Preferred Eras of Musical Artists/Bands

[Gugny]

Piggy-backing onto the other "one song," thread (which is fantastic).  Looking at some of the responses in that thread got me thinking about how many artists/bands stuck around a long time (perhaps too long, which is one of the points of this thread) and changed over time.

 

I think it would be fun to get others' opinions about bands that they like, but only certain eras of said bands.

 

First one the pops into my head is Pink Floyd.

 

I enjoy the albums with Syd Barrett.

I LOVE the albums post-Barrett, but only those which include both Waters and Gilmour.

I (again ... this is purely opinion) think anything post-Waters is garbage.

 

One more and I'll bow out for a while so others can chime in.

 

Rush.

 

Rush is one of those band who, to me, stuck around too long (as far as continuing to make new studio albums is concerned).

 

I am a huge early Rush fan.  After "Signals," (1982), they lost me.

 

I think they went on to record another ten studio albums over 20+ years and I honestly thought they were all crap.  But again ... that's just me!

 

Who you got?!?!

 

[Greg S]

Grateful Dead. I prefer the 70's. To me they were at their best in the 70's. Most Deadheads will tell you 1972 or 1977 were the best years of this decade. My favorite year was 77. The 80's were good as well with Brent Mydland on the keyboards. To me the band lost the 'it" factor when Brent died. Never really cared for Vince on the keys although they did have their moments when Bruce Hornsby was playing with them. To me the 90's had to many "misses" than "hits as far as concerts went.

[WhoTom]

I think most great bands have an 8-10 year window where they produce some cutting-edge stuff. After that, they tend to stagnate. In general, my favorite bands were at their best from the mid-1960s through the late-1970s, give or take a few years.

 

I agree with your assessment of Pink Floyd and Rush. I'll add The Who (my favorite band). Their first two post-Moon albums were pretty good, but not great. They did two more studio albums after those - one in 2006 and another in 2019 - and I'm not a fan of either one.

 

 

[PastaJoe]

The late 60s - early 70s. The Vietnam War - Woodstock era of political protest and counterculture songs. Some of the best work by the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and the emergence of groups like Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. No other era produced so much quality work by iconic groups.

[Gugny]

6 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

I think most great bands have an 8-10 year window where they produce some cutting-edge stuff. After that, they tend to stagnate. In general, my favorite bands were at their best from the mid-1960s through the late-1970s, give or take a few years.

 

I agree with your assessment of Pink Floyd and Rush. I'll add The Who (my favorite band). Their first two post-Moon albums were pretty good, but not great. They did two more studio albums after those - one in 2006 and another in 2019 - and I'm not a fan of either one.

 

 

 

This is why I love that the Police (one of my favorite bands) hung it up after their 5th studio album (in five-year career).  Synchronicity was definitely heavier on the radio-friendly stuff than the previous four albums; but it still had some kick-ass old-school Police tunes and was, overall, a great album.  They stopped at the perfect time.

 

I'll also add that, while the circumstances surrounding Led Zeppelin (another favorite) hanging it up were very sad, I am REALLY glad they didn't (couldn't) make any more studio albums after In Through the Out Door.  Easily my least favorite Zep album primarily due to JPJs' heavy synthesizer usage.  I shudder when I think about what future albums would have sounded like.

 

[Logic]

I'll give two. One that some others might relate to or care about, and a second that only fellow nerds in this particular category will know what the hell I'm talking about...

First, The Beatles.

I love the Beatles in general. Their entire catalogue. HOWEVER, to me, the era from the White Album, through Abbey Road, to Let it Be (so basically, from fall of '68 through their demise in late 1970) is far and away the best. Early, poppy Beatles are fun. Middle era psychedelic cartoon Beatles are fun and increasingly complex. But the last three albums, man, just at a completely different level. And the last two albums in particular...as the band was collapsing and all the members kind of knew it, they started writing songs to each other, songs about the situation, songs with a bittersweet note that I can't really describe adequately. Heavy emotional stuff, but still within the confines of beautiful, melodious pop music. Just so, so good.

Second, The Grateful Dead

Greg S already mentioned the 70s, and I feel like thats a given. That's the golden decade for this band. But to go a little deeper, the era from 1972-1974 is my absolute favorite. At this point, the band only had one drummer (they had two for the majority of their career). This allowed them to maneuver more deftly through their music, to take turns more quickly or make sudden shifts in tempo and feel. Once Mickey Hart came back in 1976 and from that point onward, they couldn't ever "get to the point" as efficiently. It's hard to do that with two drummers. Additionally, from 72-74, the keyboardist Keith Godchaux was playing at the top of his capabilities and really adding to the music with his jazz piano stylings.

Lastly, at this point, the band was still having fun. None of the members were addicted to hard drugs. None were burnt out. Touring was still a grand, fun, group-mind adventure. Following the 1975 hiatus, hard drugs and alcohol beat out psychedelics and pot as the drugs of choice. Jerry began his descent into opiate addiction. Two drummers made the musical beast harder to steer. Keith Godchaux, as he became more addicted and depressed, stopped playing interesting piano. 

Many Deadheads will cite '77 as their favorite year, or the late 70s as their favorite era. To me, nothing could ever beat '72-'74.

[Gugny]

10 minutes ago, Logic said:

I'll give two. One that some others might relate to or care about, and a second that only fellow nerds in this particular category will know what the hell I'm talking about...

First, The Beatles.

I love the Beatles in general. Their entire catalogue. HOWEVER, to me, the era from the White Album, through Abbey Road, to Let it Be (so basically, from fall of '68 through their demise in late 1970) is far and away the best. Early, poppy Beatles are fun. Middle era psychedelic cartoon Beatles are fun and increasingly complex. But the last three albums, man, just at a completely different level. And the last two albums in particular...as the band was collapsing and all the members kind of knew it, they started writing songs to each other, songs about the situation, songs with a bittersweet note that I can't really describe adequately. Heavy emotional stuff, but still within the confines of beautiful, melodious pop music. Just so, so good.

Second, The Grateful Dead

Greg S already mentioned the 70s, and I feel like thats a given. That's the golden decade for this band. But to go a little deeper, the era from 1972-1974 is my absolute favorite. At this point, the band only had one drummer (they had two for the majority of their career). This allowed them to maneuver more deftly through their music, to take turns more quickly or make sudden shifts in tempo and feel. Once Mickey Hart came back in 1976 and from that point onward, they couldn't ever "get to the point" as efficiently. It's hard to do that with two drummers. Additionally, from 72-74, the keyboardist Keith Godchaux was playing at the top of his capabilities and really adding to the music with his jazz piano stylings.

Lastly, at this point, the band was still having fun. None of the members were addicted to hard drugs. None were burnt out. Touring was still a grand, fun, group-mind adventure. Following the 1975 hiatus, hard drugs and alcohol beat out psychedelics and pot as the drugs of choice. Jerry began his descent into opiate addiction. Two drummers made the musical beast harder to steer. Keith Godchaux, as he became more addicted and depressed, stopped playing interesting piano. 

Many Deadheads will cite '77 as their favorite year, or the late 70s as their favorite era. To me, nothing could ever beat '72-'74.

 

I was waiting for someone to bring up the Beatles!  I actually think that Rubber Soul was the beginning of what was the best to come from them.

 

As a child, I learned about the Beatles through sharing a room with my older brother.  The only Beatles albums he had were the red and blue compilation albums.  I was probably 8 or 9 when I started listening to them (around 1979).  I totally gravitated toward the Rubber Soul/Revolver tunes on the red album and LOVED everything on the blue album.

 

The earlier stuff was great in its own way, but I am with you that the later recordings take the cake and those represent a solid 95% of what I listen to when I listen to the Beatles.

 

 

[Son of a K-Gun]

51 minutes ago, Gugny said:

First one the pops into my head is Pink Floyd.

 

I enjoy the albums with Syd Barrett.

I LOVE the albums post-Barrett, but only those which include both Waters and Gilmour.

I (again ... this is purely opinion) think anything post-Waters is garbage.

 

 

I generally agree but I feel that the "garbage" statement is a bit harsh.  The Wall was really the last true Floyd album with all four of the lads, and that's where the music effectively changes.

The Final Cut was basically a Waters solo project with the Floyd members playing backing.  Then we had A Momentary Lapse of Reason which was Gilmour's solo album in Floyd clothing.

Finally in the 90's came The Division Bell which was more of a return to the band concept as Gilmour worked on it with Mason and Wright, only missing Roger and his (outstanding) lyrics.

These final three "Floyd" albums all have their own high points and are far and away better than anything the guys released as true solo efforts.  I have grown to really appreciate Division Bell over the years as time has been kind to it...it is a great mellow listen.

 

It's quite interesting to see how a band seeing that their time together is coming to and end can differ with Floyd compared to The Beatles as @Logic pointed out above.  I agree 100% that The Beatles best work resided on those final albums and truly continued on in their solo efforts...that group was just too talented with too many egos to make it work any longer.  Floyd on the other hand...those guys just hated Roger and it's a wee miracle they were able to make such great music together for as long as they did.

[Rico]

For who’s been mentioned:

Floyd: I’m not a fan of The Final Cut, so I will say anything up to & including The Wall.

 

Rush: everything up to & including Permanent Waves. Geddy’s gotta wail.

 

Beatles: all great. After the split, only POB, Imagine, and All Things Must Pass. Some Macca & Ringo songs.

 

Dead: 60’s and 70’s. Some of the new Dead songs after that they added to rotation are mediocre.

 

Who: gotta have Keith Moon.

[Logic]

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

[WhoTom]

48 minutes ago, Logic said:

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

 

Whoever named the band after the rhythm section was prophetic, as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the only members to be on every Fleetwood Mac record.

 

I love their blues era. Not a big fan of the Bob Welch years, although "Hypnotized" is a cool song. The early years with Lindsey and Stevie were phenomenal, but after Rumours they went downhill.

 

[Gugny]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

 

2 hours ago, WhoTom said:

 

Whoever named the band after the rhythm section was prophetic, as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the only members to be on every Fleetwood Mac record.

 

I love their blues era. Not a big fan of the Bob Welch years, although "Hypnotized" is a cool song. The early years with Lindsey and Stevie were phenomenal, but after Rumours they went downhill.

 

 

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it.  We had Bare Trees when I was a child and the only song I remember from that is Sentimental Lady.

 

As far as the Nicks/Buckingham era, I think the first two albums (Fleetwood Mac and Rumours) were fantastic.  Then, they began a steady decline and by the mid-to-late 80s, they were just not good.

[T&C]

2 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it.  We had Bare Trees when I was a child and the only song I remember from that is Sentimental Lady.

This is from Bare Trees... the most beautiful and haunting instrumental song I know of.

 

Early and middle Mac are great to me but once Nicks joined I didn't listen anymore.

 

 

[Logic]

28 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

 

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it. 
 

Totally different band!



 

 

 

[Bad Things]

7 hours ago, Greg S said:

Grateful Dead. I prefer the 70's. To me they were at their best in the 70's. Most Deadheads will tell you 1972 or 1977 were the best years of this decade. My favorite year was 77. The 80's were good as well with Brent Mydland on the keyboards. To me the band lost the 'it" factor when Brent died. Never really cared for Vince on the keys although they did have their moments when Bruce Hornsby was playing with them. To me the 90's had to many "misses" than "hits as far as concerts went.

I generally agree with you.

I loved Brent's gravelly voice, especially when singing harmonies, but... at times I felt that his keyboard playing was over-powering to what the rest of the band was doing.

[DrW]

Beatles. For me, their best phase encompasses just three albums: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album> Although the last one contains some material that could have been omitted, I like the wide variety of genres. Their best song ever: "A Day in the Life".

 

Rolling Stones. Their great days ended with "Exile on Main Street". Hearing Mick Jagger wail "Angie" on "Goats Head Soup" is painful. Their best song ever: "Sympathy for the Devil".

 

Grateful Dead. I would agree with everybody who puts their glory period in the 60s and 70s. After a first album with mostly covers, "Anthem of the Sun" was an excellent start for their own style and song-writing (I have heard rumors of 90-minute versions of "Alligator", but I could never find one.). For me, the last great album was "Blues for Allah" ("Crazy Fingers" is my favorite). "Terrapin Station" (Can somebody please shut up Donna Godchaux?) was already a step down, with only half an LP of new songs.

 

Jefferson Airplane. On their first album (JA Takes Off), their singer, Signe Toly Anderson, shows some promise - she could belt the blues ("Chauffer's Blues"). However, she retired and was replaced by Grace Slick, and JA really took off. To me, "Volunteers" was their last great album. There were just a few memorable songs afterward. As a German, Grace piqued my interest on "Bark" with her song ""Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song", but, honestly, I cannot understand a single word of the song which is supposed to be in German. After their split, the Jefferson Starship version went down the drain, while Hot Tuna produced some nice albums.    

Edited November 7, 2022 by DrW

[boyst]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/

 

Quote

Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market, according to the latest numbers from MRC Data, a music-analytics firm. Those who make a living from new music—especially that endangered species known as the working musician—should look at these figures with fear and trembling. But the news gets worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.

 Thought it was worth sharing this here.

 

I'm picky with music. Hate R&B, dance/ENM/Dubstep.

 

Love country pre '01. Alternative pre 1992. Rock pre 89.

 

There is nothing new I like made within the last 20 years save for some Green Day, Linkin Park, or the poppy fun stuff ( oldTay Tay, Olivio Rodrigo, etc). The only new stuff I like might be on  Sirius Alt Nation (boy w uke, half alive. And others I don't remember)

[Rico]

Fleetwood Mac:  Rumours is a top 10 album for me, and I also love ":Fleetwood Mac". The earlier blues era is very good, but I just don't play it compared to the big 2. Tusk was a major disappointment, never into them after that.

 

Rolling Stones: my favs until they morphed into the Vegas Stones with the Steel Wheels tour & album.

 

Springsteen: 1978 thru 1981 tours. BITUSA has some great songs, but the tour while great felt like he was selling out, and I loathe Tunnel Of Love. Still capable of putting on great concerts, but he's a total clownshow as a person these days.

 

AC/DC: Back In Black is a great album, but in general, no Bon Scott, no sale.

 

The Band: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

Bowie: Jumped the shark for me with Tonight/Never Let Me Down.

 

Elvis Costello: LOVE the 1st 3 albums, lost interest after that.

 

LZ: love everything studio, live stuff best when Plant could still wail.

 

Prince: great album every summer until Batman.

 

Talking Heads: everything until Little Creatures.

 

U2: all downhill after Boy.

 

Neil: made a comeback for me in the late 80's/early 90's, but honestly all downhill after Live Rust (maybe Reactor).

 

Dylan: early folk era = zzzzzzzz, 65-66 incredible, 74-78 next best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Rico

[T&C]

56 minutes ago, DrW said:

Jefferson Airplane. On their first album (JA Takes Off), their singer, Signe Toly Anderson, shows some promise - she could belt the blues ("Chauffer's Blues"). However, she retired and was replaced by Grace Slick, and JA really took off. To me, "Volunteers" was their last great album. There were just a few memorable songs afterward. As a German, Grace piqued my interest on "Bark" with her song ""Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song", but, honestly, I cannot understand a single word of the song which is supposed to be in German. After their split, the Jefferson Starship version went down the drain, while Hot Tuna produced some nice albums.    

Takes off is "ok" to me, Signe quit the band because she was pregnant. One of those albums where you own it just because it was the 1st one imo. I like Long John Silver and Bark quite a bit too... Papa John added a nice element. Post Airplane, Red Octopus is actually pretty good with some Airplane sound but that was it... the end.

 

Still like 30 seconds over Winterland and Pointed Head, the rawer sound is different and welcomed here. Crown of Creation was the pinnacle for me.

[muppy]

 

I'll write about one of my favorite artists Neil Young. Muppy is a huge fan and has seen him in various genres of his career beginning at Rich Stadium for the CSN&Y tour back in the 70's

 

Clearly a huge talent that included his solo stuff after departing the Buffalo Springfield in 1968 then fast forward to 1979 when he makes "Rust Never Sleeps" Huge Album hugely influential to what was to follow coming out of Seattle.

 

But  then he  began a musical odyssey that was very hard for fans of his earlier mentioned stuff to really grasp. I'm talking abut albums like Re-ac-tor, Trans, Everybodys Rocking, This Note's for You to a lesser extent

 

each were distinctly different musically. Not the kind of music you would expect of him. Especially Re-ac-tor and Trans. I was frankly appalled at the time lol What the heck Neil? But that is just who he was and is.......a Busy head to say the least. And knowing he is on the autistic spectrum makes a lot of how he has behaved  make perfect sense. He and his current wife both (Darryl Hannah) Maybe being aspy can be a super power 

 

🙂

 

EDIT:  I wrote above before I read @Rico's post regarding Neil. We were definitely on the same wavelength regarding Neils musical choices. I remember he was having serious beef with his record label. They wanted more of what sold not this new progressive stuff. Not his first time and certainly not the last of he rocking the establishments desire vs what HE wanted to do.

Edited November 8, 2022 by muppy