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Don't call it a comeback, really: Time's top comeback albums

December 3, 2008 5:27 p.m. by Tony Sclafani

Way back in 1980, John Lennon released a record after not being heard from for five years. Then he was murdered. Familiar story, right?

 

Apparently not to the gang over at Time magazine. They inexplicably left off Lennon (and wife Yoko Ono's) "Double Fantasy" album from their Top Ten Comeback Albums list.

 

The list does include some on-the-mark choices, like Tina Turner's completely unexpected 1984 return-to-form "Private Dancer" and Brian Wilson's solo release of "Smile." But much of it seems like celebrity kowtowing, especially the picking of Mariah Carey and Paul Simon, who had some career turbulence but were never really out of the public eye.

 

 A comeback should mean the artist went away or stopped making records for a while, and that's not really the case with artists like Bob Dylan, Green Day and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all of whom made the list. But that was the case with the Grateful Dead's 1987 (ahem) comeback "In the Dark," released after the band went seven years with no studio albums and Jerry Garcia had almost died from a coma. "In the Dark" didn't make the list either.

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5 Responses

December 3, 2008 at 8:59 p.m.

IN The Dark was NOT a comeback album. The Dead were going strong for decades when it was released!
December 3, 2008 at 9:31 p.m.

Bobby -- Thanks for your comment, but I respectfully disagree.

It's true that the Dead was a steady draw on the concert circuit in the mid-1980s, but they had not released a studio album since "Go to Heaven," from early 1980. That LP spawned a few FM hits ("Don't Ease Me In;" "Alabama Getaway") but after summer 1980, the Dead were seldom heard on FM and virtually never shown in MTV. This was a major change from the 1970s, when the Dead had a studio release almost every year.

When Garcia went into his diabetic coma in summer 1986, it looked like the end of the line. This was not only because of the coma, but because Garcia's playing had fallen off in the pre-coma days (check out any 1984-85 concert on Dead Radio) and (importantly) he had to relearn how to play the guitar after the coma!

Jerry was back on stage by late 1986, which surprised nearly everyone. But...people were more surprised when a studio album hit the shelves within a half year -- and that album zoomed up the charts and spawned a huge single in "Touch of Grey" in late 1987.

From near-death to the top ten. I call that comeback. But if you're talking about the Dead's popularity amongst Deadheads, then you're right, they had never really gone away.
December 3, 2008 at 10:16 p.m.

Mission of Burma - OnOffOn

how this slipped through the cracks is a question for the ages.
December 3, 2008 at 10:18 p.m.

oh, and The Soft Boys' _Nextdoorland_ deserves a mention as well.
December 4, 2008 at 1:03 a.m.

Smile seems like an odd choice since the majority of it was written when Wilson was still in his prime and in no need of a comeback. Just 'cuz it was released after decades of poop doesn't mean it's a comeback album.

I'd add the new Cynic album, though they were never really crappy, they just took a 15-year break. And what the hell, let's throw in Death Magnetic!

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