After the runaway hit that was Appetite for Destruction Guns n' Roses kept themselves both on the chart and as the targets of controversy with the stop-gap G n' R Lies in 1988.  The real album to follow their smash debut was actually two: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, released on September 17, 1991 at midnight.  With over four standard albums' worth of music the band remained radio staples throughout the early 1990s.  However, the sheer volume was both welcome and overwhelming. 

The death of Randy Rhoads during the tour for Diary of a Madman was a severe blow to Ozzy Osbourne, especially after the success of that album.  Jack Blades replaced Rhoads on guitar for the live recording, Speak of the Devil, but it was Jake E. Lee that was brought in to be a permanent part of Ozzy's band for Bark at the Moon.  However, behind the scenes, there was always Sharon, making sure her husband got all the credit and the band that did the heavy lifting got shafted.  Despite this the album still manage to do well and added a pop sheen to Ozzy's image. 

It took a while for Pink Floyd to regain their focus but, when they did, it eventually resulted in the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.  One of the most popular and well-known albums in the world, it shot the band to a level of stardom they previously failed to achieve.  After a long tour, a long recording session and Roger Waters coming more to the forefront of the band, Wish You Were Here was released in 1975.  Partially a tribute to Syd Barrett, partially a warning about the music industry, it gives their previous album quite a challenge for the best in the group's catalog. 

The three-piece version of Genesis became increasingly popular from 1978 onward, with 1986's Invisible Touch being their biggest yet.  Phil Collins managed a successful solo career starting in 1981 and was popular enough that Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks expected him to leave.  However, he came back for one more album, We Can't Dance, in 1991.  It again spawned a number of hits, but also was their longest since The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. 

After nearly a decade apart the Mark II version of Deep Purple reformed and made a successful comeback album with Perfect Strangers.  It wasn't long before the same tensions that led to lineup changes previously resurfaced and, between a long tour behind the album and slow-going coming up with new ideas, it was three years before The House of Blue Light was released.  The album was a blatant attempt to sound like the bands they had influenced.  

After leaving for two albums Joe Perry returned to Aerosmith for 1985's Done with Mirrors, which also saw the band moving to Geffen Records.  The band was clean and sober, but the album didn't click with the public.  In order to change that Bruce Fairbairn, the producer behind Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, was brought in, as well as an army of writers to make Permanent Vacation in 1987.  The pattern was repeated with Pump in 1989, which solidified the band's comeback, and on Get a Grip from 1991.  The latter became the band's bestselling album, but was filled with even busier production, more guests and more outside writers.  For better or worse it solidified the direction Aerosmith would take for the rest of their career. 

The B-52's suffered a major tragedy with the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson and, though they managed to get 1986's Bouncing Off the Satellites put together and released, it appeared that may be their final album.  In 1989, however, they came back in a big way with Cosmic Thing and the hit "Love Shack".  Cindy Wilson left to focus on her family in 1990 and, tired, with one member down and under pressure to replicate the success of "Love Shack", the B-52's went into the studio and recorded 1991's Good Stuff. 

Molly Harvey became both a recognizable voice for the Residents beginning with 1999's Wormwood and the ensuing tour, singing lead on many songs from 2002's Demons Dance Alone.  Her influence and vocals are still heavily felt on her last album with the band, Animal Lover, from 2005, which is often considered one of the best of the latter-day Residents recordings. 

There was a three-year gap between Heartbeat City and Door to Door, and in the 1980s that might as well have been an eternity.  Though the hits from the former still got played on the radio the sound was now considered dated and the band itself was more interested in pursuing their solo careers.  Still, they made one last album before calling it quits for the next 24 years. 

After the success of 1977's Song from the Wood Ian Anderson decided to do another song based on English country traditions.  However, with Heavy Horses, he left the fantasy and nostalgia behind for a look at the more realistic side of rural England.  It doesn't have as many great songs as its predecessor but it is a worthwhile companion. 

After the success of Trash Alice Cooper continued his comeback with 1991's Hey Stoopid.  Although it didn't sell as well it continued to produce songs that received airplay on hard rock stations and videos that got attention on MTV.  Featuring guests such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx and Elvira, the album is overproduced but has still manage to give us a number of Cooper classics. 

After the success of the 1983 Yes comeback album 90125 guitarist Trevor Rabin found himself under pressure to come up with another hit single.  He also found himself trying to hold the band together as well as make something decent out of the recording sessions for their next album Big Generator.  The album was released in 1987 and, though successful, still remains controversial among fans of the group. 

Progressive rock music had dwindled in popularity as the '70s came to a close.  Still, Asia was able to score a major hit with "Heat of the Moment" from their 1982 debut album Asia.  Their record label wanted more and wanted in quick and the result was 1983's Alpha, where the band tried to copy the hitmaking formula, but failed at making as engaging an album as their first. 

After four albums that are now considered classics but didn't spawn any hits in the U.S. the Ramones gave into management and agreed to record with producer Phil Spector.  The sessions didn't go well and the resulting album was not one of the band's favorites.  Despite the initial thought that they should be a good match their recording and production styles clashed throughout, and a set of mostly tired and forgettable songs didn't help. 

INXS's 1988 album Kick was one of those '80s albums that kept delivering the hits over a year later.  That gave the band some time to rest after their tour and regroup, releasing X in 1990.  Since the previous hits made it feel like they never left the new songs helped them stay on the charts as they molded their slick dance pop into something that resembled the alternative scene at the time. 

Violator was Depeche Mode's international breakthrough after spending the latter part of the 1980s on the verge of worldwide success.  The album didn't depart much from their style, but a surprising element was the inclusion of guitars and other traditional rock instruments along with the usual synth sounds.  In 1993 the band went all in with Songs of Faith and Devotion, creating a recording now regarded as one of their best, but at the cost of a founding member. 

After the revolutionary In the Court of the Crimson King in 1969 King Crimson did a tour behind the record, which was a hit in the UK and a cult favorite in the U.S.  Problem was, by the end, Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield were the only full-time members left in the group.  Fripp was able to talk Greg Lake, Michael Giles and Peter Giles to return to record In the Court of the Crimson King, but the tour would lead to a new lineup.  Meanwhile, their second album became their highest charting in the UK, and was a sign of things to come. 

After achieving international success with the 1987 Diesel and Dust and a hit single, "Beds Are Burning", Midnight Oil could have decided to go mainstream pop and capitalized on their success.  Instead, they stuck by their guns, something they have done throughout most of their career, and delivered an even more pointed and political album, Blue Sky Mining, in 1990. 

After scoring a number two hit with "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" in 1986 the public were quick to write off the Georgia Satellites as a one-hit wonder novelty act.  There was much more to them, as evidenced on their 1988 album Open All Night, but the ran into typical audience and radio indifference to their sound. 

Arch Enemy's addition of Angela Gossow on vocals for their 2000 album Wages of Sin was revolutionary at the time.  No other death metal band had a female singer, and Gossow certainly proved that she could scream and growl with the best.  Problem is, although she contributed, Arch Enemy is the baby of guitarist Michael Amott, and when he finds something that works he is more than happy to keep going back to the well. 

Kansas, after working hard for years, finally had a top-five hit with "Dust in the Wind" from their 1977 album Point of Know Return.  Thinking it was time to move away from the progressive sound they had nurtured over the course of their career, they went about producing Monolith themselves, pursuing a more commercial sound.  

The Cars was a successful debut album, containing a list of songs that played like a new wave best-of.  Candy-O, the follow-up, sold even more, despite not all the songs being up to the same level as the debut.  They still managed to turn out a solid second record, something few new wave and punk bands were able to do. 

2112 proved to be the album that Rush needed to save their contract with Mercury Records.  The follow-up, A Farewell to Kings, was even more ambitious.  Challenging themselves in different ways and fully integrated synthesizers into their sound, the Canadian trio produced one of their most complex, but overlooked, albums. 

Although only a minor hit in the U.S., "Video Killed the Radio Star" topped the charts in a number of countries, and Buggles' 1979 The Age of Plastic became a hit in many countries.  It was popular enough that Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, the two main members of the band, were asked to join Yes for their Drama album in 1980.  When Yes broke up the plan was to make another Buggles album, only Downes got recruited into Asia.  Horn went ahead anyway, using demos and new songs, to create the second and last album by the band. 

After releasing their best album, 1973's Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson, Lake and Palmer embarked on a world tour, followed by a much-needed break.  When they returned they did so with the double album Works Volume 1, featuring one side each of solo material and one side as a band.  To say it was spotty is an understatement, and more than anything highlighted a group that was becoming tired of working together. 

"Rock Lobster" quickly became a song that filled dancefloors in the late 1970s and, though it only sold moderately well at the time, The B-52's has become one of the top new wave albums in everyone's collection.  Pressured to get something out fast, the Athens, Georgia band quickly recorded Wild Planet and released it in 1980.  Similar in sound to the first, it outsold the debut.  Unfortunately, it was more of the same, with a lot of great songs but with many of the album tracks lacking. 

After Public Image Ltd's second album Metal Box (known as Second Edition in the United States) bass player Jah Wobble left.  John Lydon and Keith Levene continued on, with drummer Martin Atkins, for the extremely experimental The Flowers of Romance.  Despite being as non-commercial as possible it was still a modest hit in the UK and a few other places around the world.  It would also be the last album featuring the original band members. 

Dio's first two albums, Holy Diver and The Last in Line, were hard rock classics.  So, why change things up?  If anything, Sacred Heart was a bit poppier, but largely it sounded like the first two, which was both a blessing and a curse.  It would be the last album with Vivian Campbell on guitar, signaling that the band's sound would change a bit for the following record, but not radically. 

After a critical success with Murmur, R.E.M. again teamed with producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon for their sophomore effort, Reckoning.  In some ways it was more of the same, but a slightly rawer, rocking sound became evident as well. 

Devo scored a top-20 hit with the song "Whip It" in 1980, from their third album, Freedom of Choice.  Unfortunately, it meant that even though the band had worked hard on its concept and identity through music, touring and visuals, it was now known as a novelty act by most people.  They followed it up by upping the synthesizers in their sound, as well as the cynicism, for 1981's New Traditionalists, forging ahead rather than consciously trying to repeat the success of "Whip It". 

After dominating late '80s pop and hard rock radio with seven singles from their album Hysteria it took a while for Def Leppard to get a new album out.  During that time guitarist Steve Clark passed away and longtime producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange decided to go on to other projects.  Still, the band carried on briefly as a quartet, using what they could of Clark's work on Adrenalize and still scoring a major hit album even though it was clear the formula was wearing thin. 

Peter Gabriel, the unique and flamboyant lead singer of Genesis, decided to part ways with the band in 1975 after the conclusion of their tour supporting their 1974 album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.  That album had been a major hit and, like the one before it, almost broke them on U.S. radio.  With Gabriel gone the search was on for a new singer, and much of the British press thought the band should just call it quits.  Instead, after a fruitless search, they settled on drummer Phil Collins, who had sung the odd song on some of their previous albums.  A Trick of the Tail was a hit in the UK and, surprisingly, did moderately well in the U.S. as well. 

After the double album Blonde on Blonde became one of the biggest selling and most lauded of his career Bob Dylan decided, either for health or other reasons, to pull back on his exhaustive touring schedule.  After abortive sessions with the Band, he went to Nashville and, with a small group, recorded an album of country and folk inspired songs that almost harkened back to his acoustic roots. 

After releasing one of the most influential albums in history Pink Floyd found itself without its guiding light, Syd Barrett.  With new guitarist David Gilmour the band was tasked with recording a follow-up to The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.  In 1968 they released A Saucerful of Secrets which, though it was largely made without Barrett's involvement, so continued in the spirit of what he had started. 

Although he was already popular with fans of Dr. Demento, "Weird Al" Yankovic scored a top-40 hit with "Eat It" in 1984 from the album In 3-D, and followed it up with one of the best comedy albums ever in Dare to Be Stupid.  It seemed that a "Weird Al" parody was just the thing an artist needed to be relevant.  Or, that was what his label Scotti Bros. thought.  Instead of letting him do what he does best they started making suggestion.  Combine that with a year that didn't produce the greatest pop songs and we get the first dud from the master of parody, Polka Party!. 

Although it was a parody of progressive rock - Ian Anderson wasn't too happy about Aqualung being lumped in with such - Thick As a Brick reached number one on the Billboard 200 despite the fact the album was one song that took up two sides of the record.  Efforts to do a follow-up at the Château d'Hérouville in rural France proved fruitless, being renamed by Anderson and crew "Château d'Isaster" and the entire album they had planned abandoned.  Returning to the UK they quickly recorded A Passion Play.  What was supposed to be a concept album of mini-suites following a man's journey through the afterlife was released, like Thick As a Brick, as one complete work.  While it again reached the top of the charts it was hated by critics and the band itself, although it has developed a following over the years. 

Alan Parsons cut his teeth as an assistant on the Beatles' Abby Road, and by 1973 he was the main engineer for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.  Producing was the next step and, in 1975, the Scottish band Pilot had a top five it with the song "Magic".  Parsons joined with songwriter and keyboardist Eric Woolfson and arranger Andrew Powell and, with Pilot and a number of session musicians vocalist, produced Tales of Mystery and Imagination in 1976.  What was originally a one-off collaboration began a full studio band, stripped down for their first hit album I Robot and even further for the third album, Pyramid.  Though pretty much an overlooked album in Parsons's catalogue, it features excellent songwriting by Eric Woolfson and the first vocal performances of bassist David Paton and former Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone on one of the Project's records. 

Chicago's second album, simply titled Chicago but at times retconned to Chicago II, is what really broke the band.  The singles from Chicago Transit Authority didn't exactly light up the charts in 1969, but a year later they were re-released and shared the spotlight with the ones from Chicago.  The band went on a massive tour and then right back into the studio for Chicago III, having to come up with all new material.  In contrast to the hit machine that was Chicago, Chicago III saw the band taking the jazz part of their much more seriously, as well as adding in some funk and R&B.  It was decidedly non-commercial, and would be their last double album for quite awhile. 

Traveling Wilburys were a surprise dream come true of a supergroup and their 1988 album, Vol. 1, was one of the best of the decade.  It pretty much brought out the best in every member and put them on the comeback trail.  Unfortunately, Roy Orbison died shortly after its release.  Still, it was successful enough that George Harrison decided to give it another go and get Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Bob Dylan to do a second album.  While still a quality album, Roy Orbison was sorely missed. 

After becoming one of the biggest pop bands of the early 1980s Air Supply realized the ballads were where it was at.  That meant that the rock and disco songs from the previous albums were no more, but the ballads were enhanced by the orchestral arrangements of keyboard player Frank Esler-Smith, elevating Air Supply's music for a short time above that of their soft-rock counterparts.  

The Moody Blues may have been an afterthought of the 1960s, a one-hit wonder in most countries with their version of the R&B song "Go Now".  However, in 1967, they were asked to appear on a stereo demonstration record for their label, Deram.  That album, Days of Future Passed, became a major hit and revitalized their career.  However, needing to sustain their success and without a symphony orchestra in tow, the Moody Blues released In Search of the Lost Chord, with the members playing all the instruments and Michael Pinder's use of the Mellotron making up for the absence of an orchestra.  It was successful, but helped set up the pattern for their future releases. 

Machine Head was the culmination of everything Deep Purple had worked for since reinventing themselves on Deep Purple in Rock.  The 1972 album spawned a hit single in "Smoke on the Water" and became a heavy metal classic.  At the time the band were on par with Led Zeppelin in terms of popularity.  However, a worldwide tour, followed by label and management pressure to immediately return to the studio to make a follow-up to Machine Head, resulted in an album that sounds tired and increased tensions within the band.  After an abortive tour this version of Deep Purple would not work together again until 1984. 

After is work with conductor and orchestral arranger was a success on Eldorado, Jeff Lynne decided to build on his hit single "Can't Get It Out of My Head", but simplify the music.  The result was Face the Music, maintaining some nods to progressive rock, but going in a decidedly more pop direction.  It was the beginning of a formula that would spell success for ELO. 

Afte the success of Rio the pressure was on to keep Duran Duran a hitmaking machine.  Despite going to exotic locations to film videos, wearing the latest fashions and being featured on the cover of a number of magazines, the sudden fame was weighing on the band, and their fortunes were in danger of being seized by the British government.  In tax exile they began working on what was originally a concept album, but soon became Seven and the Ragged Tiger.  It would spawn their first number one hit in the U.S., but it would be the last the classic version of the band would record for over two decades. 

Five years after their album Metallica made them the biggest heavy metal band in the world, Metallica returned with a new album, Load.  Though the lyrical content was more personal and still quite dark, the appearance was of a lighter, more mainstream Metallica, with short hair and eyeliner.  While the album still sold well it was obvious the old Metallica was gone. 

The Stranger was the album that, after a decade of setbacks, finally made Billy Joel a success.  It was no surprise it's follow-up, 1978's 52nd Street, debuted at number one.  The sound was a bit jazzier - it was named after the street that hosted a number of famous jazz clubs - and it still produced a number of hits.  It would, however, find itself in thrift store bins within a few years of its release, and ultimately sell a bit less than its predecessor. 

After giving up on their reel-to-reel video movie Vileness Fats and spending a good portion of the 1970s working on the album Eskimo, the Residents had found some critical and cult acclaim.  During that time they had released a 7-inch EP called Duck Stab! and, as they were working on Eskimo, came up with a similar EP called Buster and Glen.  Rather than release it on its own, it was combined with Duck Stab!, and the resulting collection of songs remains one of their most popular releases to date.  Expanding on that, in 1980, instead of another huge concept album, the Residents released Commercial Album, which consisted of 40 one-minute songs.  The result was some of the most memorable music of their career. 

After Welcome to My Nightmare, and especially a hit single with "Only Women Bleed", Alice Cooper as a solo artist was continuing the same success as he had with the band called Alice Cooper.  The problem was that success was catching up with him in the form of alcoholism, sapping both his health and his creativity.  Still, guitarist Dick Wagner and producer and keyboard player Bob Ezrin managed to keep Alice going through the end of the '70s.  A second ballad, "I Never Cry", kept him on the charts, even if his second solo album was a warning of things to come. 

While Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was definitely the album that solidified Dead Kennedys' spot in hardcore punk, I have always felt their sophomore effort, Plastic Surgery Disasters, was the stronger of the two albums.  It sees them start to move away from the conventions of punk music while remaining true to the spirit, both in the aggressiveness of the music and in their politics.  

After the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles released a series of singles with a related sound to the album throughout 1967, without releasing any songs from the album as actual singles.  Toward the end of the year they planned a double-disc E.P. release of newly recorded soundtrack music for a one-hour BBC Boxing Day special, Magical Mystery Tour.  While the film itself was one of the first major stumbles the band did, most of the music on the E.P. reflected further expansion on the sound of Sgt. Pepper.  In the United States, however, the singles were combined with the EP to make a new Beatles album.