TAYLOR SWIFT

I knew the title would get your attention. This is not exactly an essay about Ms. Swift though she will become part of things later on. This is a post about mega-stardom and what happens after it is achieved. Particularly how artists follow up an epic, career-defining album or in Ms. Swift’s case her Eras tour. The way these artists dealt with their super-stardom with their follow-up albums vary in terms of approach, and success. Some of the bands mentioned below did not survive their superstardom. I don’t think there can be much argument that the albums mentioned in this essay were epic albums with wide popular appeal. These are albums you would find in most record collections of the time even for people who were not avid music fans. It is also interesting how many of these albums were released in the 70’s. I may have missed some, so let me know. Let’s get started.

PETER FRAMPTON

The Mega Hit: “Frampton Comes Alive”.  Frampton left Humble Pie in the early seventies and went on his own releasing a few critically acclaimed but generally unnoticed records. In 1975 the decision was made to release a live album that showcased the best songs from these studio releases. The album was an immediate hit. Frampton was an engaging performer, and a bit of a sex symbol, with his vocals and incendiary guitar work. He toured the live album hard and the record was one of the bestsellers of the year (and all-time).

The Follow-Up: As the tour wound down Frampton entered the studio to record this next recored.The resulting “I’m In You” was a resounding dud. It took four albums to come up with the material for the live album which was ok because there were no expectations. Not so after FCA. The album cover was also a groaner.  Frampton never came close to this peak again.

BOSTON

The Mega Hit: 1976 self-titled debut. The brainchild of Tom Sholz guitarist and technology wiz from Boston. Sholz a very deliberate producer, assembled a crack band to record his meticulously constructed set of catchy songs including the singles “More Than A Feeling”, “Long Time” and “Peace of Mind”. The album was the best-selling debut album ever selling 17 million copies.

The Follow-Up: “Don’t Look Back” followed in 1978. Sholz felt rushed by his record company and he wasn’t satisfied with this sophomore outing. After that Sholz, determined to take his time on the next record. However a dispute with the band’s former manager and a lawsuit with his label, for not delivering the third album, delayed the release of “Third Stage” until 1986.

gs including the singles “More Than A

THE EAGLES

The Mega Hit: “Hotel California”. The Eagles from their first album were hitmakers but nobody could have seen Hotel California coming. With Joe Walsh now onboard and country-leaning Bernie Leadon gone, Glenn Frey’s dream of a rock band was realized. Combine that with their strongest set of songs and HC set the world on fire. Frey and Don Henley leaned heavily on collaborators both inside (Don Felder, Walsh) and outside the band (J.D. Souther) to craft a seemingly endless stream of hits.

The Follow-Up: “The Long Run” followed more than two years later. And though it was impossible for an Eagles album to have less than three hits, and this one was no exception, “The Long Run” was over-produced and lacked the overall strong songwriting of Hotel California. They were out of gas and broke up after the tour for the album. As Henley said when asked if they were done with the album, “No, but the album is done with us.”  

FLEETWOOD MAC

The Mega-Hit: “Rumours”. Originally a blues band fronted by guitar hero Peter Green, that all changed when Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band in 1975. The first album with the new lineup was a strong warmup for what was soon to follow, featuring "Over My Head", "Say You Love Me", “Rhiannan” and “Landslide” and… Then came the “Rumours”, fueled by the band’s much publicized internal romantic strife, an album filled with hits from all three songwriting members. Songs like “Go Your Own Way”, “You Make Loving Fun” and “Dreams” featured sharp hooks and soaring harmonies. Along with “Hotel California”, it was all over the radio for two years (and still is today).

The Follow-Up: You have to hand it to the band, or Lindsay Buckingham who was the driving force, to follow an album like “Rumours” with “Tusk” a double album featuring a mix of studio polished songs and lo-fi numbers (some recorded with a cardboard box for a bass drum). It was such an offbeat move that it worked perfectly as a pallet-cleansing pivot to the next phase for the band.

STEELY DAN

The Mega Hit: Aja by Steely Dan. Everything the band had done up to this point (x critically acclaimed albums) came to perfection with the release of “Aja”. The production was beyond slick (an endless list of session musicians being directed like members of a symphony), the songs meticulously constructed and the usual tortured hipster delivery from Donald Fagan. The hits just kept on coming; “Deacon Blues”, “Jose” and “Peg” to name the most played.

The Follow-Up: Goucho.  A worthy offering from citizen Dan after the stratospheric performance of “Aja”. Their usual studio polish and strong songwriting (e.g., "Hey Nineteen", "Babylon Sisters") but like the Eagles they were running on fumes. The band would go on hiatus until the 1990’s.

PINK FLOYD

The Mega-Hit: “Dark Side of the Moon”. The main difference here is that this was not a singles driven record. Though songs like “Money” and “Us and Them” still dominate classic rock radio today. This album was so popular that it spent decades on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Fans bought multiple copies of the record because they wore out the album by playing it so much.

The Follow-Up: “Wish You Were Here”. Guitarist David Gilmore was wary of the success of Dark Side and even predicted it would be the end of the band. The prediction would have to wait for “The Wall” which did prove to be the end for Pink Floyd after the final takeover of the band by Roger Waters. That said there are some, me included, that favor Wish You Were Here over DSOTM with its two-part twenty-plus suite “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and classic rock radio staple title track.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Mega-Hit: “Born In The USA”. Bruce for the masses. Seven hit singles and an endless world tour marked Springsteen and the E Street band breaking through into popular culture. For the hard-core fans this was Bruce-lite after the critical and popular acclaim of his earlier albums like “Darkness on the Edge of Town”. Ten songs culled from over a hundred recorded in the four years after “The River”, the album struck a chord and launched Bruce and the band into the stratosphere.

The Follow-Up: There was no immediate follow on album from the E Street Band.

TAYLOR SWIFT

The Mega Hit: The Eras Tour. Finally we work our way around to TS. Here we have mega-success without any comparison. Taylor-mania rivals Beatle-mania of the 60’s. With the tour just ended, it is hard to imagine what is next. She has re-recorded all her albums from a dispute with her former publisher, has a high-profile romance with KC Chiefs star Travis Kelce and has even got involved in politics with her recent endorsement of Kamala Harris for president. How does this end? There has to be a little Taylor fatigue starting to build but you wouldn’t know by the continuing demand for her shows by the millions of Swifties out there. Stay tuned for the follow up.