usaprogmusic
ProgPowerGRRL
. When Queen released Hot Space, I was extremely shocked and disappointed. Gone was the innocent youthful (and blind) fan worship for Queen and any band. A couple of years later the Radio Ga Ga single only dug the hole deeper. But along the way and especially towards the end with Freddie, they made some decent albums and few really excellent songs.
I am a HUGE Queen fan, but there are some albums in the middle that don't grab me as much. The last 2 albums Innuendo and Made in Heaven are absolutely brilliant, imo. Freddie gave it his all at the end.
Dream Theater is one of those bands where I give them a chance even if I think a couple of their albums are real stinkers. Systematic Chaos sucked so bad for me. I think I played it a total of 2 times and put it away. If Black Clouds & Silver Linings sucked as much as SC, I would have reconsidered my fangirl status. I am glad they came back with some redeeming qualities, but nothing is as good as Image & Words. Looking forward to hearing where they go with Mangini as their drummer.
So to answer the question, I give every band I've ever enjoyed at one time, one chance with each album. If not more than a couple of the songs appeal to me, I probably won't buy the album. But I never write off the band completely unless they change their sound entirely (like if they went from melodic vocals to 100% death metal growls).