4 Albums That Were Huge Artistic Comebacks for the Musicians Who Recorded Them

In a perfect world, a musical artist would release nothing but gems and enjoy smooth sailing throughout their career. But it’s more likely that they’ll hit some rough patches. The best of them can pull themselves out of those swales.

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These four albums represent massively important comebacks from various difficulties for the artists who recorded them. In each case, these legends used these LPs as a springboard for much more success in the years to come.

‘Blood On The Tracks’ by Bob Dylan (1975)

When this album arrived on shelves in January 1975, even the most diehard Bob Dylan believers doubted that he’d again meet his towering mid-60s standards. But Dylan found his groove again, albeit under difficult personal circumstances. By all accounts (except Dylan’s), the songs on Blood On The Tracks reflected the turmoil in his marriage. Around that same time, the painting lessons he was taking caused him to look at his songwriting in a new light. It all came together in epic laments like “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Idiot Wind”. The narratives within the songs are hard to follow, but the emotional turbulence is always eloquently expressed. Amazingly, Dylan released an album many consider to be his finest over a dozen years into his recording career.

‘Main Course’ by Bee Gees (1975)

Most people had written off the Brothers Gibb as hopelessly beholden to a faded age in music. Their style of lush, melodramatic pop songs had fallen out of favor in the early 70s, when grittier R&B sounds took hold. Everyone underestimated the resilience of the trio, as well as the fact that their sturdy songwriting could hold up in any genre. Heading down to Miami to record Main Course with producer Arif Mardin, the Bee Gees locked into urban grooves on songs like “Nights On Broadway”, “Jive Talkin’”, and “Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)”. “Nights On Broadway” even featured Barry Gibb’s lethal falsetto. As a result, this album set the stage for the disco dominance to come.

‘Permanent Vacation’ by Aerosmith (1987)

After years of personal problems, drug and alcohol issues, and band member departures left these Boston hard rockers a shell of themselves, the core reunited for the 1985 album Done With Mirrors. When that album failed, the band made some more adjustments. They added Bruce Fairbairn as producer and started working with top outside writers like Jim Vallance, Desmond Child, and Molly Knight. It didn’t hurt that their collaboration with Run DMC on “Walk That Way” raised their profile. On Permanent Vacation, they set the template that they’d follow to the heights for the next two decades: bombastic, smirking rockers like “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” and “Rag Doll” intermingled with tender ballads like “Angel”.

‘Steel Wheels’ by The Rolling Stones (1989)

The roiling resentment between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards over the direction of The Rolling Stones reached its peak in the mid-80s. Jagger seemed more interested in his solo career, while Richards lashed out at Mick with a nasty diss track. Just when all seemed lost, the two snapped out of it in time to come back together with Steel Wheels. And the album highlighted all the positive traits of their collaboration, while the rest of the band chipped in with their formidable talents. From the blustery opener (“Sad Sad Sad”) to the bluesy closer (“Slipping Away”), the Stones soared with their familiar formula. And they even made a hit single out of the rift with “Mixed Emotions”.

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