worst reunions

at 47:23

Most of these I don't even give half a shit a shit about but the whole Pixies debacle is pretty grim.

I don't know why people are being so down on GBV, I still find them kind of endearing.

man it totally hadn't registered with me that the Pixies had been back together for so long. why do they bother?

They've been reunited now for as long as they'd been broken up, and longer than they were together in the 80s/90s.

^^A thread idea I've never pulled the trigger on: "Bands whose reunions lasted longer than their original tenure"

OK, I totally forgive the Bauhaus reunion album, because it was both great, but also revealing of the cracks that broke them up in the first place.

what did them in finally? My recollection was that the final breakup was quite sudden.

Daniel and Peter; conflicting egos. Both of them got too used to being the sole frontman, I'd say.

They seemed to have several rounds of reunion, too. Like I remember seeing a reformed Bauhaus in NYC before I left in 1998, and then the album, in what, 2003, plus second lot of touring?

Reunes what I have seen:

Buzzcocks: There was nothing wrong with this one, all four dudes of the classic period, sounded like they'd never been away.

Velvets: Very nice of them to get back together and play my local midsized venue and have the elements conspire to allow me to get tickets.

In both cases, the following albums were .. Um, souvenirs? The buzz one was alright just about, the velvets live disc was kinda unplayable really.

When Television got back, I really did not want to see it, and I don't regret not going even though that means I have never seen them live.

I saw the Pixies play Doolittle, and had a blast. I had to admire how formulaic they were - they played the whole record in order, then played the B-sides, also in order. But they sounded great and the audience just treated it like a big celebration of this record that the Pixies were conducting. But after that I had no interest in seeing them again.

Pavement was great and they played better than they did in the olden days, with a killer setlist of just about every song you'd hope to hear from them. This was at the Greek in Berkeley when they managed to drag Gary Young out as well, who managed to hang in there for a couple of songs.

in terms of cred damage, it might be hard to beat Lynyrd Skynyrd 1987-present

i saw skynyrd on the '87 tour and it was awesome. but yeah

Write-in for Magnetic Fields without Susan Anway

write-in for magnetic fields without n3ll b3ram*

Didn't Yuck have a reunion after a breakup that lasted about 2 years at most? Does it count with relatively new bands?

I'm curious how people rate Mercyful Fate's reunion.

Write-in vote for the DKT/MC5 tour in 2008.

Bad Brains circa Rise, anybody?

Another write-in for Os Mutantes - maybe not the absolute worst, but the most disappointing for me.

yeah the Velvets one was amazing imo. saw them at Glastonbury 93 aged 19 and immediately bought the banana album on cassette straight after! i'd be amazed if anyone would begrudge them a bit of success and limelight as theirs was the classic way of doing it; come back, play a few shows then fuck off, no harm done.

first few uk Pixies comeback gigs at Brixton were an absolute riot.

no mention of MBV? great shows at first but less so the recent ones, the comeback album saves the day i suppose.

I saw one of the Roth van halen shows and it was probably the worst concert I've ever seen.

Last years Sabbath reunion resulted in a mediocre to fair album but the shoddy treatment of Bill Ward makes it a strong contender here.

Pixies is obviously they play this big a room under that name and this small a hall if they book as Frank Black. It's kind of surprising that they just did not keep going without Deal back in the 90s, since Charles pretty much pushed her tunes off the CDs. It's probably good some air got taken out of that balloon anyway, as they were cool and a good band but I think some people made them out to be a bit more than they actually were.

you're certainly not alone in that last opinion there, I never got them at all.

When I saw the Stooges play live it felt like they could not have possibly been any better than in the heyday. Of course that is probably wrong but it was such.an ecstasy. The album's have been poor for sure but I would still call their getting back togethor an unmitigated success.

Jefferson Airplane '89 lp is bland as fuck.

I've heard that VU reunion sped Sterling's death thanks to the way Lou was behaving. & I found that it seemed like the band felt like a unit plus his ego somewhat separate from watching them on tv. Wonder if that was different live in the same room .

I think it was the opposite, that he started to be unwell and did the reunion while he still could.

Also, my guess is that Lou tired of it fairly quickly. I was lucky to get one of the early gigs.

Well, it's good to know that piscesx has me on KillFile! ;-)

Weezer never split up

all I remember about seeing Os Mutantes is Sergio Dias soloing forever. Didn't know they'd released anything...

Write-in vote for the DKT/MC5 tour in 2008.

I remember thinking I wouldn't miss this for anything, knowing full well it was far from the actual 5. But when Evan Dando was announced as the guest vocalist for the show nearest to me, that completely killed any interest I'd had in seeing them. They might as well have picked James Taylor; I assumed it was a joke until it was confirmed.

no Eagles, no credibility!

― Lee626,

get over it

Clicked VU by mistake but was trying to vote Weezer. Funny to realize how brief the hiatus was now, versus the span of their career. But they were very definitely 'over,' and increasingly beloved, and then the green album came out and was lame and dumb and obvious and nothing has reversed that. they could have been an awesome legendary two-album band if the revival had just had some different name. Weezer of the 21st Century.

yeah, i left weezer on for very subjective reasons. in 1998-99 or so, i guess i could have tried to Ask Jeeves if weezer were officially broken up or just on hiatus, but the norm (for me at least) was still just talking to people in real life, and word on the street (in my high school) was that they were broken up, that matt sharp and rivers hated each other, and that rivers was going to harvard (or something). so when they got back together for the green album and touring it didn't seemed like more than a mere resumption of activities. and also at the concert i attended in columbia mo (supported by the get up kids lol) pretty much everyone was like "they're back together! yaywoo!". i realize the misguided opinions of early internet high school kids doesn't trump facts, but i didn't want to leave them off

so when they got back together for the green album and touring it didn't seemed like more than a mere resumption of activities.

yeah at the time the press and everyone was calling that 2000 tour a reunion

Slint were fantastic when I saw them at Dublin in 07 as were Pavement

Yeah Pavement was a lot of fun. Best reunion gig I saw was the first MBV one.

Also, my guess is that Lou tired of it fairly quickly. I was lucky to get one of the early gigs.

― Mark G, Saturday, July 19, 2014 4:25 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's ironic, considering the reason they broke up/scrapped their US dates (and MTV Unplugged) was because Lou insisted they stick with the "hits," while Cale wanted them to do new shit.

The Misfits coulda been serious contenders.

Foreigner might have avoided this list (and given how lame they were to begin with, maybe they should). Out of the Gramm-ashes, in the mid-aughts Mick Jones decided to sally forth with just him, longtime (but not original) member Thom Gimbel, and...a whole bunch of hired ringers. I saw them live (for free) in 2006 and it was awkward as hell. Sure, they sounded ok, but part of the fun of a concert is appreciating the unit. For a band as old as Foreigner, fans want to treasure the history of the band.

I am not one of those dudes who demands the lineup be original when I see concerts but fer god's sakes, it is a tad bit awkward when your lead vocalist, who was 15 when the band started, talks about how 'we've' been around a long time, and how 'this is one of our earliest tunes'. THEIR, not YOUR. YOU weren't there! None of you were!

But alas, they released THIS crapmonster in 2009:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Foreigner_-_Can%27t_Slow_Down_%28September_9,_2009%29.jpg

Parroting the title of a Lionel Richie album? a big 'grade stamp' F in the middle of the cover? EXCLUSIVELY sold by Wal-Mart?

You were supposed to tour corporate events for the rest of your career, not record. the album was not well received - for instance, see this review: "http://www.nu.nl/cd-recensies/2196148/foreigner--cant-slow-down.html";, which puts it aptly: "De excellente songschrijfvaardigheden van Jones, Hansen en hitcomponist Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Faith Hill) zijn routine geworden en hebben nergens meer de glans van de beroemde radiohits die hele volksstammen kunnen meezingen."

Write-in for the lifeless Police reunion of 2007. Early songs were slowed down to a geriatric pace that was more dub than reggae. Sting's kid's band opened. $300 million in revenues.

Gang of Four reunion was both cynical and ace.

The worst reunion ever (and not in the poll) was The Monkees in 1986 without Nesmith, resulting in this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Monkees-Pool-It%21.jpg

Enough said. Couldn't vote for anything else.

Nah, i loved "That Was Then, This Is Now" as a kid. It was tacked onto the end of a K-Tel Monkees best-of tape we had in the car.

Pixies were pretty lifeless when i saw them in 2005. MBV were very good in 2008 but no urge to see them again. Saw and enjoyed the Afghan Whigs last night but do wish i'd seen the initial reunion with Rick on board.

what about the critically panned "Justus" album? xpost

The Misfits coulda been serious contenders.

I get the logic for this but they played Penn State (Jerry's daughter was a student) a show or two after Michael Graves and their drummer quit, and instead of cancelling they had the drummer for Murphy's Law play and there was this line of kids by the side of the stage, with each kid getting to chant the lyrics to a song along with Jerry. At the beginning of the show he said something like "each of you! stand there! do the chorus! DONT TOUCH THE FUCKING MIC!" It was awesome.

I assume due to Jerry's daughter reportedly being in town, they'd sometimes do a gig in town during even the briefest tours, so their itinerary would like like Spinal Tap's London-NY-Chicago-Springfield-LA jaunt. I don't think he did at the show I was at, but supposedly at one show Jerry tried to lead a "WE ARE!!!!!!" (PENN STATE!!!!!)" chant only the audience was like "Wtf this is a misfits show"

So i just can't hate.

I wouldn't call it bad (actually, it was pretty awesome), but last year's Terrorizer tour was one of the most confusing events in metal history. I've put it in the reunion thread because it kind of was and kind of wasn't.

The most confusing thing is that the band was still active at the time they announced the tour, having just released Hordes of Zombies the year prior, with Katina Culture and Anthony Rezhawk filling out the roster with Sandoval. And yet, the tour was in support of the 24th anniversary of World Downfall (weird fucking milestone to tour in support of). And in tribute, they were going to play the entire World Downfall album in its entirety!

Except the 'they' didn't include Culture or Rezhawk! Instead, Pete hired two ringers (Lee Harrison and Sam Molina), formerly of Monstrosity, who had no previous involvement with the band, to fill out guitar, vocals, and bass. Naturally, this meant all post-World Downfall material was going to be ignored, as they didn't have time to learn the two other albums, so it was one of the shortest headlining sets I've ever seen (a lean 30 minutes or so).

It was actually really cool - they sounded great as a unit, and folks like me who missed them the first time around got to hear these songs live in an intimate setting. They sold World Downfall shirts that had been out of print for years (I snagged one), and were offering to autograph photos for everybody who bought one.

But the bizarre thing is that since then, I still cannot find any word from Sandoval (or the band) as to whether this was a one-off tour and now they will go back to recording with Culture/Rezhawk, or if Molina/Harrison are now permanent and this is the new lineup.

Wikipedia cites Harrison/Molina as permanent members, but there is no supporting article attached to suggest that Culture/Rezhawk were replaced. My guess is the band is probably going to be this outfit that just records whenever Sandoval feels like it, but it's just strange overall. I can't imagine that he'd tour with new bandmates unless he was replacing the old ones, unless Culture/Rezhawk were just incapable of playing the Downfall material, or just didn't want to.

(If anybody does know more, feel free to share).

many many xps --

Yes the Pollard 'bro'-y' performances are a little cringeworthy live, but the original spirit is there for sure. Don't give up. They won't hit re-united MoB or DJr. levels, but I think what they're putting out is special in its own right.
I believe you, and yet I think I just need to remove them from all social media so I'm not constantly reminded of the immensely irritating drunken bro factor and can just listen (like I used to).

Wow, that Terrorizer story is baffling/depressing. I really liked the two Terrorizer albums with Rezhawk on vocals, especially Hordes of Zombies (I'm a big Resistant Culture fan).

Admittedly, I haven't heard those two albums. I just find it strange that a band would tour with a different lineup than the one that just recorded their last album as part of a very short anniversary tour (they only played a handful of small shows) without explanation as to the futures of the musicians they *didn't* take on tour.

it was funny too - I saw them at the Haven Lounge in Winter Park. It wasn't exactly crowded that night (whereas Obituary, a month later, would have the place overflowing), but there were at least 100-200 or so by the time the final opening act finished.

As soon as that act finished, almost everybody left, and there were maybe 30 of us there to see Terrorizer, who were the goddamned headliner!

They basically sound like Resistant Culture albums. Here's the title track from Hordes of Zombies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTPO5A4KFlc

And here's Resistant Culture's "Natural Law":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf0Zqn0br2Y

that's actually pretty good! also proves that the acquaintance I saw the show with was full of horseshit. I asked him out of curiosity how the new lineup was and he was like 'oh the new bandmates came from some stupid alternative metal crap and it's like that'.