A friend of mine observed a tragic muscial phenomenon he has dubbed “Night Ranger Syndrome”. The idea is this: A decent rock band releases a ballad one day. It becomes a hit. The band then releases a slew of sappy ass ballads thus destroying any real rock cred the band had.
After discussing this idea, my friends and I came up with the following tragic examples:
Aerosmith: Goodbye hormonal party stomp of Rag Doll and Walk This way, hello I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing. I think the overproduced song from the damn Mayor of Truckville commercials is an attempt to come back from the pit, but they have a long way to go. There’s an entire generation of kids who think of them as a nonthreatening pop rock ballad band.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: OK, Under The Bridge was sappy, but it was off of the overall high-quality Blood Sugar Sex Magik so I’ll let it slide. But everything they’ve released from Soul To Squeeze on to me is punkless and funkless. And their funk-punk made them a kick-ass and innovative band.
Goo Goo Dolls: I’ve never been a huge fan of them. But their song released off of the Twister soundtrack Long Way Down is actually a pretty good charging rock ditty. Then came the “I don’t want the world to see me or tell your name” crap that made them way too chicky. Even their relatively upbeat song Slide falls way short. Here’s an axiom: No true rockstar ever sings about wanting to get married.
Dave Matthews Band: Mostly I’m throwing this is because it’ll piss off the Normals. Again, I’m not really a fan of their crunchy, earthy, Hootie-with-a-fiddle sound, but What Would You Say was a ballsy hit and it’s a good party song. Their latest releases on the other hand seem to suggest that they recorded their last few singles (from the overrated Crash to that current “I Am No Superman” song) right next to a nursery and they are doing their best not to wake the baby.
Bangles: Buy All Over The Place now. This, their first LP, kicks ass. The beatlesque harmonies and riffs reminiscent of good sixties rock (or so I’m told ) make it a solid album. They make a second album and ruin it all not with the landmark Walk like an Egyptian but with the Manic Monday, a song written by an obviously c—struck Prince. In Your Room off of the third album helped somewhat, but Eternal Flame went and squashed any and all progress. It ruined the legacy of an underrated and IMHO influential rock band.
Care to add to the list or dispute it thus far?