Rubicon-bands that started well and then...

Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

Simple Minds ~ superb up to New Gold Dream ~ everything thereafter (in the 80's at least) which includes Sparkle In The Rain , Once Upon A Time , Street Fighting Years ... was quite simply dross

quote:

Originally posted by 555:
Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

absit invidia?

quote:

Genesis- before 'And then there where three' good, after bad?

Genesis - before and including 'Trespass' good, after PC?

First three Roxy Music albums were very good, then it all went down hill after that.

Pixies were very good up to and including Doolittle, but then went off the boil a bit(but were still fine).

Lonnie Donegan started off excellently but then lost it with the popular stuff (My Old Man's a Dustman etc.).

Generally with most bands I like, the early stuff is where it's at. The exception is the Fall who keep knocking out good material.

quote:

absit invidia?

Kinks before muswell hillbillies, some of the best of all time...after ZZZZZZZ

Tangerine Dream, 1968-1987 good, after that awful (after Chris Franke left).

Agree with the Genesis, up to Hackett leaving good, and also Duke, after 1980, terrible.

Yes 1970(The Yes Album)-1980(Drama) excellent, 1980s awful, not bad live once they got rid of Trevor Rabin, and especially once Rick Wakeman came back.

Many 70's bands became dull in the studio once they bought drum machines and their own studios. They stopped being band with carefully arranged music, and just churned out songs without a band fell, Jethro Tull comes to mind. 'Stormwatch' is the last great album, after that it was mostly Ian Anderson, with some nice Martin Barre guitar and the rest of the band used as session musicians, or just session musicians.

Mostly the change come with a member leaving, it is also hard for musicians to maintain a golden period, they either become a caricature of themselves, or they change from what made them good. Either way the freshness goes.

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk onwards ?

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Originally posted by AS332:
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk onwards ?

Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees onward?

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Originally posted by John M:
Kinks before muswell hillbillies, some of the best of all time...after ZZZZZZZ

Still no joy with Preservation Act 1 and 2, Soap Opera or Schoolboys then, John? Not even Sleepwalker's wonderful track Life Goes On with the lyric

My bank went broke and my well ran dry
It was almost enough to contemplate suicide
I turned on the gas, but I soon realised
I hadn't settled my bill so they cut off my supply
Not matter how I try
It seems I too young to die

Well, it's not Waterloo Sunset, but I still like it.

ATB Rotf

New Order - up to and including "Republic", undistinguished to terrible thereafter.

Pink Floyd - anything after "The Final Cut".

The Blue Nile - pretty much everything after "Hats".

Simple Minds - after "New Gold Dream" they were appalling.

The Bee Gees after they caught a bad dose of falsetto - before Jive Talking good, afterwards pretty dreadful IMHO.

Of course, they sold zillions of records after I stopped liking them so it is probably me that's got it all wrong again.

I quite like "Sparkle in the rain " .

Kevin

Regarding Blue Nile, Peace at last was patchy but High is pretty damn good IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL:
Tangerine Dream, 1968-1987 good, after that awful (after Chris Franke left).

When I saw Rubicon in the thread title I though that this was a Tangerine Dream topic.......

You are absolutely correct in that without Chris Franke they are an utterly spent force. Which is a great shame, as up to that point I loved them and enjoyed seeing them live immensely.

Marillion post Fish

As for Genesis I would say anything after "Selling England..."

steve

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

Originally posted by John M:
Kinks before muswell hillbillies, some of the best of all time...after ZZZZZZZ

Still no joy with Preservation Act 1 and 2, Soap Opera or Schoolboys then, John? Not even Sleepwalker's wonderful track Life Goes On with the lyric

My bank went broke and my well ran dry
It was almost enough to contemplate suicide
I turned on the gas, but I soon realised
I hadn't settled my bill so they cut off my supply
Not matter how I try
It seems I too young to die

Well, it's not Waterloo Sunset, but I still like it.

ATB Rotf

I went out a bought each one of them on s/h vinyl and set about "trying." I just dont rate them next to Something Else, Face to Face, Village Green, Lola vs. Powerman, Arthur...

Soap Opera put me to sleep, Schoolboys seemed like a toss off. Sleepwalkers is pretty good on the songwriting front as you say, but I can get past the empty feeling the playing and production gives me. Thanks for putting me on the listen again. I would still rather listen to them than just about any other current pop crap out there.

So many! Is it cheating to say the Sex Pistols? It probably is - I'd even argue that they got off to bad start and went downhill from a low point. A live band with no business in the studio.

Leaving that aside - the Police. One great album followed by a world of horror...

U2 after War.

Led Zeppelin after Physical Graffiti
Bob Dylan after Desire? ditto?

quote:

Originally posted by 555:
U2 after War.

U2 after WW2.

quote:

Originally posted by Pigeon_Fancier:
So many! Is it cheating to say the Sex Pistols? It probably is - I'd even argue that they got off to bad start and went downhill from a low point. A live band with no business in the studio.

Leaving that aside - the Police. One great album followed by a world of horror...

...I know what you mean about the Pistols but surely "Bollocks" is a truly great album? ....more than a few guitar overdubs certainly but a great wall of sound (and so much better sounding than the first Clash album) ....the myth that Pistols couldn't play is just that a myth....Sid Vicious certainly couldn't but Cook Matlock and Jones absolutely could!

Jethro Tull after Minstrel in the Gallery