Longevity

koneguitarist

I think any band, artist, be it musician or painter/sculptor etc has a certain life span where they are creatively at their peak before they hit a trough. 
Some will bounce back over the years like the Stones and Cliff Richard, some will change direction like David Bowie.
But for some reason it's seen as right to slate any band when their new album is not seen as good as the last. Now no musician writes to record a worse album, but tastes change and also the musical trends change, so what was seen as groundbreaking in a short time becomes old hat. 

Whats your thoughts on artists who have consistently improved or at least held their quality throughout their career? And has anyone done it over 1-15 years let alone 20-30-40 years. 

monquixote

Johnny Cash must get an honorable mention as someone who managed to be doing great work right up to the end of a very long career.

rlw

EC

Grunfeld

koneguitarist said:

but tastes change and also the musical trends change...

Have you told AC/DC yet?

octatonic

Loads.

Clutch have been consistently awesome throughout their career.
So have Porcupine Tree, Freak Kitchen, Devin Townsend, Carl Verheyen, Robben Ford, Joe Bonnamassa, Beasts of Bourbon, The Beautiful South, Tori Amos, Big Wreck, Bill Laswell, Bill Frisell, Helmet, Mastodon & Rush.

koneguitarist

monquixote said:

Johnny Cash must get an honorable mention as someone who managed to be doing great work right up to the end of a very long career.

I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, but even I admit some of his records during mid 70's to later 80's was pretty poor to say the lease. Chicken in black for example! 

Bucket

@octatonic beat me to the punch but I was gonna say Mastodon.

It seems to be the done thing to slate their newer material (which is more melodic and accessible) and fawn over their much harder-edged older material. But I've never really been able to get into their first couple of albums and feel like they've really hit their stride with their newer direction, which has a very distinctive sound that's all theirs, is full of great playing and singing and also has some great hooks. Check this out:



I just don't get how people think they've changed for the worse.

Bucket

Also, SikTh.

The day they release something bad is the day that, to quote Eminem, "Aquaman drowns and the human torch starts swimming".

Bit different though because they were SO ahead of the curve, and the only reason their stuff sounds less out-there now is because everyone else is only just starting to catch up, ten years later.

How out-of-this-world this opening track must have sounded coming through one's boombox in 2003...



A groovier version of Atheist... crashing into a much, much madder version of System of a Down... fronted by what sounds like a duo of deranged clowns? You'd never think it would catch on, but then Misha from Periphery was inspired by it, and everyone else was inspired by Periphery and before you knew it, the newly-minted "djent" craze was becoming the main driving force in the wider modern metal scene. And all because of six slightly mad blokes from Watford.

richardhomer

Mark Knopfler - he doesn't sell records in anything like the quantities he did with Dire Straits - but his solo records are full of great songs.

thumpingrug

Marillion - if anything the quality gets better.   

monquixote

koneguitarist said:

monquixote said:

Johnny Cash must get an honorable mention as someone who managed to be doing great work right up to the end of a very long career.

I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, but even I admit some of his records during mid 70's to later 80's was pretty poor to say the lease. Chicken in black for example! 

Oh yes agreed, he's certainly produced lots of crap amongst the pearls. I was providing an example of someone who had been able to create great albums at a very advanced age.

monquixote

Bucket said:

@octatonic beat me to the punch but I was gonna say Mastodon.

It seems to be the done thing to slate their newer material (which is more melodic and accessible) and fawn over their much harder-edged older material. But I've never really been able to get into their first couple of albums and feel like they've really hit their stride with their newer direction, which has a very distinctive sound that's all theirs, is full of great playing and singing and also has some great hooks.

I totally agree, I think Mastodon just keep getting better.

There is a rather lame trend towards hipsterism in metal where anything that trends towards being more commercial must be instantly dismissed.

octatonic

monquixote said:

Bucket said:

@octatonic beat me to the punch but I was gonna say Mastodon.

It seems to be the done thing to slate their newer material (which is more melodic and accessible) and fawn over their much harder-edged older material. But I've never really been able to get into their first couple of albums and feel like they've really hit their stride with their newer direction, which has a very distinctive sound that's all theirs, is full of great playing and singing and also has some great hooks.

I totally agree, I think Mastodon just keep getting better.

There is a rather lame trend towards hipsterism in metal where anything that trends towards being more commercial must be instantly dismissed.

Agree.

I like melody, I'm not talking about sing song corny cheeseball stuff, but songs need melodic content.
I don't enjoy listening to bands that sound like a cutlery drawer going down a kitchen waste disposal.

Grunfeld

monquixote said:

Bucket said:

@octatonic beat me to the punch but I was gonna say Mastodon.

I totally agree, I think Mastodon just keep getting better.

Ooooh!
That track Bucket posted is interesting! 
I've heard some of the older stuff, but only once -- but this is much more my cup of tea when it comes to, well I'm gonna call it rock in the absence of knowing better.  I've added "Once more around the sun" to Spotify.

Bucket

Grunfeld said:

Ooooh!
That track Bucket posted is interesting! 
I've heard some of the older stuff, but only once -- but this is much more my cup of tea when it comes to, well I'm gonna call it rock in the absence of knowing better.  I've added "Once more around the sun" to Spotify.

Great album.

Brent Hinds is a killer guitarist too... loads of awesome solos throughout the album.

Fretwired

David Bowie springs to mind - the odd drop in quality but still better than many of his contemporaries.

Winny_Pooh

There are only a handful who have continued making consistenly great music that come to mind.

Tom Waits - if anything he is at his greatest in old age. He did swordfishtrombones & rain dogs in his 30's, bone machine & mule variations in his 40's and Alice, blood money & real gone in his 50's and Bad as me in his 60's

Joni Mitchell - from clouds through to The hissing of summer lawns & Hejira through turbulent indigo & Travelogue

Dylan, yes he had his odd late 70's period but the stuff that came after is also awesome especially love and theft.

Tracy Chapman - her late stuff is also great especially let it rain (produced by John Parish IIRC) and Our Bright future.

Bowie, of course

JamesAshworth

Opeth - there's plenty who don't like their new stuff but taste aside they have always been good !

EricTheWeary

For longevity it's hard to beat Los Lobos. I don't know all their back catalogue ( over 40 years/ over 20 albums plus side projects so it would take some catching up) but they've incorporated some diverse influences including traditional folk to some quite avant garde stuff. David Hildago is an excellent blues rock guitarist, popping up on record as a singer and guitarist with a wide range of people including Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello,Govt Mule.
They are on a couple ( I think) of the Clapton Crossroads DVDs. Little, fat old Hispanic guys who you imagine might just play their hit but instead roll out some fierce Spanish blues rock.

ICBM

Neil Young

He's 70 now and has made more than forty albums over about the same number of years. Certainly some of the ones along the way have been a bit up and down, but I think overall his quality hasn't declined at all.

stratman3142

I'll vote for Jeff Beck, Robben Ford, David Gilmour and Nile Rodgers, as they are among my favourite guitarists and have been around for a long time. Am I allowed Guthrie Govan, because he's been around for quite a while now?

Steve Wilson continues to produce good and interesting material.

I was impressed by that Mastodon clip posted earlier. I've have to go back and listen to more of their stuff.