dylan, for sure. not sure if he continues "as though nothing happened" because it's all part of the dylan story and he changes all the time anyway but he definitely put out a lot of shit but then recovered fairly successfully.
bands that have done this though may be more interesting than individuals since you have a whole group dynamic that needs to recover, which seems like a more unlikely event than an individual's rebirth.
― marcos, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:15 (nine years ago) link
Neil Young in 1989.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:19 (nine years ago) link
continued to crank out great stuff as though nothing happened.
dinosaur jr? the records sure sound like it. the solo mascis stuff masquerading as "dinosaur jr" wasn't shit but it wasn't as good as the original group. kind of impressed with out how smooth that revival went
― marcos, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:23 (nine years ago) link
johnny cash
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:32 (nine years ago) link
would like to think prince is in the early-ish stages of this right now.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:33 (nine years ago) link
The Church, Wire
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:35 (nine years ago) link
The Who (live, 1999 - early 2002)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:41 (nine years ago) link
ZZ Top: Late WB and all their RCA stuff generally held in low regard. Take ten years off between new albums, filling time with archival releases and reestablishing their brand as a live act with yearly tours while looking up Rick Rubin for studio availability for comeback lp.
― Incident At Spanish Harlem (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:45 (nine years ago) link
Based on what I've heard from the new Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers album, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers might apply here.
― Johnny Fever, T
Ehhh. It's what they call a Sonic Update.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:45 (nine years ago) link
John Fogerty
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:46 (nine years ago) link
Dividing line between "prolonged dry spell" and "taking time off for family and record company lawsuits" somewhat blurred)
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:49 (nine years ago) link
Tina Turner - divorced ike in '78, released two non-charting solo albums before Private Dancer
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:52 (nine years ago) link
Wire is the best answer, for me, but then I don't really like their 80s stuff and think that R&B/Send is one of the greatest musical achievements of this century so fae
― i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:56 (nine years ago) link
r
Aside from one disco hit, Cher was selling shit for about a decade after sonny & cher split
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:59 (nine years ago) link
Alice Cooper
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:03 (nine years ago) link
Bonnie Raitt owns this thread BTW
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:03 (nine years ago) link
Aerosmith
lotta of these popped up at the end of the 80s
I was actually debating Bonnie Raitt. Commercially she was nothing to speak of before Nick of Time, and did critics really give up on her?
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:04 (nine years ago) link
The B-52's.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:05 (nine years ago) link
George Harrison
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:09 (nine years ago) link
Frank Zappa? (a question for the Zappologists out there)
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
Natalie Cole's another "can we please pretend the first half of the '80s didn't happen" person
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:12 (nine years ago) link
Aretha Franklin in the "can we please pretend disco didn't happen" dept
― da croupier, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:13 (nine years ago) link
FZ: I guess the transition from the original Mothers to the Flo & Eddie Mothers could be seen as a decline, with the fusion-oriented 74 Mothers as a resurgence...but pretty much every FZ fan loves and hates different eras with equal measure. I don't think there's anything like consensus.
― Dokken played here for a Ribfest and people were total assholes (Sparkle Motion), Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:32 (nine years ago) link
I suppose there's an implicit Grateful Dead rule in effect depending on which side of the Billboard/Pollstar charts you're on.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:37 (nine years ago) link
Lots of people say this about Piano Magic but I haven't heard their "bad" period albums yet.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 24 July 2014 21:31 (nine years ago) link
The inverse of this thread is Felix Da Housecat/Thee Maddkatt Courtship who made so much essential house music in the 90's. I saw him as a godlike figure who could do no wrong and then he spent the noughties putting out nothing but wretched electroclash shit. Maybe he is due to suddenly rediscover his previous awesomeness.
― xelab, Thursday, 24 July 2014 21:42 (nine years ago) link
cab drivers
― saer, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:04 (nine years ago) link
inverse would surely be a band that sucked, then started doing interesting stuff for a while before going back to sucking? I sort of feel this way about a few 60s/70s acts who 'went new wave' in the early 80s, but this is probably just a personal preference (I love electroclash Felix as well)
― soref, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:11 (nine years ago) link
I loathe electroclash Felix, musical equivalent of severe toothache. I tried to like it and bought every one of them worthless fuckers, in my defence. But cab drivers is harsh.
― xelab, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:24 (nine years ago) link
Elvis Presley
― Lee626, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:32 (nine years ago) link
good one
― sleeve, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:37 (nine years ago) link
― da croupier, Thursday, July 24, 2014 12:09 PM (3 hours ago)
You're talking about 33 1/3, I'm certain.
― timellison, Thursday, 24 July 2014 22:44 (nine years ago) link
Santana
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 25 July 2014 00:27 (nine years ago) link
Tragically cut short, but Joe Strummer fits the bill
Springsteen
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 25 July 2014 00:35 (nine years ago) link
was the Lou Reed late 70s/ early 80s stuff considered to be any good? if not then in light of Drella, New York etc, Lou Reed.
― piscesx, Friday, 25 July 2014 01:32 (nine years ago) link
i love springsteen but i'd say the records he's made in the last 10 or 15 (or more, sigh) years have been consistently meh. i'm still waiting for the great late-career albums that will make him fit here, and i continue to believe he's got them in him. i also continue to believe he isn't going to make them with brendan o'brien.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 25 July 2014 01:43 (nine years ago) link
New York definitely felt like a comeback for Reed (and was treated as such by critics), but so did New Sensations; there was only one studio record in between, the generally awful Mistrial.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 25 July 2014 02:26 (nine years ago) link
The Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts both got a lot of critical notice at the time of their release
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 25 July 2014 06:12 (nine years ago) link
Want to say The Kinks, but I'm surprised at how well those late-70s albums sold.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 25 July 2014 06:14 (nine years ago) link
[band that found success following a specific formula, who then decided to break from that formula, and then returned to that formula]
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Friday, 25 July 2014 06:50 (nine years ago) link
Metallica
― StanM, Friday, 25 July 2014 10:01 (nine years ago) link
(...if you ignore Lulu)
― StanM, Friday, 25 July 2014 10:02 (nine years ago) link
I dunno, they've never had a commercial dry spell, and critical consensus on Death Magnetic isn't that much better than Load or Reload right?
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Friday, 25 July 2014 11:54 (nine years ago) link
No way do Prince or Metallica fit the bill
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 25 July 2014 12:29 (nine years ago) link
I know it's not a by any means definite guide to commercially/critically acclaimed albums, but if you take the rateyourmusic 'bold = good' basic structure of declaring albums revered-
Neil Young - who's gap between the acclaimed 1978 record 'Comes a Time' and his next 'bold' record 11 years and 8 record later, followed by consecutive releases after would qualify? https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/neil_young
Further examples would include Bruce Springsteen (1984-2006), Roxy Music (1975-1982)and The Fall (1986-2003). I know that obviously this is a very flawed method but may serve a little substance.
― nxd, Friday, 25 July 2014 13:02 (nine years ago) link
Wait a minute: where's Rust Never Sleeps?
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 25 July 2014 13:03 (nine years ago) link
Under 'Live Albums' - proving a flawed system :)
― nxd, Friday, 25 July 2014 13:09 (nine years ago) link
Aerosmith is probably the ultimate commercial example
― relentlessly pecking at peace (President Keyes), Friday, 25 July 2014 13:14 (nine years ago) link
Heart
― Jake Brown, Sunday, 27 July 2014 13:31 (nine years ago) link
Five years between their biggest chart hit and their comeback, that's not much of a dry spell.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 27 July 2014 18:06 (nine years ago) link
Should we argue about the length of the dry spell? Aerosmith was only 8 years between platinum albums and had two gold ones during that span. Heart split with most of the original band members then finally had big hit singles beginning in 85.
― Jake Brown, Monday, 28 July 2014 04:01 (nine years ago) link
MTV was not checkig for Aerosmith at all until "Walk This Way"
― Now you're messing with a (President Keyes), Monday, 28 July 2014 13:21 (nine years ago) link
― Οὖτις, Monday, 28 July 2014 20:30 (nine years ago) link
In their early years, when they'd play anything because there hardly was anything, the video for "Lightning Strikes" got some airtime.
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 28 July 2014 20:35 (nine years ago) link
Roy Orbison, although he mostly didn't live to know it.
― Lee626, Saturday, 2 August 2014 10:39 (nine years ago) link
A few years ago the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had an Orbison exhibit, and among the pieces displayed was a handwritten note he'd written to himself, like a to-do list for his career. I think it was dated 1985 or 86. First item was "FIRE MANAGER."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 2 August 2014 15:54 (nine years ago) link
Steve Earle?
― banjoboy, Saturday, 2 August 2014 16:04 (nine years ago) link
the flipside to this thread would be "bands who abruptly became shit after a prolonged period of consistent quality"
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 2 August 2014 17:36 (nine years ago) link
Yo La Tengo in a walk, there.
― rockist papist scissorist (WilliamC), Saturday, 2 August 2014 17:40 (nine years ago) link
he flipside to this thread would be "bands who abruptly became shit after a prolonged period of consistent quality"
― Neanderthal, Saturday, August 2, 2014 5:36 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Metallica would fit in to that one.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Saturday, 2 August 2014 17:46 (nine years ago) link
the flipside to this thread would be "bands who abruptly became shit after a prolonged period of consistent quality"― Neanderthal, Saturday, August 2, 2014 12:36 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkYo La Tengo in a walk, there.― rockist papist scissorist (WilliamC),
― Neanderthal, Saturday, August 2, 2014 12:36 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― rockist papist scissorist (WilliamC),
sadly, irrevocably, true
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 2 August 2014 18:11 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, totally. It was a swift and sudden fall, and though I haven't kept up very closely, all accounts are that they have yet to fully recover.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 2 August 2014 18:20 (nine years ago) link
Haven't The Cure been a little meh for a while now?
― StanM, Sunday, 3 August 2014 19:05 (nine years ago) link
yes, but not profoundly shit, and they ambled downwards slowly
― boney tassel (sic), Monday, 4 August 2014 03:41 (nine years ago) link
Daft Punk maybe... I had given up after Human After All.
― LimbsKing, Monday, 4 August 2014 10:24 (nine years ago) link
Autechre? Felt their output in the early-mid 2000s was a bit aimless until they bounced back with Quaristice. Still, in the context of recent output things like Untilted sound pretty great in retrospect.
― 3kDk (dog latin), Monday, 4 August 2014 10:30 (nine years ago) link
maybe we should have another thread about bands who haven't recovered yet? (Underworld? Do the Chemical Brothers still exist?)
― StanM, Monday, 4 August 2014 10:34 (nine years ago) link
The Cure pretty much dropped off a cliff IMO; from Disintegration (amazing obvs) to Wish (frequently amazing) to Wild Mood Swings (an abomination).
― piscesx, Monday, 4 August 2014 11:53 (nine years ago) link
I'm not sure if there's a consensus that Autechre were ever that good?
― Tuomas, Monday, 4 August 2014 11:56 (nine years ago) link
nice one, Tuomas.
― 3kDk (dog latin), Monday, 4 August 2014 11:56 (nine years ago) link
"Bloodflowers" and the self titled album were decent tho
― everyday sheeple (Michael B), Monday, 4 August 2014 12:00 (nine years ago) link
Decent is pushing it but I'd give them a grudging "OK". Compared to how much I like pre-1990 Cure that's still dropping off a cliff.
Yo La Tengo I don't really agree with, I'm guessing the drop off is Summer Sun but that's the only one I don't like much, I think they recovered fine.
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Monday, 4 August 2014 12:17 (nine years ago) link
As a non-Cure fan, I'm curious as to why people hate Wild Mood Swings so much. I've only heard 'Want' and 'Mint Car' off of it but I like those songs well enough.
― 3kDk (dog latin), Monday, 4 August 2014 12:37 (nine years ago) link
Isn't this almost all long-running bands? Bands that recover are an exception to the rule
― silverfish, Monday, 4 August 2014 13:59 (nine years ago) link
also re: autechre, pretty much every period of autechre has its defenders.
― silverfish, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:03 (nine years ago) link
yeah that was my thought exactly. I do think both bands you named still sell out most venues they play. Chems sold a lot of records in the mid-00's and I think Further was reviewed well so I don't think they count. UW's last decade obviously wasn't as good as their first one (can't blame 'em for that) but I wouldn't say they were on a "dry spell".
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:03 (nine years ago) link
when do ppl think YLT dropped off
― socki (s1ocki), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:09 (nine years ago) link
silverfish OTM
― Re-Make/Re-Model, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:10 (nine years ago) link
Cure are weird for their patchiness from 90s onward. Despite having 4 dazzling songs I still think Wish is possibly their weakest. Wild Mood Swings would be a great if you trimmed 5 or so tracks. I'm still not sure what to make of Bloodflowers, sometimes I think it was the weakest but I consider it quite ambitious and different even though I don't have many favourites on it. The selftitled album has some great stuff but quite a lot of weak stuff too. 4:13 Dream is the most solid thing since the 80s and a lot of fun. But a lot of fans seem to be less enthusiastic. My only complaint is the b-sides were forgettable.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:31 (nine years ago) link
So I don't think it's anything like the terrible downhill slide most old bands have. Erratic and patchy is how I'd describe post80s Cure
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:33 (nine years ago) link
― socki (s1ocki), Monday, August 4, 2014 10:09 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Summer Sun was YLT's dropoff point for me, though there were worrying signs on the two preceding records ("Green Arrow" on I Can Hear the Heart, "Tired Hippo" on And then Nothing...).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:38 (nine years ago) link
Now that I think about it, there really aren't many bands I love that simply turned to crap.
The declines of Morrissey (Boxers single was his last satisfying disc for me) and Jacula/Antonius Rex (after the first 3 albums there is almost nothing really good) really hurt but Frank Black, Talking Heads, Beach Boys are more difficult to sum up because so many great things are peppered along the decline.
In an odd way it would be easier if some bands turned to total shit because it would be easier to stop with them and be sure where the cut off point was.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:42 (nine years ago) link
Devo most definitely turned to shit for a while
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:43 (nine years ago) link
did they recover? what's a good later album?
― 3kDk (dog latin), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:49 (nine years ago) link
Sparks wins so far
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:51 (nine years ago) link
Morrissey's decline definitely traced around the mid 90s, certainly at least Maladjusted era
Lot of "will he retire" talk around then of course
― Master of Treacle, Monday, 4 August 2014 14:59 (nine years ago) link
I agree with Tarfumes -- Summer Sun is the big dropoff for me too.
― rockist papist scissorist (WilliamC), Monday, 4 August 2014 14:59 (nine years ago) link
not really - their 2010 'comeback' was kinda decent though, just naming a band I love that turned to crap.
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Monday, 4 August 2014 15:15 (nine years ago) link
still great live though.
― 3kDk (dog latin), Monday, 4 August 2014 15:16 (nine years ago) link
― StanM, Monday, August 4, 2014 8:34 PM (Yesterday)
as others said, Underworld have never really fallen off, their interests just keep changing, as they have since 1982. Chems last album was one of their best ever and their last two tours were spectacular. (Live tours - I saw a bit of a DJ set early last year and it was pretty dire.)
― piscesx, Monday, August 4, 2014 9:53 PM (Yesterday)
Disintegration (amazing obvs)Never Enough (one of their best singles ever)Hello I Love You (better than The Doors)the re-recording of Primary for Mixed Up (fantastic)Wish (frequently amazing)b-sides from Wish singles (maybe their most solid batch of b-sides ever)Lost Wishes (good enough that they should have done one of these every few years)Burn (magnificent)Young Americans (pretty inessential)Dredd Song (quite bad)The 13th (fantastic, if only it had been successful enough to encourage further genre faffery like this in future, and all the best b-sides of the WMS era)Wild Mood Swings (at least 1/3 good, but 1/3 the opposite)Wrong Number (really mighty, a far better use of Gabrels than anything he's done with them since)A Sign From God (barely remember this but IIRC it was right not to release it under the band's name)World In My Eyes (doesn't do much, especially against some really interesting or well-done covers on the same album)More Than This (total snoozefest)Bloodflowers (consistent but to no effective end)Coming Up (idrc, mildly poppier than the album maybe but so what)Cut Here (gorgeous, one of their most affecting songs, shimmeringly pretty for all its sadness and beautifully sung)
and then a decade where every guest vocal Smith has done for an electronic act is an incredible jam but the band haven't recorded a note I give one eighth of a fuck about. (tbh I've not listened to the full albums, but Simon hates one and Robert feels the other one is tragically compromised so it's hard to imagine I missed out.)
― boney tassel (sic), Monday, 4 August 2014 15:56 (nine years ago) link
Holy fuck! I've never even heard of that Lost Wishes stuff! I guess youtube is the only option I've got for that. I still need some odds and ends and a few singles (I wish Join The Dots collected all the non-album singles as well as Lost Wishes).
Sometimes I get the false impression that I've been there and done it with my favourite bands but there are usually a few more loose ends I need to get.
Sic, I'd highly recommend you get 4:13 Dream. It isn't meaty as you might want but it is fun, very accessible and doesn't have the fatigue/overfamiliar quality I hear from the previous two albums. It sounds quite like Wish to me (probably the presence of Porl). I think this album deserved a better reception than it got but I think a lot of people were reluctant from the previous two albums.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 4 August 2014 17:43 (nine years ago) link
Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra. Couldn't get arrested in the early 50s, and were reduced to accompanying an ice show in 1955; in 1956, their Newport performance killed, and resulted in their best-selling album.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 4 August 2014 17:57 (nine years ago) link
― marcos, Thursday, July 24, 2014 11:23 AM (1 week ago)
mission of burma another ex of same, 80s indie rockers rebooting to wide acclaim, if not massive pop success
t warrior w/ triptykon, one among many (many) metal bands & figures w/ recently celebrated "comeback" periods
ps: will happily pay upwards of $5 for decent eparistera daimones vinyl, pm me
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Monday, 4 August 2014 17:59 (nine years ago) link
^ triptykon & last cf album, should say
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Monday, 4 August 2014 18:02 (nine years ago) link