Bands with eras that take a lot of...stuff!

For me... Symphony X.

Whereas most hardcore Symphony X fans prefer the Rod Tyler era, I find I prefer the current era. And while how I can appreciate how the debut is drastically superior to anything they've done since, I think it's unnecessary for the old-school SX fans to call Russell Allen a poor excuse for a Dio clone. Yes... I get it... Rod was a vocal god and Russell couldn't carry his jock. But geez... give Russ a break, he's really not as awful as everyone says.

Zod



:lol:
 
For me... Symphony X.

Whereas most hardcore Symphony X fans prefer the Rod Tyler era, I find I prefer the current era. And while how I can appreciate how the debut is drastically superior to anything they've done since, I think it's unnecessary for the old-school SX fans to call Russell Allen a poor excuse for a Dio clone. Yes... I get it... Rod was a vocal god and Russell couldn't carry his jock. But geez... give Russ a break, he's really not as awful as everyone says.

Zod

Nicely played! :worship:

~Brian~
 
Guns N' Roses. I could not care less that Slash isn't on guitar, Duff isn't on bass, or that Axl has a revolving door policy now on the band.

I love, repeat LOVE, Chinese Democracy. As long as Axl's singing lead, to me, the rest of the cast just doesn't matter.
 
Cryptopsy, post-2000, for sure. The critical assault they've been subjected to sometimes has me saying "ouch", even if I do count myself among those who have happily ignored them after ATYB.

+1

And the latest CD really pretty much blows. :(



From this forum I think the clear winner in the "bands with an era that SOMEONE will aways hate" would be Iced Earth. We've seen a lot of Barlow/Owens debate, and most of it's been pretty heated.
 
The problem with Iced Earth isn't the vocals (at least not since the debut)...it's the songwriting. It was good on Glorious Burden, decent on Framing Armageddon, but suffered from severe lack of intensity on Crucible of Man. And the intensity seems like it won't return, as Jon has said that he's shifted focus away from the guitar-driven riff based stuff that made Stormrider and Burnt Offerings so good...in more of this grandiose story driven stuff. Well, I say that the story is fine, but the songs have turned to dishwater.
 
The problem with Iced Earth isn't the vocals (at least not since the debut)...it's the songwriting. It was good on Glorious Burden, decent on Framing Armageddon, but suffered from severe lack of intensity on Crucible of Man.
The Glorious Burden is an exceptional disc. I was primed to hate that release, as I suspected Iced Earth would crumble after Barlow's departure. However, it's just a phenomenal disc. And while I would love to hear the result of Barlow recording those songs in the studio, he clearly couldn't handle Tim's versions of them live.

As for Framing Armageddon and Crucible of Man, I found them equally uninspired. As a matter of fact, I find them to be proof positive that Iced Earth's decline is no one's fault but Jon's.

As Palabra said... it has nothing to with the vocalist. Jon has no fire left.

Zod
 
What bands do you like that seem to get a lot of negative reviews, etc. from long time fans, due to lineup changes, etc.?

Iron Maiden (but I also only like DiAnno and classic Bruce eras :heh:)
Judas Priest (Owens is damn good but he had a terrible composition to deal with, courtesy of Tipton)
Black Sabbath (except the dreadful "Forbidden" all vocalists had done well in due time)
Rainbow (partial to Dio, Bonnet and White, but JLT did well)
Malmsteen (only time I find it not suitable was Vescera era)
Amorphis (I like only the clean vocals era)
Sentenced (I love from "Down" to the "The Funeral Album")
Cryonic Temple (I prefer the Glenn Metal era, but I got accustomed to the new guy)
Steel Prophet (many changes but the band always remained solid even with D'Priest instead of Mythiasin, now he's back I hope another great album)
Meliah Rage (like all their albums despite the line-up changes, now with the return of the original vocalist I expect something really mean)
Hammerfall (I still dig them in spite of line-up changes)
Helloween (except for PBGA and "Chameleon", they still go but I would like a better albm next time).
 
King Crimson.

There are many that say the 70's Red era with Wetton was their best lineup ever and they haven't matched it, but I disagree. Adrian Belew's been there for the longest time and although he initially came from a New Wave style with the abstract vocals like David Byrne, I think he fit in well during the 90's through the latest album Power to Believe especially as a guitarist matching up with Fripp. They also continue to evolve effectively with the double trio of two bass players and two drummers as well as adding more electronics, synthesizers and mixing in heavier drop-D metal sound starting with the Thrak album in 95'.
 
Black Sabbath's "Born Again" with Ian Gillan on vox.
Accept's "Eat the Heat" with David Reece on Vox.
Blaze era Maiden.
Ripper era Priest.
Ripper era Iced Earth.
Falconer's "The Sceptre of Deception" with Kristoffer Gobel on vox.

I love Blaze era Maiden. X Factor is my favorite Maiden album.
 
The problem with Iced Earth isn't the vocals (at least not since the debut)...it's the songwriting. It was good on Glorious Burden, decent on Framing Armageddon, but suffered from severe lack of intensity on Crucible of Man. And the intensity seems like it won't return, as Jon has said that he's shifted focus away from the guitar-driven riff based stuff that made Stormrider and Burnt Offerings so good...in more of this grandiose story driven stuff. Well, I say that the story is fine, but the songs have turned to dishwater.

Here Here :kickass: IE's been hurting since The Dark Saga.
 
Does Opeth count? They've changed over the years from Orchid / morningrise days to still life / BWP days to watershed. There always seems to be those few individuals who think Orchid was their best album.

Morningrise is by far my favorite album from them, but they definitely have some great moments on others. I don't really like Ghost Reveries, though, and I haven't checked out Watershed other than a couple songs that didn't really do it for me.

Ensiferum's latest album gets a lot of flack because Jari left the band (as well as others), but I think that it's pretty fantastic.

Jari was only on the first two albums, wasn't he? I only actually like Iron. I need to give the first album another listen, though, but I seem to remember feeling that they weren't quite there yet with all the elements that make me love Iron, and then all the later stuff is missing Jari's awesome vocals and guitar playing, which is also a huge part of what I like about Iron (and Wintersun).