When Cheap Trick put this album out in 1997, the band hadn't released a really good, cohesive album since the early 80's, IMO, and arguably not since Dream Police in 1979. Between 1982 and 1997, they had the occasional hit and some good songs here and there, but their albums were inconsistent or (in some instances, such as The Doctor) downright bad. But this one was a roaring return to form. Too bad their label went under right after it was released, which totally screwed any promotion an otherwise stellar album should have received.
I dug pretty much everything R.E.M. did up through Automatic for the People, but after that my interest started dropping off. I like some of their post-AFTP stuff, but much of it is meh. However, I thought their last album, Collapse Into Now, was really good. Maybe knowing they were going to be calling it quits motivated them.
I think the Johnny Cash example noted above is a good one, too.
Also, after slogging through much of the 70's with spotty results, the Kinks put out Low Budget, which rocked. Their next two albums were pretty good, too.