Is there a band that you have followed forever and still love?

axisus

For me, all the bands that I really loved, I went off of them at some point. Maybe they changed, maybe I changed, but it was a bit like having a girlfriend that you thought you loved but didn't when it came to long term.

ELO, my first love. Lasted for the Out of the Blue singles period. Loved the album but hated Discovery (next album) it was over.
Queen - massive fan up to and including Jazz, but from the terrible Flash soundtrack on they seemed Meh. A few good songs but it was over.
Marillion - boy did I love the band! but Fish left and it was over.
Dream Theater - Loved them up to Octavarium, but never got into another album after that. It was over. 

All these bands, it seemed to me like something changed and the magic went. The spark of excitement was gone. However, I have stuck with one band since 82 and they are still my favourite ever band. I love all their albums, the recent ones being as good as anything they have released before (I find that an unusual trait). I'm an old progger at heart, and the band is Neo proggers Pendragon. I can tell now that no band will ever replace them as my favourites. Another band could play fabulous music, but you just can't replicate an almost 4 decade bond.

Have you stuck with any band or do they fade away?

Jalapeno

Gabriel era Genesis, thankfully kept alive by Steve Hackett

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - he just keeps finding amazing guitarists decades on !

Led Zeppelin - still a follower of Robert Plant's Sensational Shapeshifters, he keeps it fresh !

Emmylou Harris - the voice !

Larry Carlton - from the Crusaders, Steely Dan and onwards  (he can be cheesy, but he always has tone & grace)

Django Reinhardt - timeless perfection

Charlie Christian - see Django !

blobb

Ozrics.

joneve

Barenaked Ladies.

the first proper band I discovered (ie not influenced by my dad). 

22 years later, and they’re probably still my favourite band. 

octatonic

Loads really.

Clutch.
Tool.
Porcupine Tree.
Peter Gabriel.
Protest The Hero.
Pineapple Thief.
Radiohead.
Freak Kitchen.
Moe.
Particle.
David Lindley.
Ry Cooder.
Meredith Monk.
John Zorn.
John Cage.
Steely Dan.
Noisia.
Riverside.
Haken.
Steve Reich.

There are probably more.- I try to trust an artist's instincts and dislike the 'by numbers' approach to artistic development.
I don't always initially agree with the direction a band/artist takes but I usually come around to their way of thinking enough to enjoy the music.

thecolourbox

Ever since I heard The Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes in 2003 (I was 16), I've been a huge obsessive fan and they can do no wrong in my eyes. In fact, whilst I was already learning guitar, it was that song I learnt that set me off on wanting to play electric and their sounds have basically informed most of my gear purchases over the years.

It's quite embarrassing how much of a fan boy I am really, I listen to a lot of other things in fads and it changes with the mood but I always come back to them. Even newer Jack White stuff whilst interesting is not White Stripes and therefore always leaves me missing something.

They only recorded for 10 years and were only really in the public eye for 7 of those I guess, so I think they managed to call it a day before it got too stale. I can't see my taste ever changing so much that they aren't my number 1

Anyway here's the song that started it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=K4dx42YzQCE

And a cool live video juts because:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t1_ETuWIbE

Weird to think though, De Stilj, White Blood Cells and elephant were basically 20 years ago. 20 years before that seemed a eternity ago at the time. But the difference in music between 2000 and now, compared to between 1980 and 2000, seems much smaller

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

The one the immediately came to mind is Pearl Jam.

I was a bit of an outlier in school in that I was way more into the American grunge scene at school in the 90s, when everyone else was banging on about the Britpop scene and the Oasis/Blur rivalry. Pearl Jam are the one band from that era that have been churning out quality albums and tours ever since, and still going strong. They've been a mainstay in my tape decks/CD players/MP3 players ever since!

west

Steely Dan ... Bodacious cowboys both ...

scrumhalf

I really wish that I could follow most of the bands I like but death or retirement have taken their toll.

I've also found that with many older bands their latwr albums steadily lose fire but they are still great live.

Man were a tremendous live band (the Jones Leonard Ace Williams lineup particularly) but I would swap many of their albums for a live recording of some of their nights at the Torrington when they were little short of outstanding. 

JerkMoans

James

We'd had the Smiths, of course, and Echo and the Bunnymen, but it was their second album, 'Strip Mine' released just as I was going of to University and purchased first by my pal Fat Ads in Music Exchange on Oldham Street  that sparked an enduring love affair with all things indie, and in particular with this band, whom I've seen live considerably more times than any other. The soundtrack to my first year, and a springboard into so many utterly wonderful records, albums, gigs and happy memories.

Rocker

Don Williams

The Eagles

Dire Straits

Creedence Clearwater Revival 

Christy Moore

Thin Lizzy

The Carpenters

mrkb

The Black Crowes and their various offshoots

Nitefly

joneve said:

Barenaked Ladies.

the first proper band I discovered (ie not influenced by my dad). 

22 years later, and they’re probably still my favourite band. 

... and possibly the best band name of all time 

EricTheWeary

What I listen to has shifted a lot over time ( well, relatively - there has been no Gamelan bamboo flute period [yet] )* so not much. If I had to pick one probably Motorhead - partly because they existed for much of my adult life so they fit the question and I guess because relatively straightforward/ hit you over the head music  maybe doesn't grow old. There are chunks of their catalogue I don't know well but I don't imagine that they differ greatly from the bits I do know.
I think most artists have golden periods when, even if it's not necessarily their best work, it's their work that connects most with you and many artists have had quite short recording careers for one reason or another. Motorhead** bypassed all that by doing pretty much the same thing for forty years, but if it ain't broke,etc.    





* now book marked for this afternoon, see how I get on.  
** when I type that on Safari it auto corrects to have the umlauts on, damn you google! 

joetele

Soundgarden
And So I Watch You From Afar
Caspian
Radiohead
Fugazi
Deftones

munckee

Pixies are my favourite band, have been into them since hearing Doolitte end of school start of college in 89/90 and followed them and the offshoots; breeders and frank black and the catholics etc. since.

Will never change.

Boromedic

Loads but in the main:

Metallica
Iron Maiden
The Darkness
REM (appreciate they're no longer with us)
Third Eye Blind
The National
Zeppelin

I could list more, but Metallica are my all time faves, even though St Anger, Death Magnetic and Lulu tested my patience!

ICBM

If you mean bands I loved when I was a kid and still love the music from that era...

ABBA
Deep Purple
Queen
Status Quo
The Eagles
Fleetwood Mac

- and of course the Beatles, although they were before my time.

... but if you mean bands I loved then and still love their later/modern material, that's much harder - I can only think of one.

Blondie

Although apparently the Boomtown Rats have a new album out now - I'll have to give that a listen, I haven't yet.

stickyfiddle

U2
Radiohead
REM

U2 have dipped in album quality of late, but they're still up there with the very best live. 

fretmeister

Slayer
Kyle Eastwood
Skindred
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Devin Townsend's various bands.

MagicPigDetective

Others come and go, fall in and out of favour, but the three constants for me are:

Soundgarden, ever since hearing Badmotorfinger (92 or 93), I was hooked and still love them. 

Teenage Fanclub: One of my first 'cool' albums was Bandwagonesque. The frankly can do no wrong. Total consistency and genius for over 30 years. 

 Ride, Going Blank Again is still one of my all time favourites. They have reformed and I've seen them twice in this 2nd phase of the band, still making great music.