No Sophomore Slump

Bands that only released one album, plus two solo artists who stopped at one studio record. Nobody here made a disappointing second album, because there was no second album.

The reasons differ. The Sex Pistols fell apart on their American tour in January 1978. Young Marble Giants split a year after Colossal Youth. The Germs made (GI) with Joan Jett producing, and Darby Crash died the next year. Mother Love Bone's singer Andrew Wood died four months before Apple came out, and two of the band went on to Pearl Jam. Lee Mavers of the La's disowned his band's only album as it was released and never finished another. Jeff Buckley drowned while working on the follow-up to Grace. Lauryn Hill had already made records with the Fugees, and after Miseducation she never made another studio album. The Postal Service was a side project built by mailing tapes between Seattle and Los Angeles, and it stayed one.

Never Mind the Bollocks leads because it is the most famous one-and-done in rock; the rest follow roughly by year.

If you only have time for one, play Colossal Youth. Three people, a cheap drum machine and a lot of empty space, and nothing about it sounds like a first try.