Pop Quiz: What Is The Best Sophomore Album Of All Time?

The TRL Pop Quiz works like this: our editors are posed a music-related question and have only 15 minutes and just 100 words to statistics, pick and explain their answers. For this edition, we wanted to analyse which artists we feel got it even more right the second time around. This week's quiz: What is the perfect sophomore album?





good kid, m.A.A.D. City is one of my favorites, and I think one of the primary sophomore albums to exist. I love hip hop and I love emotions, however rappers aren’t habitually open like this. I appreciate the intimate look into Kendrick’s early life and family member. His vivid lyricism brings hip hop, his story, and the story of a kid growing up in a neighborhood like Compton to the ears of people who might not directly generally listen to rap. You feel overjoyed of Kendrick listening to this album and more than five years later, he’s still changing the world with his music. - Landyn Pan


good kid, m.A.A.D. City is a near-perfect album. Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album came out in 2012, and blew my mind. It includes well-loved hits like “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Poetic Justice” featuring Drake, however there’s not one song on this album that I skip any time Once I listen to it. “The Art of Peer Pressure” is a wonderful song, lyrics hopeful and serious and compelling. “Backseat Freestyle” is a straight up BOP. Kendrick’s sophomore album was a strong promise of musical excellence to come. - Leah Williams





As a teenager growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, I was obsessed with Cobra Starship. Little did I realize that long before his dance-pop days, Gabe Saporta was in a pop-punk musical group called Midtown. Their sophomore album Living Well Is The ideal Revenge is honestly one of my preferred records of all time—it has the ideal balance of angsty anthems and upbeat, emo bops with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that could be included in a motion picture while in the early 00s. - Sydney Gore





The 2000s reign of The Killers wasn’t quite as good as we (or the Billboard charts) would like to imagine. That being mentioned, I loved this album exceedingly hard as a perpetually angst-ridden teen. For whichever The Killers had that we loved so much, Sam’s Town has it just as much as Hot Fuss: their melodrama, their unabashed corniness, their All-American aspire to escape their small town. The horns on “Bones” sound awful to me right now. “This River Is Wild” doesn’t soar like it used to. Although out of respect for my teenage self, I resist to be disappointed by it. - Gus Turner





I have to give honorable mentions to a couple of serious contenders: Continuum by John Mayer, Late Registration by Kanye West, and the phenomenal preference good kid, m.A.A.D city by Kendrick Lamar. Nevertheless since gkmc was really my first exposure to Kendrick, I have to go with FutureSex/LoveSounds, the classic second effort by Justin Timberlake, a start-to-almost-finish smash record. Its futuristic R&B stance doesn’t make a solitary sonic misstep for at least six songs straight, from its simmering opener straight via daring “SexyBack,” spacey “My Love,” and vindictive “What Goes Around (Comes Around)”—all thee Hot 100 #1s. - Terron Moore





Adele’s second studio album 21 takes the cake for best sophomore album. There’s no denying the album elevated her career to a superstar level and gave her worldwide recognition. “Someone Like You” got constant radio play, yet the album has no shortage of ballad bops, including “Rolling in the Deep,” “Rumour Has It,” “Turning Tables,” and “Set Fire To The Rain.” Not only that, but 21 became the hugest selling album of the 21st century, tying with The Beatles’ compilation album 1. - Kristen Maldonado