The Average Shelf-Life Of A Band

midnight rain · 01-21-2010, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bogey_j

Okay, shelf-life is a bad term to describe what I'm talking about. But how many albums does it take before a band or an artist starts to fall off artistically?

IMO, I feel an artist usually says everything they had to say with their first 3 albums. After that the quality of their music starts to drop by either repeating themselves, or experimenting for the sake of experimenting and failing at it. But this doesn't really apply to any band before 1975, because back then the top bands used to put out albums every 6 months, so its hard to say..

IMO Wilco has remained consistently awesome through 7 albums. Ditto Radiohead

duga · 01-21-2010, 02:36 PM

ahh how did i not even think of radiohead?

though their "shelf life" is coming up unless they do something totally radical for their next couple albums.

Rickenbacker · 01-21-2010, 02:39 PM

R.E.M. put out five near perfect albums in a row, and continued to sporadically release good to fantastic albums for the next ten years afterwards. Definitely one of the great consistencies in music, if we neglect the disappointing Around the Sun.

Neapolitan · 01-22-2010, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

When you say "a Pop" are you referring to Paul McCartney's father James?

yeah!?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

R.E.M. put out five near perfect albums in a row, and continued to sporadically release good to fantastic albums for the next ten years afterwards. Definitely one of the great consistencies in music, if we neglect the disappointing Around the Sun.

starting with their ep, right?
.5) Chronic Town (EP 1982)
1.) Murmur (1983)
2.) Reckoning (1984)
3.) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
4.) Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

I think REM is a good example of what the OP was talking about bands that sputter out of control after there first couple of albums.

Rickenbacker · 01-22-2010, 08:25 PM

Can't knock Document either. Easily their most polished and developed album at the time.

But more importantly, R.E.M. is worth mentioning for their ability to make fantastic albums years after their "prime". Look at Automatic for the People, Monster, or the unbelievably underrated New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Very few artists make songs the quality of which is comparable to something like "Leave" or "E-Bow the Letter" 15 years after their debut single.

**Janszoon** · 01-22-2010, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

Can't knock Document either. Easily their most polished and developed album at the time.

But more importantly, R.E.M. is worth mentioning for their ability to make fantastic albums years after their "prime". Look at Automatic for the People, Monster, or the unbelievably underrated New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Very few artists make songs the quality of which is comparable to something like "Leave" or "E-Bow the Letter" 15 years after their debut single.

Monster is pretty awful but I agree with you about Automatic for the People, it's one of my favorites by them.

Rickenbacker · 01-22-2010, 08:30 PM

I don't think Monster is great, but i like the overall "feel" of it. On the plus side, a couple of the songs were really awesome. Strange Currencies, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, and Circus Envy are some of my favorite latter-day R.E.M. tunes.

**Janszoon** · 01-22-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

I don't think Monster is great, but i like the overall "feel" of it. On the plus side, a couple of the songs were really awesome. Strange Currencies, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, and Circus Envy are some of my favorite latter-day R.E.M. tunes.

Meh. To me even the best songs on that album, like "Crush with Eyeliner", are merely mediocre. When it came out it was by far the worst thing they had ever released and it kind of killed my interest in the band overall.

storymilo · 01-22-2010, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Monster is pretty awful but I agree with you about Automatic for the People, it's one of my favorites by them.

Automatic For The People is my favorite album by them, though it kind of switches between that and Murmur. And I haven't heard New Adventures, In High-Fi, Document, or Accelerate.

Rickenbacker · 01-23-2010, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by storymilo

Automatic For The People is my favorite album by them, though it kind of switches between that and Murmur. And I haven't heard New Adventures, In High-Fi, Document, or Accelerate.

Have you heard Up and Around the Sun? Up is awesome, and the songwriting on Around the Sun is pretty good but it suffers a lot because of the arrangements and boring instrumentation. The live versions of Around the Sun songs are awesome though. They add a much more rough feel to it.

That said, I also think Reveal is perhaps their best since New Adventures. Imitation of Life is one of my favorite songs of the decade.

01-21-2010, 02:36 PM	#22 (permalink)
duga MB quadrant's JM Vincent Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 3,762	ahh how did i not even think of radiohead? though their "shelf life" is coming up unless they do something totally radical for their next couple albums. __________________ Confusion will be my epitaph...

01-21-2010, 02:39 PM	#23 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	R.E.M. put out five near perfect albums in a row, and continued to sporadically release good to fantastic albums for the next ten years afterwards. Definitely one of the great consistencies in music, if we neglect the disappointing Around the Sun. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

01-22-2010, 08:25 PM	#25 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	Can't knock Document either. Easily their most polished and developed album at the time. But more importantly, R.E.M. is worth mentioning for their ability to make fantastic albums years after their "prime". Look at Automatic for the People, Monster, or the unbelievably underrated New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Very few artists make songs the quality of which is comparable to something like "Leave" or "E-Bow the Letter" 15 years after their debut single. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

01-22-2010, 08:30 PM	#27 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	I don't think Monster is great, but i like the overall "feel" of it. On the plus side, a couple of the songs were really awesome. Strange Currencies, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, and Circus Envy are some of my favorite latter-day R.E.M. tunes. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed