One of mine is Commit This to Memory by Motion City Soundtrack. I basically took the title verbatim and know the album word for word. And while I would love if it did, the rest of MCS’s stuff just doesn’t hit the same way.
And if you’re not an album person, maybe a period of time in the artist’s work? Whatever works for you.
*Lots of mentions of hit debut albums that subsequently petered out, which follows with the dreaded sophomore slump that hits many artists. Anyone with mid or even later career albums that stand alone? Those always intrigue me.
AJJ - People Who Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People
I knew them by their original name (Andrew Jackson Jihad) and was basically given this album as a demo from someone who knew the band.
There is something so raw and real about this album that just did not make it to anything that came later. It was like they gave up the edge that set them apart when they rebranded to make themselves more marketable.
I get it, the original name was bad. Like actually pretty bad. But I also genuinely feel like the name wasn’t the only thing they changed.