When I was reading the “Living Dead Rock Stars” thread, I was thinking about how many of the “greats” came and went fairly quickly. Hendrix, Joplin, Duane, and Morrison all gave a few great years and a few great albums and then kicked it. Others have had long, prolific careers, but never really failed to be relevant or interesting–Dylan and Zappa come to mind.
Still others, however, seem to have missed their perfect time to OD. They came on strong, did some great work (perhaps a lot of it), and then lapsed into auto-pilot or self-parody. (In television shows, this phenomenon is called “jumping the shark”, in reference to a “Happy Days” episode in which the Fonz jumps over a shark on his motorcycle that is generally considered the turning point before the show went downhill.)
So, with the understanding that we wish no actual ill will toward anyone, who is fading away when they should have burned out? Note that we’re not talking about people who sucked to begin with.
Although it pains me to even say it, I have to nominate Clapton. I really enjoyed “Unplugged” in its own way, and “From the Cradle” was OK, but what is this Babyface crap?
I think it’s safe to say that Elvis lived a few years longer than he should have.
The poster boys for jumping the musical shark, however, have to be Metallica. If all four of them had inexplicably blipped out of existence shortly after the release of “…And Justice For All”, the Metallica ouevre would be improved dramatically. (Some purists would even place the line at “Master of Puppets”.)
This is great! I was planning on starting a thread identical to this one on the same night I started “Living Dead Rock Stars”, but I didn’t get around to it. Thanks DoctorJ!
First I nominate the Rolling Stones. C’mon guys, party’s over, into the wheelchairs.
Second, I nominate Glenn Danzig.
Danzig - good
Danzig II: Lucifuge - still good
Danzig III: How the Gods Kill - A little different, but good
Danzig 4 - Uh,oh. What are you doing, Glenn?
Danzig 5: Blackacidevil - Glenn, no!
DAnzig 666: Satan’s Child - Awwww dammit! Now you’ve gone and done it. What is this shit, a Korn album?
He’s a genius, and my favorite rock vocalist, but this new “music” is embarassing.
Third, I nominate The Who. I don’t care what Pete says, YOU’RE IN THE FUCKING BAND! A reunion tour every three years is NOT a reunion, it’s a lazy band that’s too greedy to break up for good!
And Metallica can kiss my ass for destroying classic Misfits, Discharge, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, and Anti-Nowhere League tunes on their stupid “Gar(b)age Inc.” album, and for getting my ass banned from Napster because they only have two gold Ferarris each and they feel they need more money.
Well, I once had a girlfriend who positively loved Meatloaf. Let’s face it, his music wasn’t that good, and he has a face only a mother can love!
Vanilla Ice…the first album was bad, but a “Comeback” album? Puhlease…
I almost hate to say it, but Scott Weiland. The new Cd is pretty wack. I’m really proud of the progress Scott’s had in keeping clean, so I don’t wish for an OD…but you know what I mean(P.S.- One of the new songs JUST came on!:D)
Van Halen–
1st 5 albums rocked. 1984 was a little bubble gummish, but still had some really good tunes. Sammy joined and they put out a couple “decent” records (too many ballads, though). After “OU812”, however, they went downhill fast. Just waiting for them to be on VH1’a “Where are they now?” show.
Both the Stones and the Who are well past their prime, but the live shows are still pretty amazing. I’ve seen both live within the last few years and both concerts put to shame the upcoming bands of today. One caveat: the last few Stones albums have sucked ass. They’re better off playing their old stuff. The Who, since they spend most of their time “broken up”, thankfully haven’t attempted anything new to embarrass themselves.
Sadly, I think it’s time for REM to pack it in. Their last few albums haven’t come close to any of their earlier work.
Aerosmith has DEFINATELY overstayed their own quality. Everything they did before the first breakup was GREAT. Then they got back together, and things started to slide a little. Permanent Vacation was a decent album, Pump had a few good songs, but was starting to slide, now all they make is crappy, unentertaining, power ballads. Jeez.
REM is starting to overstay their welcome. Once Bill Berry quit and they decided to simply add a drum machine, it all ended for me.
Duran Duran continues to make albums even though their genre has passed them by.
Robert Smith needs to stop wearing make-up, even if the Cure can still make a decent song once in a while.
The Violent Femmes don’t even seem to enjoy doing their own music any more, why would the fans continue to enjoy it?
Very few acts have a shelflife of more than about a decade. Which would you prefer: The Beatles, who ended after less than ten years with everyone saying “Man, I wish they would have played longer” or the Stones, with everyone saying “Give it up guys!” What do you want to be your Swan Song: Abbey Road or Voodoo Lounge?
Sadly, R.E.M. has had it. They are just going through the motions at this point. Did anyone see that little behind-the-scene documentary on the making of their last album? It was very clear that Pete Buck was fed up with the whole thing, and would rather just be spending time with his family. Plus, with Buck living in Seattle and Mills and Stipe in Georgia, they cease to be a band in my book. Meeting for a few days once a year (or every other year) to cobble together a CD just doesn’t work.
I gotta give the big Fuckin’ A to Aerosmith. I was a huge fan in my middle school days, a couple of years before and after Pump. They visibly jumped the shark sometime between then and the Alicia Silverstone videos. Really, they could have died good rock star deaths around 1979, and I don’t think we’d be any worse off.
I have to disagree on REM–I think they’ve yet to make a bad album. Up didn’t really do it for me, but the rest of the post-Document albums (since most of the hard-core types think they jumped with “Stand”) have been excellent, IMO. I particularly think that New Adventures in Hi-Fi was underrated. They may well be poised on the edge, but I don’t think they’re on the other side just yet.
Ditto with U2. Yes, what they’re doing now is not quite like what they used to do, and it may not appeal to the old fans, but that’s what I want from a 20-year-old band. They could just crank out lame formulaic re-hashings of their old sound (cough Stones cough), but they don’t. Besides, I liked Pop, and the PopMart show kicked my ass (saw it from the sixth row in Columbus). I will admit that ZooTV was better, though, from the tape I’ve seen–wish I could have seen it live.
Also, in a word–Ringo. George too, for that matter. Paul could have gone out right about the time John did.
At the risk of sacrelige, I pose a question to my fellow Heads–did the Dead ever jump? I think they had several peaks and a few troughs, but I seem to remember hearing Phil say that he didn’t think they ever really “caught the fire” after about 1990. I could never really get into anything post-Brent, but then again my collection is fairly limited. (I also always found Vince’s keyboarding to be annoying and canned, but that’s just me.)
I’ll also throw in Tina Turner. I’m as big a fan of legs and attitude as anyone, but I can’t say she’s produced anything of value for 20 years or so. (I didn’t care for her 80’s “comeback” material.) She claims this last tour was her farewell, but when did the Stones say that for the first time? 1973 or so?
I will once again dissent on Bruce. Most accounts I’ve heard (from fans of all degrees) say that his live shows are as great as they’ve ever been, which is saying something.
The stuff the Dead recorded in the 90s wasn’t bad, but certainly not up to the caliber of their earlier music. But until the end, there was nothing better than a live Dead show.
Same with Bruce. I saw him last weekend. The show absolutely rocked…because he was playing his old songs.
Without a doubt, The Stones. I’m just waiting for Mick to break a hip onstage.
Aerosmith: 70’s hard rock, now just old pop crap
AC/DC: They look like a cartoon. Hey Angus, how many 50-year-old schoolboys can you name?
The Grateful Dead: Not a big fan anyway, but why bother? Drugs went from enlightening to hip to deadly. Why bother?
Jerry’s dead. Why bother? (notice the endless repetition, kinda like a Garcia solo?)
Tina Turner: Nice legs, but shut up already.
Aretha Franklin: I love her, but when did she last do something truly great?
Diana “Get Your Hands Off My Tits. Don’t You Know Who I AM? I’m Going To Have An Original Supreme’s Reunion Tour, But Nobody Gets To Go On Tour But Me” Ross. Hang it up you burned out old nasty skank.
I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! Madonna?? Have we all forgotten Madonna? You know, Madonna: the one who changes her accent EVERY SINGLE YEAR?? The one who thought since she had a kid that made her the greatest thing alive?? That Madonna. Isn’t she having another one? Does that mean we have to make her the saint of something? How about the saint of washed-out-dragged-down-please-god-make-me-young-again-hey-look-i’m-suddenly-british-hey-now-i’m-german-wait-i-wanna-be-english “natural blondes”??? But, hey, that’s just MHO.
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So, I second (third, fourth, whatever) the votes for Aerosmith, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones. And I cast a new vote for Madonna.