When I was a kid (and as with lots of dumb things you think as a kid, it stayed with me even if I intellectually got over it), I tended to think things improved with iteration. As in, if a a group released an album, the next album would be better, the one after that would be better still. Like Beverly Hills Cop? Beverly Hills Cop II must be an improvement! Lethal Weapon 4 Times As Good As The First! You get the idea.
Always a step forward.
Certainly reality did not always conform to this expectation! What the fuck was Temple of Doom?
Broader lesson here, I guess.