One of the most overused phrases music journalists and fans use when discussing their favorite artistic medium is ‘sophomore slump.’ Specifically, these people tend to use the term way more often than they should. It’s false to claim that every band who has released a second album worse than their first has suffered from the sophomore slump. The release of a second album has to follow a fairly large wave of fanfare and popularity in order to qualify. If this second album is disappointing and kills a popular musical artist’s momentum, then one can claim that the band has suffered from the sophomore slump. On the other hand, if the second album continues the forward momentum gained from the first, then the band has avoided said slump.

So when is it correct to use the term ‘sophomore slump?’ As previously stated, the term should only be applied to bands who have gained a certain amount of popularity thanks to their first release – if there’s heavy pressure on a band to deliver a strong sophomore album, then they can succumb to or avoid the sophomore slump. For example, it makes no sense to say that Death Cab for Cutie’s second album (We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes) avoided the sophomore slump by being better than their first album (Something About Airplanes) because if Facts actually ended up being much worse than Airplanes, there wouldn’t have been much of a backlash – the band wasn’t very well known outside of the Pacific Northwest at the time. However, when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah released Some Loud Thunder in 2007, they lost almost all the good will they gained after self-releasing their first album, which was loved by many. With that in mind, this is a list of five bands who, after releasing a debut album to widespread acclaim and rabid fans, managed to ride the momentum and release new albums that weren’t in the least bit disappointing, thereby avoiding the sophomore slump.

For Arcade Fire, the pressure to follow their debut, the critical darling Funeral, with an album just as good seemed daunting. To get an idea of how popular Arcade Fire was right before the release of Neon Bible, the band played five sold-out shows in five days at Judson Memorial Church - tickets sold out in minutes. If Neon Bible had been a letdown, that string of five shows may have proven to be the height of Arcade Fire’s popularity. Instead, Neon Bible proved to be a worthy successor to Funeral and now, in the days before Arcade Fire’s new album, The Suburbs, is finally released, the band is playing a string of sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden – a step up in size from Judson, to say the least. Neon Bible proved that Arcade Fire’s star had only begun rising to great heights.

Released in 2005, LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled debut gained favorable reviews and put frontman James Muphy in the spotlight. “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” became a relatively popular single, and “Losing My Edge” got lots of attention thanks to its snarky lyrics about feeling confused and alienated by the contemporary music scene. However, the album (which was actually a double album) ran a bit too long to stay exciting throughout and didn’t have many memorable songs aside from the two previously mentioned. Sound of Silver improved on its predecessor by featuring both a shorter length (56 minutes instead of 100) and a higher number of memorable songs (especially the still-incredible “All My Friends”). Like Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem’s popularity steadily increased after the release of Sound of Silver, proving their avoidance of the sophomore slump.

Kanye West’s second album was going to sell over a million copies regardless of how good it was – the singles from his debut The College Dropout were amazingly popular and the release of Late Registration came hot off the heels of “Jesus Walks” and “Through the Wire.” The promise of album sales wasn’t enough for Kanye West, however – he wanted to create a memorable second album light on throwaway skits that permeate many other hip-hop albums and heavy on memorable beats. Late Registration featured singles arguably just as good as those found on The College Dropout (“Gold Digger,” “Touch the Sky”) but, with the assistance of Jon Brion, had some unforgettable string section-backed songs as well (“We Major” and “Gone” take the cake). Late Registration not only sold well, but proved to skeptics that hip-hop could be original and trail-blazing as well as popular.

Prior to the release of Deja Entendu, Brand New was one of the most popular bands in pop-punk and contemporary emo circles, sharing the spotlight with bands like Saves the Day and Taking Back Sunday. Before Deja Entendu was released, fans anticipated catchy pop-punk in the same vein as their first album, Your Favorite Weapon - music that could soundtrack reckless summers with friends. However, when Deja Entendu came out in June of 2003, fans of the band were absolutely blown away. The music sounded nothing like their first album – pop-punk hooks were traded for dark, pensive songs with lyrical sophistication, more influenced by The Smiths and Archers of Loaf than New Found Glory. New fans were gained as well – “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” and “Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades” received heavy airplay on alt-rock radio stations. The album eventually sold over half a million copies and garnered attention from major labels, one of whom Brand New soon signed with. The legend of Deja Entendu endures seven years later – speaking through personal experience, while most people have left pop-punk and mainstream emo behind in favor of other, more mature-sounding music, they all still have a special place for Deja Entendu in their hearts and, more likely than not, still remember all the lyrics.

Another instance of reinvention done right is Pavement’s second album, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Pavement’s first album Slanted and Enchanted was completed in 1990, but wasn’t released until two years later. Tapes of the album were traded by critics and fans during the interim, leading to surprising amounts of hype from magazines like Spin. Rather than duplicate their lo-fi sound for their follow-up, Pavement went for something totally different. Crooked Rain sounded more like a classic rock album with modern production than a The Fall album. The catchy “Cut Your Hair” put the band on the cusp of mainstream success, but fans and critics alike found just as much to love about it as they did Slanted and Enchanted. If Pavement has shown anything, it’s that it’s okay to take risks between albums – it’s much easier to attempt to duplicate a previous success to avoid a sophomore slump than to do something different.