What would be a good term for the musical equivalant of jumping the shark? That is, the moment in a musical artists career where they have either peaked and are starting to slide downhill, or made a horrendous career move that they never recover from?
Aslo, any examples of the above?
I’ll open the bidding with Self Portrait by Bob Dylan
Chris W
I’ll see your Dylan, and raise you Jefferson Airplane’s slide into Jefferson Starship*.
Handy of them to deliniate it so clearly with a name change (should “Fleetwood Mac” have changed to “Fleetwood Lindsay ‘n’ Stevie”?).
*OK, class – compare and contrast “Volunteers” with “We Built This City”.
How to tell when your favorite musician sucks:
getting married
going off drugs
Printing lyrics for the first time
Cutting their hair
Growing facial hair
Rehiring someone they previously fired
As for terms, I think, “started to suck” works
Billy Squier jumped the shark when he made that godawful “Rock Me Tonight” video, in which he was squirming around on satin sheets. Pretty much killed his credibility with the hard rock crowd.
Some Girls.
Combat Rock.
These aren’t universal, but often a pretty good guide (OutKast ditched most drugs, and arguably got better). But Chris Martin of Coldplay just got married to Gwyneth, and I’m really worried their music will start sucking, since he won’t be lovelorn anymore. Maybe this is why groups that write about more than the trials of relationships and love — like U2 or Radiohead — seem to have more staying power. But we’ll see, in Coldplay’s case.
Groups that refuse to print lyrics kinda piss me off, actually.
Releasing the “Best of” album.
Yoko
And what’s refreshing is that Squier doesn’t deny it. Doesn’t even try. He knows he fucked up good.
Genesis - A trick of the tail.
Their last truely great album. It went slowly down-hill from there.
For me, it’s when singer/songwriters get into either a) Jazz, or b) Electronica.
Examples:
a) Joni Mitchell beyond the album Blue (I realise this may be heresy - but I think she spoiled the kernel of her genius with all that noodling around. *Court and Spark is just awful.)
b) Richie Havens in the 1980s. Jeez, Richie, I’m sure you got bored with whacking the hell out of the guitar, but jazz-chord synth remakes of your original music? Feck off.
c) John Martyn in the 1980s.
d) In fact pretty much anyone from the 1970s and 1960s who started experimenting in the 1980s. This is why singer/songwriters are better if they cop it before going bad (the Buckleys, Nick Drake, etc.) 
I forgot this:
“Synthing the jazz”?
Radiohead- the moment when they looked at each other and said “Forget the anthemic guitar-rock stuff. In fact, forget tunes. Let’s just fill the next album full of Aphex Twin-style synth-twiddling”
i.e. somewhere between the release of OK Computer and Kid A
One word:
Comfortably Numb.
Oops…
hammos1, don’t make me impale you with a tuna. IMO, Kid A and Amnesiac were brilliant albums, as is HTTT. But I digress.
U2. Zooropa.
How about “Doing a duet with Iglesias”
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour.
Jethro Tull - Bursting Out. They held out on the obligatory live album longer than most. The beginning of the end.
Cheap Trick - Hiring George Martin for All Shook Up.
Queen - “What do you mean, ‘Flash Gordon approaching’?”
David Lee Roth - Leaving that band he was in.
Kiss - Taking off the you know what.
Deep Purple - Hiring two lead singers (David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes) in '74 to make up for the loss of Ian Gillian and Roger Glover.
Bee Gees - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, the movie.
Credence Clearwater Revival - John Fogerty letting the other guys sing and write on Mardi Gras.
Bob Seger - Trying to duplicate the brilliant Live Bullet with the uninspired Nine Tonight.
Almost any rock band in the 70’s - Doing a disco tune.
Start sucking ?!?
Releasing an overindulgent double album is music’s equivalent of jumping the shark (see: Guns n’Roses, et al).
Is that Billy Squier video the one where he’s got the hot pink tank top on? If so, I agree; bye-bye career.
Perhaps the ultimate though, and what the phenomenon could be named…Chris Gaines.
As in “Jewel really channeled Chris Gaines with her blatant sell-out on her new album”