# Rock bands that stayed around too much or not enough **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371 "2018-07-22T05:25:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/41 "2018-07-22T21:57:00Z")
**ZZ Top** should have called it a day after about three albums. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/42 "2018-07-22T22:25:17Z")
Rush. And I say this as a huge fan of their 70s, early 80s, and even some of their 90s work. But the three albums released since 2002 just sounded like how much noise three older dudes could create. I appreciate how long they’ve lasted together, but they’ve been past they’re expiration date for about 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/43 "2018-07-22T22:28:14Z")
Regarding Yes: there are two separate Yes factions touring these days: One simply bills themselves as Yes, and features Steve Howe and Alan White from their 1970s lineups, along with: - keyboardist Geoffrey Downs (who had played on “Drama” in 1980, before joining Howe in Asia) - bassist Billy Sherwood (who had collaborated with the band several times in the past, and was apparently the late Chris Squire’s handpicked successor) - singer Jon Davidson (who did previously play in a Yes tribute band, and who replaced Benoit David, another tribute band singer, who had sung with them on the 2008 tour, when they had first replaced the then-ill Jon Anderson) The second group bills themselves as Yes Featuring ARW, and has Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman, along with some other musicians (even [on their web site](http://yesfeaturingarw.com/band/), it’s hard to locate the names of the others, so I suspect that they don’t have any connection to earlier Yes iterations). Most Yes fans are either frustrated with the ongoing rancor, or have taken sides, choosing to consider only one of the factions as “truly” Yes. As a longtime Yes fan, I’m in the former camp. I’m not sure if I think that they’ve stayed around too long, _per se_, but I do think that their best days are long behind them. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/44 "2018-07-22T22:29:15Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Rush. And I say this as a huge fan of their 70s, early 80s, and even some of their 90s work. But the three albums released since 2002 just sounded like how much noise three older dudes could create. I appreciate how long they’ve lasted together, but they’ve been past they’re expiration date for about 20 years. After their last tour, a couple of years ago, the guys pretty much said that they’re done, so I’m not sure if they qualify for this list any longer. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/45 "2018-07-22T22:33:09Z")
Foreigner is pretty much its own tribute band. Or Lincoln’s ax. They’ve been around way too long. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/46 "2018-07-22T23:14:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m a huge **Black Sabbath** fan, but Tony should have hung it up after Ozzy left the band. But Sabbath without Ozzy _and_ Tony? Sure, Ward/Butler were about as classic a rhythm section as you’ll get, but I thought the former two were too integral to the ol’ Sab brand to have the band continue on without them. (with maybe that teensie eensie exception of Dio in “Mob Rules”😛 ) > [@dalej42](#): > > Cream should have stayed together longer. Sure, but they weren’t they ready to, like, kill each other? (especially Bruce/Baker) (as in - one hell of a lot more than most bandmates wanted to kill each other, kinda thing) > [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > **ZZ Top** should have called it a day after about three albums. Concurred. Fine first couple of albums, though. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Their 80s pop band phase was rather pathetic too. (re: Yes) Yup. I’m just yer basic _Yes Album/Fragile/Close to Edge_ booster. Not many greater “album trios” out there, I’d say. > [@snowthx](#): > > Rush. And I say this as a huge fan of their 70s, early 80s… I’ll say it as a {{{{{ **fervid** }}}} fan, but only up to _Moving Pictures_. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Foreigner is pretty much its own tribute band. Or Lincoln’s ax. They’ve been around way too long. I dunno - something about Foreigner that makes me immediately associate with [Mooninites making off with Carl’s porn collection by wickedly wielding their Foreigner belt on him.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uqRNajBwXU) saving the most heartbreaking for last… > [@D\_Odds](#): > > ETA: I do wish the Fripp/Belew/Bruford/Levin incarnation of King Crimson had stayed together longer. Excellent music by accomplished musicians. But Fripp when through bandmates like a hot knife through butter. They did, sorta, in bits and pieces, later on, but no question that _just_ these four definitely should have stayed together _well_ past _Three of a Perfect Pair_\*. And in a perfect world, I wish my fave KC combo (Fripp/Wetton/Bruford) had stayed together from '72 right up 'till '81, when the aformentioned line-up first got together. \*caught that tour in '84. Goose-bumpingly cool how they did the one-member-at-a-time-per-song entrance. (borrowed from Talking Heads). Interesting that Bruford, who came out last, got by far the most thunderous applause. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/47 "2018-07-22T23:42:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > After their last tour, a couple of years ago, the guys pretty much said that they’re done, so I’m not sure if they qualify for this list any longer. ☹ Yeah, in interviews it’s clear that Geddy and Alex wouldn’t mind going forward but Neil is done. Arthritis and age bring down everyone, sooner or later. The difference is that they didn’t want to take steps to deal with the medical issues. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/48 "2018-07-23T04:51:17Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Foreigner is pretty much its own tribute band. Or Lincoln’s ax. They’ve been around way too long. Guitarist Mick Jones is the only original member still active with them, and even his participation with the band has been sometimes limited over the past few years (due to health issues, I believe). I last saw them perform in 2014, and he was only on stage for a handful of songs; the band’s Wikipedia entry indicates that he didn’t perform at all during a portion of their Canadian tour last year. However, a friend of mine saw them play a few weeks ago, and he told me that Jones played for most, if not all, of the concert, and sounded good. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/49 "2018-07-23T05:50:43Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Rush. And I say this as a huge fan of their 70s, early 80s, and even some of their 90s work. But the three albums released since 2002 just sounded like how much noise three older dudes could create. I appreciate how long they’ve lasted together, but they’ve been past they’re expiration date for about 20 years. I was as surprised at their announcement that they were calling it quits as I was when R.E.M. made a similar announcement six years earlier, as in not at all. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/50 "2018-07-23T07:38:55Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Rush. And I say this as a huge fan of their 70s, early 80s, and even some of their 90s work. But the three albums released since 2002 just sounded like how much noise three older dudes could create. I appreciate how long they’ve lasted together, but they’ve been past they’re expiration date for about 20 years. I think you’re wrong. Clockwork Angels is a great album, perhaps the best since Power Windows ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/51 "2018-07-23T08:32:00Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I was deeply disappointed last time I saw them play live. Your disappointment obviously wasn’t due to venue (replacement singer, singer no longer in his prime) but otherwise venue can make a huge difference to how a band sounds and lead to total disappointment when the band itself would sound great in a studio or decent venue. I gave up going to big venues when I saw David Bowie a million years ago. The sound was AWFUL and it could have been anyone on the stage, it was so far away I wouldn’t know if it was David’s nanna up there. Bob Dylan is coming later this year. I’d love to see him in concert, but he’s playing in a huge football arena. I know the sound will be total crap (and not because he can’t sing :D), I’ll just watch him on youtube. I watch a lot of stuff on youtube, and some of the “oldies” still have the goods. I saw a clip of Chicago playing live and they sounded as good as the recording. Wikipedia tells me they’ve had lineup changes, but as long as a band sounds good, they can be performing from the nursing home and I don’t care. Isn’t it strange how some singers lose their voices and others don’t? Tony Bennett still sounds good and he’s about a million (well, 70 or 80 or something) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/52 "2018-07-23T10:42:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I knew people were going to say The Rolling Stones. I’m not a Stones fan, and I certainly haven’t seen them lately, so I have no idea whether they still have what it takes to put on a worthwhile show. > > But, even though I’m not really paying attention to them, I’m sorta glad that they’re still out there. I think longevity is a good thing. IMHO if you’re going to say that a band should break up or pack it in, you need a better argument than just “They’re old” or “They’ve been around a long time.” I’m not a Stones fan either but my problem with them isn’t that “They’re old” or “They’ve been around a long time.” It’s that they haven’t released a memorable song in almost 40 years :eek:. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/53 "2018-07-23T11:22:27Z")
I would totally see a Jimmy Buffett concert, and wish I had seen the Allman Brothers Band even at the bitter end. I saw Buddy Guy in Colorado Springs a few years back and he was wonderful! ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/54 "2018-07-23T11:27:51Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > But Sabbath without Ozzy _and_ Tony? Sure, Ward/Butler were about as classic a rhythm section as you’ll get, but I thought the former two were too integral to the ol’ Sab brand to have the band continue on without them. (with maybe that teensie eensie exception of Dio in “Mob Rules”😛 ) > [/SIZE] Sorry, but what I meant was… Tony should have ended Black Sabbath after the original members split up in the late 1970s. Instead, there was a revolving door of singers and drummers over the next few decades. None of those lineups could hold a candle to the original. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/55 "2018-07-23T13:14:25Z")
I am so glad that ABBA has gotten back together. They left at the height of their fame, due to personal problems within the band. I so, so, so, so wish The Blues Brothers had stuck around. And, oh yeah, has anyone said the group who should have left earlier is The Rolling Stones? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/56 "2018-07-23T14:36:28Z")
I think **Deep Purple** is still around. The last recording I listened to was a live album, I think recorded in Sydney. Steve Morse was stunning but it was Ritchie Blackmore’s style that helped define the band. Ian Gillan’s vocals are a young man’s game, and I think Jon Lord was still on keyboards then, and losing his chops. I don’t begrudge the members wanting to continue their careers but they are just plodding through the same rut, playing their greatest hits, instead of continuing to innovate. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/57 "2018-07-23T14:38:52Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I so, so, so, so wish The Blues Brothers had stuck around. The Blues Brothers was more of a concept project by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi than a band. I just checked their discography and am surprised they had so many recordings. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/58 "2018-07-23T14:43:17Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I’m not a Stones fan either but my problem with them isn’t that “They’re old” or “They’ve been around a long time.” It’s that they haven’t released a memorable song in almost 40 years :eek:. That seems to be a common thread among a lot of the groups that people have nominated for this list – either they haven’t released memorable work, or they haven’t released _any_ new music. My impression is that many (most?) of the classic-rock bands that still actively tour have done very little new work in a long time. Looking at a number of the bands named in this thread, most of them have done no more than two albums in the past 20 years. I consider myself to be a moderate Rush fan, and even though I’m not a huge fan of their later albums, at least they still kept recording. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/59 "2018-07-23T14:49:04Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t begrudge the members wanting to continue their careers but they are just plodding through the same rut, playing their greatest hits, instead of continuing to innovate. I think this is a good way of looking at it, as well as if the line-up is nearly unrecognizable from their heyday, along with if your band is playing the local Indian casino, or the county fair - it’s probably a sign they should hang it up already. IMHO, a band that could have gone on a little longer, and I know this is debate-able: Led Zeppelin. It’s arguable that they were already starting to drift toward the downside of their career when Bonham died. But, they were still popular and innovative when they stopped, and are to this day. I wonder what else they may have done if they continued and for how long. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371/60 "2018-07-23T15:00:05Z")
I opened this thread to see how long it was until Yes was mentioned. Not until the 16th post. Better than I had feared :rolleyes: My issue is not about bands sticking around too long, but about them focusing only on the oldies. I agree with DavidwithanR that if a band only plays oldies, then they are a cover band regardless of who is in them. I am a diehard Yes fan (the version with Steve Howe, not the self-proclaimed ‘Holy Trinity of Yes’). I will see them and buy their records as long as they keep going. And I can tell you that I genuinely enjoy their live performances and also the last few albums. But I am definitely frustrated with how little they play of anything after 1980. Even after releasing their most recent album Heaven and Earth, they played only the old stuff. I am also in the minority who believes that a rock band can continue even if none of the original members are there, as long as they are making new music and there has been a gradual replacement of original members with new ones. No one would dare say that the New York Yankees are a tribute baseball team just because none of the 1927 Yankees are with them anymore would they? I am not sure that will happen in the future with Yes, but after Howe and White finally retire, I could see a band continuing with the name and the spirit of Yes comprising Downes, Davison, Sherwood, and a new guitarist and drummer. But that is just me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bands-that-stayed-around-too-much-or-not-enough/818371.md?page=4)