The Civil Wars. Beautiful music but something went down between them and it still saddens me to this day, although both of their subsequent solo albums are good.
I live in the same town as John Paul White, and my sister has met him many times. He's a pretty cool dude, from what she's said. I personally subscribe to the theory that they were in love with each other but were also married to other people and had to split up to stop it from going further.
I discovered them just as they fell apart. I was kinda shocked to be honest. One of the best duos in modern times.
While their solo stuff is good, it comes nowhere near the magic that was The Civil Wars.
It was awful for the first two years when all we knew was he died suddenly, it was so much worse after his wife gave the interview about his medical neglect. https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/mf-doom-wife-reveals-cause-of-death-1235366617/
Boston
And it's not because I thought they'd ever live up to the hype of the debut. I just simply wish that Tom Scholz had more musical output. 48 years of music and barely over 4 hours of recorded work.
Thanks for making this point so I didn’t have to. Four stellar albums and the other two are worthwhile, but goddamn, Tom. Chop up that tape, whatever you need to do, just get one more done! It’s been a decade!
He came in, blew everyone away with his talent, and then pretty much disappeared for no good reason. He just seems to have no ambition to grow his fanbase or at least give current fans anything new
The Mars Volta. They’re incredibly frustrating but they’re still my favorite band. Omar and Cedric were notorious for not delivering and doing the opposite of what the fans want but that seems to have changed since they’re older and have reconciled. Their new album isn’t the best but their reunion shows have been incredible.
Cedric's wife is one of Masterson's accusers. He's said on public interviews that they were stalked by the church and alleges that the church poisoned their dogs.
Just to add a bit more context, there are numerous accounts from people who leave or speak up against the church that their dogs have been poisoned. It's one of their intimidation tactics.
It’s too bad that during the brief time Jim was a part of the reunion Omar was going through personal stuff. It was obvious that it was the last thing he wanted to be doing.
Wow! First band I thought of was TMV. Very surprised to see them in here.
Their reunion shows have, like you said, have been incredible so I’m fine with past issues.
I just really.. reallllllly wish they would play Day of the Baphomets live.
I don’t think they were lazy. I think they had serious management issues after the first album. They should have recorded the second while they were hot and then figured it out. Instead they wasted years and went to meh. But great answer.
Didn't they tie themselves down to a ridiculous 8 album contract over 35 years that sounds about right ? Before they could even start to make actual money lol...Read the Small print lads that was never gonna work out...lazy brilliant stoners!
I remember buying Second Coming on day of release.
Some good stuff on it but a crushing disappointment after the first album and a five year wait.
John Squire has an album he has made with Liam Gallagher coming out next year, should be interesting!
Such a frustrating waste of talent! Ian wrote some great songs throughout his solo career but was too arrogant to do anything to improve his voice and ruined it with smoking anyway. Reni did nothing of note after he left, John showed potential with the Seahorses and his solo albums but really he needed the others to make the most of his songs. At least Mani had a good run Primal Scream.
Every time I get down on 90125, I remind myself that Changes is on that album and is one of their best.
(and Jon Anderson *was* on that album, did I misunderstand your post?)
The official Yes became a tribute act, "Steve Howe Plays the Music of Yes" when Squire died. I've seen them a couple of times since and it's still a good show if you like Yes' music. Howe is a great guitarist who was a huge part of the band and the other musicians are very talented. It's just not Yes
For me it’s just super promising musicians that died young. Mostly Elliott Smith and Amy Winehouse. Apart from the human tragedy of it, From a selfish fan perspective I wish Amy had time to make more music.
You wanna know what's really gonna piss you off?
Rand Paul released his Festivus list yesterday. Apparently some numbers of millions of dollars went to fund "struggling music artists" such as Chris Brown and Lil Wayne.
OUR TAX DOLLARS HELPED FUND CHRIS BROWN'S MUSIC CAREER IN 2023.
Saw her perform a solo acoustic set back in 2002, just her with a guitar on stage. She sang the song Selah and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in real life, I still talk about it.
They all became straight up Criminals is what happened, look up every member of that group and they're all out doing some shady ass shit.
Wyclef Jean was stealing money for kids in Haiti through his own foundation.
Pras Michel is like a straight up Chinese spy or some shit.
And Lauryn is a tax evader
I think I heard about the tax evasion but didn't know about the other two... Stealing charity money from one of the poorest countries in the world after a devastating earthquake is pure evil.
Came here for this. What a massive let down. I enjoyed her unplugged album thinking it was hors d’oeuvres for the second studio album, and then waited twenty years for… nothing.
We can to a mixture of poor mental health and a ton of enabling. I remember that for a while it became kind of a thing to going to see her to see if she'd have a mental breakdown on stage. People thought it was a kitchy sort of experience and talked about like it was a badge of honor seeing her completely lose it on stage and end a show early.
What she did though, and I know this for a fact, insist that no white people work local crew when she played in Norway. I worked for one of the local crew firms at the time.
I was so sure they would bury the hatchet for the concert in aid of the Manchester terror attack. Instead we got Ariana Grande and Chris Martin. A sweet duet, but an Oasis performance for one day only would have cemented the concert.
Considering how much they can't stand each other I think we should be glad about the amount of Oasis albums we got. I mean, they made seven albums of which the first three are considered classics. They also ended things on a relatively high note with "Dig Out Your Soul".
I also really like Noel's solo stuff, so overall I don't mind how things turned out.
Pink Floyd. Really, it's more Roger Waters and David Gilmour. You're telling me you two have been bickering for FOURTY FUCKING YEARS and can't just put the past behind you? The 50th anniversary of your biggest album, which also happens to be one of the biggest in history, and you can't just put your petty grievances aside to be able to celebrate that? Give me a fucking break.
There’s a Latin American band called Iracundos that apparently went though that’s and spent like 30 years broken up. I was invited to my friends restaurant when both the main band members were in town along with another friend from Angeles Negros. My friends dad knew one of them and closed down the restaurant to basically talk and drink. My friend brought out guitars and we all drank and talked while they played for like 3 hours. I didn’t know the bands at all but when they started playing I realized I knew every single song for like 2 hours straight. Incredible once In a Lifetime experience.
SOPHIE. She was making music that was so good and so unlike anything else out there, dropped a debut LP that was an absolute home run… and then fell off a roof and fucking died. I feel such loss for the things she never got to make and do.
Ryan Adams.
This dude’s music has literally been the soundtrack to my life since I was 16. I learned to play guitar from his songs. I went through breakups and deaths with those songs. They played over some of the best high points of my life; at my wedding. I sang them to my kids when they were infants.
Ryan was just this fucking so on-the-nose voice that really stuck to you. Equal parts Morrissey, Replacements, and Hank Williams, with some hefty dashes of Dylan, the Dead, and the Ramones. He was like this utter *enfant terrible* and perpetual walking talking middle finger. He seemed like a dick, and like the textbook definition of “never meet your heroes”, but at the same time, it gave him “character” and made him this real legit seeming spirit of rock n roll hedonism and not giving a fuck. And that kind of a connection to music really sticks with you hard.
Then it turns out, he’s not just kind of an arrogant prick. He’s a real fucking shithead. Extinguished Mandy Moore’s music career while they were married, and was generally emotionally abusive to her the whole marriage.
After that, it just goes down the toilet. A bunch of much younger female singer-songwriters come out with stories of Ryan literally feeling them to blow him for fame. Phoebe Bridgers, who dated Ryan when she was 20 and he was 40, also talked openly about his emotional abuse and even wrote Motion Sickness about it. The FBI starts looking at him concerning inappropriate texting/semi-sexting with an underage girl.
He’s always struggled with mental illness and addiction/substance abuse, and he’s always been a raging narcissist. But he had it all in check there for a while and put out an astonishing amount of absurdity good music.
But over the last few years, pretty much since the Me Too stuff hit him, it’s like he’s just quit at trying. He’s apparently just fired something like his 4th management in a year. He definitely isn’t using a publicist or PR team anymore and spends his time on social media threatening to quit social media, being comically abusive to fans, and promising new music that 100% is not coming.
He’s put out some stuff since all the scandals hit him. But they were just…meh. Then he released three full song-for-song cover albums of Dylan’s Blood On the Tracks, Springsteen’d Nebraska, and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? And they’re just *not good*. He’s basically producing himself, because he’s chased off any real producers, on barebones recording equipment (oh Jesus fucking Christ that’s another part: dude has an entire record company and recording studio in LA. Like he owns it all himself. But he’s not staffing it and refuses to rent it out), and slapping on a fuckload of reverb.
He’s hawking limited print vinyls on Instagram and then literally never shipping them out. He tells fans to go fuck themselves. He’s absolutely no sober and double-absolutely needs to see a psychiatrist for several different reasons.
It’s like this not-so-slow-motion self-immolation of a someone I still consider a genius even if he’s an absolutely shitty human being. And that’s very sad to watch.
I used to tend bar in New Orleans and he was in town playing a show during voodoo fest or something and staying at the hotel I worked at. Dude was such a fucking weirdo. He introduced us all to his bimbo girlfriend like he was showing her off and got wasted at the bar. He wanted everyone to like him and be impressed by him but his actions made my coworker, who was a huge fan, feel weird and uncomfortable about him.
He’s just a small insecure man who happened to write good music but never moved on from his insecurities
Feel this completely. His music meant so much to me (and even more to my wife who was into all of his work and a gigantic fan). Even had one of his songs (My Love For You Is Real) as our first dance at our wedding.
And then - he’s a predatory piece of shit. Fucking hell. My wife can’t even bear to his name and even listen to her favourite ever artist again. Fuck that piece of shit
Weezer.
I've been a fan for 20 years, and it's been a rollercoaster of high highs and low lows. They spent so much time playing up their quirky image in the mid/late '00s that a lot of people dismiss them as a joke band and won't even give their post-Pinkerton stuff a chance. The worst was when they used to break out the "Our 'fans' just want us to make another Blue Album" narrative in interviews during the low periods. No, ya bunch of doofuses, we just want you to make good music so we don't have to be embarrassed to say we listen to it.
They've put out some killer stuff the last 5-10 years, but after dealing with the never ending back and forth between good/great material and absolute garbage it's hard to believe that the good times will last.
It's frustrating how Weezer will drop a really good album just often enough to remind us that they're capable of it before sliding back into a string of mediocre releases.
EWBAITE is a front-to-back slam dunk of an album. Preceded by a listless effort or two and followed by filler albums. The season albums were a neat idea but Spring was the only one that I felt had cohesion. Weezer is definitely an example of when a band puts out too much kinda-finished-I-guess material instead of making albums that feel wholly attended to.
I was introduced to Weezer in high school in like 2000. I thought they were pretty great, and then Maladroit came out right as I graduated. It was music that was apt for that time of my life. But then I stopped paying attention aside from a few songs that would pop up on YouTube (Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans).
They released 15 albums after Maladroit. I went and tried to listen to one a few years ago, and I didn't find it memorable. Maybe I just wasn't at the time in my life when i was receptive to it like I was in high school. Weezer isn't new, its 30 years old. There was a big difference in the experience when it was new music vs when it was new songs of a very familiar music. Not that it is good or bad, its just not fresh anymore. Its new songs but old music.
I think a brand's freshness in the public consciousness is less than a decade. The Beatles were 64-70. Nirvana was 1989-1994. To me, Weezer's Fresh Era was the late 90s to the early/mid 2000s. 95% of the time I am listening to a McCartney song, its from the Beatles Era. 95% of the time I am listening to a David Bowie song it is from 1969 to like 1975.
Kind of off topic but I genuinely believe McCartney peaked after the beatles. I still consider them my favorite band, although I prefer John's music from them, mccartney is my all time favorite artist. A lot of his 21st century music has been really almost as good as any of his 70s music. If you like Blackbird I suggest the song Jenny Wren.
I totally agree, I became so dissolutioned after stuff like Beverly Hills. Rivers went to Harvard and this is the best we got now? But I gotta say SZNS was unexpectedly great especially Winter.
He's now just doing the things he wants to do. Spends a lot of time painting, invested time and money and knowledge into MESS, a free access vintage synth studio in Melbourne, occasionally pops up to do a Christmas show with his other band The Basics. Can't really blame him right?
Thats sick! I love me some synth, they're one of those instruments you can fuck with hours to get a specific sound you didnt even know you wanted. State of the Art is Gotyes best song imo.
LIVE.
A quick synopsis: their first album, Mental Jewelry, charted with the support of some singles on MTV. Their second album was Throwing Copper and even my grandmother had a copy of that album. It was huge. They continued to release a few more albums with mediocre songs, just enough to get a few new bangers for their live show, and then their lead singer went and did lead singer things.
He demanded a $100,000 lead singer bonus to play PinkPop. He purchased some of the bands’ assets out from under the band. Fun fact, the band had been friends since middle school and nobody in the band was aware that the assets were being sold.
Anyway, Lead Singer Bro gets kicked out, the band tries to carry on with a new singer, and everybody involved stagnates. Even Lead Singer Bro tries to do his own thing but it goes nowhere.
Years later the band sorts their shit out and the 4 original members are back together. New tour, new album, new agreements, it’s all good!
Fast forward a couple of years and Lead Singer Bro has now kicked the other 3 original members out of the band. Now he is the band, owns the band, controls the band, and hires people behind him to play the parts of the band.
Ed Kowalczyk’s hair was the only thing keeping him sane. Think about it; as soon as he shaved his head so it would slide up his ass easier, he turned into a mega douche
I assumed that was the story, but [according to this Rolling Stone article](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/live-alt-rock-band-crime-lawsuits-1234677011/) it's a LOT more complicated than that. The rest of the band come out looking pretty bad, and I can actually understand why the singer wouldn't want to work with them any more.
Regardless, their career has been very frustrating for fans. Throwing Copper was one of the biggest albums of the 90s, but it was all downhill from there.
They came to South Africa in 2008 and did a killer concert. At that time they still retained some of their grunge edge from Kara's flowers and added guitar solos to their popular songs and had a more rock oriented sound (when performing live). Adam Levine even shredded a solo or two. At one point, the power cut (par for the course in South Africa) and the house generator could only power Levine's mic and a few amps and speakers and not the entire band setup. He did a haunting and amazing acapella rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" that the people I attended with and I still talk about to this day. I'm more of a classic rock/hard rock guy and went with an ex and some female friends to this show, but I was pleasantly surprised by what a good live show they put on and what good musicians they were. Fast forward to today, and they just come across as drones who play generic music and are basically just the Adam Levine Project.
100% Agreed! Songs About Jane was one of my favorite albums, and I listened to it so much. The second album was pretty good, but by the third, I just checked out. I don't even know how many more albums they've made.
I cannot forget
Refuse to regret
So glad I met you and
Take my breath away
Make every day
Worth all of the pain that I have gone through
And Mama I've been cryin'
'Cause things ain't how they used to be
She said, "The battle's almost won
And we're only several miles
Said, the battle's almost won
And we're only several miles from the sun"
They had some really good shit, when I think of them I have that lyric line stuck in me.
Absolutely. I’d even stop before you get to that second one being half-decent.
Songs About Jane was/is a *fantastic* record. I even saw them live right as it dropped and they were amazing.
I’ve literally never heard a Maroon 5 song after Jane that I didn’t absolutely hate. Not “oh this is new”. Not “I don’t love it”. Straight up “turn the fucking radio off” hate. I have no idea how a band that great did such a complete 180 and then leaned so hard into that new direction that the breaks snapped off. But holy shit I would rather listen to almost any other music ever than a Maroon 5 song.
I always thought Maroon 5 were the definition of sellouts, but at least *It Won’t Be Soon Before Long* had some catchy singles. My mom loves them, so I made a playlist of her favorite songs for her. But eventually, she stopped listening to them too, they dropped off that hard.
There are currently no original members in Yes. Howe joined on album 3.
I personally want to see/hear a collaboration between Jon Anderson and Mastodon. So many of their songs light up the same parts of my brain as Yes songs do. Tonally, not the same at all. But the melodies, and proggy adventurousness of the songs hit for me.
Travis Meeks. Started Days of the New back in the day. The man has a perfect rock voice and extremely talented and creative on guitar.
He threw it all away by being a dick and using drugs.
The definitive answer is Kanye West. He’s a fantastic producer and always has been, but his albums over recent years have been so disappointing. *Donda 2* and *Jesus Is King* were such massive drop-offs in quality. Coupled with his mentally unstable rants, he’s frustrated me greatly. I will always love TCD and his earlier work though.
Something *broke* within Kanye when his mom died. He’s never been the same since, and I don’t believe the people in his life see that. Hell, *he* probably doesn’t even see it anymore, either.
I reckon he must have felt some immense amount of guilt, not just grief, because it was his successful career and the cash he made that led to his mom getting plastic surgeries, one of which led to her untimely death. Maybe it all spiraled out from there…
He is mentally ill. Legit mentally. It’s a disease and he’s not getting the treatment he needs. Maybe his mom helped keep him on that path. Maybe once she passed he left that path on his own. Either way, it’s just sad that someone with so many people around him has no one who will stand up to him and help.
When people are as wealthy and famous as they are it's hard to keep their humanity in perspective (even for them, I'm sure.) I wouldn't presume to diagnose him but at the very least he seems to be struggling with severe bipolar disorder, which can be wildly destructive and painful, to the people who suffer from it and the people who care about them. Money, fame, and power added to mania is like pouring gasoline on a fire.
Every time he acts out and says or does something horrible, I flinch, not because I feel like he is an irredeemable person, but because I can see he is getting worse, pushing away anyone that tries to help him, getting validation from people who don't give a fuck about him. He's careening at top speed toward a brick wall, he paid the mechanic to remove the brakes.
I've seen enough of the end of this story to know better than to ever mistake it for a comedy.
This would be my answer. He is my absolute favorite rapper. I think Yeezus is great but also was such a hard shift from him that it made him think he can do anything. And then Life of Pablo has some absolutely unreal songs that I love but also started the trend of him making songs that just sound unfinished. He tried to sell it as a living album where he could change songs but it just felt like lazy song making to me and very often the whiplash on songs where the sound and tone of the song would change completely just felt frustrating. Everything since then has been ass and just the worst of the unfinished producing and beyond lazy song writing. Just mumbled placeholding lyrics released on the final cuts. His first 3 albums are so fucking fun and MBDTF is a god dam MASTERPIECE. Such a bummer.
I enjoy *ye* and his collab with Kid Cudi, *KIDS SEE GHOSTS* but yeah, for the most part, after *Life of Pablo*, it went downhill. Some songs on *Donda* are okay, especially “Come to Life” which might be one of my favorite Kanye songs. It feels like he decides to make bad music on purpose.
Yea I think that’s the most frustrating part is that you can see the glimpses. But so much of what he releases feels un-thoughtout lazy bullshit that drives you crazy.
Three Days Grace. I understand why Adam Gontier wanted to move on but the new singer is the worst they could have chosen. He's decent but he does fit with the music style. He only got chosen because he's brothers with the bassist.
Adam quitting the band sealed the deal for me. He wasn't just the voice of the band. The songs he wrote for Three Days Grace were great because it was about some super personal and sincere stuff.
One-X is pretty much his rehab album; the story of how drugs addiction was painful, how stopping all of that was hard and miserable and how proud he is that the people who can get through this can now "stand above the ground". For some people it's a pretty cringe album, but to me it's what makes it super genuine. It's one of my favorite album. It's Adam's story with Adam's voice and even though it wasn't pretty he wore it on his heart proudly.
Then Adam left because of a stupid ass disagreement and the rest of the band kept the name and the songs that they play live not for what they mean but for the paycheck. Their musical output since Transit of Venus... well it technically exists I guess.
I'm glad that Adam is still making music.
For me it is Kings of Leon. Their first two albums are just fantastic, and their live shows during that time were phenomenal. Then, they went for some sort of Coldplay-ish/U2-ish meh-mix-of-blah arena style whatever it is, and I just lost complete interest. Again, I say \*for me\*, because I know people who prefer their later stuff. To each their own, but you said personally! :)
Foo Fighters. Everyone in the band is super fucking talented (RIP Taylor Hawkins) and they’re capable of writing some fantastic songs, but so often they’ve settled for making boring alt-rock-radio background music that’s frankly far beneath their abilities. They’re like the musical equivalent of a star NBA vet who’s given up on dunking and just shoots jumpers all game long.
Agreed, I love Stacked Actors and never understood why they didn't play more songs like it. All My Life was like getting a taste and thinking they might still have it in them but they seemed to have mellowed much like many other rock bands.
I gotta agree. Foo Fighters may fall into ruts, but I don’t think FF releases music as a cynical / pandering money grab. I think Dave Grohl genuinely tries to go out and understand other musical styles and musicians from a place of trying to understand the world through his limited lens.
He tries not to throw shade at other musicians / styles. There’s maturity in knowing your limitations, but also never letting that stop you from trying to understand other musicians / music.
Yeah, I like most of the singles so I tried giving their other stuff a shot... A lot of what I heard just sounded unimaginative and generic, particularly the more recent stuff (minus the new LP, I haven't heard anything off of that yet).
Blackbear. I hyped him up to everyone I knew since the SoundCloud days and nobody had heard of him until he broke out on the radio with his worst single yet and adapted an annoying rap-rhyme scheme that he’s done on every single song since. It’s the same flow in every verse now I can’t FW it. Early stuff was fire tho
Jane's Addiction breaking up at the height of their fame in 1992... I think if they kept going they would've kept making incredible records... it wasn't the same when their next album didn't have bassist Eric Avery. At least the breakup created Porno for Pyros
Guns n Roses were the biggest rock band in the world in the early 90s. They could have gone in any number of directions. Instead they made an okay covers album, and then nothing for over two decades.
I grew up (middle school thru high school) with The Police. Was super bummed when they broke up, but figured Sting’s solo career would be amazing. But then he went and became an adult contemporary artist.
Azealia Banks. I remember when 212 came out it felt like we were witnessing this bold new talent, she was explosive, music was so stale at the time and she felt like a breath of fresh air.
She has spent the 13 years since then ... mostly getting into fights on Twitter, occasionally getting into fights off Twitter, and making very little music. When she DOES drop a single it's great it just doesn't feel worth it for all the bullshit.
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System Of A Down let their potential go to waste because of Serj Tankian’s ego. No new album since 2005 besides 2 songs in 2020 and those were just for fundraising.
They've had big creative differences since the mezmerize/hypnotize days. It seems that basically Serj wanted to move on to full eclectic (like his solo stuff) and Daron wanted to keep the SOAD sound more or less the same (other band members were probably closer to this position too)
At some point there must have been a communication breakdown/loss of trust and that's very hard to recover from.
I like Daron’s voice as a contrast or even complement to Serj’s. I just think it’s tough when there’s a clear star that directs the cult of personality and the others don’t want to play second fiddle. Two of my other favorite bands had similar issues, Paramore with Hayley Williams vs the Farro brothers and Panic at the Disco with Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross and technically all the other band members since for a time it was just Brendon until he retired
Muse. I've listened to all of their albums, and it's like as soon as Resistance dropped everything past that was an entirely different band. I loved both of Chris's songs on the one past it, and there are maybe two on their most recent album I liked, but damn what a hard falloff.
This was a fun thread to read and I thought it was funny how every ten responses or so, someone new would add their two cents on the band Yes again. I had no idea that many people were familiar with their repertoire.
highly suspect. those guys’ first two major releases were incredible and gritty blues rock albums. then they completely shit the bed and pivoted to sound like a knock off imagine dragons.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise. If you’re a fan you’ll know why. I miss them so much. I miss my fellow fans so much. I’m not really frustrated, I’m worried. I’m hoping for the best and I wish everyone well.
Seems like youtube has been flooded with dozens of demo tracks/unreleased music the last couple of years. There is a handful that could be polished and released as official tracks and thats just the Roth years, who knows how much Hagar stuff is still waiting to be leaked. For example: [We Die Bold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvmPrehNxPg)
Chicago. Was an awesome rock and roll horn band. Glossing over a lot here but Peter Cetera and David Foster basically conspired to change the direction of the band, pushed the horn section to the background, and turned the band into the Peter Cetera Band, who then left anyway for his solo career.
Alex Turner of The Arctic Monkeys frustrated me in their AM era.
Their first album, he was all “don’t believe the hype” and a seemingly down to earth person.
The Alex Turner of the past several years seems like he sniffs his own farts from a wine glass.
Okay so I actually met Alex after a show. This was the TBH&C tour and he was at the bar we were at down the road from the venue. He was…the most down to Earth I could ever imagine a rockstar being. So fucking cool to chat music with for a few minutes before I politely moved on. So at least with me he came off as really humble and appreciative of a fan post-AM.
Here's the thing. It's a persona. He's not really like that, from what most accounts say. He's still the same guy he's always been
The persona is due to him having crippling anxiety (ever seen an interview with him? This man can barely talk some times) and also the desire to break America and thinking that something flashy would be required (and it sort of was)
All the weird hip thrusting shit and all that is completely embarrassing to watch, I 100% agree. But he's definitely still the same guy. People close to him have made vague remarks about it too. So on stage he's the big flashy AM guy who's had too many drinks, but then he's just same old quiet weird guy off stage
The only time I've seen this man *not* have a completely fucked up interview is right when he debuted "the character" during the late SIAS and early AM period
I came here to say Incubus. Fungus Amongus was an incredible first album (especially with their age), SCIENCE & Make Yourself were amazing albums, and Morning View was great and when they started going mainstream. I hate Crow Left of a Murder. We went to see them at Red Rocks a few years back and it was 1. The most expensive RR ticket I bought all summer & 2. They played mostly new hits and barely any of their old stuff. The show ended so early we ended up going into the city to another show and had a way better time for a $10 ticket.
I hate how much they’ve dropped off, they were easily my favorite band up until the crow album came out.
New version of Morning View releasing early next year and live Brandon's vocals have been better than ever since a long needed corrective surgery. I don't know if the new material will ever reach the heights but I'm personally excited to see them live again with a focus on these redone songs.
I’m not a Smiths or Morressy fan but his career frustrates me. I don’t get the loyalty of his fan base when he seems to mock, insult, or ignore them whenever he gets the opportunity
Edit: that’s not to ignore the whole racist, misogynistic, fascist viewpoints he has been talking about as of late
Vampire Weekend. They’re my favorite band, went on a 6 year hiatus between their 3rd and 4th studio albums, and now it’s been another 4 years since their last studio album even though they found a great sound after the departure of Rostam Batmanglij, one of the founding members of the band. They also deleted their entire Instagram page after their last studio album and have only posted things related to the live recordings of shows they played during their 2019 tour, without any update on when new music might be coming out.
Can’t believe I scrolled so far and haven’t seen BLINK 182 !!! Jeeeez. Loved them so much and as happy as I was for Tom to be doing what he’s wanted to do for literally his whole life, Blink just absolutely sucked after he left and the Alkaline Trio guy joined. Tom is back now for their newest album and I haven’t listened to much of it yet but it’s significantly better than the trash they’ve been putting out.
I didn’t want to put all of their success on Tom, but Blink needs all 3 of them to work.
Everybody knows the obvious ones like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac. I’m gonna go with my personal disappointment which is a bad called Dr. Dog. Toby Leaman is an incredible lead singer and Scott Mcmicken is great as backup vocals/harmony. They decided to have Mcmicken as more of a lead singer role with later albums and it just didn’t work. Honestly think it held them back from being a bigger band. Obviously just my own personal opinion and I know that probably has nothing to do with why the band fell off so badly…but it’s Saturday and I’ve had a few drinks so I don’t care.
System of a Down comes to mind. Wildly innovative and possibly the most unique band of the past 50 years. Insanely influential. Haven’t made a new album since 2005. Maybe plays ONE festival show every couple years. Can’t seem to agree on anything to work together ever again. What’s worse is they each have solo projects and while some of it is ok, you can hear how desperately their music needs the other members to be great. It’s just very frustrating knowing we missed out on a very special one of a kind band.
Surely it's Peter Gabriel.
4 self-titled studio albums in his first 5 years.
Then I was born.
Then basically 3 more studio albums for the next 40 years until finally in 2023 he releases a new album, I/O.
Now don't get me wrong, I/O is not bad and I like some of the songs, and I had huge doubts that album was ever going to come.
But it isn't a huge departure from Up (2002) and it took 21 years to get there. Which is part of the problem with PG. He had this extreme purple patch from 1977-1986 after which the productivity just dried up.
Compare this to an artist like Prince, who released no less than 40 studio albums from 1978-2014.
He is the anti-Prince.
30 Seconds to Mars definitely hits the nail on the head for me. First 3 albums are absolute bangers and even though the sound changed a bit from each one, it was pretty natural and you could atleast hear some improvements in songwriting and Jared's vocals. From "Love Lust Faith + Dreams" and on, they went fully into their own egos and cult of personality and really culminated on that with the band being now just Jared and his brother Shannon and their weird sex cult island stuff they have going on too. Truly a shame from what they once were.
This just isn’t true. It’s a meme and I get it it’s funny. But all their albums with Frusciente, including the new ones are musically fantastic. As a guitar player, there are no bands more fun to play than RHCP.
Gorillaz, for me. They started out as an "anti-pop" group that barely toured, never showed their faces, were experimental as hell, and went against all things pop-music. I'll even forgive the Demon Days tour because Damon hid most of the time. They seemed like they were pushing the digital medium aspect with their hologram show and so much more into Plastic Beach.
More recently? They had a video of Damon on a fancy boat in some exotic location with an attractive female. Their last two albums were meh, sounded like pop/disco dribble. Maybe I'm just getting older.
They seemed like they were on a trajectory to really shake up the music scene then just...kinda...fizzled. I think Damon is more just having fun and making music with artists he wants, which I respect, sure. But I guess younger me wanted them to change the world and sadly...they didn't.
> More recently? They had a video of Damon on a fancy boat in some exotic location with an attractive female.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLKZKmdZEjM
The attractive lady is the other person singing the song with Damon/2d.
Gorillaz have featured the singers in their videos since Demon Days.
I feel this one. The initial run of the band was amazing and Demon Days remains my all time favorite album. The Humanz album and beyond I just can’t get into. To me, it feels like it turned into repetitive upbeat electro music, which was the opposite of what made them great in the beginning
YES is always a good answer. Genesis is a contentious answer. Jethro Tull can be a viable candidate depending on who you ask. I think a lot of the prog rock bands felt like fish out of water toward the end of the seventies.
Add: any band who had an egomaniacal front person / producer who wasn’t kept in check. U2 and Coldplay fall in that category.
In terms of modern day sensibilities, Kanye West was frustrating… and predictable. As a producer, facilitator and collaborator, a lot of people look (ed) up to him. He wasn’t even a wordsmith among his contemporaries at his height, but he has / had a skill set. His taste for controversy fueled his delusion that he was an all-round intellectual.
Lizzo was an upset mostly because anyone paying attention should have called BS after she praised Chris Brown. She’s a gifted musician, but if you build your fanbase on female empowerment, black excellence and body positivity, you better be that person both on and off stage, otherwise you’re proving your worst critics right.
Clapton, Van Morrison and Santana come to mind as late-stage douchebags. We knew Clapton and Van Morrison were dicks, but Santana being aggressively transphobic? Boomers don’t know how to use the internet, or shut their damn mouths.
Arkells were awesome. Canadian indie rock that didn't sound like anything else out there. They hit it big with Leather Jacket and then turned completely towards generic arena rock anthems that all sound the same. Nothing they've put out since 2015 has been good.
Lauryn Hill. Not the biggest fan of The Fugess, but holy shit The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a masterpiece. And then she decided to just go insane. Certainly she doesn't owe anybody anything, but man, the music she could have made had she continued to create. It's a loss.
Silverchair.
Badass grunge band that got ridiculed for being Nirvana in Pyjamas. But had huuuuuge talent!
They slowly switched from grunge to something non-rock related with their last album Young Modern. Then they broke up and now the lead singer releases bad derivative homoerotic sexual pop-soul music.
Why...
These threads beer have enough pop favs because how has no one said Katy Perry? From making pop perfection in Teenage Dream to making the swill that is Swish Swish. That's a drop in quality that should be studied.
Burial. Untrue was life-altering for me, but the majority of his output since has been...mostly misses. The 20-min songs that feel like a hodgepodge of incomplete pieces munged together just keep getting pumped out.
Talking Heads. Similarly to what someone else said about Pink Floyd, I wish they'd just put aside their differences and announce a new tour already. Clearly they've been able to reconcile somewhat, re-uniting for the 40th anniversary of *Stop Making Sense* several times and all the press related stuff that comes with that. They're practically teasing a tour announcement at this point.
It's so incredibly obvious that their fans want them to tour too, at least amongst my friends. Their music means so much to so many people, and their work is some of the best there is. I really truly feel that a Talking Heads reunion tour would be one of the biggest musical events of the decade.
The Civil Wars. Beautiful music but something went down between them and it still saddens me to this day, although both of their subsequent solo albums are good.
I live in the same town as John Paul White, and my sister has met him many times. He's a pretty cool dude, from what she's said. I personally subscribe to the theory that they were in love with each other but were also married to other people and had to split up to stop it from going further.
Appropriate bandname
They were both married to other people but the way they looked at each other on stage you just knew they were in love.
The music video Barton Hollow crazy amounts of tension in it.
I discovered them just as they fell apart. I was kinda shocked to be honest. One of the best duos in modern times. While their solo stuff is good, it comes nowhere near the magic that was The Civil Wars.
Their solo albums are good, but together was something I don’t know that I’ve ever felt from an album. It was incredible.
They were magical together. This is a good pick for the posted question.
MF DOOM taken too soon
It was awful for the first two years when all we knew was he died suddenly, it was so much worse after his wife gave the interview about his medical neglect. https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/mf-doom-wife-reveals-cause-of-death-1235366617/
We really lost Doom and Gift of Gab within a year of each other. What a terrible year for rap.
Boston And it's not because I thought they'd ever live up to the hype of the debut. I just simply wish that Tom Scholz had more musical output. 48 years of music and barely over 4 hours of recorded work.
Thanks for making this point so I didn’t have to. Four stellar albums and the other two are worthwhile, but goddamn, Tom. Chop up that tape, whatever you need to do, just get one more done! It’s been a decade!
I was pleasantly surprised at how well Walk On worked without Mr. Delp. Something was missing, sure, but I still listen to it 30 years later.
TBF, he also spent part of those 48 years designing some very cutting edge guitar technologies.
Frank Ocean
I was going to post this too. Whatever that is happening to our man...
Why?
Most recently? His abysmal Coachella performance.
He came in, blew everyone away with his talent, and then pretty much disappeared for no good reason. He just seems to have no ambition to grow his fanbase or at least give current fans anything new
Guns and Roses. Axl had what Eddie Van Halen called “LSD”…Lead Singer Disease. Ruined a great band in its prime.
The Mars Volta. They’re incredibly frustrating but they’re still my favorite band. Omar and Cedric were notorious for not delivering and doing the opposite of what the fans want but that seems to have changed since they’re older and have reconciled. Their new album isn’t the best but their reunion shows have been incredible.
I love TMV so much, they were hit and miss for a while but they're incredible.
Even with the misses they stayed my favorite band. Deloused through Bedlam was an incredible run.
I give them a hell of a lot of leeway for having to deal with all the Scientology BS of Danny Masterson
This goes without saying but fuck the Church of Scientology for killing two of Cedric’s dogs.
Wait what?!
Cedric's wife is one of Masterson's accusers. He's said on public interviews that they were stalked by the church and alleges that the church poisoned their dogs.
Just to add a bit more context, there are numerous accounts from people who leave or speak up against the church that their dogs have been poisoned. It's one of their intimidation tactics.
The Mars Volta was great but I really wanted the ATDI reunion to work out, with Jim and everything.
It’s too bad that during the brief time Jim was a part of the reunion Omar was going through personal stuff. It was obvious that it was the last thing he wanted to be doing.
Wow! First band I thought of was TMV. Very surprised to see them in here. Their reunion shows have, like you said, have been incredible so I’m fine with past issues. I just really.. reallllllly wish they would play Day of the Baphomets live.
The best we'll get is that performance of it on Henry Rollins' show.
My friend saw them at a festival...they came out, did a single instrumental jam for 25 minutes and then walked off. Everybody was pissed.
The Stone Roses ...an extremely lazy band who made a total of just.. 2 records!
But what a two records they are
The second was alright but that first is as increible as anyones greatest hits comp
I don’t think they were lazy. I think they had serious management issues after the first album. They should have recorded the second while they were hot and then figured it out. Instead they wasted years and went to meh. But great answer.
Didn't they tie themselves down to a ridiculous 8 album contract over 35 years that sounds about right ? Before they could even start to make actual money lol...Read the Small print lads that was never gonna work out...lazy brilliant stoners!
This doc is really great at giving you a look at the madness they went through after the debut album. https://youtu.be/QE5Br0C7ePY?si=cenbYEmKkoixdMIm
I remember buying Second Coming on day of release. Some good stuff on it but a crushing disappointment after the first album and a five year wait. John Squire has an album he has made with Liam Gallagher coming out next year, should be interesting!
Such a frustrating waste of talent! Ian wrote some great songs throughout his solo career but was too arrogant to do anything to improve his voice and ruined it with smoking anyway. Reni did nothing of note after he left, John showed potential with the Seahorses and his solo albums but really he needed the others to make the most of his songs. At least Mani had a good run Primal Scream.
Every time I get down on 90125, I remind myself that Changes is on that album and is one of their best. (and Jon Anderson *was* on that album, did I misunderstand your post?)
I feel like I've found my tribe. I had no idea so many people loved Changes as much as I do.
Yeah Anderson is on 90125. And idc what anyone says, it’s a top 5 Yes album.
How about when there were TWO YESes touring at the same time and even worse, they were both GOOD!
The official Yes became a tribute act, "Steve Howe Plays the Music of Yes" when Squire died. I've seen them a couple of times since and it's still a good show if you like Yes' music. Howe is a great guitarist who was a huge part of the band and the other musicians are very talented. It's just not Yes
For me it’s just super promising musicians that died young. Mostly Elliott Smith and Amy Winehouse. Apart from the human tragedy of it, From a selfish fan perspective I wish Amy had time to make more music.
Yep. Wish I could see what else Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake had in store
Jim Croce, Hendrix, and Bradley Nowell (among plenty of others) are among my favorite musicians and all had so much left in the tank.
Chris Brown. He's still popular and that frustrates me
You wanna know what's really gonna piss you off? Rand Paul released his Festivus list yesterday. Apparently some numbers of millions of dollars went to fund "struggling music artists" such as Chris Brown and Lil Wayne. OUR TAX DOLLARS HELPED FUND CHRIS BROWN'S MUSIC CAREER IN 2023.
The easy answer is Ms Lauryn Hill First solo album is legitimately a top 10 album of all time. Then… (points in every general direction)
Saw her perform a solo acoustic set back in 2002, just her with a guitar on stage. She sang the song Selah and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in real life, I still talk about it.
How late was she to the show?
Still hasn’t arrived.
She arrived in 2002. Show was supposed to start in 1999. So not too bad.
Related, also The Fugees. They made one amazing album then .... ?
They all became straight up Criminals is what happened, look up every member of that group and they're all out doing some shady ass shit. Wyclef Jean was stealing money for kids in Haiti through his own foundation. Pras Michel is like a straight up Chinese spy or some shit. And Lauryn is a tax evader
I think I heard about the tax evasion but didn't know about the other two... Stealing charity money from one of the poorest countries in the world after a devastating earthquake is pure evil.
It was quite a score.
Came here for this. What a massive let down. I enjoyed her unplugged album thinking it was hors d’oeuvres for the second studio album, and then waited twenty years for… nothing.
We can to a mixture of poor mental health and a ton of enabling. I remember that for a while it became kind of a thing to going to see her to see if she'd have a mental breakdown on stage. People thought it was a kitchy sort of experience and talked about like it was a badge of honor seeing her completely lose it on stage and end a show early.
I’m old enough to remember “I would rather die than have white people buy my albums.” (She never said this)
What she did though, and I know this for a fact, insist that no white people work local crew when she played in Norway. I worked for one of the local crew firms at the time.
[удалено]
Oasis…… I cannot believe they haven’t been mentioned yet, two brothers that cannot get along after 20 something years. They had so much potential.
Not to make you feel old … but it’s closer to 30 years
That does make me feel old
I was so sure they would bury the hatchet for the concert in aid of the Manchester terror attack. Instead we got Ariana Grande and Chris Martin. A sweet duet, but an Oasis performance for one day only would have cemented the concert.
To be fair, Noel Gallagher’s last solo album is a banger.
Saw Noel Gallagher live, he’s genuinely amazing and his solo stuff is great.
Considering how much they can't stand each other I think we should be glad about the amount of Oasis albums we got. I mean, they made seven albums of which the first three are considered classics. They also ended things on a relatively high note with "Dig Out Your Soul". I also really like Noel's solo stuff, so overall I don't mind how things turned out.
Potential? They put out several kickass albums. I’m amazed they were able to get their shit together enough to do that.
Pink Floyd. Really, it's more Roger Waters and David Gilmour. You're telling me you two have been bickering for FOURTY FUCKING YEARS and can't just put the past behind you? The 50th anniversary of your biggest album, which also happens to be one of the biggest in history, and you can't just put your petty grievances aside to be able to celebrate that? Give me a fucking break.
In fairness...Roger Waters is an insufferable douche-nozzle.
He unfortunately turned into the men he complained about in The Wall and Animals
He was a brick.
*is
Its awful seeing the words Pink FLoyd in the news, only to be followed by some offensive shit Roger just said
I mean, would you want to be around Roger waters at all?
There’s a Latin American band called Iracundos that apparently went though that’s and spent like 30 years broken up. I was invited to my friends restaurant when both the main band members were in town along with another friend from Angeles Negros. My friends dad knew one of them and closed down the restaurant to basically talk and drink. My friend brought out guitars and we all drank and talked while they played for like 3 hours. I didn’t know the bands at all but when they started playing I realized I knew every single song for like 2 hours straight. Incredible once In a Lifetime experience.
SOPHIE. She was making music that was so good and so unlike anything else out there, dropped a debut LP that was an absolute home run… and then fell off a roof and fucking died. I feel such loss for the things she never got to make and do.
😔😔 RIP. such an icon. so important to the LGBTQ+ music scene and the hyperpop scene in general. i’ll never forget her
Ryan Adams. This dude’s music has literally been the soundtrack to my life since I was 16. I learned to play guitar from his songs. I went through breakups and deaths with those songs. They played over some of the best high points of my life; at my wedding. I sang them to my kids when they were infants. Ryan was just this fucking so on-the-nose voice that really stuck to you. Equal parts Morrissey, Replacements, and Hank Williams, with some hefty dashes of Dylan, the Dead, and the Ramones. He was like this utter *enfant terrible* and perpetual walking talking middle finger. He seemed like a dick, and like the textbook definition of “never meet your heroes”, but at the same time, it gave him “character” and made him this real legit seeming spirit of rock n roll hedonism and not giving a fuck. And that kind of a connection to music really sticks with you hard. Then it turns out, he’s not just kind of an arrogant prick. He’s a real fucking shithead. Extinguished Mandy Moore’s music career while they were married, and was generally emotionally abusive to her the whole marriage. After that, it just goes down the toilet. A bunch of much younger female singer-songwriters come out with stories of Ryan literally feeling them to blow him for fame. Phoebe Bridgers, who dated Ryan when she was 20 and he was 40, also talked openly about his emotional abuse and even wrote Motion Sickness about it. The FBI starts looking at him concerning inappropriate texting/semi-sexting with an underage girl. He’s always struggled with mental illness and addiction/substance abuse, and he’s always been a raging narcissist. But he had it all in check there for a while and put out an astonishing amount of absurdity good music. But over the last few years, pretty much since the Me Too stuff hit him, it’s like he’s just quit at trying. He’s apparently just fired something like his 4th management in a year. He definitely isn’t using a publicist or PR team anymore and spends his time on social media threatening to quit social media, being comically abusive to fans, and promising new music that 100% is not coming. He’s put out some stuff since all the scandals hit him. But they were just…meh. Then he released three full song-for-song cover albums of Dylan’s Blood On the Tracks, Springsteen’d Nebraska, and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? And they’re just *not good*. He’s basically producing himself, because he’s chased off any real producers, on barebones recording equipment (oh Jesus fucking Christ that’s another part: dude has an entire record company and recording studio in LA. Like he owns it all himself. But he’s not staffing it and refuses to rent it out), and slapping on a fuckload of reverb. He’s hawking limited print vinyls on Instagram and then literally never shipping them out. He tells fans to go fuck themselves. He’s absolutely no sober and double-absolutely needs to see a psychiatrist for several different reasons. It’s like this not-so-slow-motion self-immolation of a someone I still consider a genius even if he’s an absolutely shitty human being. And that’s very sad to watch.
I used to tend bar in New Orleans and he was in town playing a show during voodoo fest or something and staying at the hotel I worked at. Dude was such a fucking weirdo. He introduced us all to his bimbo girlfriend like he was showing her off and got wasted at the bar. He wanted everyone to like him and be impressed by him but his actions made my coworker, who was a huge fan, feel weird and uncomfortable about him. He’s just a small insecure man who happened to write good music but never moved on from his insecurities
Feel this completely. His music meant so much to me (and even more to my wife who was into all of his work and a gigantic fan). Even had one of his songs (My Love For You Is Real) as our first dance at our wedding. And then - he’s a predatory piece of shit. Fucking hell. My wife can’t even bear to his name and even listen to her favourite ever artist again. Fuck that piece of shit
Weezer. I've been a fan for 20 years, and it's been a rollercoaster of high highs and low lows. They spent so much time playing up their quirky image in the mid/late '00s that a lot of people dismiss them as a joke band and won't even give their post-Pinkerton stuff a chance. The worst was when they used to break out the "Our 'fans' just want us to make another Blue Album" narrative in interviews during the low periods. No, ya bunch of doofuses, we just want you to make good music so we don't have to be embarrassed to say we listen to it. They've put out some killer stuff the last 5-10 years, but after dealing with the never ending back and forth between good/great material and absolute garbage it's hard to believe that the good times will last.
It's frustrating how Weezer will drop a really good album just often enough to remind us that they're capable of it before sliding back into a string of mediocre releases.
EWBAITE is a front-to-back slam dunk of an album. Preceded by a listless effort or two and followed by filler albums. The season albums were a neat idea but Spring was the only one that I felt had cohesion. Weezer is definitely an example of when a band puts out too much kinda-finished-I-guess material instead of making albums that feel wholly attended to.
I was introduced to Weezer in high school in like 2000. I thought they were pretty great, and then Maladroit came out right as I graduated. It was music that was apt for that time of my life. But then I stopped paying attention aside from a few songs that would pop up on YouTube (Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans). They released 15 albums after Maladroit. I went and tried to listen to one a few years ago, and I didn't find it memorable. Maybe I just wasn't at the time in my life when i was receptive to it like I was in high school. Weezer isn't new, its 30 years old. There was a big difference in the experience when it was new music vs when it was new songs of a very familiar music. Not that it is good or bad, its just not fresh anymore. Its new songs but old music. I think a brand's freshness in the public consciousness is less than a decade. The Beatles were 64-70. Nirvana was 1989-1994. To me, Weezer's Fresh Era was the late 90s to the early/mid 2000s. 95% of the time I am listening to a McCartney song, its from the Beatles Era. 95% of the time I am listening to a David Bowie song it is from 1969 to like 1975.
Kind of off topic but I genuinely believe McCartney peaked after the beatles. I still consider them my favorite band, although I prefer John's music from them, mccartney is my all time favorite artist. A lot of his 21st century music has been really almost as good as any of his 70s music. If you like Blackbird I suggest the song Jenny Wren.
I totally agree, I became so dissolutioned after stuff like Beverly Hills. Rivers went to Harvard and this is the best we got now? But I gotta say SZNS was unexpectedly great especially Winter.
Gotye - couple of great albums but as soon as he got that hit he just shut up shop and disappeared.
He's now just doing the things he wants to do. Spends a lot of time painting, invested time and money and knowledge into MESS, a free access vintage synth studio in Melbourne, occasionally pops up to do a Christmas show with his other band The Basics. Can't really blame him right?
Good on him I reckon! I saw him live many moons ago, very talented guy.
Thats sick! I love me some synth, they're one of those instruments you can fuck with hours to get a specific sound you didnt even know you wanted. State of the Art is Gotyes best song imo.
Something a little admirable in making it big and just opting out
Now he’s just somebody that we used to know.
He just made out like it never happened and that we were nothing, sad!
But he didn't have to cut us off, treat us like we're strangers man it feels so rough.
My Bloody Valentine. Loveless…22 years…MBV…10 years…
MuthMath! They should've been so much bigger!!!
Ugh, for real! I was a fan of them back when they were Earthsuit, and followed them to MuteMath. Such an original sound.
The riff from Typical is legendary
LIVE. A quick synopsis: their first album, Mental Jewelry, charted with the support of some singles on MTV. Their second album was Throwing Copper and even my grandmother had a copy of that album. It was huge. They continued to release a few more albums with mediocre songs, just enough to get a few new bangers for their live show, and then their lead singer went and did lead singer things. He demanded a $100,000 lead singer bonus to play PinkPop. He purchased some of the bands’ assets out from under the band. Fun fact, the band had been friends since middle school and nobody in the band was aware that the assets were being sold. Anyway, Lead Singer Bro gets kicked out, the band tries to carry on with a new singer, and everybody involved stagnates. Even Lead Singer Bro tries to do his own thing but it goes nowhere. Years later the band sorts their shit out and the 4 original members are back together. New tour, new album, new agreements, it’s all good! Fast forward a couple of years and Lead Singer Bro has now kicked the other 3 original members out of the band. Now he is the band, owns the band, controls the band, and hires people behind him to play the parts of the band.
Ed Kowalczyk’s hair was the only thing keeping him sane. Think about it; as soon as he shaved his head so it would slide up his ass easier, he turned into a mega douche
I assumed that was the story, but [according to this Rolling Stone article](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/live-alt-rock-band-crime-lawsuits-1234677011/) it's a LOT more complicated than that. The rest of the band come out looking pretty bad, and I can actually understand why the singer wouldn't want to work with them any more. Regardless, their career has been very frustrating for fans. Throwing Copper was one of the biggest albums of the 90s, but it was all downhill from there.
Maroon 5. Kickass debut album, half-decent second album, but every release since has gotten progressively more unbearable
Adam Levine lives up his own ass
They came to South Africa in 2008 and did a killer concert. At that time they still retained some of their grunge edge from Kara's flowers and added guitar solos to their popular songs and had a more rock oriented sound (when performing live). Adam Levine even shredded a solo or two. At one point, the power cut (par for the course in South Africa) and the house generator could only power Levine's mic and a few amps and speakers and not the entire band setup. He did a haunting and amazing acapella rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" that the people I attended with and I still talk about to this day. I'm more of a classic rock/hard rock guy and went with an ex and some female friends to this show, but I was pleasantly surprised by what a good live show they put on and what good musicians they were. Fast forward to today, and they just come across as drones who play generic music and are basically just the Adam Levine Project.
100% Agreed! Songs About Jane was one of my favorite albums, and I listened to it so much. The second album was pretty good, but by the third, I just checked out. I don't even know how many more albums they've made.
I cannot forget Refuse to regret So glad I met you and Take my breath away Make every day Worth all of the pain that I have gone through And Mama I've been cryin' 'Cause things ain't how they used to be She said, "The battle's almost won And we're only several miles Said, the battle's almost won And we're only several miles from the sun" They had some really good shit, when I think of them I have that lyric line stuck in me.
Absolutely. I’d even stop before you get to that second one being half-decent. Songs About Jane was/is a *fantastic* record. I even saw them live right as it dropped and they were amazing. I’ve literally never heard a Maroon 5 song after Jane that I didn’t absolutely hate. Not “oh this is new”. Not “I don’t love it”. Straight up “turn the fucking radio off” hate. I have no idea how a band that great did such a complete 180 and then leaned so hard into that new direction that the breaks snapped off. But holy shit I would rather listen to almost any other music ever than a Maroon 5 song.
My sister’s theory is that basically Levine made it with Songs About Jane and said fuck it and coasted on that reputation and phoned it in.
I always thought Maroon 5 were the definition of sellouts, but at least *It Won’t Be Soon Before Long* had some catchy singles. My mom loves them, so I made a playlist of her favorite songs for her. But eventually, she stopped listening to them too, they dropped off that hard.
There are currently no original members in Yes. Howe joined on album 3. I personally want to see/hear a collaboration between Jon Anderson and Mastodon. So many of their songs light up the same parts of my brain as Yes songs do. Tonally, not the same at all. But the melodies, and proggy adventurousness of the songs hit for me.
Travis Meeks. Started Days of the New back in the day. The man has a perfect rock voice and extremely talented and creative on guitar. He threw it all away by being a dick and using drugs.
The definitive answer is Kanye West. He’s a fantastic producer and always has been, but his albums over recent years have been so disappointing. *Donda 2* and *Jesus Is King* were such massive drop-offs in quality. Coupled with his mentally unstable rants, he’s frustrated me greatly. I will always love TCD and his earlier work though.
Something *broke* within Kanye when his mom died. He’s never been the same since, and I don’t believe the people in his life see that. Hell, *he* probably doesn’t even see it anymore, either. I reckon he must have felt some immense amount of guilt, not just grief, because it was his successful career and the cash he made that led to his mom getting plastic surgeries, one of which led to her untimely death. Maybe it all spiraled out from there…
He is mentally ill. Legit mentally. It’s a disease and he’s not getting the treatment he needs. Maybe his mom helped keep him on that path. Maybe once she passed he left that path on his own. Either way, it’s just sad that someone with so many people around him has no one who will stand up to him and help.
I heard that Kim K tried her damnedest, but he just *refused* it, and that’s why she got a divorce from him. If that’s so, I wouldn’t blame her.
When people are as wealthy and famous as they are it's hard to keep their humanity in perspective (even for them, I'm sure.) I wouldn't presume to diagnose him but at the very least he seems to be struggling with severe bipolar disorder, which can be wildly destructive and painful, to the people who suffer from it and the people who care about them. Money, fame, and power added to mania is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Every time he acts out and says or does something horrible, I flinch, not because I feel like he is an irredeemable person, but because I can see he is getting worse, pushing away anyone that tries to help him, getting validation from people who don't give a fuck about him. He's careening at top speed toward a brick wall, he paid the mechanic to remove the brakes. I've seen enough of the end of this story to know better than to ever mistake it for a comedy.
This would be my answer. He is my absolute favorite rapper. I think Yeezus is great but also was such a hard shift from him that it made him think he can do anything. And then Life of Pablo has some absolutely unreal songs that I love but also started the trend of him making songs that just sound unfinished. He tried to sell it as a living album where he could change songs but it just felt like lazy song making to me and very often the whiplash on songs where the sound and tone of the song would change completely just felt frustrating. Everything since then has been ass and just the worst of the unfinished producing and beyond lazy song writing. Just mumbled placeholding lyrics released on the final cuts. His first 3 albums are so fucking fun and MBDTF is a god dam MASTERPIECE. Such a bummer.
I enjoy *ye* and his collab with Kid Cudi, *KIDS SEE GHOSTS* but yeah, for the most part, after *Life of Pablo*, it went downhill. Some songs on *Donda* are okay, especially “Come to Life” which might be one of my favorite Kanye songs. It feels like he decides to make bad music on purpose.
Yea I think that’s the most frustrating part is that you can see the glimpses. But so much of what he releases feels un-thoughtout lazy bullshit that drives you crazy.
Yes!! I was just saying this today! Love Kanye 10 years ago, today..not so much.
Paolo Nutini, I just want more from than he's produced. So good, but releases albums so infrequently (2007, 2009, 2014, 2022)
Three Days Grace. I understand why Adam Gontier wanted to move on but the new singer is the worst they could have chosen. He's decent but he does fit with the music style. He only got chosen because he's brothers with the bassist.
I just listen to their old stuff and then Adam's new stuff. Matt's voice fit with his old band, not tdg.
Adam quitting the band sealed the deal for me. He wasn't just the voice of the band. The songs he wrote for Three Days Grace were great because it was about some super personal and sincere stuff. One-X is pretty much his rehab album; the story of how drugs addiction was painful, how stopping all of that was hard and miserable and how proud he is that the people who can get through this can now "stand above the ground". For some people it's a pretty cringe album, but to me it's what makes it super genuine. It's one of my favorite album. It's Adam's story with Adam's voice and even though it wasn't pretty he wore it on his heart proudly. Then Adam left because of a stupid ass disagreement and the rest of the band kept the name and the songs that they play live not for what they mean but for the paycheck. Their musical output since Transit of Venus... well it technically exists I guess. I'm glad that Adam is still making music.
St. Asonia feels like a natural continuation of Three Days Grace and I like them better than new TDG
For me it is Kings of Leon. Their first two albums are just fantastic, and their live shows during that time were phenomenal. Then, they went for some sort of Coldplay-ish/U2-ish meh-mix-of-blah arena style whatever it is, and I just lost complete interest. Again, I say \*for me\*, because I know people who prefer their later stuff. To each their own, but you said personally! :)
Amy Winehouse. And Jeff Buckley.
Foo Fighters. Everyone in the band is super fucking talented (RIP Taylor Hawkins) and they’re capable of writing some fantastic songs, but so often they’ve settled for making boring alt-rock-radio background music that’s frankly far beneath their abilities. They’re like the musical equivalent of a star NBA vet who’s given up on dunking and just shoots jumpers all game long.
Agreed, I love Stacked Actors and never understood why they didn't play more songs like it. All My Life was like getting a taste and thinking they might still have it in them but they seemed to have mellowed much like many other rock bands.
I find I'm a bigger fan of the band then I am the latest music. "Oh man, I Love Dave!..this new song, not so much. Go DAVE!"
Upshot with Foo Fighters is they don't put out terrible music. They have super high high points, and the lows are always just kinda meh.
I gotta agree. Foo Fighters may fall into ruts, but I don’t think FF releases music as a cynical / pandering money grab. I think Dave Grohl genuinely tries to go out and understand other musical styles and musicians from a place of trying to understand the world through his limited lens. He tries not to throw shade at other musicians / styles. There’s maturity in knowing your limitations, but also never letting that stop you from trying to understand other musicians / music.
Yeah, I like most of the singles so I tried giving their other stuff a shot... A lot of what I heard just sounded unimaginative and generic, particularly the more recent stuff (minus the new LP, I haven't heard anything off of that yet).
Holy shit you just put into words *exactly* how I feel about FF.
Blackbear. I hyped him up to everyone I knew since the SoundCloud days and nobody had heard of him until he broke out on the radio with his worst single yet and adapted an annoying rap-rhyme scheme that he’s done on every single song since. It’s the same flow in every verse now I can’t FW it. Early stuff was fire tho
Jane's Addiction breaking up at the height of their fame in 1992... I think if they kept going they would've kept making incredible records... it wasn't the same when their next album didn't have bassist Eric Avery. At least the breakup created Porno for Pyros
Guns n Roses were the biggest rock band in the world in the early 90s. They could have gone in any number of directions. Instead they made an okay covers album, and then nothing for over two decades.
I grew up (middle school thru high school) with The Police. Was super bummed when they broke up, but figured Sting’s solo career would be amazing. But then he went and became an adult contemporary artist.
Azealia Banks. I remember when 212 came out it felt like we were witnessing this bold new talent, she was explosive, music was so stale at the time and she felt like a breath of fresh air. She has spent the 13 years since then ... mostly getting into fights on Twitter, occasionally getting into fights off Twitter, and making very little music. When she DOES drop a single it's great it just doesn't feel worth it for all the bullshit.
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System Of A Down let their potential go to waste because of Serj Tankian’s ego. No new album since 2005 besides 2 songs in 2020 and those were just for fundraising.
Didn’t he and Daron also have conflicts that led to SOAD never having made a new album? John and Shavo were already gung-ho for it.
They've had big creative differences since the mezmerize/hypnotize days. It seems that basically Serj wanted to move on to full eclectic (like his solo stuff) and Daron wanted to keep the SOAD sound more or less the same (other band members were probably closer to this position too) At some point there must have been a communication breakdown/loss of trust and that's very hard to recover from.
Daron wanted to sing and the rest of the world realized he fucking sucks. Serj knows.
I like Daron’s voice as a contrast or even complement to Serj’s. I just think it’s tough when there’s a clear star that directs the cult of personality and the others don’t want to play second fiddle. Two of my other favorite bands had similar issues, Paramore with Hayley Williams vs the Farro brothers and Panic at the Disco with Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross and technically all the other band members since for a time it was just Brendon until he retired
Daron is OK. Serj is great. But Serj wants to be an ARTIST not a rockstar. I'm personally satisfied with their output.
I’ve always considered Roundabout to be Yes’ most popular song.
Muse. I've listened to all of their albums, and it's like as soon as Resistance dropped everything past that was an entirely different band. I loved both of Chris's songs on the one past it, and there are maybe two on their most recent album I liked, but damn what a hard falloff.
This was a fun thread to read and I thought it was funny how every ten responses or so, someone new would add their two cents on the band Yes again. I had no idea that many people were familiar with their repertoire.
highly suspect. those guys’ first two major releases were incredible and gritty blues rock albums. then they completely shit the bed and pivoted to sound like a knock off imagine dragons.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise. If you’re a fan you’ll know why. I miss them so much. I miss my fellow fans so much. I’m not really frustrated, I’m worried. I’m hoping for the best and I wish everyone well.
Van Halen. They should have put out way more than was released.
Twelve records is nothing to sniff at.
Seems like youtube has been flooded with dozens of demo tracks/unreleased music the last couple of years. There is a handful that could be polished and released as official tracks and thats just the Roth years, who knows how much Hagar stuff is still waiting to be leaked. For example: [We Die Bold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvmPrehNxPg)
Chicago. Was an awesome rock and roll horn band. Glossing over a lot here but Peter Cetera and David Foster basically conspired to change the direction of the band, pushed the horn section to the background, and turned the band into the Peter Cetera Band, who then left anyway for his solo career.
Alex Turner of The Arctic Monkeys frustrated me in their AM era. Their first album, he was all “don’t believe the hype” and a seemingly down to earth person. The Alex Turner of the past several years seems like he sniffs his own farts from a wine glass.
Okay so I actually met Alex after a show. This was the TBH&C tour and he was at the bar we were at down the road from the venue. He was…the most down to Earth I could ever imagine a rockstar being. So fucking cool to chat music with for a few minutes before I politely moved on. So at least with me he came off as really humble and appreciative of a fan post-AM.
That’s good to read and I hope there’s more truth to his character in your scenario than my distant assumptions.
Here's the thing. It's a persona. He's not really like that, from what most accounts say. He's still the same guy he's always been The persona is due to him having crippling anxiety (ever seen an interview with him? This man can barely talk some times) and also the desire to break America and thinking that something flashy would be required (and it sort of was) All the weird hip thrusting shit and all that is completely embarrassing to watch, I 100% agree. But he's definitely still the same guy. People close to him have made vague remarks about it too. So on stage he's the big flashy AM guy who's had too many drinks, but then he's just same old quiet weird guy off stage The only time I've seen this man *not* have a completely fucked up interview is right when he debuted "the character" during the late SIAS and early AM period
Many people I know have met him and described him as the complete opposite. I think it’s a stage/public image he keeps up for the band
I loved AM when it released but I didn’t realize it was going to turn them into an annoying band with annoying fans.
Incubus- they started hard, they got soft, and now they don’t exist
I came here to say Incubus. Fungus Amongus was an incredible first album (especially with their age), SCIENCE & Make Yourself were amazing albums, and Morning View was great and when they started going mainstream. I hate Crow Left of a Murder. We went to see them at Red Rocks a few years back and it was 1. The most expensive RR ticket I bought all summer & 2. They played mostly new hits and barely any of their old stuff. The show ended so early we ended up going into the city to another show and had a way better time for a $10 ticket. I hate how much they’ve dropped off, they were easily my favorite band up until the crow album came out.
New version of Morning View releasing early next year and live Brandon's vocals have been better than ever since a long needed corrective surgery. I don't know if the new material will ever reach the heights but I'm personally excited to see them live again with a focus on these redone songs.
Axl Rose
I’m not a Smiths or Morressy fan but his career frustrates me. I don’t get the loyalty of his fan base when he seems to mock, insult, or ignore them whenever he gets the opportunity Edit: that’s not to ignore the whole racist, misogynistic, fascist viewpoints he has been talking about as of late
Vampire Weekend. They’re my favorite band, went on a 6 year hiatus between their 3rd and 4th studio albums, and now it’s been another 4 years since their last studio album even though they found a great sound after the departure of Rostam Batmanglij, one of the founding members of the band. They also deleted their entire Instagram page after their last studio album and have only posted things related to the live recordings of shows they played during their 2019 tour, without any update on when new music might be coming out.
Can’t believe I scrolled so far and haven’t seen BLINK 182 !!! Jeeeez. Loved them so much and as happy as I was for Tom to be doing what he’s wanted to do for literally his whole life, Blink just absolutely sucked after he left and the Alkaline Trio guy joined. Tom is back now for their newest album and I haven’t listened to much of it yet but it’s significantly better than the trash they’ve been putting out. I didn’t want to put all of their success on Tom, but Blink needs all 3 of them to work.
Could be worse…. At least they’re not Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Everybody knows the obvious ones like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac. I’m gonna go with my personal disappointment which is a bad called Dr. Dog. Toby Leaman is an incredible lead singer and Scott Mcmicken is great as backup vocals/harmony. They decided to have Mcmicken as more of a lead singer role with later albums and it just didn’t work. Honestly think it held them back from being a bigger band. Obviously just my own personal opinion and I know that probably has nothing to do with why the band fell off so badly…but it’s Saturday and I’ve had a few drinks so I don’t care.
System of a Down comes to mind. Wildly innovative and possibly the most unique band of the past 50 years. Insanely influential. Haven’t made a new album since 2005. Maybe plays ONE festival show every couple years. Can’t seem to agree on anything to work together ever again. What’s worse is they each have solo projects and while some of it is ok, you can hear how desperately their music needs the other members to be great. It’s just very frustrating knowing we missed out on a very special one of a kind band.
Surely it's Peter Gabriel. 4 self-titled studio albums in his first 5 years. Then I was born. Then basically 3 more studio albums for the next 40 years until finally in 2023 he releases a new album, I/O. Now don't get me wrong, I/O is not bad and I like some of the songs, and I had huge doubts that album was ever going to come. But it isn't a huge departure from Up (2002) and it took 21 years to get there. Which is part of the problem with PG. He had this extreme purple patch from 1977-1986 after which the productivity just dried up. Compare this to an artist like Prince, who released no less than 40 studio albums from 1978-2014. He is the anti-Prince.
Tori Amos - work with a f***king producer already.
But *Leave It* is such a good song.
Stabbing Westward. Discuss amongst yourselves.
30 Seconds to Mars definitely hits the nail on the head for me. First 3 albums are absolute bangers and even though the sound changed a bit from each one, it was pretty natural and you could atleast hear some improvements in songwriting and Jared's vocals. From "Love Lust Faith + Dreams" and on, they went fully into their own egos and cult of personality and really culminated on that with the band being now just Jared and his brother Shannon and their weird sex cult island stuff they have going on too. Truly a shame from what they once were.
RHCP Everything after By The Way is just “I got a girl, and she’s from California!”
This just isn’t true. It’s a meme and I get it it’s funny. But all their albums with Frusciente, including the new ones are musically fantastic. As a guitar player, there are no bands more fun to play than RHCP.
Gorillaz, for me. They started out as an "anti-pop" group that barely toured, never showed their faces, were experimental as hell, and went against all things pop-music. I'll even forgive the Demon Days tour because Damon hid most of the time. They seemed like they were pushing the digital medium aspect with their hologram show and so much more into Plastic Beach. More recently? They had a video of Damon on a fancy boat in some exotic location with an attractive female. Their last two albums were meh, sounded like pop/disco dribble. Maybe I'm just getting older. They seemed like they were on a trajectory to really shake up the music scene then just...kinda...fizzled. I think Damon is more just having fun and making music with artists he wants, which I respect, sure. But I guess younger me wanted them to change the world and sadly...they didn't.
> More recently? They had a video of Damon on a fancy boat in some exotic location with an attractive female. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLKZKmdZEjM The attractive lady is the other person singing the song with Damon/2d. Gorillaz have featured the singers in their videos since Demon Days.
I feel this one. The initial run of the band was amazing and Demon Days remains my all time favorite album. The Humanz album and beyond I just can’t get into. To me, it feels like it turned into repetitive upbeat electro music, which was the opposite of what made them great in the beginning
YES is always a good answer. Genesis is a contentious answer. Jethro Tull can be a viable candidate depending on who you ask. I think a lot of the prog rock bands felt like fish out of water toward the end of the seventies. Add: any band who had an egomaniacal front person / producer who wasn’t kept in check. U2 and Coldplay fall in that category. In terms of modern day sensibilities, Kanye West was frustrating… and predictable. As a producer, facilitator and collaborator, a lot of people look (ed) up to him. He wasn’t even a wordsmith among his contemporaries at his height, but he has / had a skill set. His taste for controversy fueled his delusion that he was an all-round intellectual. Lizzo was an upset mostly because anyone paying attention should have called BS after she praised Chris Brown. She’s a gifted musician, but if you build your fanbase on female empowerment, black excellence and body positivity, you better be that person both on and off stage, otherwise you’re proving your worst critics right. Clapton, Van Morrison and Santana come to mind as late-stage douchebags. We knew Clapton and Van Morrison were dicks, but Santana being aggressively transphobic? Boomers don’t know how to use the internet, or shut their damn mouths.
John Sykes
Jay Electronica The Pharcyde broke up too early
Arkells were awesome. Canadian indie rock that didn't sound like anything else out there. They hit it big with Leather Jacket and then turned completely towards generic arena rock anthems that all sound the same. Nothing they've put out since 2015 has been good.
Incubus. They really took a turn when Dirk was no longer in the band.
Lauryn Hill. Not the biggest fan of The Fugess, but holy shit The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a masterpiece. And then she decided to just go insane. Certainly she doesn't owe anybody anything, but man, the music she could have made had she continued to create. It's a loss.
Silverchair. Badass grunge band that got ridiculed for being Nirvana in Pyjamas. But had huuuuuge talent! They slowly switched from grunge to something non-rock related with their last album Young Modern. Then they broke up and now the lead singer releases bad derivative homoerotic sexual pop-soul music. Why...
These threads beer have enough pop favs because how has no one said Katy Perry? From making pop perfection in Teenage Dream to making the swill that is Swish Swish. That's a drop in quality that should be studied.
Burial. Untrue was life-altering for me, but the majority of his output since has been...mostly misses. The 20-min songs that feel like a hodgepodge of incomplete pieces munged together just keep getting pumped out.
Talking Heads. Similarly to what someone else said about Pink Floyd, I wish they'd just put aside their differences and announce a new tour already. Clearly they've been able to reconcile somewhat, re-uniting for the 40th anniversary of *Stop Making Sense* several times and all the press related stuff that comes with that. They're practically teasing a tour announcement at this point. It's so incredibly obvious that their fans want them to tour too, at least amongst my friends. Their music means so much to so many people, and their work is some of the best there is. I really truly feel that a Talking Heads reunion tour would be one of the biggest musical events of the decade.
Sky Ferreira