what great bands ended up putting out horrific songs/albums?

[mark414]

there are plenty of bands out there whose peak material is considered among the best stuff ever for their respective eras, genres...but they all ended up putting out some pretty horrible crap...

like the who and zeppelin towards the end of their years, 1980's bob dylan, paul mccartney, metallica who probably shouldn't even be called a metal band anymore, etc. etc. etc. you get my drift.

so who else was great and then flushed their creativity down the toilet after they puked it up after a night of hard partying?

[kwassa]

1. When the Jefferson Airplane became a Starship .....

one of the saddest declines in rock.

[mark414]

2. oh god how could i have forgotten to mention them

starship would've been a horrible band anyways...but it was a group of people who should've known better

sad sad indeed

[Bridget Burke]

30. That's what happens when you give up assorted drugs....

And concentrate on Coke/Coke/Coke!

Edited to add: And I really loved the Airplane. From their first folk-rocky album before Grace through Crown of Creation. (Although Volunteers had its moments.) It sucks that Janis Joplin OD'd, but I always preferred Grace Slick.

[MnFats]

92. I always thought volunteers was the best....

the title song always started something......we played it repeatedly out of dormitory windows during student strikes of 1972....
they became an arena band, sad to say.


I'd still pay money to see Grace Slick sing....but she won't do it for a mungogungillion dollars.

[Broken_Hero]

3. Limp Bizkit

they started out with some good promisse, and had some decent songs...and then went down....but after seeing them in concert, they earned my respect. People hate Fred Durst, and during his set during the Summer Sanitarium Tour at Candle Stick in 03...people, wre throwing beer bottles/water bottles, and shoes at FRed....Fred didn't miss a beat, and keep singing through all of that mess....that my friend, has earned my respect back for Limp Bizkit...if I was in the same position, they would have need an army to hold me back from kicking up a storm....

[ComerPerro]

8. well, Fred probably figures he's lucky to be working,

since he and his band suck so hard.

So he takes the insults and thrown bottles, because to him any attention is good attention.

[driver8]

4. The Police put out a song called "Mother" on the Synchronicity album.

It is, by far, one of the biggest pieces of shit ever recorded. I guess Sting threw Andy Summers a bone and this is what he came up with.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. No way! That's a fucking great song!

One of my favorite Police songs ever.

[driver8]

9. I would rather jam long, sharp sticks into my ears than listen to that

piece of shit.

"The telephone is ringing...is that my mother on the phone"??!!

I sure hope so...and I hope she's telling you to quit singing!!!!!

[begin_within]

34. I'd rather jam sticks into my ears than listen to anything by The Police,

or Sting anyway. Sorry, their stuff is unlistenable to me. Oh well.

[driver8]

58. Why do you hate America??

I'm kidding, of course.

I haven't been to crazy about Sting's solo stuff, but I love the Police. Except for that stupid "Mother" song, that is.

[begin_within]

66. It's just his voice, I guess. It sounds like a balloon being strangled.

[underpants]

48. Pretty much all of Wayne Newton's work after "Danke Schoen "

And then the Vegas thing started

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. STYX - KILROY

That's the immediately, by far, first album that popped into my head.

What a piece of shit!!!!!!!

Another one is that band-formerly-known-as-Jefferson-Airplane-when-they-were-relevant-and-rocked and the album that "We Built This City" was on.

:puke:

[Va Lefty]

11. I used to love Styx...

The Grand Illusion
Pieces of Eight
Renegade

I got off the boat at Mr. Roboto

[CBGLuthier]

35. Kilroy was great compared to the horror of

The Paradise Theatre album.

That was where they lost me. I actually kind of like Mr. Roboto. :-)

[Roon]

64. I saw them in concert for that tour

A very entertaining show.

[KFC]

7. Clash - Combat Rock

Annoyed the shit out of me.

[HEyHEY]

43. The true rock bottom was "Cut the crap"

[Arkham House]

10. Miles, in his "electric" phase...

...records like "On the Corner". Some people love them...I myself greatly admire some of 'em, like "In a Silent Way" amd "Bitches' Brew"...but he lost me with "On the Corner"...

[Phillycat]

29. I was going to say the exact same thing.

Miles Davis in the 80's...what a shame...

[mitchum]

12. The Rolling Stones after "Tattoo You"...

Iggy Pop after "New Values"
Lou Reed after "Street Hassle"
The New York Dolls after "Too Much, Too Soon"
Rod Stewart after about 1973 or so
Lynyrd Skynyrd after the plane went down

[sendero]

21. New Values...

.. as a total Iggy fan I'm always surprised to hear even a mention of New Values. To me, it was Iggy's pinnacle achievement, and so few have ever heard it.

That said, I have to disagree with you. Zombie Birdhouse, done in 1984 or so, is a damn fine record. After that, it was all over :)

Basically, most bands/artists, if they stay in the biz, eventually put out some crap recordings. The only escapees are those who quit while they are ahead - and that's not many.

[mitchum]

23. Y'know, there is some good material on "Zombie Birdhouse"...

and I actually enjoyed quite a bit of "Avenue B" from a few years ago. I found it to be a significant effort to break away from the prefab rawwwk of the past twenty years or so of his career. Apparently, it only sold 5000 copies, so, of course, Mr Osterberg quickly scurried back to the safety of by-the numbers Iggy product. Damn shame.

[Lady Effingbroke]

13. Van Halen.

Anything after "Diver Down" - and many would argue that "DD" should be included, as well!

[Zavulon]

77. Diver Down should be on that list.

It's not even a half hour long and it's full of lousy covers. I have never felt as ripped off as I did the day I raced home with that album and listened to it. As I heard "Happy Trails," I really felt like the band was laughing at their fans for buying that piece of shit. I never bought another album from them again, and never even bothered to convert my Van Halen to CD. They couldn't have angered me more if they had killed my dog.

[MrSlayer]

14. Metallica after "..And Justice For All"

Sellout city after that. However, "Master of Puppets" is one of the best albums ever. Very disappointing band.

[mvd]

72. I liked them up through (including) The Black Album

[MrSlayer]

88. Black was the sellout album.

No speed, ballads, pop hooks. Yick.

[tinfoil tiaras]

15. Up by R.E.M. was one of the worst albums in the world

Around the Sun was a close second...I expect them to do better on the new album. I want it to "rock out" more....

[mitchum]

24. "Around The Sun" is even worse than "Up"...

it was so decidedly bad that it even got terrible reviews here in Athens. And that is something I thought I would never see.

[mvd]

25. Around The Sun got some good reviews

Split according to Metacritic. I like Up just a little more, but this is another case where I go against the bad reviews.

[tinfoil tiaras]

69. Athens, huh?

Your. Town. Is. Amazing.

nuff said. :D

[mitchum]

84. Not really any longer...but the myth endures...

and it's important that it endures because a significant portion of its labor economy is dependent upon perpetuation of said myth.

I will explain further if you wish, otherwise I won't bore you :)

[tinfoil tiaras]

87. explain to me in pm...kay?

[mvd]

27. As I said before, I agree about the rock!

I think they've milked the synth sound for all they can get. I might also be disappointed if they release a similar CD. I think Around The Sun collapses at the last three songs, but there are many standouts for me - "The Outsiders," "Make It All OK," "I Wanted To Be Wrong," "Aftermath," and "High Speed Train."

Night, all! :hi:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

60. r.e.m has been in a rut since bill left

up, reveal and around the sun are horrid

the new tracks on the greatest hits LP showed promise, so maybe they'll bounce back

[driver8]

62. I have not liked an REM album since Bill Berry left the band.

For years, REM was my favorite band. "Murmur" is still my favorite album of all time. They just don't rock anymore...

[Richard Steele]

16. I found DEVO's later work to be very disappointing.

[swag]

17. After "New Traditionalists" (and even during parts of it), they

didn't do so well.

[Richard Steele]

28. Amen, brother. They shelved 1000s of better tracks!

Of course, that's a real godsend these days- them boys
NEVER threw away an INCH of magnetic tape.

The occasional releases of demos, studio versions,
practice sessions & other antique "etc." they saved from their
"glory days" are certainly not as good as an actual
new album...but they are WAAAAY better than that "Shout"
synth-crap they called an "official release".

[swag]

18. Four wonderful bands that went to shit right around 1983

Public Image Ltd.
The Stranglers
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Killing Joke

[mitchum]

26. Yes on all four of those

[Merrick]

19. The Cure's last self titled album

made a strong comeback with Bloodflowers, then really sucked it up with the last one

[mvd]

45. I agree about that album

Was never a BIG Cure fan, but they are a good band.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

61. the critics loved that one

but i think it was a little too much of an attempt to win over the interpol fans. bloodflowers, which was panned by the music snobs, was actually much better

[mvd]

20. My choice

I like the new stuff from R.E.M. (though it's not their best work,) U2, White Stripes, etc. - and really enjoy Hole's Celebrity Skin. As a fan, I find that I tend to follow where the artists go. But Veruca Salt's Resolver was a clunker. On that album, Louise Post focused so much on exorcising her own demons that the music suffered.

[LoZoccolo]

22. The Beatles

You say yes
I say no
You say stop
And I say go go go!

You never give me your money
You only give me your funny paper
and in the middle of negotiations you break down

Boy, you gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time

Etcetera.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

31. Nearly all of them at some point

As someone once said of the music industry, you get 20-odd years to make your first album, and then you have 6 months to make the follow up.

I wonder how many bands could be considered to have NEVER released a horrific song or album...

[mvd]

32. Many have released bad songs

I just can't think of many of my favorites that have made a bad album.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

46. Tell me some faves

And I'll give you a bad album.

(There will, of course, be quibbling over taste, etc., but seriously, with the possible exception of The Beatles (and maybe Zep), I can think of at least one bad album by any name band that's had more than 4 or 5 albums out.)

[mvd]

47. I won't

We'd just be going in circles. I mean, if I like something, I'm not going to agree with you calling it bad.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

50. Yeah, probably a good idea

But, I mean, The Rolling Stones have put out bad albums, U2 have put out a bad album or two, The Grateful Dead, etc., etc., etc.

This doesn't diminish my like of any of those bands; it's just really hard to bat 1.000 every time you're at the plate.

Missteps are easy; masterpieces are hard.

[mvd]

51. I actually dislike no U2 albums

And it's just a matter of taste. Now I agree that there are plenty of less than perfect albums, but I have standards for bad. :hi:

[begin_within]

33. Yes - "Tormato." Rolling Stones - everything after "Exile on Main Street."

In Zeppelin's defense, they called it quits after "In Through The Out Door," ostensibly because of John Bonham's death, but I think because they realized "In Through The Out Door" was much weaker than any of their earlier albums, so there was no point in going on anyway, even with a new drummer. Just my opinion.

[MissMillie]

36. Tormato is a collection of really good songs

It's just that there's no cohesiveness to the collection whatsoever.

[mvd]

44. Rolling Stones probably have a bad one in there, but..

I've mostly heard the big names, which are all good.

[driver8]

59. I actually liked "Tormato." Maybe because I saw them on that tour.

It has a couple of clunkers -- like that stupid circus song. But I like that one sone "On the silent wings of freedom" I think it's called. I like Steve Howe's playing on that one.

[Taverner]

37. Anything by Jacko post-Off the Wall

Off the Wall was a soul masterpiece. Everything else he did (Yes, I do mean Thriller) was crap pop aimed at the burgeouning MTV audience, which was a big nail in the coffin of Rock and Roll.

[mvd]

42. I have to disagree there

Thriller was pop, but a masterpiece. It had musical integrity and strong singing. There IS good pop out there, everyone..

Now Michael's Dangerous was questionable, and Invincible plain bad IMO. There's a bad album from a great artist.

[Montauk6]

78. Not only Thriller but the Jacksons' Triumph album as well

Heartbreak Hotel, Lovely One, Can You Feel It are all classics.

Dangerous had some great moments but this is when he got into that habit of starting his songs with sound effects (windows breaking, hydraulic metal noises, thunderstorms, animal growls, etc.) and explosive synth blasts. In fact, from the Invincible album, Rock My World was a mellow relief (mind you, the video was so useless, I couldn't tell who looked more pathetic MJ, Drago or Brando).

[Rude Horner]

38. KISS - album "Music from the Elder"

It was like :wtf:

[LostinVA]

39. REO Speedwagon

[mark414]

40. they had to have been good first....

[LostinVA]

41. Their earlier stuff was

[CBGLuthier]

49. Golden Country?

That was the name of it I think. That was a great song. Haven't heard it in years.

The 97th version of Riding the Storm Out. Not so great. :-)

[Radical Activist]

52. Almost every 60's or 70's rock band that made it to the 80's.

The 80's just sucked musically and a lot of the rock greats got sucked into the major suckage. Some of them came back and did good work again in the 90's.

[mvd]

53. My opinion is that there were more just plain

80s rock bands that made albums - lol.

[Spider Jerusalem]

55. David Bowie would be a good example...

"Scary Monsters" was brilliant; "Let's Dance" was, overall, a mistake (but saved from being totally horrible by the presence of a young Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar and a few decent songs); "Tonight" was just horrible...but he did a few good albums in the '90's ("1. Outside" was the best work he'd done in years; I suspect working with Eno again may have had something to do with it).

[mvd]

57. David Bowie had some missteps

As did Dylan. But still, I think many of my faves emerged pretty unscathed. By bad album, I mean D and F - in some cases C-. So I'm picky about it.

[Radical Activist]

70. Dylan is another good one

People will hate me for this but I would also say Bruce Springsteen. I think his early work in the 70's and more recent work is better than the 80's stuff with the e-street band like Born in the USA.

[mvd]

71. OK, I hate you for it

:P

Seriously, I don't dislike any Bruce albums, but Ghost Of Tom Joad is a bit overrated.

[Radical Activist]

89. I love Ghost of Tom Joad

and Nebraska and his newest album. I don't like synthesized keyboards in almost any context.

[cemaphonic]

83. As a trend, I would agree...

But Nebraska is my favorite Springsteen album by a huge margin, so his 80's material can't be totally dismissed.

[cemaphonic]

80. Lots of exceptions though

Prince, Devo, Talking Heads and Tom Waits all come to mind.

80's Zappa is weaker than 60's or 70's, but still decent, with some great stuff mixed in.

[RedStateShame]

54. Every Brian-less Beach Boys album

With Brian: "Pet Sounds"
Without Brian: "Kokomo"

[mark414]

56. i was going to include that but then decided that it sort of didn't count

i mean 'kokomo' is the equivalent of a new beatles album with only ringo being in the band...though he probably wouldn't bastardize the name of the beatles as badly as mike love did the beach boys...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

63. ani difranco for the last 4 or 5 years

she used to have such edge, wit and energy.

now it's just muddling bore and random strumming. it's like her soul was sucked out after little plastic castle

[ok_cpu]

65. Smashing Pumpkins

With that "Machina" debacle...

[mvd]

73. I like that one

Now Billy Corgan's recent solo CD is another matter.

[Lautremont]

67. All of them.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

68. Ani Difranco started to suck after she got married.

She's divorced now, so maybe she doesn't suck anymore though.

:shrug:

[mvd]

74. Well, I never cared for her

despite her liberal politics (I do have and enjoy "Self Evident.") Her new one, Reprieve, is a little more laid back, which might actually make it appeal more to me. :hi:

[Zavulon]

75. Aerosmith after Pump, Rush after Signals, Rainbow with Joe Lynn Turner,

Van Halen after Fair Warning.

[mvd]

76. I agree about Aerosmith

Just Push Play would get a B- or C+ IMO, but they did have some bad ones.

[Montauk6]

79. A lot of critics praised Isaac Hayes' 2-volume comeback albums

Raw and Refined but there was NOTHING on them that was worthy of a second listening. I think Ike's last true pound-for-pound great album was Chocolate Chip from 1975.

[Montauk6]

81. Culture Club

They followed up Colour By Numbers an almost PERFECT combination with Waking With The House On Fire, a mess with maybe or one or two gems (Dangerous Man, Mistake No. 3). They never recovered.

[LynneSin]

82. Anying by the Rolling Stones since like 1983

Seriously!!!

It's probably the best thing that happened to Led Zeppelin, album-sales & legend-wise. "In Through the Out Door" was a great album (first one I ever bought for myself, rest I'd borrow from my brother) but it was definately going down a different path that who knows what would have happened if LZ continued on after Bonham's death.

BTW, Coda doesn't count. That album would have never happened if Bonham didn't die

[Radical Activist]

90. I liked Voodoo Lounge

and Bridges to Babylon. I think the Stones started making good music again in the 90's, which goes back to the trend in my earlier post.

[Guava Jelly]

85. I am the biggest greenday fan!! "Shenanigans" sucked to me

Shenanigans
Release Date: July 2, 2002

Track Listing:
1. Suffocate
2. Desensitized
3. You Lied
4. Outsider
5. Don't Wanna Fall in Love
6. Espionage (Instrumental)
7. I Wanna Be On TV
8. Scumbag
9. Tired of Waiting
10. Sick of Me
11. Rotting
12. Do Da Da
13. On the Wagon
14. Ha Ha You're Dead

[SKKY]

86. Boy, this could end up being quite a list...

R.E.M. - IMHO Everything after Monster has sucked.

The Cure - Everykthing after Desintegration. It's Friday, and I'm throwing this CD against the wall.

Depeche Mode - Not feeling Exciter AT ALL....

Jane's Addiction - Kettle Whistle Blew

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth. Sampling Michael Jackson is just the lowest.

[Yavin4]

91. GENESIS

Thread over. I win. Good night.