NationStates Jolt Archive

System of a Down - much as it pains me, they haven't made a good album since Toxicity, and that was slightly pants compared to their self-titled debut. Hypnotize/Mesmerize, while covering some controversial issues, aren't great metal - it seems like System deliberately produced an album for the mainstream.

Lostprophets - their first album, The Fake Sound of Progress was awesome. Brilliant mix of metal, nu-metal and hard rock. Then they released whatever their last album was called, and it was awful. By totally embracing nu-metal and commercialism they might have improved sales, but it's certainly not a good album.

Coldplay - again, their first album (Parachutes) was very good. It wasn't perfect, a couple of songs on it were, not to put too fine a point on it, rather shite. But the rest of the album was amazing - Yellow, Spies, Shiver, etc, were all great songs, and I still like them today even after they've been played to death on the radio. A Rush of Blood to the Head (their second album) seemed to indicate where they'd go with their 3rd album. There's still some good tracks on it - The Scientist, Clocks, Politik, Amsterdam - but too much of the rest is just filler. Their third album is way too clean, bland and inoffensive. The songs are cliched, predictable plods geared towards album sales, rather than love of the music.

Metallica - three of their first five albums are fantastic (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and the Black Album). The other two are pretty good. Then they release shit like Load, Reload and St. Anger. Garage Inc. and S&M are ok at best. Not a good album in fifteen years - that's almost two thirds of their career.

So. Any other bands that were good and are now shit? I want explanations of why as well.

The Rolling Stones. They would have done everyone a favour if they'd died 30 years ago.

Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their music just sounds tired now.

The Osmond Brothers...

oh wait... they were always crap...

The Offspring. Smash was IMO easily one of the best albums of the 90s (haven't heard Ignition[i]), but boy did they fuck up. Do I really need to explain exactly how? Ugh. Terrible.

Korn's first album was pretty good - very darkly themed, [i]Life is Peachy just OK, and everything after that is a descending spiral of droll commercial shite that should have hit the ground years ago.

White Stripes - Have a couple of pretty good albums, but it's gotten to the point where they aren't really doing anything different - sticking to one style is fine if you make your songs creative enough that they actually sound different :p It's all become a bit trite... "Get behind me Satan", eh? Where the fuck is the Satan, then? I don't hear it. Still OK, I guess, and they were pretty good when I saw them live, but still, they might have been a lot better. The Black Keys do something close to what I think they should have been doing...

I honestly can't think of any bands I like that have gone in that direction.

Edit: Oh yeah, The Offspring. God, they suck now.

Barenaked Ladies. It all went downhill after "One Week" got real popular.

The Rolling Stones. They would have done everyone a favour if they'd died 30 years ago.

Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their music just sounds tired now.

Yeah, I agree with those too....

Oh, and Pearl Jam. I've never been their biggest fan, but they did some decent stuff. All that i've heard that they've done recently has bored me near to death, though.

I dont want to say crap, but greenday and the all-american rejects. Newer albums are sad compared.

System of a Down
Lostprophets
Coldplay
Metallica
Wait, these bands were never good!!!
ALthough, there are a few exceptions: System had "Spiders" and "Highway Song", and Metallica had "Sanitarium" and "Master of Puppets"... but that's about it.

Wait, these bands were never good!!!
ALthough, there are a few exceptions: System had "Spiders" and "Highway Song", and Metallica had "Sanitarium" and "Master of Puppets"... but that's about it.

Yeah, but Metallica were always boring as hell. It's the same fucking sound for every single song. Even the Ramones had more variety.

Yeah, but Metallica were always boring as hell. It's the same fucking sound for every single song. Even the Ramones had more variety.
Exactly.
It's said when the Ramones have a wider range than you...

Yeah, but Metallica were always boring as hell. It's the same fucking sound for every single song. Even the Ramones had more variety.

I'd dispute that; while they aren't exactly one of my favourite bands (i'd agree with the assertion that they're boring), their songs don't all sound the same.

Prodigy...

They used to make damn good music...now...meh

I'd dispute that; while they aren't exactly one of my favourite bands (i'd agree with the assertion that they're boring), their songs don't all sound the same.

Well yeah, not all of them, but the vast majority sure seem to.

Well yeah, not all of them, but the vast majority sure seem to.

Less so than the vast majority of punk bands.

Less so than the vast majority of punk bands.

Yeah, but that's pretty much the point of Punk Rock. Metallica are a Metal band, and Metal bands are supposed to be supremely skillful with their instruments, aren't they?

Of course, they could mean something entirely different by that.

Well yeah, not all of them, but the vast majority sure seem to.
Yeah, Metallica song seem to fall under to categories:
Loud- Enter Sandman, Master of Puppets, etc.
Quiet- Nothing Else Matters, Sanitarium, etc.

And some punk bands do have a wide range of sound, i.e. Bad Religion, A.F.I.

And some punk bands do have a wide range of sound, i.e. Bad Religion, A.F.I.

Husker Du had the widest range by a fricking mile.

What about Oasis? Theyre first two albums were brilliant and (not including "Don't believe the truth") the rest have been well below par. How can you go from making songs such as "Live Forever" to making songs such as "Go let it out"?

Husker Du had the widest range by a fricking mile.
Frickin' mile? Is that like Nautical Mile? :)

Yeah, but that's pretty much the point of Punk Rock. Metallica are a Metal band, and Metal bands are supposed to be supremely skillful with their instruments, aren't they?

Of course, they could mean something entirely different by that.
Well, they are. Lack of instrumental skill is one point that certainly cannot be applied against them.

Frickin' mile? Is that like Nautical Mile? :)

I doubt it, since Frick was a coal baron and all.

Well, they are. Lack of instrumental skill is one point that certainly cannot be applied against them.

Wait, are we talking about their instruments, or their "instruments"?

I think that Pat Boone had some great improvement. In most of his career, he was crap, but his version of Enter the Sandman was far scarier than the Metallica version.

I dont want to say crap, but greenday and the all-american rejects. Newer albums are sad compared.
I was considering including Green Day, but it would probably have received many comments along the lines of 'they were never good'. American Idiot is vastly inferior to Dookie, Nimrod and Insomniac. Warning was, erm...a warning, really. :p It sucked, then AI sucked.

And yeah, I agree with the Offspring, the White Stripes and Oasis.

I think that Pat Boone had some great improvement. In most of his career, he was crap, but his version of Enter the Sandman was far scarier than the Metallica version.

*blows brains out with a straw converted for use as a pea shooter*

I think that Pat Boone had some great improvement. In most of his career, he was crap, but his version of Enter the Sandman was far scarier than the Metallica version.
Hehe, I just saw the episode of Space Ghost with Pat Boone.

Yeah, Metallica song seem to fall under to categories:
Loud- Enter Sandman, Master of Puppets, etc.
Quiet- Nothing Else Matters, Sanitarium, etc.

We can apply a similar comparison to pretty much all popular acts of the last 50 years.

Lesseee...

Hendrix:
Loud - Voodoo Chile
Quiet - Crosstown Traffic

Ergo, was Hendrix a poor musician?

And some punk bands do have a wide range of sound, i.e. Bad Religion, A.F.I.

I'm speaking as a punk fan. Those bands too are no more diverse than Metallica (but then, to be honest, I don't like either of them much.)

Wait, are we talking about their instruments, or their "instruments"?
Both; they excel at all forms of wankery.

No, Kanbadia, Hendrix's loud songs sounded different from his other loud songs, unlike Metallica.

AFI kicks ass, by the way.

Both; they excel at all forms of wankery.

*tosses you some special muffins*

*tosses you some special muffins*
... Are they hash muffins?

Kanbadia

How the hell did you get his name wrong with it's plastered all over the previous page of posts...?

Judas Priest. Pearl Jam. AC/DC. Sabbath.

I'm speaking as a punk fan. Those bands too are no more diverse than Metallica (but then, to be honest, I don't like either of them much.)

How about The Ex as an example of diversity within punk?

Bands that were good and are now...well...crap.

The Quo. Great between '68 and '74, rubbish thereafter.

Fleetwood Mac when they had Peter Green playing for them.

... Are they hash muffins?

They're even more special than that, man.

How the hell did you get his name wrong with it's plastered all over the previous page of posts...?
Easy: I only saw his name out of the corner of my eye, Potash.

No, Kanbadia, Hendrix's loud songs sounded different from his other loud songs, unlike Metallica.

And I am going to have to disagree; from an unbiased point of view, Metallica's do sound different.

AFI kicks ass, by the way.

I don't dislike them, but they don't do it for me. I have a friend who is really into them, so I have actually heard a fair bit of it. Meh, I'll stick to Refused, thanks.

And some punk bands do have a wide range of sound, i.e. Bad Religion,

Surely you jest?

Surely you jest?
They sound a lot different now than they did in 1980.

How about The Ex as an example of diversity within punk?

I don't know them (but will check them out, nothing better to do right now). My point wasn't that all punk bands lack diversity, but rather that Metallica aren't any less diverse than the vast majority of punk (or indeed...any specific genre) bands. I do recognise that there are certainly punk bands out there that manage to do more with their sound than is typical of their contemporaries.

They sound a lot different now than they did in 1980.

Certainly when I saw them in '92 the different songs were pretty much indistinguishable from each other (and I'm not just speaking as someone unused to hardcore). What little I have heard of recent stuff by them still seems pretty darn similar to their original formula.

Of course, if we include Into The Unknown LP, then I guess some kind of token nod towards diversity can be given.

I don't know them (but will check them out, nothing better to do right now).

You're in for a treat - they started off as a fairly run of the mile europunk band, but then started going in strange directions, digging back into the music of the SCW, Africa, avant-garde jazz and Eastern Europe, as well as dalliances with music coming out of the dance scene.

Imagine a Chumbawamba who were (a) actually interesting, (b) not laughable, and (c) not prone to making me want to punch them.

Of course, if we include Into The Unknown LP, then I guess some kind of token nod towards diversity can be given.
I was thinking more of the difference between How Could Hell Be Any Worse and... Empire Strikes First...

Anyway, "Bad Religion" sounds a lot different from "American Jesus".

They sound a lot different now than they did in 1980.
Yeah, but if you buy one album from the last 10 years, you have them all.

Nirvana haven't done anything of note for about 12 years.

Nirvana haven't done anything of note for about 12 years.

Funny. :p

The Goo Goo Dolls - They were a good band. "Name" "Only One", and their albums earlier than A Boy Named Goo were good. Then came success with "Name". Then they jumped the shark with "Iris", a terrible song. And it only got worse from there.

The Dead Kennedys - The current incarnation is crap. They are defecating on their legacy. Furthermore, their most talented member isn't in the current incarnation.

I have the feeling that there are more, but those are the two I can think of right now.

Oh, and for the Green Day haters, while the AI album as a whole may be crap, "Holiday" is still one of their best songs.

The Goo Goo Dolls - They were a good band. "Name" "Only One", and their albums earlier than A Boy Named Goo were good. Then came success with "Name". Then they jumped the shark with "Iris", a terrible song. And it only got worse from there.
Or the other interpretation - they were never particularly good...

The Dead Kennedys - The current incarnation is crap. They are defecating on their legacy. Furthermore, their most talented member isn't in the current incarnation.
This is true, but I still went to see them. It was worth it for the introduction to 'Nazi Punks Fuck Off':
DH Peligro: Is Bristol a racist town?
Random member of crowd: No! It's a city!

Oh, and for the Green Day haters, while the AI album as a whole may be crap, "Holiday" is still one of their best songs.
Maybe so, but the vast majority of the 20-odd songs on International Superhits are better.

Idlewild's first 3 albums, "Captain", "Hope Is Important" and "100 Broken Windows" were the awesomeXcore. They took the best parts of punk andindie and fused them together into a concoction of beautiful riotous sound. Their fourth album "The Remote Part" was very obviously an attempt to tap into the mainstream Indie/Pop market after 100 BW gained them the status of genii. However, it's still a good album despite the accessbility which many feared would ruin their sound (and over which they lost a band member - "Mad Dog" Bob Fairfoull).

Right. Now, the bad part. Their last album, which was so shit that the name even escapes me, is the most worthless pile of jangly folkpop drivel that I have lost all respect for the band. Especially the tosser who sings the (now hopelessly pathetic and clichéd) lyrics and suddenly has no time for anyone who isn't a teenage girl or in a "hip" new band. Fucking bastard.

The Streets.

The first album was mainly poetic genius. Everything afterwards was crap. Self-indulgent crap.

Weezer used to be a great band.. they are my favorite in fact. "Make believe" was probably the biggest let down of the century though.

Can I nominate Madonna?

Chas and Dave

Incubus.
ie. S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

O.A.R.
I loved their first few albums, particularly the live ones, however "Stories of a Stranger" is all filled with radio-friendly pop, not what I expected to hear from this band.

Green Day. (holiday sucked, by the way)

Weezer.

Lets just say anything made in the past 5 years.

Except Beck, he's still a hot, sexy beast.

And U2 has always sucked.

Green Day. (holiday sucked, by the way)


I am not happy that the direction Green Day took in their last album, but it didn't suck. It would be a shame if they stayed in this pop groove, but it really wasn't all that bad an album.