Biggest drop in quality/sales (popular music, bands and solo artists)

[AleisterCrowley]

Just a bit of 'random' for a Friday night...
Nominations for the biggest drop off in either quality or sales for a well-known band or solo artist
I've always been interested in the career trajectories of popular acts - some gradually peak, then retire; some peak then fade away gradually; some artists seem to be sinusoidal in popularity (Neil Young !)
What I'm thinking about is the acts that have built up to something big, possibly had a reasonable follow on album, then they seem to have dropped off a cliff. Of course some rebuild, and sometimes the 'bad' albums are reappaised... but this is just a Friday chat, not an essay for theGuardian Culture or something...
I think sales are probably a poor measure - as people will buy based on previous album - perhaps how many songs made it into the live set, and are still played and remembered by fans?

As a brief example , from a relatively brief career
OASIS
Definitely Maybe (1994) - raw excellence, mate gave me a tape and said listen to these ******s, they're good.
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) - peak. Bought it on first release
Be Here Now (1997) - erm? Not awful , but ain't got the songs. Go on, name one
Can you name any post -Morning Glory songs. I struggle. I like Lyla, but not sure which album it's from

[Itsallaguess]

Just a bit of 'random' for a Friday night...

Nominations for the biggest drop off in either quality or sales for a well-known band or solo artist

My nomination for relatively recent, biggest drop off in quality from a pretty good height has got to be Coldplay.

Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head were absolutely top-drawer, with not a bad song on either albums, and everything, and I mean everything since has been completely and comprehensively awful.

Commercially successful since? Absolutely.

Musically successful? Not a chance....

It's all Gwyneth Paltrow's fault, of course...

Coldplay - The Scientist (Rush of Blood to the Head) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1VNAUqwREY

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[AleisterCrowley]

I was never a big fan - after seeing them at Glastonbury in 2016(??) my sister- working there- asked if I was a convert.
...nope, but still like Clocks cos its sounds a bit like Muse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d020hcWA_Wg

[Mike4]

Coldplay struck me back in the beginning as sounding a bit like Radiohead, but with all the intelligence and passion stripped out.

[servodude]

Coldplay struck me back in the beginning as sounding a bit like Radiohead, but with all the intelligence and passion stripped out.

For goodness sake Mike they were never that good; enjoyed "Game of thrones the musical" though.

Ed Sheeran appears to have ditched whatever it was that made him interesting.

And there's some Morrissey guy who needs to see Rick Astley covering his songs.

-sd

[bluedonkey]

I'm pretty ignorant about this topic but how about Squeeze?

[Itsallaguess]

I'll also add R.E.M into the mix.

Amazing up to and including New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and then dropped right off the cliff musically.

R.E.M. - What's The Frequency, Kenneth? (Monster) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZMUNyLmarQ

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Mike4]

And there's some Morrissey guy who needs to see Rick Astley covering his songs.

-sd

Ah yes, Morrissey. Judge Weeks was not enormously impressed.

Judge Weeks described the drummer and bassist as honest, but said Morrissey, on the other hand, "did not find giving evidence an easy or happy experience. To me at least he appeared devious, truculent and unreliable where his own interests were at stake."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/209224.stm

[xiox]

U2. Achtung Baby is a great album. I'm also a big fan of the following Zooropa. Pop had some good tracks, and experimentation. All That You Can't Leave Behind had some good songs, but little experimentation. Then it was downhill pretty fast after that. I can't even be bothered listening to their recent albums, particularly due to Bono's voice going whiny.

[kempiejon]

U2. Achtung Baby is a great album.

But Achtung Baby was their 7th album.
To my tastes U2 were good for those early 3 War, Boy and Under a Blood Red Sky. By The unforgettable Fire they'd become stadium rock knobbers. They did improve with Achtung Baby and Zoorope, not sold on Pop and I gave up on them again after that.

[NotSure]

Coldplay struck me back in the beginning as sounding a bit like Radiohead, but with all the intelligence and passion stripped out.

Family Guy on Coldplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDvrYstFtE&ab_channel=shaferbenj (11 second clip).

[AleisterCrowley]

U2. Achtung Baby is a great album.

But Achtung Baby was their 7th album.
To my tastes U2 were good for those early 3 War, Boy and Under a Blood Red Sky. By The unforgettable Fire they'd become stadium rock knobbers. They did improve with Achtung Baby and Zoorope, not sold on Pop and I gave up on them again after that.

Yep, I really liked the early U2 stuff but went off them from Unforgettable Fire - then Achtung Baby came along which is my favourite by miles.
Zooropa also good, but not as good, and Pop has it's moments. Not bought a U2 album after Pop...

[DrFfybes]

Biggest and sharpest sudden drop off in sales?

Surely Gary Glitter.

Paul

[AleisterCrowley]

One group I had in mind when I posted - AC/DC

Some crackers with Bon Scott - Powerage, Highway to Hell
Then Bon died and they came back with Back in Black, which is one of the best selling albums ever
For Those About to Rock, the follow up, is in the shadow of Back in Black but is a great album (COD, Let's Get It Up, Evil Walks)

Then.... Flick of the Switch.
Got it when it was released- total crud, sounds like a load of half-arsed demos. So different from the previous albums it's staggering - completely lost the energy and bite. They did recover a bit with later albums , but never got the old magic back

[CliffEdge]

The Rolling Stones

[AleisterCrowley]

The Stones became their own tribute band...
Not sure which album is the last 'relevant' one.. probably around the late 70s/early 80s - Undercover?

(edit, possibly a bit unfair as some of the later albums have their fans - just not me really)

[Hallucigenia]

What I'm thinking about is the acts that have built up to something big, possibly had a reasonable follow on album, then they seem to have dropped off a cliff.

I must admit Be Here Now was the first thing I thought of reading that, although you did rather set it up to exactly reflect what happened to Oasis - two albums developed at leisure before they were famous, then just couldn't cope with creating more material in the frenzy of touring etc that happens once you've made it. It's not particularly uncommon that, they were lucky to have the chance to make two albums before the industry ate them, rather than having to make "that difficult second album".

It was possibly the biggest kick in the guts I've ever had from music, I still feel it. I liked Oasis, but my other half at the time LOOOVVVVEEEDD them. So although we'd promised ourselves to go out later together to get it from the shops, I snuck out early to HMV and triumphantly brought home my prize. She was ever so excited...and then it was like, is that it?

Be Here Now (1997) - erm? Not awful , but ain't got the songs. Go on, name one
Can you name any post -Morning Glory songs. I struggle. I like Lyla, but not sure which album it's from

That's a bit harsh, D'yah knoow wot I meeeeeaaannnnn is one that seems to have stuck around. Although in fact it's not the one they played live most from BHN - because of course people geek out about this stuff and there's pie charts and everything :
https://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/oasis-bd6bd7e.html

So I can tell you that BHN is their 6th-most played album live, obviously behind DM and WTSMG? (Cigarettes & Alcohol played more than Wonderwall or DLBiA) but also Don't Believe the Truth, Masterplan and Heathen Chemistry. And the songs they played more than 100 times were :
DBtT :
Lyla (237)
The Importance of Being Idle (221)
The Meaning of Soul (210)
Mucky Fingers (113)
Turn Up the Sun (113)
A Bell Will Ring (108)

Masterplan :
Acquiesce (422)
The Masterplan (183)
Fade Away (122)

HC:
Songbird (211)
Little by Little (118)
Stop Crying Your Heart Out (101)
The Hindu Times (101)

BHN :
Stand by Me (151)
(D'You Know What I Mean? is only 98)

Dig Out your Soul :
The Shock of the Lightning (120)
I'm Outta Time (114)
Waiting for the Rapture (111)
Falling Down (109)
To Be Where There's Life (106)

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants :
Go Let It Out (193)
Gas Panic! (114)
And their most-played covers were comfortably I Am the Walrus (320) and My Generation (195).

[AleisterCrowley]

I reckon if you asked a sample of music fans (not diehard Oasis-heads) to name all the Oasis songs they could remember, the bulk would be from the first two albums
I managed to see them at Glastonbury (2004) - without analysing the setlist I'd say it was over 50% from DM/WTSMG

[Hallucigenia]

I reckon if you asked a sample of music fans (not diehard Oasis-heads) to name all the Oasis songs they could remember, the bulk would be from the first two albums

Of course, but that's different to "Can you name any post -Morning Glory songs."

I managed to see them at Glastonbury (2004) - without analysing the setlist I'd say it was over 50% from DM/WTSMG

Here you go, 10 out of 17 (and no BHN) - but to be fair, festivals are more about just playing the hits whereas your own gigs are a bit different :
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/oasis/20 ... 6835b.html

Definitely Maybe 6
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? 4
Heathen Chemistry 3
Don’t Believe the Truth 2
The Masterplan 1
Covers 1

[AleisterCrowley]

Yes, festivals are more about playing to an uncommitted crowd, rather than diehard fans, hence the need to do more of a 'greatest hits' type set
(which sort of supports my point..)

Not sure about including The Masterplan as it was a B-sides compilation and the best tracks were from the DM/WTSMG era!
Somebody (Mr M Radcliffe of the BBC?) commented that it was a measure of Oasis at the time that they could put Acquiesce out as a B-side, whereas they would have been glad of it as the lead track on later albums...