4 Singer-Songwriters Who Delivered Masterpiece Third Albums

The third album is often the one where iconic artists hit their stride. Singer-songwriters often spend their first album on the material they’ve been working on for years. And then the second LP often arrives in a rush.

But the third album comes when they’ve had a little time to breathe and know exactly what they want to say and how they want to say it. Here are four third albums from singer-songwriter greats that are nothing short of masterpieces.

‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ by Bob Dylan

After mostly covering the material of others on his debut album, Bob Dylan emerged as a songwriter supreme on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his sophomore LP released in 1963. The following year, The Times They Are a-Changin’ somehow took matters to an entirely new level. It’s hard to fathom that someone as young as Dylan (he was 22 when the album was released) could deliver such old-soul wisdom as what’s found on songs like these. The protest material is top-notch, with “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll” a towering high point. Dylan’s lost-love material had also developed at a ridiculous pace, as evidenced by “Boots Of Spanish Leather” and “One Too Many Mornings”.

‘Sail Away’ by Randy Newman

Randy Newman’s first two albums sold next to nothing. Other artists knew about them, though. The notoriety that folks like Three Dog Night and Harry Nilsson gave Newman by recording his songs kept him afloat. But on Sail Away, released in 1972 as his third LP, Newman started writing lyrics so acidic that only his wry delivery could do them justice. The title track, a sales pitch from a slave trader that comes in a stirring musical package, sets the fearless tone right off the bat. Whether skewering state (“Political Science”) or church (“God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)”, Newman pulls nary a punch. Even the slice of life “Old Man” trades sentimentality for bracing honesty.

‘Late For The Sky’ by Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne had been writing songs for others for years by the time he got around to recording his debut album in 1972. As accomplished as it was, For Everyman, the follow-up, felt a little like it was running in place. Late For The Sky, his third effort that arrived in 1974, was a stunning peak. Browne went for songs of mostly epic length (just eight tracks fill out the whole album), thus raising the degree of difficulty. Yet when you hear tracks like “Fountain Of Sorrow” or “For A Dancer”, you realize that there’s not a word or an emotion out of place. The title track summed up the longing of an entire generation. And closer “Before The Deluge” focused on environmental issues well before that was a hot-button issue.

‘Bachelor No. 2 (Or The Last Remains Of The Dodo)’ by Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann’s career path to Bachelor No. 2, arguably the finest singer-songwriter album of the 2000s, was anything but conventional. There was the stint as a New Wave chanteuse with ‘Til Tuesday. Let’s not forget how she inspired an entire Paul Thomas Anderson film (Magnolia) with her music. Or how about how her label dumped her after she’d delivered some of the music for the album that would eventually be deemed her masterpiece? Releasing it on her own label, Mann got the last laugh. Several songs on Bachelor No. 2 work both as romantic laments and thinly veiled potshots at record company suits. And there’s not a track on it that’s less than exquisite.

(Photo by Rowland)