bands getting better as they go along?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

does this exist?
how many bands are there that actually improved and broke up before they started making king crimson/elp/pinkfloyd/insert any prog rock band here nonsense in thier later days?

i think the classic examples are the beatles and talk talk...
anything else?

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 13:06 (twenty years ago)

-Slint
-Jam
-Immortal

― Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (arnart1802), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 13:10 (twenty years ago)

i guess you cant hold paul wellers current wankery against them...but i still dont think the jam got better.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 14:28 (twenty years ago)

new pornographers

― dim lights, Tuesday, 21 February 2006 14:30 (twenty years ago)

make-up

― everybody gotta lover inside, Tuesday, 21 February 2006 14:46 (twenty years ago)

I think assuming you stay together a few years, most bands get better live as they go along.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 14:49 (twenty years ago)

deerhoof

― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 14:54 (twenty years ago)

Humm...yes...maybe The Gift is more a case of "impressive", "ambitious" "we gotta progress" album then an actual masterpiece.

We should maybe ask ourselves, what bands have made their by far greatest work at the end - and then split up (bu hu!). It seems that the first album is usually the best (or even the demos in some cases!) Or the masterpieces come around mid-career.

Slint is an example of doing the best album last (but they only made two). Beatles had arguably made their best album before the great Abbey Road album. Talk Talk's best is Spirit of Eden, although Laughing Stock comes very close. Mark Hollis's solo album is pretty amazing too.

Heres one for the pool: The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombation In 12 Bursts by Refused

― Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (arnart1802), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:23 (twenty years ago)

bands have made their by far greatest work at the end - and then split up

Neu.

I like Neu 2 better than Neu, and Neu 75 best.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:27 (twenty years ago)

But what about Neu 4??

― Le Baaderonixx de Clignancourt (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:29 (twenty years ago)

debatable, but Fugazi.

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:35 (twenty years ago)

De La Soul, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

― js (honestengine), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:38 (twenty years ago)

Never heared it, but I did get the 'rehearsal sessions' one "Live" and it's a shade of rub.

That one was 'post split' anyway, right?

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Orbital peaked on their 3rd and 4th albums, arguably, but then declined again, evening off on their last album.

Embrace's fifth album is by far their best, after an OK first, excellent second, mediocre third and good fourth.

Outkast peaked on their 3rd and 4th also before going far too schizeclecto and inconsistent to be able to tell if they'd gone shit.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:41 (twenty years ago)

The stones.

― jimnaseum (jimnaseum), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:44 (twenty years ago)

Disagree about beatles getting better (all the time). At the beginning you had more covers, but the bonus of lots of john/paul harmonies, which was one of the main things that made them great in the first place. of course they got better in the middle - the songwriting and arrangements transformed everything around them - but after sgt pepper things began to decline somewhat. there's a lot of filler on the white album, and side 1 of abbey road is full of 'heavy' john jams and embarassing twee paul crap. side 2 is sublime, but it's never their best album, and Let it Be has to be one of the weakest.

― dr x o'skeleton, Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:47 (twenty years ago)

strongly disagree re: new pornos - every album has been a distinct ramping down from the one before.

― wangdangsweetpentangle (teenagequiet), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 16:48 (twenty years ago)

U2 peaked with Joshua and Achtung, arguably.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 17:00 (twenty years ago)

U2 peaked with Unforgettable Fire. Became too aware of themselves after that. That the same band is making this crap music today is unbelievable

― Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (arnart1802), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

there's a lot of filler on the white album

Miss the point, much? White Album is one of their very best. Much better than Sgt. Pepper's IMO.

and Let it Be has to be one of the weakest.

WHAT?!!

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 17:39 (twenty years ago)

Rilo Kiley
Nada Surf

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 17:42 (twenty years ago)

yeah, the beatles arent totally right, but they are closer than much i can think of. i just wanted to reverse the whole "oh yeah, that first album is good but i have the rare 7'' demo thats the real masterpiece." ha

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 18:07 (twenty years ago)

abba

― Vintage Latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 18:14 (twenty years ago)

HOW CAN YOU CALL KING CRIMSON AND PINK FLOYD NONSENSE AND POINT TO TALK TALK AS A DEFINITIVE ANSWER???

― pssst - badass revolutionary art! (plsmith), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 18:57 (twenty years ago)

hahah i love prog rock more than life. i just think late king crimson and pink floyd are absolute rubbish.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 18:59 (twenty years ago)

kc inspired funk metal in thier later days, for christs sake.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

i see. i thought you meant that bands whose late periods were like KC/PF in general.

― pssst - badass revolutionary art! (plsmith), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 19:04 (twenty years ago)

truce? ha

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 19:07 (twenty years ago)

how come nobody has said WYLD STALLYNS yet?

― Rufus (zebedee), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 19:20 (twenty years ago)

OH! So true.

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 20:02 (twenty years ago)

I like their newer stuff better...

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 20:21 (twenty years ago)

yeahhh.
that david byrne quote is key.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 20:24 (twenty years ago)

radiohead and yo la tengo come to mind immediately.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 21:41 (twenty years ago)

don't you hate when that happens?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 21:59 (twenty years ago)

uhhhh, totally.

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 22:49 (twenty years ago)

De La Soul I gotta disagree with very strongly.

New Pornographers have been very very consistent for me--I like all three of their records just about exactly equally.

The Ex, on the other hand, I think qualify as a definite getting-better-as-they-go band.

― Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:08 (twenty years ago)

The Birthday Party- they even sensed how intense they were getting when they finished up their career with EPs.

― bendy (bendy), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 02:05 (twenty years ago)

i think the first New Pornographers record is definitely stands above the rest

― sovietpanda (sovietpanda), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 06:09 (twenty years ago)

hahah i love prog rock more than life. i just think late king crimson and pink floyd are absolute rubbish.

-- emma cleveland (clevele...), February 21st, 2006.

U R A GIRL WHO LIKE PROG ROCK CAN I HAVE YR NUMBER WHY CAUSE YOU LOOK INTERESTING

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 06:13 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Jokes aside, thats ridiculous and it happens all the time. Remember Aaron and Psychedelic Woody Allen, Emma?

About the thread,
Tortoise until the last album (and the collab)
Autechre (cavity job sucks)
The Legendary Pink Dots
Coldcut
Marco Passarani
Jamie Lidell (? i'm not sure about that)
um, Robert Johnson. heh.

― Jason W Fellows (underlit), Monday, 3 April 2006 07:23 (twenty years ago)

Supergrass, although sadly most people disagree with me.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 3 April 2006 12:40 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.