanic Majesties Request's position within the Rolling Stones discography.

 

I suspect a lot of the answers provided in this thread are completely off-base, but, alas, I am not well-versed in the works of Cave In, Pearl Jam, Pantera, etc. to argue. Still, some of you, like 5mod, I don't know what you're thinking. Mentioning anything by Pavement is ridiculous, as is Sonic Youth. And how can you point out Black Flag's The Process of Weeding Out? Were you not aware that it was basically Family Man without Rollins's bullshit spoken word tracks? What about Double Nickels on the Dime makes you think it had nothing to do with Three Way Tie (for Last)? And the Residents? You even acknowledged that it led the way to the albums that followed, but you included it here, anyway.

[Henry Spencer 0]

Death Of A Ladies Man is a good choice, though.

[Guest George's Box]

Would you count Were Only In It For The Money as being unlike any other album of Zappa's, Czech? Certainly pieces such as The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny are unlike any other songs of his I have heard.

Lumpy Gravy. Duh. They're companion pieces.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

I suspect a lot of the answers provided in this thread are completely off-base, but, alas, I am not well-versed in the works of Cave In, Pearl Jam, Pantera, etc. to argue.

 

I assure you that Cave In's debut "Until Your Heart Stops" and the follow up "Jupiter" is one of the bigger stylistic leaps you'll ever hear in such a short time. They went from noisy Avant Garde thrash to a space rock n roll band almost overnight with little if any foreshadowing. And while "Antenna" retains some of the sound from "Jupiter", the approach is completely different.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Would you count Were Only In It For The Money as being unlike any other album of Zappa's, Czech? Certainly pieces such as The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny are unlike any other songs of his I have heard.

Lumpy Gravy. Duh. They're companion pieces.

 

I don't think Zappa is really the way to go with this theme. Guy was so prolific that he didn't really make an album that had nothing to do with any of his others.

 

I could probably make a case for Weasels Ripped My Flesh, but it'd be rather tenuous.

[swan 0]

Remanufacture by Fear Factory.

 

"Fear is the Mindkiller" & "The Gabber Mixes" are also remix albums like "Remanufacture"

[Ravenbomb 0]

"Unplugged in New York" by Nirvana

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Death Of A Ladies Man is a good choice, though.

Note I didn't include that in my response. Pretty good album, too. "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-on" is a joy.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

"Unplugged in New York" by Nirvana

I should've specified early on that acoustic reworkings of old songs, as well as remix albums, don't count.

[Henry Spencer 0]

Note I didn't include that in my response.

 

I DID note that, Mr. Smarty Pants. I just felt the need for some positivity. Erase the hate.

 

DGHWYHO is pretty great, although I prefer Memories.

[... 0]

Trans is a no-brainer, but then Landing On Water and Life get dragged into it. Plus Trans is actually quite decent.

[TheTomster 0]

Minutes to Midnight-Linkin Park