Bands that haven't gone downhill

I realized I should have named this thread "Bands that are still pretty good you guys!" because that's the main jist here.

After seeing the "bands that have gone downhill" thread and thinking, 'man, most of the bands I know have gone downhill' I started thinking a more interesting topic would be bands that continue to be solid, or are even on the upswing, since I can count a lot less of them off the top of my head. For me, Grizzly Bear comes to mind as each new album they put out is more musically complex than their previous album, yet still remains very listenable and retains the spirit of their style. Flying Lotus, though not a band and more of a one man electronic producer, continues to put out original, quality stuff on each new release, like this cute little banger here

Oh, Dinosaur jr. is another band that comes to mind. So yeah, this is a place for music fans to shout out that rare band that refuses to go downhill, or perhaps a band that is just reaching its prime.

I think Animal Collective takes the cake here

I'm going to have to say Beastie Boys. Even a weak Beastie Boys album is better than anything out there.

thinking about bands that have been around awhile... Converge? They've been around since the 90's and their latest album is the best yet.

Also Earth though they definitely changed their style from Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Edition but it's still amazing.

Father Murphy, each new album they release is better than the last. I really hope they get the fame/recognition they deserve at some point.

@xyzygy said:

I think Animal Collective takes the cake here

I'm with you completely! They're my favorite band, but I refrained from putting them since their most recent album was a bit of a letdown. Way too overproduced I thought. Not to say that means they're going downhill at all though. But yeah, what an incredible track record they have. Literally a decade of amazing albums without any misses (except for maybe Here Comes the Indian)

Wintersun. With 8 years between their first release and their new album, there was plenty of chances for it to go poorly. Luckily it didn't and their new album (which is actually just half an album. The other half  gets released in spring because it is too long to put on one disk and he didn't want to delay it any longer) is a solid piece of work. I've already listened to it around 20 times (though it's only 40 minutes long so that isn't hard).
 
Not a band, but a musician. Aesop Rock.  Skelethon was a great album. I like his collaboration with Rob Sonic for many of the backing tracks. "Zero Dark Thirty" was a great song. So was the song about a mother  calling her kid a pussy for not eating his vegetables(edit: it is called Grace. The lyrics are quite clever). "Saturn Missiles" and "ZZZ Top" were amazing songs too. I adore that album. Plus the CD packaging is really slick. I'm glad I preordered.

I mentioned this band as one of the exceptions in that previous thread: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Also, not a band, but Tom Waits has been active for about 40 years now, and none of his 17 studio albums are bad (IMO)

@SleepyDoughnut said:

@xyzygy said:

I think Animal Collective takes the cake here

I'm with you completely! They're my favorite band, but I refrained from putting them since their most recent album was a bit of a letdown. Way too overproduced I thought. Not to say that means they're going downhill at all though. But yeah, what an incredible track record they have. Literally a decade of amazing albums without any misses (except for maybe Here Comes the Indian)

I honestly HATED Centipede Hz. It's so jumbled and doesn't make sense at a a lot of points. But then I started listening to it OVER AND OVER on my walks to school, different songs every time, and wow I love it now. Sure Father Time is a DUD in the grandest sense, but I've found that the album really grew on me, especially Moonjock, Wide Eyed, Amanita, New Town Burnout, Pulleys, Today's Supernatural, and Monkey Riches. Applesauce was an instant love, and I'm currently getting into Rosie Oh. Mercury Man is pretty good too. But Father time though... really hate that song.

Skream's output is still very solid.

I can't imagine older fans will agree, but I'll throw Modest Mouse out there. (To clarify, I started with Good News then went forward, then backward. Love all of their stuff, and hopefully this new album will come out some time soon...?)

Silversun Pickups as well. I still think Carnavas is their best album, but the other two are still pretty good.

Converge and BTBAM have gotten progressively better with every album, kinda. They have consistently made incredible albums.

Every Time I DIe

Arctic Monkeys (some may disagree)

Protest The Hero (see above)

Trivium (got better over time)

Red Hot Chili Peppers -Mentioned a lot in the other thread, but I think they've actually gotten better with age. Of course, I always liked them more for their softer songs.

Type O Negative - Good to the end. Their last album was my least favorite, but it was still really good.

Dr. Steel - His entire recording career took place within two years, so he never had a chance to go stale... does that count? Three great albums, one right after another, centered around a fictional persona isn't easy, after all.

Fiona Apple - She's just getting better and better, and doing the opposite of what most musicians do: instead of becoming more accessible and radio-friendly, she's becoming *less* so, and benefiting for it. To go from "Tidal" (an amazing album in it's own right) to where she is now... it's a crime that most people forgot about her after 1997, myself included.

Edit: Oh shit, forgot Tom Waits. Like I said about Fiona Apple, he just gets more esoteric, more unstable, and more reasons to go down as a musical legend.

Bad Religion is still pretty good in my opinion.

Arctic Monkeys (some may disagree)

Between the Buried and Me have gotten better with every album.

I think Opeth's going as strong as ever. They keep changing things up which keeps them interesting.

Second for Converge. That band has just gotten consistently better with each release. I actually think the weakest part of that band at this point is Jake Bannon's art style - and this is coming from a dude with a J. Bannon tattoo. He just hasn't shifted away from the over-splattered imagery in forever. As for other bands? Reel Big Fish has been pretty solid for a long time. Hot Water Music and The Lawrence Arms are both consistently good, as well. Although four albums isn't a massive career, The Gaslight Anthem has also consistently improved.

i came here to sing the praises of the new Converge album, so yeah... Converge

also Deftones, had a tiny bit of a lull after White Pony but their last album, and what iv heard of the new one, is some of the best material they've ever put out in my opinion

Black Keys still seem pretty good

Iron Maiden still has a kick ass live show 30 years on. The Final Frontier was also a damn good album.

lil b the basedgod

Billy Talent. For the most part, they've continued to get better with each album.

Iced Earth. Seriously, even when changing between singers with massively different vocal styles, they still sound amazing.

@ShaggE said:

Red Hot Chili Peppers -Mentioned a lot in the other thread, but I think they've actually gotten better with age. Of course, I always liked them more for their softer songs.

Dr. Steel - His entire recording career took place within two years, so he never had a chance to go stale... does that count? Three great albums, one right after another, centered around a fictional persona isn't easy, after all.

I'll co-sign these. Dr. Steel was amazing, and RHCP's best songs are the soft ones.

Rise Against? I prefer their newer albums over the old ones personally.

I may be one of the few Tegan And Sara fans on here but I think they just keep getting better and better.

Katie Melua has been around for about ten years and is still going strong.

As I said in the other thread, I think Rise Against is still great.

Between the Buried and Me. The Parallax II is their best work yet.

Rush. 40 years of touring, still as good as ever and selling lots of albums.

@csl316 said:

I think Opeth's going as strong as ever. They keep changing things up which keeps them interesting.

This for sure, Mikael and Steven Wilson's collab album, Storm Corrosion, is something incredibly unique and amazing.

For me I have to say Foo Fighters.

@ShaggE said:

Red Hot Chili Peppers -Mentioned a lot in the other thread, but I think they've actually gotten better with age. Of course, I always liked them more for their softer songs.

Meh, that last album fell pretty flat for me. I only ended up really liking Did I Let You Know and Brendan's Death Song. John's departure still bums me the fuck out.

Dinosaur Jr. are still just as awesome as they were back in the day. Their newest release is fantastic.

Darkthrone, it took them almost 20 years of making really bad black metal albums to release some crusty gold and they've been getting better ever since.

I came in here to say Dinosaur Jr., but I see you beat me to it. I guess The Black Keys have stayed pretty consistent but they haven't been around for that long.

@TopSteer said:

I may be one of the few Tegan And Sara fans on here but I think they just keep getting better and better.

I definitely agree, super excited for their new record, excited about the new direction their taking, should yield some great stuff. I mean "Messed Up" is already one of my favorite Tegan and Sara songs and the record doesn't come out until January.

Atmosphere, CunninLynguists and The Roots all still put out quality music.

@zombiebigfoot said:

Billy Talent. For the most part, they've continued to get better with each album.

Seconded.

Though I am a little bummed they dropped the album numbering :P

Fine. I'll be the dipshit that says Radiohead, even though I wasn't a fan of their last album. At least they try.

Also, Dr. Dog.

Tupac. He hasn't released a bad album in the last 16 years.

Radiohead

The Beatles

Kanye West

OutKast

Arcade Fire

Rush.

Metallica.

Eff the haters. :)

In all honesty, I do have to agree that I like Opeth branching out.

They Might Be Giants <3

Again, I tend to go with classics in this conversation. I made my case against Green Day and Muse "going downhill" last thread because I thought Idiot and 2nd Law were more interesting than some of their previous output, but I'm not gonna write down everybody again.

Aerosmith got way better as performers since their heyday, making their concerts completely awesome. And Legendary Child is way better than a lot of their 90's material.

Iron Maiden is also still pretty amazing in concert. Dickinson is still one of the best frontmen in music.

Al Green and Buddy Guy aren't bands, but damn if they're not still fantastic.

Agalloch, Swans

@damnable_fiend said:

Agalloch, Swans

I honestly disliked the last agalloch because it was way too black metal-y.

I'm sure it's been mentioned but I would say Deftones. Really looking forward to their new album! The 2 tracks they've released from it are great.

Edit: Oh, looks like the guy right above me mentioned Deftones... well ... then I agree with that dude!

@Animasta said:

@damnable_fiend said:

Agalloch, Swans

I honestly disliked the last agalloch because it was way too black metal-y.

that's one of the reasons I liked it so much, actually. everyone's different, I guess.

Sunn O))), Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, Dream Theater, The Black Dahlia Murder

The Roots come to mind first for me. Not only are they very prolific, but they continue to put out great music. Depending on the day, Undun may be my favorite album of theirs.

Kanye isn't a bad answer either, MBDTF is incredible and Watch the Throne is good for what it is.

Despite what I said in the other thread, I do still like pretty much everything Radiohead does.

@DetectiveSpecial said:

Fine. I'll be the dipshit that says Radiohead, even though I wasn't a fan of their last album. At least they try.

Also, Dr. Dog.

I was going to say them if someone else hadn't.

I'd also add The National, though I realize some are uneven on their early stuff, but I really like it.

Oh, and what about The Strokes?

Okay, I'm kidding, but man I wish.