Reply #5: My own theory, with regard to first album syndrome...

[SteppingRazor]

it's really very simple. As an up and coming band, you've had maybe five or six years, if not more, to put together the best stuff for that debut album. Afterward, you've got maybe two years to produce the next album and a far more hectic lifestyle, leaving you with way less time to come up with something.

That's also why bands that only come out with an album once every five or six years often maintain the quality level throughout their careers.