Alternative/Indie Bands who were great but lost it

arsenallegend

Basically seen as we have two threads on Overrated and underrated i just wanted to ask what bands did you think were great when they came out but gradually lost it over the years. From the awful second album or the too far gone musical change. Mention a band and discuss why you think they lost it

AnonoBoy

Snow Patrol.

Seriously.

They weren't bad at the start. Now? Now they are bad.

arsenallegend

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Snow Patrol.

Seriously.

They weren't bad at the start. Now? Now they are bad.

my Snow Patrol hate started with Chasing cars cause it was never off the radio or Tv. I taught Final straw was a decent album

AnonoBoy

arsenallegend wrote: »

I taught Final straw was a decent album

I didn't. Thought the whole thing was a bit too bland.

Not that I was crazy about them or even owned their early albums but they seemed alright (maybe I was being a bit easier on them cause they were Irish).

arsenallegend

franz ferdinand:(
That self titled Debut wasn't off my i-pod ever since it came out but their second and third albums were just the same but less so especially their second which apart from four songs was awful.

arsenallegend

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I didn't. Thought the whole thing was a bit too bland.

Not that I was crazy about them or even owned their early albums but they seemed alright (maybe I was being a bit easier on them cause they were Irish).

But thats the probelm with most of irelands music its bland and it sells by the bucketloads. I taught Final straw was far better then eyes open which was blander then Kojak

Spiritoftheseventies

arsenallegend wrote: »

Basically seen as we have two threads on Overrated and underrated i just wanted to ask what bands did you think were great when they came out but gradually lost it over the years. From the awful second album or the too far gone musical change. Mention a band and discuss why you think they lost it

Sorry just to clear this up on over rated and under rated. My thread was about under rated albums in an artists collection. Not under rated albums.
But to answer the question, Undertones lost it badly on their fourth album, and my interest in Oasis began to wane after the third album. REM are the only band that were consistent for quite a long time.

arsenallegend

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Sorry just to clear this up on over rated and under rated. My thread was about under rated albums in an artists collection. Not under rated albums.
But to answer the question, Undertones lost it badly on their fourth album, and my interest in Oasis began to wane after the third album. REM are the only band that were consistent for quite a long time.

sorry about that:)

Oasis lost it with SOTSOG's i always disagree with people who say that it was Be here now, it was afine album just not as good as the first two thats all.

Pighead

The Bluetones debut album was pretty damn good and I had high hopes for them but they ran out of tunes and headed for blandsville. Also loved Elastica and for about one album before they turned to poo.

chordtype

Suede. First two albums (and just about everything they did at that time) were genius. Third album was ok but it was all downhill from there.

lordgoat

Pighead wrote: »

The Bluetones debut album was pretty damn good and I had high hopes for them but they ran out of tunes and headed for blandsville. Also loved Elastica and for about one album before they turned to poo.

Oh piggy i miss the 1990's!

arsenallegend

chordtype wrote: »

Suede. First two albums (and just about everything they did at that time) were genius. Third album was ok but it was all downhill from there.

B-side album they released sc-fi lullablly was great
i agree when bernard Butler left they lost that spark

arsenallegend

The Rapture Echoes was great and the second album was a bit iffy
seemed they ran out of ideas

chordtype

arsenallegend wrote: »

B-side album they released sc-fi lullablly was great
i agree when bernard Butler left they lost that spark

I think that album sums it up perfectly. The first disc with Butlers input is amazing while the second is just a bit meh.

Smashing Pumpkins I think also fall into this thread.

MajorThom

I cannot believe Kings of Leon haven't got a mention on here yet. I mean their 1st 2 albums were something to cherish but they seemed to sell their soul somewhere around the mid-point of 'Because of the Times', and lets not get started on 'Only By The Night'. (I actually had to google the name of the album as it was so forgettable).

I remember giving me friend in college a listen to 'King of the Rodeo' during a boring lecture a few years back and told me that it wasnt his cup of tea but a few short years later he's obsessed with them. He thinks 'Only by the Night' is a quality album and is by far KOLs best. I rest my case...

Or is it uncool to even mention the fact that KOL are uncool nowadays. I've confused myself:p

Spiritoftheseventies

MajorThom wrote: »

I cannot believe Kings of Leon haven't got a mention on here yet. I mean their 1st 2 albums were something to cherish but they seemed to sell their soul somewhere around the mid-point of 'Because of the Times', and lets not get started on 'Only By The Night'. (I actually had to google the name of the album as it was so forgettable).

I remember giving me friend in college a listen to 'King of the Rodeo' during a boring lecture a few years back and told me that it wasnt his cup of tea but a few short years later he's obsessed with them. He thinks 'Only by the Night' is a quality album and is by far KOLs best. I rest my case...

Or is it uncool to even mention the fact that KOL are uncool nowadays. I've confused myself:p

"On Call" and "Fans" were two greats songs. But "Sex on fire" just put me off them totally.

Energia

Neil Hannon - I loved Liberation and Promenade..I found Cassanova so-so and lost interest with Fin de Siècle..

loyatemu

KOL are the obvious recent example - the debut is good, and Aha Shake Heartbrake is a classic. Then they toured with U2, the next album showed definite U2 influences and they've veered off into stadium-rock land ever since.

Badly Drawn Boy - his debut and the About a Boy sountrack are excellent, and Have you fed the fish is somewhat underrated, but his subsequent albums were awful - bland and completely forgetable.

The Strokes - I know some people really like Room on Fire, but I think its very weak, and the last album was terrible.

fluke

BellX1 - No Really! Their first album is a gem and the second one is quite good too! I don't think they play much from the first album but I think it's just really good! When I heard album no. 3 it was so so...but that song with the Gremlins melody Flame was pretty uninteresting, and Rocky Took A Lover is bland. The fourth album does nothing for me at all. Some of the members have left so that could have something to do with the bands current sound

pickarooney

Stone Roses is kind of stating the obvious?
Placebo just stopped being any good after two albums.
The Manics lost it after The Holy Bible.

Spiritoftheseventies

pickarooney wrote: »

Stone Roses is kind of stating the obvious?
Placebo just stopped being any good after two albums.
The Manics lost it after The Holy Bible.

What about Everything must go?

Bootsy.

The Manics lost it after Everything Must Go, but even that was sounding like a different band than before. Good album with good songs but not the Manics we knew and loved before. They definitely lost their edge after The Holy Bible.

deisedude

MajorThom wrote: »

I cannot believe Kings of Leon haven't got a mention on here yet. I mean their 1st 2 albums were something to cherish but they seemed to sell their soul somewhere around the mid-point of 'Because of the Times', and lets not get started on 'Only By The Night'. (I actually had to google the name of the album as it was so forgettable).

I remember giving me friend in college a listen to 'King of the Rodeo' during a boring lecture a few years back and told me that it wasnt his cup of tea but a few short years later he's obsessed with them. He thinks 'Only by the Night' is a quality album and is by far KOLs best. I rest my case...

Or is it uncool to even mention the fact that KOL are uncool nowadays. I've confused myself:p

Wow, get out of my head!:D I agree completely, i feel dirty even saying i like Kings of Leon now. The excitement that made me buy Youth and Young Manhood the day it was released is long gone. Its a shame they sold out peddling generic stadium rock crap to the masses when they had the potential to be so much more but i guess money talks

doriansmith

fluke wrote: »

BellX1 - No Really! Their first album is a gem and the second one is quite good too! I don't think they play much from the first album but I think it's just really good! When I heard album no. 3 it was so so...but that song with the Gremlins melody was pretty uninteresting, and Rocky Took A Lover is bland. The fourth album does nothing for me at all. Some of the members have left so that could have something to do with the bands current sound

Have to second Bellx1. Love their first two albums but they're just making bland radio-friendly music now. I only listened to the last album a few times before giving up on it, they're so meh now

pappyodaniel

Aaah, everything's been shoite since Roy Orbison died.

GoWithTheFlow

arsenallegend wrote: »

But thats the probelm with most of irelands music its bland and it sells by the bucketloads. I taught Final straw was far better then eyes open which was blander then Kojak

Eyes open is a good album. A Hundred Million Suns is the dud. It all got painfully cheesy and downbeat.

I don't agree the bland tag covers all the bands work though. Some of there work is very edgy, especially there earlier stuff. 'When it's all over we still have to clear up' is a great song, brutally honest.

GoWithTheFlow

fluke wrote: »

BellX1 - No Really! Their first album is a gem and the second one is quite good too! I don't think they play much from the first album but I think it's just really good! When I heard album no. 3 it was so so...but that song with the Gremlins melody was pretty uninteresting, and Rocky Took A Lover is bland. The fourth album does nothing for me at all. Some of the members have left so that could have something to do with the bands current sound

I'd agree with Bell X1 being mentioned here, there last album was poor, the guitarist left the band alright and something went wrong. But the two albums before were brilliant, the first one was good too.

eviltimeban

KOL definitely. First two albums great, then it was just downhill all the way. Couldn't listen to them now.

Some could argue that Smashing Pumpkins "lost it" after Mellon Collie, but that's to ignore the fact that Adore is a beautiful album. Machina was pretty poor though, even though it had a few good songs.

Pearl Jam - I can't get over how bad their albums since "Binaural" have been. Everything up to and including "Yield" was great, but the four albums since then have been awful, no songs, nothing interesting, just the same thing over and over again.

Incubus haven't done anything decent since "Morning View".

Sinfonia

Rufus Wainwright (if he counts as Alt/Indie)
I really like the self-titled debut, and love Poses, but after that it goes downhill for me.

Kings of Leon for sure.

Muse
Showbiz - Good
Origin of Symmetry - Excellent
Absolution - Excellent
BH & R - Hmmmmm, nahh
The new one - I'll pass

Waits for the inevitable 'Radiohead post-OK Computer' rant

GoWithTheFlow

The Pixies. I find it hard to rate Bossanova and theres some dirt on Trompe le Monde.

JerryHandbag

Kings of Leon bigtime....they went from this hairy cool indie band to Bon Jovi wannabees. **** off.

Snow Patrol....that Chasing Cars song. Jesus Christ, its blander than wallpaper. I mean I think most of that album is ok. And Final Straw is good. But after that I lost interest. That song sucks serious balls.

A Disgrace

GoWithTheFlow wrote: »

The Pixies. I find it hard to rate Bossanova and theres some dirt on Trompe le Monde.

I actually think Trompe Le Monde is their best record..

Maybe a thread for bands that got better after dodgy first records? Pulp, Blur etc?

Creamy Goodness

Can not believe weezer haven't been mentioned here.

blue and pinkerton are absolutely epic classics, everything after that was pure unadulterated horse crap.

arsenallegend

MajorThom wrote: »

I cannot believe Kings of Leon haven't got a mention on here yet. I mean their 1st 2 albums were something to cherish but they seemed to sell their soul somewhere around the mid-point of 'Because of the Times', and lets not get started on 'Only By The Night'. (I actually had to google the name of the album as it was so forgettable).

I remember giving me friend in college a listen to 'King of the Rodeo' during a boring lecture a few years back and told me that it wasnt his cup of tea but a few short years later he's obsessed with them. He thinks 'Only by the Night' is a quality album and is by far KOLs best. I rest my case...

Or is it uncool to even mention the fact that KOL are uncool nowadays. I've confused myself:p

Of course this is the perfect example of a band selling out:) Their first two albums were classic's, their third was fine but their fourth a sell out of the biggest kind but it sold well enough. Anyone who only buys one rock record or indie record ever year bought Only by night cause of Sex is on fire. Sad cause i taught they be the type of band to stick to their sound and get big that way but going all u2 and shaving off the beards and getting pretty haircts i knew something was up.

arsenallegend

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Can not believe weezer haven't been mentioned here.

blue and pinkerton are absolutely epic classics, everything after that was pure unadulterated horse crap.

They ran out of steam didn't they.

Razorlight i taught they had something with their first record up all night but then sold out bigtime with the u2ish self titled album and less said about the third album the better

jill_valentine

Adore is a gorgeous album, and it hasn't aged a day. But boy howdy, how they lost it after that.

Spiritoftheseventies

Wedding Present brought out a very good debut Album in George Best but found the follow up to be very disappointing.

fluke

Rilo Kiley - I first saw them at Oxegen in 2005 and fell in love with them. When I first heard the most recent album Under The Blacklight I thought okay new sound... nothing wrong with that. However, over time it just sounds like some sugary schtick to me, especially recently as I heard an early song and died a little inside

arsenallegend

fluke wrote: »

Rilo Kiley - I first saw them at Oxegen in 2005 and fell in love with them. When I first heard the most recent album Under The Blacklight I thought okay new sound... nothing wrong with that. However, over time it just sounds like some sugary scthick to me, especially recently as I heard an early song and died a little inside

the big time album for warners sucked you could sense None of the band especially Jenny lewis were into making this album, Plus they moved away from what made them liked in the first place

red_ice

MajorThom wrote: »

I cannot believe Kings of Leon haven't got a mention on here yet. I mean their 1st 2 albums were something to cherish but they seemed to sell their soul somewhere around the mid-point of 'Because of the Times', and lets not get started on 'Only By The Night'. (I actually had to google the name of the album as it was so forgettable).

Youth and young manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak are two AMAZING albums. Everything... everything after that was utter pants. The cheek of some people saying "you're only saying that because your a music snob and they got popular". Really gets my nerve. Its not because im elitest about my taste in music(which i kind of am) and that i want to keep certain artists a secret, its genuinly that kol turned to utter muck after those first 2 albums. Its not audable to me. The songs are 2 dimensional, no thought goes into them. Sure they said they were changing their style for the 3rd album to make it in the american market, to do so they had to dumb it all down. The lyrics of Red Morning light, cmon - quality stuff!

Bloc party. First album is imo, one of the most well rounded and FANTASTIC albums i've heard. I love it to bits. Everything else was pants.

Limerick Dude

This post is just to counter argue some bands that have been mentioned in this thread.

With regard to placebo, they have been up and down and everyone seems to have different favourite albums. I thought 2006 Meds was pretty poor, but since they have gotten the new drummer and released 2009's Battle for the Sun, I honestly think they have reinvented themselves, BFTS is just quality album, probably the most consistent placebo album.

Have to agree with everyone about KOL and Snow Patrol, total sell outs.

BellX1 are interesting, i could be a bit biased considering there one of my favourite bands but lets just take the new album for example, if you ignore the silly singles such as Great Defector and ribs of a broken umbrella, there are some beautiful songs on there, "How your heart is wired" and "light catches your face" are amazing. Same can be said with the flock album, ignore the radio friendly ****e they put on there and you will find some great tracks.

I like the way Bloc Party have evolved because i think it would of been too easy for them to keep doing the same stuff that they did on Silent Alarm, i love the first two albums and i was quite shocked when i heard Intimacy but it has seriously grown on me and i think its a very good album.

Stereophonics have to be a prime example of a band who started off with so much promise and have been on a constant freefall since.

eclectichoney

Absolutely agree on the KOL point - if ever there was a copperfastened example!

I used to quite like the first Turin Brakes album at the time, but since then everything I've heard has been utterly terrible and not even listenable, so much so that I wouldn't even listen to the stuff from the first record anymore!

Badly Drawn Boy's first record was and still is excellent - but since then he's struggled to hold my attention, he just seems really bland and unremarkable now. The melodies don't seem special (with one or two exceptions) and his stuff doesn't have the originality of his first record.

I'll throw in death Cab for Cutie as well - anything post Transatlanticism was very disappointing for me. And as controversial as it will be, I've also found Sigur Ros a bit of a let down since Takk.


Also....

Does this mean we'll have to have a 'Band who weren't all that grea but then got really good' thread now to balance things out? (My nomination is the Cardigans )

GoWithTheFlow

red_ice wrote: »

Bloc party. First album is imo, one of the most well rounded and FANTASTIC albums i've heard. I love it to bits. Everything else was pants.

Weekend in the City is a quality album, less obscure than silent alarm (which is brilliant too). Intimacy was a let down though alright.

loveissucide

Frank Black solo. His debut and Teenager Of The Year are as good as any Pixies records, but any momentum was scuppered by putting out far too much material and straying from the pop genius that made him something special(although he has been on a good run since Bluefinger)

The Replacements-definitely went off the boil post-Bob Stinson being sacked.

GoWithTheFlow

Limerick Dude wrote: »

BellX1 are interesting, i could be a bit biased considering there one of my favourite bands but lets just take the new album for example, if you ignore the silly singles such as Great Defector and ribs of a broken umbrella, there are some beautiful songs on there, "How your heart is wired" and "light catches your face" are amazing. Same can be said with the flock album, ignore the radio friendly ****e they put on there and you will find some great tracks.

Agreed some of there best work is on the new album, "light catches your face" is pure quality, but the overall standard on the album was poor. Really hope they can get back to there consistent best. BTW cant understand the bad press Flock is getting. It's as good lyrically as Music in Mouth in my opinion with better guitar work.

Spiritoftheseventies

I suppose Dexys midnight runners were a good example. From Searching for the young soul rebels which spawned Geno and other great tracks to Come on Eileen.

red_ice

I dunno... I hear bands talking about them wanting to make an album a certain way. Saying that thats not the album that they wanted to make, and if they had a chance they would have done it different.

Thats not what its about.

An album should capture a band at a certain point in time, not where they want to be in 2 years time... do that album in 2 years time! If their next album after that is not up to the standard it says alot about a band. Im off bloc party now myself, wouldnt give them a chance, it would have to be forced on me. Nothing they will produce will top silent alarm imo. Luno was a great tune(DFA did it better tho).

ricero

kings of leon defo lost it i consider them a pop band now.

also the fratallies memba dem:(

Spiritoftheseventies

red_ice wrote: »

I dunno... I hear bands talking about them wanting to make an album a certain way. Saying that thats not the album that they wanted to make, and if they had a chance they would have done it different.

Thats not what its about.

An album should capture a band at a certain point in time, not where they want to be in 2 years time... do that album in 2 years time! If their next album after that is not up to the standard it says alot about a band. Im off bloc party now myself, wouldnt give them a chance, it would have to be forced on me. Nothing they will produce will top silent alarm imo. Luno was a great tune(DFA did it better tho).

Saw Bloc Party at Oxegen but after their lead singer gloated about the demise of Oasis (they were supporting Oasis on that infamous gig) I wouldnt have much time for them after that

loveissucide

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

I suppose Dexys midnight runners were a good example. From Searching for the young soul rebels which spawned Geno and other great tracks to Come on Eileen.

What about Don't Stand Me Down?Great album.

jill_valentine

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Saw Bloc Party at Oxegen but after their lead singer gloated about the demise of Oasis (they were supporting Oasis on that infamous gig) I wouldnt have much time for them after that

It goes back a while, and Oasis started it. Liam used to take potshots at Kele & Co. at every opportunity, and although I'm not Kele's biggest fan, I warmed to him a little for his responses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6505739.stm