When Bands Jumped the Shark
I realize the term jumping the shark has itself jumped the shark. With that said here are 10 once great bands and were I feel they “jumped the shark.” Also again, this is my personal opinion. No one has to agree but, by all means please let me know where you feel I am wrong.
AC/DC – Flick of the Switch – I am more of a Bon Scott AC/DC guy then a Brian Johnson. Still Back in Black was an achievement and may be the best album from the band. They followed that up with For Those About to Rock which is a very uneven record but has its moments. Flick of the Switch, simply is bad. They have not been the same band since. Sure Razors Edge might be called a comeback by some but other than Thunderstruck (Which I have to admit is a jam) the record is weak. I will vehemently defend this bands work prior to Flick of the Switch, but it is hard to listen to anything they have put out in the last seventeen years.
Genesis – Invisible Touch – Oh how I hate this record. The Peter Gabriel era Genesis was experimental and groundbreaking. After Gabriel left they still put out some good records without him. I will defend Duke and Abacab to anyone. With their self titled Genesis release in 1983 a fin started to show. Then came the poppy Invisible Touch and Phil Collins had officially taken over the controls and ran the band right into the ground. The record was huge at the time, but I ask now, is there one song on that album that you would ever want to hear again? I mean when was the last time you wanted to jam to Land of Confusion? From that record on whenever the three remaining members of Genesis got together to put out new music it was beyond awful. Need I remind anyone of, I Can’t Dance?
Billy Joel – An Innocent Man – I sometimes get some strange looks when I admit to my appreciation for early Billy Joel works. Some of the music he put out in the late 70’s is some of my favorite from the entire era. I listen to Rosalinda’s Eyes and it is such a beautiful song that I cannot believe this is the same guy that also penned Uptown Girl. With An Innocent Man he didn’t jump the shark he was shot out of a cannon over it. It is so bad that it almost makes me forget how good his earlier stuff is. From that time on it was just more and more uninspired junk for Joel culminating with the wretched, Storm Front record with the spawn of Satan single, We Didn’t Start the Fire.
Pearl Jam – Vs. – I believe it was my brother who first had a copy of Pearl Jam’s Ten. When I first heard it, I was hooked. I still all these years later will defend it. However, I cannot begin to describe the utter disappointment when I first heard Vs. I still cringe when I hear Daughter or Glorified G. What a colossal drop from one album to the next. After Vs. Pearl Jam continued to put out for the most part bad music. It is sad because, when I think about Ten and how excited I was over it and to see where they went it is heartbreaking. There are people out there that still believe that Pearl Jam was a better band then Nirvana. I have no idea what they are listening to.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication – Around 1989 and 90 you could not find a bigger fan of the Peppers then yours truly. Whenever I hear anything off of Mother’s Milk an instant smile comes across my face and it reminds of a simpler time when music really mattered to me. That CD was the soundtrack to my life at that time. They then released Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik and the rest of the world caught on to the infectious grove of this fun loving LA band. A lot of hard core fans of the RHCP, panned their next record One Hot Minute with Dave Navarro. I actually like it and still do. It’s not on the level of Mother’s Milk but it is still in my opinion solid. Californication should have been great. John Frusicante was back on guitar. When I heard that I got really excited. I went out and bought the disc the first day it came out. And, man was I disappointed. The band that once infused the amazing Flea on bass with a funk and rock sound was producing basically adult contemporary music. The edge was gone, there was no heart in that album. Since then it has been more of the same. It is too bad because at their peak they were amazing.
REM – Out of Time – I think my brother said it best when he first heard Losing my Religion. Upon listening to it for the first time, he said, “It was like finding out there was no Santa Claus.” For a five year stretch beginning in 1983 with Murmur there may have no band that was putting out better music then the boys from Georgia. Green was their last good effort and even on that you could in retrospect see the slippage. Out of Time was so crushing in its suckiness. Here was the band that was championed by alternative radio and they put out a song like Shiny Happy People. From there REM put out an even worse record in Automatic for the People and I tuned out. How quickly they fell from the mighty perch they once held.
Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue – The Rolling Stones greatness is unquestioned. No music lover in their right mind would try to argue about what this band has meant and their impact as musicians. However since 1980 this band has put out a lot of bad music. The band was starting to slip before that. Some Girls was looked upon as a comeback record. Their release prior to that, Black and Blue was pure rubbish. But it looked like the ship had been righted as Some Girls boasted some of the best work by then band in years. Then they released this turkey and it has been all downhill ever since. (Don’t believe me put on Dirty Work one day. It is embarrassing in how bad it is.)
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA – Oh how I despise this album. Bruce’s first six studio releases are so highly listenable. His lyrics are so punch in the gut good and the arrangement of the E street band is almost perfection, which makes Born in the USA all the more disappointing. It is by far his biggest selling album which I think says a lot about the American music buying public. From the schmaltzy Glory Days and My Hometown to the disgusting Dancing in the Dark, the record reeks of pandering to mainstream. This is not out of hand a bad thing, but in this case, it sure is. It was a turn that Bruce made, one he never recovered from.
U2 - The Joshua Tree – How I used to love this band. I would always defend them to my heavy metal loving Argo classmates. I would often get ridiculed for digging U2 but, I didn’t care. I knew good music when I heard it. Man was this band something in the early 80’s. Their first four records all brilliant. Then they released the Joshua Tree. I went out and bought it as I was excited upon its release and I admit at the time I tried really hard to like it. But at a certain point (probably upon my 10,000 time hearing I still haven’t found what I’m looking for) it dawned on me that, in fact this album is pretty weak. Then came Rattle and Hum and the band was dead to me. It took me years to forgive their transgressions and open up my mind to their later work some of which isn’t half bad. But, in my mind they were never as good as they were pre-Joshua Tree.
Van Halen – 5150 – David Lee Roth era Van Halen is American hard rock done right. It is in your face, tongue in cheek, balls to the walls rock and roll. 1984 was probably their weakest Roth era effort but still had enough good in it to buy them some slack. When it was announced that Sammy Hagar was replacing Roth it made so much sense. It should have been perfect. Instead, the band devolved into as I like to call them the Journey of hard rock. When I hear Dreams or Love Comes Walking In, I get visibly pissed. It is one thing to suck. It is quite another to have talent and then piss it away playing the most inane, soft, soulless banality possible. I can forgive a Brian Adams he always sucked. But you knew the Halen boys had it in them and they just took the easy way out. Shame on them.
-
AC/DC – Flick of the Switch – I am more of a Bon Scott AC/DC guy then a Brian Johnson. Still Back in Black was an achievement and may be the best album from the band. They followed that up with For Those About to Rock which is a very uneven record but has its moments. Flick of the Switch, simply is bad. They have not been the same band since. Sure Razors Edge might be called a comeback by some but other than Thunderstruck (Which I have to admit is a jam) the record is weak. I will vehemently defend this bands work prior to Flick of the Switch, but it is hard to listen to anything they have put out in the last seventeen years.
Genesis – Invisible Touch – Oh how I hate this record. The Peter Gabriel era Genesis was experimental and groundbreaking. After Gabriel left they still put out some good records without him. I will defend Duke and Abacab to anyone. With their self titled Genesis release in 1983 a fin started to show. Then came the poppy Invisible Touch and Phil Collins had officially taken over the controls and ran the band right into the ground. The record was huge at the time, but I ask now, is there one song on that album that you would ever want to hear again? I mean when was the last time you wanted to jam to Land of Confusion? From that record on whenever the three remaining members of Genesis got together to put out new music it was beyond awful. Need I remind anyone of, I Can’t Dance?
Billy Joel – An Innocent Man – I sometimes get some strange looks when I admit to my appreciation for early Billy Joel works. Some of the music he put out in the late 70’s is some of my favorite from the entire era. I listen to Rosalinda’s Eyes and it is such a beautiful song that I cannot believe this is the same guy that also penned Uptown Girl. With An Innocent Man he didn’t jump the shark he was shot out of a cannon over it. It is so bad that it almost makes me forget how good his earlier stuff is. From that time on it was just more and more uninspired junk for Joel culminating with the wretched, Storm Front record with the spawn of Satan single, We Didn’t Start the Fire.
Pearl Jam – Vs. – I believe it was my brother who first had a copy of Pearl Jam’s Ten. When I first heard it, I was hooked. I still all these years later will defend it. However, I cannot begin to describe the utter disappointment when I first heard Vs. I still cringe when I hear Daughter or Glorified G. What a colossal drop from one album to the next. After Vs. Pearl Jam continued to put out for the most part bad music. It is sad because, when I think about Ten and how excited I was over it and to see where they went it is heartbreaking. There are people out there that still believe that Pearl Jam was a better band then Nirvana. I have no idea what they are listening to.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication – Around 1989 and 90 you could not find a bigger fan of the Peppers then yours truly. Whenever I hear anything off of Mother’s Milk an instant smile comes across my face and it reminds of a simpler time when music really mattered to me. That CD was the soundtrack to my life at that time. They then released Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik and the rest of the world caught on to the infectious grove of this fun loving LA band. A lot of hard core fans of the RHCP, panned their next record One Hot Minute with Dave Navarro. I actually like it and still do. It’s not on the level of Mother’s Milk but it is still in my opinion solid. Californication should have been great. John Frusicante was back on guitar. When I heard that I got really excited. I went out and bought the disc the first day it came out. And, man was I disappointed. The band that once infused the amazing Flea on bass with a funk and rock sound was producing basically adult contemporary music. The edge was gone, there was no heart in that album. Since then it has been more of the same. It is too bad because at their peak they were amazing.
REM – Out of Time – I think my brother said it best when he first heard Losing my Religion. Upon listening to it for the first time, he said, “It was like finding out there was no Santa Claus.” For a five year stretch beginning in 1983 with Murmur there may have no band that was putting out better music then the boys from Georgia. Green was their last good effort and even on that you could in retrospect see the slippage. Out of Time was so crushing in its suckiness. Here was the band that was championed by alternative radio and they put out a song like Shiny Happy People. From there REM put out an even worse record in Automatic for the People and I tuned out. How quickly they fell from the mighty perch they once held.
Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue – The Rolling Stones greatness is unquestioned. No music lover in their right mind would try to argue about what this band has meant and their impact as musicians. However since 1980 this band has put out a lot of bad music. The band was starting to slip before that. Some Girls was looked upon as a comeback record. Their release prior to that, Black and Blue was pure rubbish. But it looked like the ship had been righted as Some Girls boasted some of the best work by then band in years. Then they released this turkey and it has been all downhill ever since. (Don’t believe me put on Dirty Work one day. It is embarrassing in how bad it is.)
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA – Oh how I despise this album. Bruce’s first six studio releases are so highly listenable. His lyrics are so punch in the gut good and the arrangement of the E street band is almost perfection, which makes Born in the USA all the more disappointing. It is by far his biggest selling album which I think says a lot about the American music buying public. From the schmaltzy Glory Days and My Hometown to the disgusting Dancing in the Dark, the record reeks of pandering to mainstream. This is not out of hand a bad thing, but in this case, it sure is. It was a turn that Bruce made, one he never recovered from.
U2 - The Joshua Tree – How I used to love this band. I would always defend them to my heavy metal loving Argo classmates. I would often get ridiculed for digging U2 but, I didn’t care. I knew good music when I heard it. Man was this band something in the early 80’s. Their first four records all brilliant. Then they released the Joshua Tree. I went out and bought it as I was excited upon its release and I admit at the time I tried really hard to like it. But at a certain point (probably upon my 10,000 time hearing I still haven’t found what I’m looking for) it dawned on me that, in fact this album is pretty weak. Then came Rattle and Hum and the band was dead to me. It took me years to forgive their transgressions and open up my mind to their later work some of which isn’t half bad. But, in my mind they were never as good as they were pre-Joshua Tree.
Van Halen – 5150 – David Lee Roth era Van Halen is American hard rock done right. It is in your face, tongue in cheek, balls to the walls rock and roll. 1984 was probably their weakest Roth era effort but still had enough good in it to buy them some slack. When it was announced that Sammy Hagar was replacing Roth it made so much sense. It should have been perfect. Instead, the band devolved into as I like to call them the Journey of hard rock. When I hear Dreams or Love Comes Walking In, I get visibly pissed. It is one thing to suck. It is quite another to have talent and then piss it away playing the most inane, soft, soulless banality possible. I can forgive a Brian Adams he always sucked. But you knew the Halen boys had it in them and they just took the easy way out. Shame on them.
-
posted by 10withmop at 1:42 PM
2 Comments:
U2 - I LOVE Achtung Baby. Dell and I agree on this. their best albums unforgettable fire, Joshua, & Achtung Baby.
Stones - Tattoo You came out in 1981 and it is better than Emotional Rescue & Some Girls(Don't like Some Girls at all plastic sounding). Brutality followed.
RHCP- agree with you. When Frusiante left, I cried. When he returned I celebrated then cried again. This band sucks
Van Halen - I've come to my senses on this one. At first I liked & defended Hagar. I recently listened to 5150 and hated it. I think it has to do mostly with electronic drums. I prefer Dave now.
Rush - liked Signals and everthing before. Nothing Since
Aerosmith - Done with Mirrors was their last decent album on drugs and not even that good. They started rapping and They're now probably my most hated band.
Def Leppard - wait a minute. Pyromania good. Everything else after untolerable.
Look for my take on the once mighty Halen over at http://zombiedante.blogspot.com/ (somewhere in December 2009). But, to sum it up… Roth era: good; Hagar era: bad. More to the point: middle era Roth (Women & Children First and Fair Warning) is best.
I only endorse the Bon Scott era AC/DC, though I’ll admit a few of the later material. Individual songs are good, but I can’t speak to a whole Brian Johnson album.
U2 has always been lame, if you ask me. Again, a handful of songs I don’t mind (or can tolerate) but that’s about it. Fuck Bono. And The Edge? Jesus, what a pretentious name to call yourself. How is he any different than “The Situation” from the Jersey Shore?
I agree with you on Billy Joel, Bruce and Red Hot Chili Peppers (though I think Blood Sugar was kind of lame and way too long and overblown) but I have to say that the first Pearl Jam record (though I liked it once) doesn’t hold up. Have you listened to “Jeremy” lately?
R.E.M. yeah… you know how I used to love them. I even waited outside the studio of WXRT to met Peter Buck and Mike Mills, which I did the night before Out of Time was released. Seriously, the day after I got their autographs I went to Crow’s Nest and bought Out of Time, took it home, ran to my room, shut the door so as not to be interrupted, (almost like a ritual with lighted candles) and set it to play. When I heard “Radio Song” I was so sad a tear nearly escaped my heavy eyes. I walked away and never looked back.
Oh, and Kevin: Pyromania is a killer record, as is High and Dry, but everything else (did they even make a record after that horrible “Pour Some Sugar on Me” crap?) is horrible, so we agree there. Not sure if can agree on the U2, as you might have guessed.
May I nominate another band: The Beastie Boys. Paul’s Boutique and Check Your Head are both incredible records, but Ill Communication and everything after is pretty rotten.
Post a Comment
<< Home