When your favorite band/s lost it

[blindeddie]

how about a positive take on the topic by mentioning the great bands that quit BEFORE they lost it! go out on a good note and not ruin their good reputation by being greedy and beating a dead horse.
1. The Police
2. The Replacements
3. The Clash

 

[El Raro]

High on Fire has yet to lose it (IMO).

I dunno...they lost it a tiny bit on Snakes for the Divine. But hardly a cause for concern...De Vermis Mysteriis is ungodly good.

 

[LSquared]

Well... I grew up in the 70's... Along with some of the previous comments (Who, Stones, Genesis, Zep) Here's 2 key moments:

Lynyrd Skynyrd. They "lost it" 10/20/1977
Doobie Brothers - They lost me when Michael MacDonald joined (1976)

 

[CauliColin]

how about a positive take on the topic by mentioning the great bands that quit BEFORE they lost it! go out on a good note and not ruin their good reputation by being greedy and beating a dead horse.
1. The Police
2. The Replacements
3. The Clash

Franz Ferdinand. Don't know what's happened to them since their third album, but there hasn't been a truly awful song.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Muse - After The Resistance..

They lost it AT The Resistance, IMHO

 

[CauliColin]

They lost it AT The Resistance, IMHO

It's a matter of personal taste

 

[Richland123]

Men At Work after Cargo

 

[MAJOR METAL]

What went first for you guys with these bands, their writing- recording ability, or their live performances?

 

[mizzou541]

how about a positive take on the topic by mentioning the great bands that quit BEFORE they lost it! go out on a good note and not ruin their good reputation by being greedy and beating a dead horse.
1. The Police
2. The Replacements
3. The Clash

The Band

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I heard Alice in Chain's new single "Hollow" or "Hallow" the other day. They've lost it.

 

[zachoff]

Electric Wizard - when Greening and Bagshaw left (meaning, when the original line-up split)

Man, We Live might be my favorite album from Electric Wizard. So heavy and raw... I love it.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

What went first for you guys with these bands, their writing- recording ability, or their live performances?

For me, it's typically musical direction. It's no surprise that I tend to like the first few albums of a band much more than any of their later stuff because, IMHO, bands are more themselves during that time period. The stuff that truly makes them unique and stand out among everyone else is much more apparent in those works. Unfortunately, most bands typically get more mainstream/pop sounding the further along their careers go, and before long they just start sounding like any other band in their respected genre that's been around for awhile. Simply put, they become boring and average. They lose their edge.

 

[zachoff]

What went first for you guys with these bands, their writing- recording ability, or their live performances?

Writing, usually. Sometimes the recording style changed... New producer or something, but usually the music has changed, anyway. The live show is usually the last to go.

Take Metallica, for instance. I saw them in '89, '91, '93, and '95 and even though I didn't really love the material they'd recorded in those years they still put on a hell of a show. I saw something recent from them on Palladia and it was horrible.

 

[Spectrum]

On a positive note: Not that she was my favorite rock star, but I saw Pat Benetar back in the mid 90s and wasn't impressed. Something was off about the performance. The band seemed tired and Pat wasn't at the top of her game.

But I've seen recent videos of her and her voice is still amazing.

 

[zachoff]

On a positive note: Not that she was my favorite rock star, but I saw Pat Benetar back in the mid 90s and wasn't impressed. Something was off about the performance. The band seemed tired and Pat wasn't at the top of her game.

But I've seen recent videos of her and her voice is still amazing.

In a similar vein, I saw Joan Jett a couple years ago and it was awesome. Among the most fun shows I've seen.

 

[dfinnegan71]

I want to chime in with Metallica. I saw them about 5 times, to me they lost it some where between the "and justic for all" tour and woodstock '94. James started "singing" instead of the growl we all (metallica fans) grew up with. At woodstock they started with Breadfan. And that first scream, "BREADFAN!!!" was more like a Broadway musical version, I was like ***?? ever since then....go ahead look 'em up on YOUTUBE the earlier days rocked, since about 94...not so much.
But hey who am I to judge. Back in 94 I was a badass. Now I'm fat, bald and just a boring ol' washed up hack of a bar band bass-er who can' t even play a metallica song anymore....I suck.

 

[Tituscrow]

Damn good list, sir. Damn good.

And no, High on Fire has not lost it. And now that Pike is off the sauce, his liver and heart might let him stick around for a few more years.

I'm off to see these guys in Feb. Cannot wait.

 

[FilterFunk]

The Commodores and Kool & The Gang both lost it around 1979-1980, when they abandoned the funk.

 

[drummer5359]

I've never heard of "High on fire", I'm on my way to youtube to check them out.

 

[drummer5359]

David Bowie--after Aladdin Sane
Pink Floyd-- after Dark Side of the Moon
The Who--after Quadrophenia
Led Zepplin--after Houses of the Holy (although not as much as the first ones)
the Stones-- from @ 1975 on, say Goat's Head Soup
The Moody Blues--after Seventh Sojourn
Yes--after Close to the Edge

i'm sure i'll think of others

Dave, I love your list.

I'll add to your Stones comments. The Stones from Beggar's Banquet through Exile on main street were simply great. They fired Jimmy Miller (their producer) and the "Glimmer Twins" (Jagger and Richards) became their own producers with disasterous results. I will also add that they somewhat redeemed themselves with Some Girls in 78. After that, their output has been mediocre.