Them’s fightin’ words!
Best. Rock. Movie. Soundtrack. Ever.
As a follow up to Manduck.
I think the perfect term would be Meeting Yoko.
When did Pearl Jam Meet Yoko? “Yield”
When did Aerosmith Meet Yoko? “Done with Mirrors”
Like the “Meeting Yoko” term.
Gotta disagree with digs on Airplane --> Starship, though: Their first album as Starship was Blows Against the Empire, which I’ve turned a couple of young uns onto, to their delight.
What? Jumping the Shark means the entire thing started going downhill. You’re saying that The White ALbum, Abbey Road, and Let it Be are examples of bad albums?!
FWIW, I think “Meeting Yoko” as a phrase sucks. She didn’t do jackshit to break the Beatles up. As Spike explained in The Yoko Factor
Blaming Yoko for what happened is quickly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves.
Unfortunately it seems like R.E.M. Met Yoko when Bill Berry had his near-death experience and left the group.
Also: Nobody cares what characters on Buffy think.
I was using Spike’s little speech to demonstrate what I think.
Nah. David Bowie followed “Changes One” with “Low,” “Heroes”, “Lodger” and “Scary Monsters” in quick succession. If that’s Meeting Yoko, bring on the Yokos.
Weeeeeelllllll . . . They ain’t Revolver.**
Yes, I much prefer my wife’s “Leaving Cynthia” theory. 
But dear, we’re citing fictional characters now? (sigh) Good thing this isn’t GD! 
LOL, you want I should write a big report with real cites on why Yoko isn’t to blame?
Label switches are usually a bad sign.
The neat thing about musical groups - as opposed to TV shows - is that one or two crappy albums don’t necessarily mean the group will never recover, so it’s sometimes tough to point at one that screwed them up for the rest of their natural lives. U2 could come out with tripe like Zooropa but still be considered a mega-band years later. Unlike Happy Days, which truly did suck after Fonzie jumped those sharks.
Not really musically, but Metallica complaining about Internet MP3 file-swapping, Napster, etc and then testifying before Congress? Oh I could see maybe Donny Osmond getting away with that with no loss in musical credibility or image. But Metallica?
Heck, to me, ever since rock and roll began it always had the “I don’t care, the Hell with everything, anti-establishment” attitude. Some of the lyrics such as “Hope I die before I get old” or “Just turned 18 and I don’t mind dying - who do you love?” strongly convey a confrontational, pissed-off, anti-society attitude. I can’t imagine any rock lyrics that would state “Mess with me and I’ll testify before Congress”. Wow that has teeth in it. LOL
33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee
I must disagree with the idea that Queen jumped the shark with the “Flash Gordon” soundtrack.
Hell, I thought the soundtrack was better than the actual movie…
Good point. Barry Manilow on Bell was bliss, but on Arista, he just couldn’t meet his previous high standards.
That was a throwaway; this is a real lament.
Miles Davis may have been through with straight-ahead jazz, but straight-ahead jazz didn’t get enough Miles.
Queen didn’t have a chance to jump the shark :(. I’m not saying everything they touched was gold, but every album had a few great tunes on it.
Small Clanger - “Comfortably Numb”?? Shush yo’mouth.
A few of Chairman Pow’s theories apply in these cases, off the top of my head:
Laurie Anderson took singing lessons and that ruined her. Or else marrying Lou Reed ruined her. Either way, she’s ruined.
The Cocteau Twins stopped doing drugs. Liz decided to sing real words, in English. Downhill from there.
Some artists release double albums and then immediately go downhill either on the double album or right afterwards.
A new-found obsession with the Beach Boys, or perhaps more precisely a sudden obsession with “Pet Sounds” is a point of ruining for more than a few bands.
Getting a new lead singer often means the end has come, though not always. AC/DC – okay change. Van Halen – questionable change. Pink Floyd – depends. Journey – buddy, you’re no Steve Perry.
Yes + Trevor Rabin
Is’t that when they start singing big band stuff?
When a former rock artist starts going soft pop. Bryan Adams “Waking up the Neighbors” immediately comes to mind.
And I don’t quiet know what to make of the trend of aging rockers switching to swing/jazz or other completely, and usually mellow kinds of music. Robert Palmer (rest his soul), Rod Stewart are a couple of good examples. A year or two ago Billy Joel said that he was going to give up pop/rock and go classical, and I recently saw an add for Cindy Lauper switching to soft oldies (OK, so she wasn’t a rocker, but the add for her new album plays music that’s very different from the pop tunes she’s known for).