Bands that went downhill

So after listening to newest coheed and cambria album I thought this would be a decent topic to bring up. I mean I absolutely loved coheed and cambria's first 2 albums and even there third one a bit but man have they shit the bed since. After listening to the newest album I feel I am done with this band at this point. Im glad I got to see them live back when they were still putting out creative music but fuck its a shame that this is what they have become. I know this is basically a thread with me raggin on the new coheed but I can think of some other examples. Take Foo Fighters for instance. Color and the shape was a fantastic album and I really enjoyed Theres nothing left to lose but man have their newest albums been underwhelming. Jesus even Blink 182. I loved dude ranch, enema of the state, and take off your pants and jacket was by far their best album but when I look at Neighbourhoods I feel like shitting myself. Lupe Fiasco is another example. His first 2 albums are my favorite rap albums ever made but then I look at lasers and his newest album and I cant help but feel disappointed. Anyways this is mostly just a thread for music lovers to vent about how their favorite bands "grew" into shit.

i'm not too big of a band person. i like to listen to radio, listen to rock/ metal music. i got slipknot's newest album all hope is gone. kind of listened to their older stuff. it changed a little bit. i listened to corey and james other band stone sour. i thought all hope was gone sounded more like that than what slipknot originally sounded like. i guess from a slipknot fan perspective all hope is gone was crap.

another band stone sour. they're coming out with a new album that i'm going to get. only heard their one track have to say it's a meh. i don't know yet.

Thrice.

Artist in the Ambulence was awesome, Vheissu was pretty different but I still liked it a lot. The Alchemy Index stuff was pretty hit and miss with me. Didn't really care for Beggars much at all.

Most bands go downhill, because it is almost impossible to stay at the top of your game indefinitely?

Anyway, to go along with your question, I didn't like anything past Franz Ferdinand's first album. Weezer's first two albums were great, and I think the next 2-3 albums had a couple songs that were worth a listen, but everything past about 2008 doesn't interest me. If certain artists really carve out a particular niche that they stay within, they can stay good. The White Stripes (basically just Jack White) is a good recent example of someone who has a particular sound to their music, and has stayed consistently good (so far).

@laserbolts: I thought Neighborhoods was okay (A little too much Angels And Airwaves influence, not enough +44. I chalk it up to a little rustiness.) but I really thought Blink 182 hit their stride artistically with their self titled album. It was just so unexpectedly mature and multilayered and as much as a douche as I think Travis is, he had some extremely exciting drumwork on that album. He really is immensly talented for what is supposed to be a pop punk trio. I hope they settle into a groove that meshes the self titled album and what Mark and Travis were doing in +44. I certainly hope they don't pursue Tom's wannabe 30 Seconds From Mars ambitions that I hope he's shaken off with those Angels And Airwaves albums. Blech.

Oh yeah, mandatory in any discussion like this. FUCKING METALLICA!

@TeflonBilly: Yeah they dropped off big time, but I really liked Death Magnetic.

Muse.

The only band I can think of would be In Flames. I still love their newest album, Sounds of a Playground Fading, but it's nothing close to the masterpieces they've made previously like Whoracle and The Jester Race. To be fair, it's hard to match two of the greatest albums metal has to offer.

@shinboy630 said:

@TeflonBilly: Yeah they dropped off big time, but I really liked Death Magnetic.

Death Magnetic was by no means a bad album. It just wasn't that memorable or exceptional. Especially after all the fanfare leading up to it. Hell, I'm one of the few people who didn't mind Metallica cutting their hair back in 97. I still maintain that if Load and ReLoad had trimmed and made a single album, you'd have a pretty damn good rock album. Hell, I cn even see kernel's of good ideas under the horrible production and general overwroughtness of St. Anger. But have a listen to Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets and it's such an immense decline in quality pver the years that it's spirit crushing.

Megadeth. Dave Mustaine got crazy. :(

Most bands go downhill, because it is almost impossible to stay at the top of your game indefinitely?

Anyway, to go along with your question, I didn't like anything past Franz Ferdinand's first album. Weezer's first two albums were great, and I think the next 2-3 albums had a couple songs that were worth a listen, but everything past about 2008 doesn't interest me. If certain artists really carve out a particular niche that they stay within, they can stay good. The White Stripes (basically just Jack White) is a good recent example of someone who has a particular sound to their music.

@bushpusherr said:

Thrice.

Artist in the Ambulence was awesome, Vheissu was pretty different but I still liked it a lot. The Alchemy Index stuff was pretty hit and miss with me. Didn't really care for Beggars much at all.

I loved what Thrice did with Vheissu and The Alchemy Index volumes. I thought it was really bold experimentation with their music and produced some absolutely amazing tracks like Red Sky, Stand And Fell Your Worth, For Miles, Digital Sea, Moving Mountains, Digging My Own Grave, hell I can keep listing songs all day. I never did delve to deeply into Beggars and Major/Minor. The times I listened to them I felt like they were such a step back. And not even a good step back to Artist In The Ambulance. Kinda like they were trying to ease back into that sound a bit and stumbled.

Still having loved Thrice since The Illusion Of Safety, I really loved their progression from that to Artist In The Ambulance to Vheissu to The Alchemy Index volumes.

I was reminded of back in the day when Deftones went from Adrenaline to Around The Fur to White Pony. I hesitate to put Deftones on this list, though they haven't managed to top the utterly transcendent White Pony, it's not as if they've shit the bed. And considering Chi's car accident, it obviously hurt the band overall. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes were still albums I enjoyed a lot, but White Pony is just a magical album for me.

Dream Theater. Granted I've been kinda losing interest in their entire catalogue over the years, but the last two albums have been completely forgettable.

Green Day BIG time. Although I still like them, just I love their old stuff much more. I had to admit their new singles are really catching my ear, though.

I can think of few bands that nosedived as hard as Weezer did. First two albums were awesome then they started sliding. Their recent stuff is terrible.

@TeflonBilly said:

@bushpusherr said:

Thrice.

Artist in the Ambulence was awesome, Vheissu was pretty different but I still liked it a lot. The Alchemy Index stuff was pretty hit and miss with me. Didn't really care for Beggars much at all.

I loved what Thrice did with Vheissu and The Alchemy Index volumes. I thought it was really bold experimentation with their music and produced some absolutely amazing tracks like Red Sky, Stand And Fell Your Worth, For Miles, Digital Sea, Moving Mountains, Digging My Own Grave, hell I can keep listing songs all day. I never did delve to deeply into Beggars and Major/Minor. The times I listened to them I felt like they were such a step back. And not even a good step back to Artist In The Ambulance. Kinda like they were trying to ease back into that sound a bit and stumbled.

Still having loved Thrice since The Illusion Of Safety, I really loved their progression from that to Artist In The Ambulance to Vheissu to The Alchemy Index volumes.

I was reminded of back in the day when Deftones went from Adrenaline to Around The Fur to White Pony. I hesitate to put Deftones on this list, though they haven't managed to top the utterly transcendent White Pony, it's not as if they've shit the bed. And considering Chi's car accident, it obviously hurt the band overall. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes were still albums I enjoyed a lot, but White Pony is just a magical album for me.

Yeah I really liked Vheissu, and I dug most of the Fire/Water albums. There were only a few songs a liked on Earth/Air, but I appreciated the experimentation. I still didn't really like the style as much as Artist in the Ambulence though.

@rflx said:

Muse.

I really wonder what the hell happened after Black Holes And Revelations. That was like the fourth amazing album in a row with Showbiz, Origin Of Symmetry and Absolution managing to fill the rock star void that Radiohead didn't want to be in after OK Computer the best of all the other pretenders to the throne. Their mesh of what OK Computer hinted at and with a dash of Queen and their own magic was great. Then they shat the bed completely with the two subsequent albums.

@GunGunW said:

Green Day BIG time. Although I still like them, just I love their old stuff much more. I had to admit their new singles are really catching my ear, though.

I admittedly like all Green Day, but give Let Yourself Go a listen from their new album. Really reminds me of their old stuff; just bouncing off the fucking walls going crazy music.

@TeflonBilly: Beat me to Metallica! They went to shit.

@GunGunW said:

Green Day BIG time. Although I still like them, just I love their old stuff much more. I had to admit their new singles are really catching my ear, though.

I'm kinda sad that Green Day didn't go more in the direction Nimrod and Warning were going. Sure Dookie is still my favorite, but it seemed like a really organic maturation from that to Insomniac, then Nimrod and finally Warning. They just played around with such an eclectic amount of instrumentation and styles, yet I never thought it felt too jumbled and chaotic. I thought American Idiot was an alright album, but I got bored of it real quickly. I still enjoy alotta tracks off Nimrod and Warning a lot. That's kinda why I'm bummed that they seem to be riding the American Idiot wave for all it's worth still. But hey, it sold a hell of a lot more than the albums I liked, so what do I know?

Nickelback...

Nickelback...

@shinboy630 said:

@TeflonBilly: Yeah they dropped off big time, but I really liked Death Magnetic.

Death Magnetic was by no means a bad album. It just wasn't that memorable or exceptional. Especially after all the fanfare leading up to it. Hell, I'm one of the few people who didn't mind Metallica cutting their hair back in 97. I still maintain that if Load and ReLoad had trimmed and made a single album, you'd have a pretty damn good rock album. Hell, I cn even see kernel's of good ideas under the horrible production and general overwroughtness of St. Anger. But have a listen to Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets and it's such an immense decline in quality pver the years that it's spirit crushing.

@MariachiMacabre: lol when i was younger silver side up wasn't too bad of an album, but dark horse oh god...

most bands peak after a couple of albums unless they're full on REAL musicians.

Genre's like rock are built on top of either party songs or self loathing/breakup songs and it's impossible to write either, convincingly, past the age of 30. You tend to start to be sad and pathetic.

I mean, take Weezer, who's contribution to music was essentially bleeding out how lonely and messed up Rivers Cuomo was. That just doesn't play anymore when he's rich, married to a model and playing in front of thousands of fans who adore him every night.

@bushpusherr: I agree completely. I loved their first three albums, but everything else was just meh...

Interpol, The Strokes & Franz. Seems like they've been trying to recreate the magic of their first records instead of evolving their sound in any meaningful way.

Guns n Roses

I really like Linkin Park's earlier albums (Hybrid Theory, Meteora and to a lesser extent Re-animation).. but since then they have been moving further away from what made them unique in the first place.. but then again they are bigger then ever..

Death magnetic was worse than St. Anger, by a long way. Metallicas good albums aren't really good anymore either, though I may just think that because I'm no longer a teenager...

@rflx said:

Muse.

@ian280291

Nickelback...

I don't remember them ever being on a hill to go down.

Lost Prophets definitely went downhill after their Start Something album.

Linkin Park are an odd one, as I'm not sure if they actually went downhill or I just grew out of it. Whatever the case I still enjoy listening to their first two albums.

MUSE has already been said. After black holes they have just been getting worse and worse.

R.E.M. went steadily downhill after 1997. But then they perked up a lot with their last 2 albums.

Oasis fell off HARD after What's The Story (Morning Glory).

For me it would have to be H.I.M Razorblade Romance was an absolutely amazing album and they did okay with Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and Love Metal but after that they really just started to lose it. Which is a shame because Ville vallo is a god on the microphone. He can hit both insanely high and low notes.

cradle of filth were pretty decent around the time of v empire, believe it or not

Most of the time it's because a band becomes mega popular and then starts watering down their sound to maintain their pop status. Probably the one that bothered me the most was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their first four albums were great: frenetic, funky, original, and raw. BSSM was still great but it laid the groundwork for their future sound, which was basically the same Under the Bridge/Scar Tissue/Californication thing over and over again. Lots of power ballads and cheap, easy radio hits. Boring.

Metallica's already been mentioned, but they don't deserve to be let off the hook that easily. Probably no band has ever altered their sound so much in response to fame than Metallica, changing their focus so much that they not only moved away from their own thing but moved almost entirely out of their genre, going from pure metal to rock.

Amon Amarth were pretty good during the Versus the World period. now their riffs are boring and the production is too clean and they sound like the most generic melodic death metal.

In Flames. The Jester Race is a great fucking album, but man.. after Clayman it just started to go downhill. After A Sense of Purpose I just started ignoring their new stuff.

Dream Theater. Granted I've been kinda losing interest in their entire catalogue over the years, but the last two albums have been completely forgettable.

@rflx: Yep. Muse seems to be stuck (or maybe they're just happy there) in a rut of "Well, this thing we do worked on Absolution, so let's just keep doing stuff similar to that. And while I think Absolution is probably their most solid and consistent album (though I'm a bigger fan of Origin of Symmetry), everything after it just feels like "Well, here we go again."

@ian280291

Nickelback...

I don't remember them ever being on a hill to go down.

Although I wouldn't call all his stuff past Transformer bad Lou Reed just hasn't done anything of VU or early solo stuff quality again. A lot of it is just not that interesting

Korn the first two albums where great very dark then follow the leader came out and Fred Durst was rapping on it so yeah that was the beginning of the end.

RHCP already mention but there music ended to me with Californication .

Rob Zombie still good music but to me he was always best when he was in White Zombie.

Alice in Chains reforming the band after Layne died with that guy that kinda sounded like him is god awful they shouldn't even be called alice in chains anymore.

Baroness

Their yellow album sounds like radio garbage which is a shame since their previous albums were stellar

Every single band that didn't break up in there prime. Or someone didn't die. No exceptions.

@pyromagnestir: I would argue that Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is an exeption, but yes, ALMOST every band that has been active for over two decades.

Kings of Leon to me is band which had the largest hill to fall down. When Caleb cut his hair and they dropped Sex on Fire, the band fell off the map for me. There early stuff sounded like Creedance Clearwater Revival, and then the band white washes themselves to go after the US market. Seriously that KoL were better when nobody in the US pretty much knew who they were, and they were forced to go over to the UK to play.

@TeflonBilly said:

Oh yeah, mandatory in any discussion like this. FUCKING METALLICA!

This.

Megadeth and Metallica has had reaaally big dips, mostly during the mid-to-late nineties. Both bands have had strong comebacks in recent years though.