The idea of a once-great band or artist coming out of retirement and making new music can seem very exciting, but there are far too many cases where this new music simply isn't up to par. However, these six artists broke this trend by releasing come back albums that were actually worthy entries in their catalogue.
1. Wire - Send (2003)
Unlike most old-school punk or alternative bands who have reunited, Wire doesn't dwell on its past. In fact, when I saw it in 2013, the band didn't even play a single song from its classic debut Pink Flag, largely because its more recent albums stand up on their own, such as 2003's Send, the first in an impressive string of post-millennium albums for the band.
2. Mission of Burma - ONoffON (2004)
One of the most underrated bands of the '80s American underground was Boston's Mission of Burma, who split in 1983 after releasing just one incredible EP and one incredible album of aggressive, avant garde post-punk. When Burma finally reunited in 2002, however, it left off right where it started with ONoffON, which sounds like it could have been recorded by the band in 1984. Mission of Burma's is still together in 2014, its reunion lasting longer than its classic initial run.
3. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering (2005)
Even though a staggering 35 years passed between Vashti Bunyan's debut Just Another Diamond Day and her sophomore effort Lookaftering, the two albums sound as if they were recorded just a year apart. Bunyan's crystalline voice hadn't aged a bit, and her songwriting was just as strong as it was all the way back in 1970.
4. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (2007)
Dinosaur Jr. continued making good music after bassist Lou Barlow was kicked out in 1989, but none of it ever matched the power and intensity of the band's first three records. However, the band finally regained this intensity in 2007, when the original trio of guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph reunited and recorded the stellar Beyond.
5. The Feelies - Here Before (2011)
New Jersey's the Feelies are pretty much the originators of American alternative rock, having influenced R.E.M. among countless others. The Feelies' initial run went from 1976 until 1992, but in 2011, the band returned with the delightful Here Before, which was released more than twenty years after its last album, 1991's Time for a Witness.
6. Black Sabbath - 13 (2013)
When I heard last year that Black Sabbath had released a new album, its first since 1995 and its first with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978, I had no reason whatsoever to believe that it would even be listenable, let alone good. Though it's no Paranoid or Master of Reality, Black Sabbath's 13 is a surprisingly solid effort, and could have been even better if original drummer Bill Ward had participated (Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk replaced him, doing a serviceable but unremarkable job).
What other comeback albums were surprisingly strong? Let us know in the comments section!
