a promo photo thread for '80s/'90s bands oozing sobriety and wisdom in the present day

Wow, the guy on the left looks like Ron Perlman. And the guy on the right looks like he's auditioning for a telenovela.

less interested in "which band did this start with" than "who is the stylist/photographer/label rep primarily responsible for making this such an entrenched thing?"

I blame Chapman Baehler.

Sleater Kinney
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-51Cr6K1rjsw/VL7h8OsM9vI/AAAAAAAACwI/xG-9Bjbblh4/s1600/sk2015.jpg

http://www.rushkorea.com/discography/img/presto_large-02.jpg

https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/screen-shot-2015-03-24-at-5-25-57-pm.png

http://www.asburyrecords.com/public/cover/24050.jpg

http://www.soundpress.net/graphics-feature-articles/fa-2012-08-07-yes-oye-02.jpg

http://www.mightofstrings.com/sites/mightofstrings.com/files/Fun%20Factory.jpg

Fun Factory

https://fanart.tv/fanart/music/9d1ebcfe-4c15-4d18-95d3-d919898638a1/albumcover/songs-for-drella-51ea19a18b6e2.jpg

http://www.janes-addiction.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/janes-addiction-members.jpg
jane's addiction

http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/b/bauhaus-2006.jpg
bauhaus

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/211854/Jesus+Jones.jpg

Jesus Jones (2004)

http://www.thepublicreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/Human-League-O2-Academy-Leeds-V2-620x330.jpg

The Human League

http://www.mudkiss.com/interviews/Neds%20-Present.jpg

not to be cap'n control-a-thread, but this is sort of devolving into "bands just wearing black in general"

http://image.excite.it/musica/news/duranduran-wild-boys-nuovo-album-default.jpg

Duran Duran

key variables imo are how sincere they wish to come off, versus how sincere you would reasonably expect the band in question to be

(sub "sober" and "wise" in there too obv)

was going to suggest this 2014 press shot of James

http://i1.cdnds.net/14/21/618x412/james-band-press-shot-2014.jpg

but then I realised that they are re-enacting this early 90s picture

http://991.com/newgallery/James-Sound-173285.jpg

http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/James1.jpg

they actually look a bit more smirky in the 2014 version, I guess

man, that a-ha elf looks spooky. don't even get me started on that one new kid. so frightening. i know it's not politically correct to say this, but all these people should retire.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Music/Pix/pictures/2013/9/23/1379932081537/Bon-Jovi-011.jpg

admittedly not an earnest promo photo, but this still feels like a place to appreciate a photo of an unsmiling bon jovi where 3/4ths of the band is wearing scarves

and not like, steven tyler scarves

http://beardedgentlemenmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Cynic-band-2014-620x350.jpg
Cynic

that’s good way to put it, dr c
another variable is ‘rebootier’
some pr-managed (or self-aware) image recasting, (re)intro considering how they look to two audiences: original fans (now sadly older themselves, if not wiser) & ‘youth of today’: aiming for dignity/cool
don’t want former to feel embarrassed (for the band or for themselves) or to elicit latter’s ridicule
alas sometimes reboot's effect (in particular pic) is what reboot was intended to avoid

(maybe missed mark with bauhaus)

http://cegtalent.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/cmbbackstage02-e1400518650645.jpg

Color Me Badd

http://thelatest.co.uk/files/2013/04/House-of-Love1.jpg
The House of Love

http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/promo_650/public/media/98-degrees-2013-650-430.jpg

98 Degrees

http://img.thesun.co.uk/aidemitlum/archive/02042/Spandau-Ballet_2042715a.jpg

spandau ballet

reconstituted (or just long running) boybands and metal bands seem to be particularly prone to this?

the crocodile looks like the happiest one there xp

so much charcoal grey.

yeah, i suspect the intended message of so many of these is "weather-beaten. wiser. thoughtful and earnest. but still ready to rock!... in kind of a soulful, MTV unplugged, roots-rock kinda way. just like you, there in the audience. you're grown up but the music still matters. we've all been through some hard times. it's not just about the money."

omg, hadn't even noticed crocodile, I was trying to remember if one of spandau was nicknamed 'the crocodile' for a moment xp

http://uptownmagazine.com/files/2013/12/uptown-swv-new-reality-series-2014.jpeg

SWV

we're just as boring now as your life turned out to be. won't you join us this weekend at the casino. all you can eat buffet and opening act mr. mister.

so sad! what's wrong with color? old people can be colorful.

https://blitzrockgyn.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/alpha.jpg

"we are weather-beaten warriors in the populist-but-dark 2000s sci-fi action film of your choice, and we continue to fight for our mission with hard-won strength and clarity"

lol, yes

so sad! what's wrong with color? old people can be colorful.

always nice to see bands who don't succumb to this aesthetic; often, counterintuitively, they project more dignity

I was pleased that Kajagoogoo didn't start presenting themselves this way when they made a comeback, not sure I'd go so far as to describe the result as dignified

http://discordrhyme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/kadgagoogoo-pic-tim-anderson-dm-613355759.jpg

the warped tour presents: kajagoogoo!

second from right has seen the writing on the wall

80s new wave haircut bands reinventing themselves as bad-ass industrial cyberpunks is different progression that some bands go through, I guess?

but yeah, i've searched a few bands where it'd be particularly pathetic if they'd "gone gray" in this sense, but who have turned out, imo to their credit, to say "ehh, we were a comedy novelty act to begin with, and if anybody's going to come out and see us in 2015, it's to see a comedy novelty act. that's who's paying our checks so let's be good entertainers ffs."

<3 kajagoogoo forever, just to be clear

xp Have Bentley Rhythm Ace reformed then?

haha no, was thinking of POTUS and me first and the gimme gimmes.

http://content.hollywire.com/sites/default/files/2015/04/06/Fall-Out-Boy-‘American-Beauty-American-Psycho’-Album-Review-Thumb-FDRMX.jpg

Fall Out Boy's thug gravitas.

http://www.reloadfestival.co.uk/img/slideshows/image/slideshow/boomtown-rats-16.png