What are your favorite "final" albums? ("Final", for all intents and purposes, meaning the last studio album of an artist's catalog, OR, the only album of an artist's catalog.)

Mine, in no particular order:

Jeff Buckley - GRACE
Lovage - MUSIC TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR OLD LADY BY
The Zombies - ODESSEY & ORACLE
Remy Shand - THE WAY I FEEL
New Radicals - MAYBE YOU'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED TOO
Neutral Milk Hotel - IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA
My Bloody Valentine - LOVELESS
Slint - SPIDERLAND
Nick Drake - PINK MOON
The La's - THE LA'S
St. Germain - TOURIST
Zwan - MARY STAR OF THE SEA
Mad Season - ABOVE
Sufjan Stevens - ILLINOIS*
Matthew Jay - DRAW
Lauryn Hill - MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL*
The Millennium - BEGIN
Derek & the Dominos - LAYLA
Linda Perhacs - PARALLELOGRAMS
The Avalanches - SINCE I LEFT YOU*
Death - FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE
Wendy & Bonnie - GENESIS
The Postal Service - GIVE UP*

*speculating

Any from the AM list that anyone knows off-hand? (Other than CLOSER.) Fire away.

IN UTERO comes to mind. As does NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS.

Loveless- My Bloody Valentine
In Utero- Nirvana
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel
Ys- Joanna Newsom
Spiderland- Slint
Pink Moon- Nick Drake
Mirrored- Battles
Vision Creation Newsun- Boredoms
Electric Ladyland- Jimi Hendrix

The most acclaimed Final albums seem to be:


01. Sex Pistols- Nevermind the Bollocks
02. Jimi Hendrix Experience- Electric Ladyland
03. Joy Division- Closer
04. Jeff Buckley- Grace
05. Derek & The Dominos- Layla
06. My Bloody Valentine- Loveless
07. Iggy & The Stooges- Raw Power
08. Gram Parsons- Grievous Angel
09. Nirvana- In Utero
10. Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill


I think it's a little early to claim Illinois or Ys the respective artists "last albums".

Thanks for the list, Jonathon.

Does anyone know of any other final/only albums worth checking out?

(PS. I think Sufjan himself said that he was done with the album as a format. Not that artists' own words are to always be trusted...)

Joanna already recorded her third album, it's expected to be released this year. Closer, Loveless, Never Mind The Bollocks, In Utero, Miseducation, Grace and Elliott Smith's From A Basement On The Hill, Let It Be & Pink Moon

I'm a little disturbed that no one's shown any love for this album but.


The Velvet Underground's Loaded.

didn't they have another album after that without Lou Reed that they wanted erased from the record books?

Can Abbey Road count?

Sleater-Kinney's The Woods is a good example.

oh how did I forget Talk Talk's Laughing Stock. Classic!

Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.

Nick Drake's Pink Moon.

Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne

Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall