Can those who have achieved greatness do any wrong?

[J. Golden]

I was thinking of bands and artist who have put out such great early works and how later the efforts were pale in comparison yet those later releases are still held in high regard. Is it merely due to the name X band has made for themselves, or are the later efforts actually that good?
I believe I'm explaining myself well. But my case in point is Iron Maiden. I don't think Iron Maiden has really put out a good outstanding album since 'Seventh Son'. Now the career has been twice as long since that album, and they have but out double the amount of albums they had up to that point. I honestly don't believe they will ever drop a mind blowing album again. Still everything Iron Maid does seems to be gold in the greater scheme of things, is this simply because they are Iron Maiden and have been somewhat deified?
So I believe I made myself clear. Does anyone else have examples of such bands? I know I have a few others... KISS anyone.
Thought this could be funny since the forum is once again becoming nothing but "I bought this today".

 

[TribunalRecords]

Iced Earth, plus any power metal band who has released more than 5 albums.

 

[Justin G]

I think this is pretty much the rule for a lot of older, established bands. As long as they don't put out something legendarily awful (see: Queensryche), their early works are what their fans continue to judge them by.

 

[Zdan]

Iced Earth, plus any power metal band who has released more than 5 albums.

I was inclined to agree with the Iced Earth notion but the last two albums, with Stu Block on vocals, are actually good records. Sure, they are no Stormrider but are solid, good heavy metal records with some great songs and ideas. The vocals of Stu are a particularly good element on those.

 

[J. Golden]

I think this is pretty much the rule for a lot of older, established bands. As long as they don't put out something legendarily awful (see: Queensryche), their early works are what their fans continue to judge them by.

Metallica, after the black album it got really bad, Queensryche bad. I think one could say the same about Ozzy. But yes it is true about most older bands and while it is true that later albums may not be so terrible they are still often regarded too highly.

 

[J. Golden]

Iced Earth, plus any power metal band who has released more than 5 albums.

I agree, power metal fans do tend to be an extreme. However the albums usually don't get worse, they are just the same thing over and over again.

 

[Jasonic]

I agree, power metal fans do tend to be an extreme. However the albums usually don't get worse, they are just the same thing over and over again.

Exactly.
I dont care how good of reviews they get.
As much as I like the bands still, I have no intention of ever buying a new album from HammerFall, Edguy, Rhapsody, etc, etc, etc.....

just don't need another disc I will listen to once and then put away or put on a trade list.

Jeremy - You made your point very well. And I know exactly what you mean. I was a big defender of "13" last year. Bottom line was "I" enjoyed the album. Though does it stand up to at least 50% of the entire Sabbath catalog? Probably not. But I think when you have such a deep catalog that is loved by so many, it is almost impossible to not have a bias of some sort when listening to it.

There are many long running bands who I will always get something new by: Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Motorhead, etc, etc. I know I will always find something redeeming by them. They are my long running go to bands whose classic works never disappoint.

Therefore, I think I give some of those longer running bands a "pass" that I don't give to bands from 1990 and beyond.

Not sure if this is what you were going for but that's what I took out of your original post.

 

[TribunalRecords]

I was inclined to agree with the Iced Earth notion but the last two albums, with Stu Block on vocals, are actually good records. Sure, they are no Stormrider but are solid, good heavy metal records with some great songs and ideas. The vocals of Stu are a particularly good element on those.

I enjoyed Dystopia because of the addition of Stu, but I just returned my sealed copy of the new album because I streamed it and it bored the crap out of me. So I decided no more Iced Earth for me. If I want to REALLY enjoy Stu I will just bust out my Into Eternity albums.

 

[TempleOfBlood]

Very few 80s bands can hold a candle to what they did during the 80s. Most haven't done anything good in two decades.

Deifying these old bands tends to take away too much attention from the newer crop trying to make it. They suck all the air out of the room. As soon as they retire maybe more money/opportunities will go to newer bands and hopefully they will take advantage of it.

I can't stand when people bend over backwards year after year to justify all these substandard releases from all of metal's old sacred cows. They almost always lack quality and innovation, as others have said.

 

[Carbonized]

Seems to be more the rule than the exception that as bands remain an active for long periods, their output generally becomes less than what it was. Katatonia, while not a huge band, aggravate me to no end and they used to be my favorite for a long time, up until and including LFDGD. W.A.S.P. still does good stuff, they haven't done anything really egregious like Metallica/Megadeth and while they'll probably never touch the early material, I still find it very good and listenable for the most part. Kreator have been a very up and down band, haven't really REALLY liked anything by them since Cause For Conflict though. Many examples could be given and a lot of it is based on subjectivity (mostly). Oh yeah, someone mentioned new Sabbath? Blah, Techincal Ecstasy and NSD! are better

 

[TribunalRecords]

Seems to be more the rule than the exception that as bands remain an active for long periods, their output generally becomes less than what it was. Katatonia, while not a huge band, aggravate me to no end and they used to be my favorite for a long time, up until and including LFDGD. W.A.S.P. still does good stuff, they haven't done anything really egregious like Metallica/Megadeth and while they'll probably never touch the early material, I still find it very good and listenable for the most part. Kreator have been a very up and down band, haven't really REALLY liked anything by them since Cause For Conflict though. Many examples could be given and a lot of it is based on subjectivity (mostly). Oh yeah, someone mentioned new Sabbath? Blah, Techincal Ecstasy and NSD! are better

Loved the last KREATOR. First one in a while I dug.

 

[Justin G]

The obvious exceptions to this are Saxon and Pretty Maids. I can't think of any other long-running band where they say they're going to play a song from their new album and you go "sweet!"

 

[Jasonic]

The obvious exceptions to this are Saxon and Pretty Maids. I can't think of any other long-running band where they say they're going to play a song from their new album and you go "sweet!"

Come on man, that's 100% subjective.........

Still plenty of bands who still have new material that comes off great live.

In addition to the overall quality of the new material, it comes down to how much of a "fan" you are of a band.

Case in point, I would have NO issue going to a Motorhead show and them saying they are only playing their new one straight through (and yes, I am 100% serious). Now take another band I love but not a fanboy of (IE - maybe Overkill). I would NOT be happy to go to a show of theirs and ONLY hear the new album (Though their new material is solid).

 

[J. Golden]

Case in point, I would have NO issue going to a Motorhead show and them saying they are only playing their new one straight through (and yes, I am 100% serious). Now take another band I love but not a fanboy of (IE - maybe Overkill). I would NOT be happy to go to a show of theirs and ONLY hear the new album (Though their new material is solid).

because every Motorhead song sounds the same. These guy are almost, actually are just as bad as AC/DC, so of course no one minds hearing a new song because they have heard it before, again and again.

 

[Justin G]

Come on man, that's 100% subjective.........

Still plenty of bands who still have new material that comes off great live.

In addition to the overall quality of the new material, it comes down to how much of a "fan" you are of a band.

Case in point, I would have NO issue going to a Motorhead show and them saying they are only playing their new one straight through (and yes, I am 100% serious). Now take another band I love but not a fanboy of (IE - maybe Overkill). I would NOT be happy to go to a show of theirs and ONLY hear the new album (Though their new material is solid).

Of course it's subjective. It's an opinion.