Old Bands That Make 'Good' New Albums

[Groundhog]

I think, generally speaking, most bands seem to have at the most a 10-year window where they'll release their most spectacular stuff, and then if they linger on beyond that the quality of releases generally declines and struggles to reach the level of what came before.

Who do ya'll think are exceptions to this?

A few off the top of my head would be Camel, who released a bunch of heavy synth & guitar driven prog rock albums in the 70s, made sucky electro-pop stuff in the 80s, but have released albums in the 90s and 00s that I'm recently really getting in to and, to me, are better than anything they released from what most consider their "prime" in the 70s.

Robert Wyatt would be the other. I loved his stuff with Soft Machine in the 60s and his solo album Rock Bottom from '74 is one of my favourite albums of all time, but his stuff in the 90s and 00s is of amazing quality, even if his latest is a little uneven.

I think the reason for both of these bands/artists is that they've just continued to write music in a similar vein to what they were best at during their peak periods, incorporating new sounds and styles, but not trying to make records that are going to appeal to the "young kids of today" and failing miserably, like a lot of other artists do.

[Sgran]

Radiohead comes immediately to mind. I think In Rainbows is a fantastic album. They are a band who is clearly committed to what they do. According to the band they locked themselves away for like a year to make that album and had to fight through a lot of mediocrity.
The Rolling Stones put out Tattoo You in 1981, 17 years after their debut, and that's my favorite album by them. However, that album is a collection of songs that they'd been collecting for years, kind of like Physical Graffiti (the Zeppelin lover's Zeppelin album, at least where I grew up).
Overall, I think 10 years is probably a bit too long. It seems to me (and this is probably changing with the internet) most bands kill themselves to get famous, collecting songs along the way that they polish in concert and in the garage. Then they hit it big with their debut and go on the road and do every talk show and get burned out. By then they've got a few songs already in the can, they crank out a few more they've been thinking about, and then fill up the album with a some filler because everyone's pushing them to get their follow-up album out. This is the sophemore let-down album. Some recent examples can be seen with the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Kings of Leon. The third album is a good indication of who they're going to be and whether or not they're ready to kill each other or mature. If the frontman's ego gets too large then you get a poor solo album (see: Stefani, Gwen).
The impressive bands are the ones like Oasis, Radiohead, and Blur who can keep it going for even seven or eight years. So, I would say that instead of 10 years, the litmus test is the third album.

[lordscarlet]

Off the top of my head, Foo Fighters have been going strong for 14 years. Aerosmith started with "Sweet Emotion" at #36 in 1975 and all the way through "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" at #1 in 1998 were a big success with the same style music (I didn't know that, I wiki'd it). I'll let the more music knowledgeable folks carry on from there.

[DaddyTorgo]

Green Day - although the style has changed, the critical acclaim is still there

Counting Crows - the styles change but the albums still sell well and get radio time

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Green Day - although the style has changed, the critical acclaim is still there

And I am very much looking forward to their new album in May. 5 years is too damn between albums.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Off the top of my head, Foo Fighters have been going strong for 14 years.

wow i feel old.

[cartman]

Paul Simon with 'Graceland' in 1986. That was 20 years removed from the Simon and Garfunkel days.

[Neon_Chaos]

Rush.

Established 1968, and still kicking butt.

Their most recent (19th) album is "Snakes and Arrows", released in '07.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

And I am very much looking forward to their new album in May. 5 years is too damn between albums.

yesss

hard to believe it's been that long though. god i'm getting old...time flies!

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

yesss

hard to believe it's been that long though. god i'm getting old...time flies!

Haha, no doubt - I have heard good rumblings about it.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Metallica. Death Magnetic I would rank up with the best of their albums from mid 80's (20 years removed). Kind of a Justice/Puppets/Load hybrid, I've been beatting the shit out of my steering wheel since the day it came out.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Metallica. Death Magnetic I would rank up with the best of their albums from mid 80's (20 years removed). Kind of a Justice/Puppets/Load hybrid, I've been beatting the shit out of my steering wheel since the day it came out.

This.

And like it or not, the new Guns n Roses is bad ass as well.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Girlschool put out one of thier best albums a short while ago...so did Saxon

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by cartman

Paul Simon with 'Graceland' in 1986. That was 20 years removed from the Simon and Garfunkel days.

I liked Simon's last album (Surprise, 2006) as well.

Other bands I'd put in this category are They Might Be Giants, Crowded House/Neil Finn, and Wilco.

[Fidatelo]

The new G n R is friggin awesome.

I'd like to throw Will Smith into the ring as well. Big Willie Style is about 10 years after he started out as the Fresh Prince, and that album was huge (and rightfully so, it's awesome).

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Metallica. Death Magnetic I would rank up with the best of their albums from mid 80's (20 years removed). Kind of a Justice/Puppets/Load hybrid, I've been beatting the shit out of my steering wheel since the day it came out.

I agree with this one - especially compared to St. Anger *shudders at the thought*

[Crim]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Rush.

Established 1968, and still kicking butt.

Their most recent (19th) album is "Snakes and Arrows", released in '07.

What NC said. Some of their work is less inspired than others, and they sometimes miss the mark a bit, but they're always pretty solid. Snakes & Arrows is spectacular.

[Crim]

(edit- this is in reference to Packer Fanatic's post)Yeah I think I can give 'em a mulligan for St. Anger. Everything else has been pretty good at least. There are moments of brilliance on every album, imho.

Also Dream Theater. Very, very good recent stuff.

And Tool. I hate their every-five-years-we'll-release-an-album-but-it'll-be-worth-the-wait modus operandi, though.

[duff88]

Megadeth

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Crim

And Tool. I hate their every-five-years-we'll-release-an-album-but-it'll-be-worth-the-wait modus operandi, though.

I wasn't a big fan of their latest and, though I listened to it a hell of a lot when it came out, I can't remember the last time I listened to Lateralus start-to-finish either. Not sure what it is, because with how bloated they both are, it feels like I really should love both albums given my taste for such things.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I wasn't a big fan of their latest and, though I listened to it a hell of a lot when it came out, I can't remember the last time I listened to Lateralus start-to-finish either. Not sure what it is, because with how bloated they both are, it feels like I really should love both albums given my taste for such things.

I'm not that fond of it either.
Then again, I'm not that fond of Death Magnetic and I think Chinese Democracy is completely junk, so my opinion may not mean much.


I'm not a huge U2 fan, but I think they could be on this list. Prince as well - his last 2 albums have been pretty good after a number of years of crap.

[Fidatelo]

Ya, prince is a good call. Loves me the 3121.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

And like it or not, the new Guns n Roses is bad ass as well.

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

The new G n R is friggin awesome.

I probably have somewhere close to 200 listens to CD...and I like it...a lot.
However it belongs here as much as my saying that Kanye West is a good follow up to Run DMC....

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

A few off the top of my head would be Camel, who released a bunch of heavy synth & guitar driven prog rock albums in the 70s, made sucky electro-pop stuff in the 80s, but have released albums in the 90s and 00s that I'm recently really getting in to and, to me, are better than anything they released from what most consider their "prime" in the 70s.

I thought that I was the only person who heard of Camel.

Really like Mirage, and The Snow Goose. I listened to a couple of others (um...on vinyl, btw) and didn't like them. Now, I will have to listen to their later releases, so thanks for the heads-up.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

I thought that I was the only person who heard of Camel.

Really like Mirage, and The Snow Goose. I listened to a couple of others (um...on vinyl, btw) and didn't like them. Now, I will have to listen to their later releases, so thanks for the heads-up.

Moonmadness is the only other 70s record of theirs that I'd consider 'essential', given that it's very similar to Mirage in quality.

For the new ones, try Rajaz first. Really solid album start to finish. It's actually funny how classic-era Pink Floyd-esque some of their songs are in the 90s and 00s, mainly thanks to some awesome guitar work.

[cthomer5000]

Cam mentioned They Might Be Giants, and I'll agree. 2004's The Spine is one of my favorite TMBG albums, and that came out 18 years after their first release. 2007's The Else i didn't enjoy as much, but was still solid.

Also, they're a killer live band. In the last few months I've seen them do both Apollo 18 and Flood in their entirety, and i'd ranked them as 2 of the better shows i've ever attended - just a lot of fun.

[lighthousekeeper]

A band that was really good in the beginning, then got really bad, but finally got good again: Blue Cheer.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I probably have somewhere close to 200 listens to CD...and I like it...a lot.
However it belongs here as much as my saying that Kanye West is a good follow up to Run DMC....

Which part of Run DMC was Kanye? Did he just go by the name Jam Master Jay back then?

I get where you're going, that GnR is not really GnR, but Axl was always a part of GnR, and he was always the driving force. So while it's not the same GnR, it's still pretty valid in my book.

[Ksyrup]

I guess I wasn't around during the latter half of 2008 so I missed any discussion there might have been about Metallica's Death Magnetic. I think it is a solid album, and basically very similar to Pantera's Reinventing the Steel - more of an original "best of" album than anything new or groundbreaking.

In fact, the format of the album is very much styled like old Metallica - That Was Just Your Life is Blackened, The Day That Never Comes is Fade to Black or One, there's the obligatory instrumental, and My Apocalypse is Dyers Eve or Damage Inc. Oh, and All Nightmare Long is the alternative version of Enter Sandman that Metallica would have written during the mid-80s. Read the lyrics - it's basically Enter Sandman all thrashed up.

Anyway, a guy on another forum mashed up Blackened and That Was Just Your Life, so you can hear how much those songs are similar (not just in being the first track on the album). I think he did an awesome job, and while it doesn't make Metallica look all that great, I think it goes without saying that I'd rather have Metallica ripping their old selves off than no Metallica or post-1990 Metallica any day - even if it smacks of Nickelback.

hxxp://www.hindsightvideo.com/blackenedlife.mp3

[Abe Sargent]

Pet Shop Boys makes way better stuff now than in the 80s

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I wasn't a big fan of their latest and, though I listened to it a hell of a lot when it came out, I can't remember the last time I listened to Lateralus start-to-finish either. Not sure what it is, because with how bloated they both are, it feels like I really should love both albums given my taste for such things.

See, I thought Lateralus was their best - IMO their work kept getting better & better. But I think they hit a wall with 10,000 Days - it didn't advance their sound as much as the previous records had, and it just didn't grip me nearly as much as their previous work. Some good stuff on there, but it just didn't fully click for me. Lateralus on the other hand, I think is brilliant from start to end.

[BYU 14]

Even though they really get no air play now and pretty much make their living touring, Rockford by Cheap Trick was pretty solid IMO, right up there with their best stuff from the late 70's early 80's.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Which part of Run DMC was Kanye? Did he just go by the name Jam Master Jay back then?

I get where you're going, that GnR is not really GnR, but Axl was always a part of GnR, and he was always the driving force. So while it's not the same GnR, it's still pretty valid in my book.

Ok, agreed that was a horrible analogy.

By your logic The Yardbirds have to fit, from their first hit "For your Love" in 1965 they rocked right along through 2006 when they released The road to Escondido...

[judicial clerk]

Paul Simon

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

And I am very much looking forward to their new album in May. 5 years is too damn between albums.

Green Day was who came to mind for me first.

They kick off their tour here July 3rd, can't wait

[Lathum]

Death Angel' s new album is awesome.

Dropkick Murphys also keeps putting awesome stuff out. While they are getting a little core commercial they keep pretty true to their roots.

[BigMak]

Bruce Springsteen