The average blockbuster is hardly an original concept...everybody knows that the big money lies in sequels, such as the newly announced follow-up to Jurassic World, or the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious series. Granted, most of the time these films rarely end up being better than the original franchise. Although Furious 7 bucks the trend (the films actually got progressively better thanks to more and more absurd stunts and car chases), many questioned the need for the reintroduction to the Jurassic Park universe, especially after the last two sequels fell flat with critics (then again...all three of the follow-ups to the classic original have been box office smashes...so we're all to blame). Albums often work the same way, but occasionally the later chapters outshine the originals, or at least match them. Here are six albums that were better than the preceding ones with similar titles.
Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin (1969)
This will be the most controversial entry on this list, and not because anyone doubts the quality of Led Zeppelin II...there's just a solid collection of fans who believe the band's debut is still its best album (and another group that strongly believes that Led Zeppelin "IV" takes the cake). Although the second chapter in the band's self-titled series doesn't pack nearly as many recognizable singles as the aforementioned two albums, its B-sides "What Is and Should Never Be," "Moby Dick" as well as "The Lemon Song" are favorites of fans who prefer the band's bluesier numbers. Throw those in with more well-known tracks such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "Heartbreaker" and you've got a heck of a sophomore effort from the band. Zeppelin deserves all of the credit for this list, as chapters II, III and IV are all musts for classic rock fans.
Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses (1991)
Is it fair to refer to the Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion II as a "sequel?" Not exactly, considering that it was released on the same date as the first chapter in the series. On the other hand, it's rare that the second album in set released as a series ends up being better than its predecessor...performers realize that more people are going to buy the "first" chapter and therefore stack all of the best tracks on it accordingly. Just look at Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2. Those who just skim albums for singles might argue that Use Your Illusion I can compare—after all, it includes the better version of "Don't Cry" as well as the epic "November Rain"—but the second entry isn't exactly short on radio power, hosting "You Could Be Mine," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Civil War." We may ruffle some feathers with this statement, but "Estranged" is a far better chapter in the Del James video trio than "November Rain" as well.
The Americans by Johnny Cash (1994-current)
No, we're not going to argue that any of the American Recordings compilations by Johnny Cash released after the original are better, but this stash of music released across the span of music may suggest that the country icon had a perpetual fountain of hits, and that we'll never see an end to the rarity releases (nor will we want to). There have now been six chapters in the American series and every one has found critical acclaim upon release. The last two were released posthumously, but if the last chapter is any suggestion, there Ain't No Grave that can prevent Cash from releasing unheard gems. Granted, it's been more than five years since the last American was released, however Columbia filled the void with the equally lustrous Out Among The Stars in 2014. One thing worth noting however: American Recordings never technically had a sequel, as the second chapter was titled Unchained. It wasn't until installment no. 3 that the label began applying Roman numerals.
Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne (2008)
This will be one of the less controversial entries on this list, as few doubt that Tha Carter III is by far the most impressive entry in Weezy's extensive discography. And that's not to knock the first two chapters in Wayne's Tha Carter series; both one and two were testaments to his creativity on a beat. But III below everyone, from hip-hop heads to hipsters, away with its mix of hot singles and hot B-sides. If you can call anything on here a B-side, sure doesn't feel like it. That's part of the reason why Tha Carter IV was so disappointing to fans...it felt uninspired compared to the previous three chapters of the series. His Dedication mixtape series has faced similar mixed reviews, while the I Am Not A Human Being series has just been blasted from the beginning.
Crystal Castles (II) by Crystal Castles (2010)
If you think about it, titling albums can be a somewhat irrelevant process. If it's not a concept album, why does it need a unifying title? Would Metallica III have been a worse title than Master of Puppets? OK, bad example. In truth, people only enjoy an album's title if it's a good album to begin with. Crystal Castles wasn't/isn't a group to mess with such vanity, resulting in three self-titled albums. Regardless of whether Crystal Castles (II) was meant to be a sequel to the duo's debut (it wasn't), that still creates a situation where they're forced to live up to the original because of the shared name. Castles, like Led Zeppelin and other bands before them, lived up to the hype multiple times. Think about how much Metallica fans hate Fuel, and now consider how much more they'd hate it if it was called Master of Puppets II. The band didn't learn this lesson when they tried to make "The Unforgiven II"...or "The Unforgiven III."
DS2 by Future (2015)
In case you haven't checked out the Billboard 200 charts yet, Future's newest LP is at the tops, marking a first for the performer. The acronym stands for Dirty Sprite 2, which may have some novice fans wondering what the heck Dirty Sprite 1 is. Although Lil Wayne may have plenty of titles with sequels, he also sticks to the format in which he begins the title. For example, Tha Carter is all studio albums, while Dedication and Da Drought is all mixtapes. Future may have committed a bit of a hip-hop faux pas when he named his new album DS2, considering that the original DS was a mixtape, released during 2011. Then again, Future seems to prefer writing his own rules and there don't seem to be any bylaws preventing him from doing so here.
