Bands you use to love, who you're losing/lost interest in...

[Iced Ray]

Great topic.

Bands that I am DONE with.

1. Queensryche - Empire was their last great album and since then its been all downhill. I bought OM:II despite this and while it was not awful like the prior albums, it was far from anything good so they are DONE for me.

2. Edguy/Avantasia - Mandrake was the last Edguy album I loved. Hellfire Club was the writing on the wall for the suckage that was to follow....and Rocket Ride delivered on that prophecy big time. :zombie: I also heard a couple of Avantasia tracks and that made me decide that any Tobi band is now DONE for me as well.

3. Morgana Lefay - Great band but the nu-metal influence creeped into some songs on Grand Materia and from what I heard of the new album, its more of a constant. As long as they stick to that style, they are DONE to me.

4. Nocturnal Rites - This band has gradually declined in interest for me. Grand Illusion was ok but again, from what I heard of the new album, this band is DONE.

5. Sonata Arctica - Liked the debut, loved Silence but then found the next 2 albums quite boring. As for the new style on Unia, that doesn't seem interesting either. DONE.

6. Running Wild - This pains me to no end but I have given up on Rolf. Victory was decent but the following 2 albums were increasingly worse. Don't dig the AC/DC rock stuff and for fuck sake, get a real drummer or a better drum program. DONE.

7. Seven Witches - I usually don't write a band off for one bad album but Amped was so freakin' awful that I am not buying their new album. Jack needs to rethink what he is doing with this band. DONE.

8. Rhapsody - First 3 albums were cool with Dawn of Victory being their pinnacle. Everything after that has gotten succeedingly worse. The one trick pony has taken too many rides. If you want kick ass Italian power metal, just turn to Domine. That is all you need. DONE.

9. Labyrinth - Loved both Return to Heaven Denied and Sons of Thunder but this band took a nose dive after that. Again, just listen to Domine for great Italian power metal. DONE.

10. Brainstorm - I was never a HUGE fan of this band but I dug them to some degreee but the last couple of albums have been quite mediocre. DONE.



As for Kamelot - I am a HUGE Kamelot fan and I am not DONE with them but I can understand many people's concerns. Ghost Opera was a decent album but I agree that they seem to be limiting themselves to the Black Halo formula. It has me concerned, no question. I just hope they don't become a chick metal band ala Nightwish or anything gay like that.

 

[Iced Ray]

HammerFall - they will always hold a special place in my heart for being the first metal band I ever heard that wasn't all "OMG I'M ANGRY BECUZ MY DAD GROUNDED ME 4 DRINKING!!!!! RAAAAAAAR!" But I was somewhat dissappointed with Threshold. I will still gladly see them live, so I can see the older stuff played, but unless the next album blows me away, this band is slipping away from me.

The last 2 albums were mediocre, IMO, but still not a bad listen. Not completely writing them off yet.

 

[Iced Ray]

I guess I should have mentioned a a crap load of thrash bands that are quite obvious....

Metallica
Exodus
Testament
Anthrax (I lost interest with the awful Volume 8 but I loved WHCFYA)
Megadeth (although their last album was decent)
Death Angel
Sepultura

 

[rms]

Domine over Rhapsody? Surely you are insane lol!

 

[Iced Ray]

Domine over Rhapsody? Surely you are insane lol!

Haha, the proof is in the pudding.

 

[JenniferLynn]

As for Kamelot - I just hope they don't become a chick metal band ala Nightwish or anything gay like that.

ugh - you and me BOTH... I've tried and cannot get into 99% of female fronted groups.. Most sound exactly the same... THAT is boring and predictable..

 

[PriestMetalGods]

Hmm, kind of the opposite to the thread I just responded to about growth. Nice to see two sides to the spectrum. For starters, I will say this...power metal needs to be power metal again. Whoa, what the hell happened to this genre? It seems like all of my favorite power metal legends from the late 90's are falling apart. As sad as this post is, here goes a few of the bad:

Hammerfall: I defended these guys for years..and still to this day, I think their only misstep was Threshold. Its a huge hiccup though. That album to me is just god awful. Nothing remotely inspiring, not a single good hook, and the choruses remind me of a hardcore volleyball chorus. Ok, yes..they wanted to bring the gang choruses back to our attention more. Which is cool, I liked that..but this was way overboard. Almost every song on this album sounded like Stronger Than All. The band sounds tired, and even bored. I really hope these guys bring up some slack next time around.

Kamelot: This one isn't as bad as Hammerfall's misstep. I thought Ghost Opera was a good album, but nothing more. Its just Black Halo was so powerful, and had the band in this amazing direction. Ghost Opera just seems a bit backwards in approach. Honestly, if Ghost Opera was written between Epica and Black Halo it would be a fantastic tie-in. As it stands, it just falls a bit short.

EdGuy: Ok this band I still do like, but am losing some serious interest in. For the record I even liked Rocket Ride. Its just not EdGuy. Honestly, this album would have been great if it was Tobias Sammet's solo album, but as an Edguy album..nah. Its just this band had me so crazy around 2000 when I first heard Vain Glory Opera and Theater of Salvation. Loved their Helloween style of power metal. I thought they did a great job with keeping their style until Rocket Ride. As it stands, I do like Rocket Ride..I just hope they don't continue to go in this direction.

Stratovarius: Simply put..their S/T album is horrible. I think its due to the fact of Tolkki's problems during this period. And, you never know when a label wants you to rush something out. This seems to be the case. I still have hope, and I think the follow up will be better. Cause really, these guys just kick serious ass when they're in gear.

Queensryche: Ok this isn't news, but what is this band thinking? Actually, what made them change their way of thinking, is what i'm wondering. Its one thing to "try" to advance your music, but this band is really dead to me now. I mean Mindcrime 2, to give that album that name is just a slap in the face to the fans who supported that band back when the first one came out. I don't know if this band could ever be saved. At least the last time I saw them, they still put on a decent show and had a nice classic set.

 

[rockyracoon]

Eric Johnson--Not a band, but certainly an aritst I used to love. After his Alien Love Child album, I've found myself bored with his later releases. His live performance is really lacking these days, too.

Lacking what, exactly? His performances are very emotional and inspired and I've seen absolutely no decline in his ability to put on killer shows.

 

[Met-Al]

Rockyraccoon, I don't know how many times you've seen Eric Johnson, but I can tell you that I've only enjoyed him twice out of the five times I've seen him. For the last three shows of his that I've seen, he was constantly missing notes, he was singing as though he had the worst case of stage fright, and he played a bunch of awful covers of songs that nobody's ever heard. If it weren't for the fact that Adrian Belew and Joe Satriani were on the bill for the last two times I saw Eric Johnson in Chicago respectively, I would have written those shows off as complete wastes of time.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Met-Al

 

[ratanda]

Another that hit me was Suicidal Tendencies. I didn't get into their early stuff (self-titled and Join The Army), but started with How Will I Laugh Tomorrow which I love. Lights...Camera...Revolution was also a great album, but after that it just all went downhill.

 

[Kimavir]

I thought it might be interesting to throw a different idea into this discussion. I've recently noticed several bands that I had lost interest in redeeming themselves.

Kamelot's one. If their next album is as good as Ghost Opera, then I plan to just imagine that GO came directly after Karma. They're not a blind buy again, but they may be soon.

The new PoS album has saved the band for me as well. Brickwork and Be left me feeling a bit betrayed, but then they fired back with a truly fun and unique album. I'd easily rank Scarsick as equal to anything they've ever done.

Megadeth is actually in this group too. After a few albums I can't even name, Dave's comeback with an entirely different band. The sound is different, and I just flat out love it. The lyrics on these last two albums have been beyond stupid, but I over look them in favor of the rejuvenated music.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.

As for the original purpose of the thread:

I'm going to echo feelings on Sonata Arctica and Edguy. I just don't feel any life behind the new albums. These bands are going to have to get out of their grooves and write a new song before I'll pick up another album.

A lot of the bands I see mentioned here fit in my "bands that should have stopped while they were ahead" category. Iron Maiden... you're still my favorite all time band... but just stop. Or at least slow down. Save up the 2 good songs you're writing each album and put them all TOGETHER in one album. Alternatively, all of these old school greats (IM, FW, Queensryche, IE, Helloween, etc) could take a note from Megadeth. Just change! Write new music that you can feel excited about! Put some love back into these albums you insist on spitting out.

Does anyone remember Bal-Sagoth? I say remember, but I'm sure they're still around. I knew every word to every song on Battle Magic, now I don't even know if they're still together.

I also want to say that I understand most of the bands mentioned here, but I guess I've never figured out why everyone hates MMA. I still haven't seen Evergrey do any thing wrong. I think this album's significantly different, but it's light years away from awful. I'm glad the band is trying new things. They are playing with fire, and it would be easy for them to fall down the slippery slope this attitude change represents. However, I love these guys and trust them. The future remains bright.

 

[Pellaz]

Does anyone remember Bal-Sagoth? I say remember, but I'm sure they're still around. I knew every word to every song on Battle Magic, now I don't even know if they're still together.

Oh yes indeed, and IMO their most recent CD, The Cthonic Chronicles, was quite good.

 

[Perditions Ghost]

3. Morgana Lefay - Great band but the nu-metal influence creeped into some songs on Grand Materia and from what I heard of the new album, its more of a constant. As long as they stick to that style, they are DONE to me.

I don't think I'll ever understand this statement...

I really don't hear Nu-metal on Grand Materia or Aberrations of the Mind...I still think they're kicking just as much ass now as they used to...