BTW: Nothing against Earl Slick , except that he lives up to his name.
 CONTE , WHILE NO HACK , EVEN MADE MISTAKES IN THE RIGHT PLACES.
John Battles said:

MikeL , I hate to , but I have to agree about "Cuz I Said So". A total of two great songs , the first one and the last one. The first reunion CD was so good , if you did'nt hold it up to the the two Mercury albums , obviously. It was varied , cool guests - Bo , Iggy (Could have done without Michae Stipe , but, hey.) , and you got a lot of bang for your buck.

I was really surprised by that Live Royal Albert Hall CD /DVD. It was such a tall order , to call themselves the New York Dolls .....But , Sam Yaffa and Steve Conte really helped it make sense , musically. But , of course , they're better suited , now , in Michael Monroe's band.

But , I saw the band four times (I was uber - lucky , in that I got to attend the Soundstage taping. It was really exciting , like being at Don Kirschner's Rock Cocert or In Concert.). No complaints , but , I guess a combination of the Motley Crue / Poison tour , Earl Slick taking over on guitar ( I know Walter Lure had better things to do , like climbing over people to get to work , but , he should have been first draft pick , anyway.) , a half assed album , followed by one that was so bad , my friends told me "Don't bother", then charging $30 AT THEIR MOST RECENT HEADLINING SHOW  , WHEN INTEREST WAS DECIDEDLY ON THE WANE .

WOULD I GO SEE 'EM , AGAIN , ANYWAY ? Probably , but , under radically different circumstances.

MikeL , I hate to , but I have to agree about "Cuz I Said So". A total of two great songs , the first one and the last one. The first reunion CD was so good , if you did'nt hold it up to the the two Mercury albums , obviously. It was varied , cool guests - Bo , Iggy (Could have done without Michae Stipe , but, hey.) , and you got a lot of bang for your buck.

I was really surprised by that Live Royal Albert Hall CD /DVD. It was such a tall order , to call themselves the New York Dolls .....But , Sam Yaffa and Steve Conte really helped it make sense , musically. But , of course , they're better suited , now , in Michael Monroe's band.

But , I saw the band four times (I was uber - lucky , in that I got to attend the Soundstage taping. It was really exciting , like being at Don Kirschner's Rock Cocert or In Concert.). No complaints , but , I guess a combination of the Motley Crue / Poison tour , Earl Slick taking over on guitar ( I know Walter Lure had better things to do , like climbing over people to get to work , but , he should have been first draft pick , anyway.) , a half assed album , followed by one that was so bad , my friends told me "Don't bother", then charging $30 AT THEIR MOST RECENT HEADLINING SHOW  , WHEN INTEREST WAS DECIDEDLY ON THE WANE .

WOULD I GO SEE 'EM , AGAIN , ANYWAY ? Probably , but , under radically different circumstances.

The reunited New York Dolls jumped the shark with their "Cuz I Sez So" album.  The album gets off to a good start, but then it takes a really weird left turn.  "Dancing Backwards in High Heels" was also disappointing.  I saw them live for the last time in June 2010, and the set list sucked and the sound was terrible that night (although that has to be blamed on the venue).

The Pipettes jumped the shark when Rosay and Riot Becki left the band, and Gwenno decided to keep it going with a more contemporary dance sound.  

On a related note, sometimes I get angry about favorite bands breaking up or going on hiatus for all of eternity, but on the bright side, at least they called it quits before they disappointed me.  At least I will always have happy memories of Manda and the Marbles and the Takeover UK.

Personally i like "I walk with a Zombie" by Roky (although less than other songs he made) but the REMs version it´s really a bore to me!

IDON MINE said:

What did you all think of REMs version of Roky's "I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE"? I know, it's one of their earlier ones, but you know, it never hurts ta ask.

John Battles said:

Thank You !!!!! I always liked what Jim Heat (Horton Heat) said , "I liked REM , until they became a GENRE".  They were getting carbon - copied by 85 - 85 like Nirvana was by the early '90S.
 
Alison said:

Well thank god R.E.M. finally broke up.... dudes jumped the shark years ago, and now Peter Buck is finally unleashed...

You´re maybe right Chris but i think they still could have choose another way.
I guess Brian Eno was the better part of Roxy music.
And Ferry, kind of Dandy to the core (if i can use this term)

Chris Henniker said:

I think they were eclipsed by the very trends they inspired.

Tersicore said:

One of the saddest case to me was Roxy Music:

(I would like to post this video but the sound is too bad)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhzG9cQGgc
So better watch this one: 

The final part of this song still blow me away ;)

But then,
how could they turn into something so awfully bad?

Also David Bowie disappointed me whit the making of "Let´s Dance" in ´83
But I love all the stuff he has done before, till "Scary Monsters"!

What did you all think of REMs version of Roky's "I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE"? I know, it's one of their earlier ones, but you know, it never hurts ta ask.

John Battles said:

Thank You !!!!! I always liked what Jim Heat (Horton Heat) said , "I liked REM , until they became a GENRE".  They were getting carbon - copied by 85 - 85 like Nirvana was by the early '90S.
 
Alison said:

Well thank god R.E.M. finally broke up.... dudes jumped the shark years ago, and now Peter Buck is finally unleashed...

I would'nt say they ever improved on that first album , but , I first heard it and  "London Calling" at around the same time. I took to their first , faster , but liked them both , still do. There were certainly tracks on that double LP , to say nothing of the triple LP , I'd throw back , sure. But , I don't hate any OF 'EM , ALL THE WAY THRU. NATURALLY , i'VE Never heard "Cut THE cRAP" ALL THE WAY THRU.
 They were a LIVE band , through and through.
dave said:

(Deep Breath) Weeell, you could make a case for the Clash sucking after their 1st LP.

London Calling was a watershed album for them, but was it punk rock? Too many pastiches of various types of music.

I didn't like anything else they did, even tho' I loyally bought it.

Sometimes a band just has 1 classic album in them.

I meant to say , Jim Heath.
 
John Battles said:

Thank You !!!!! I always liked what Jim Heat (Horton Heat) said , "I liked REM , until they became a GENRE".  They were getting carbon - copied by 85 - 85 like Nirvana was by the early '90S.
 
Alison said:

Well thank god R.E.M. finally broke up.... dudes jumped the shark years ago, and now Peter Buck is finally unleashed...

Thank You !!!!! I always liked what Jim Heat (Horton Heat) said , "I liked REM , until they became a GENRE".  They were getting carbon - copied by 85 - 85 like Nirvana was by the early '90S.
 
Alison said:

Well thank god R.E.M. finally broke up.... dudes jumped the shark years ago, and now Peter Buck is finally unleashed...

you're so right about Roxy. But , I kind of got off the bus after the third album (Which I don't even play that often.). Ferry had the vision , before Bowie - Repackage Disco. But , it
 was a big deal to me , at the time, when Bowie made his comeback - that - most - people - did'nt - even - know was a comeback in '83. I was a big fan at the time ("Scary Monsters" is my  cutoff point , too , but I was a forgiving fan at the time. ) , and ANY product and tour was acceptable to me....He did put on a great show , I thought , but , you could'nt compare it to seeing him in '72 , '74 or '76. Stevie Ray Vaughn's sacking was a major diappointment (Not that I'd have cared much , only a few of years later. ), and I never bothered seeing Bowie , again , but ,would have gone to that last gig , here , were it not , like , $100 (Ditto for Roxy Music. ).
Tersicore said:

One of the saddest case to me was Roxy Music:

(I would like to post this video but the sound is too bad)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhzG9cQGgc
So better watch this one: 

The final part of this song still blow me away ;)

But then,
how could they turn into something so awfully bad?

Also David Bowie disappointed me whit the making of "Let´s Dance" in ´83
But I love all the stuff he has done before, till "Scary Monsters"!

Well thank god R.E.M. finally broke up.... dudes jumped the shark years ago, and now Peter Buck is finally unleashed...

I think they were eclipsed by the very trends they inspired.

Tersicore said:

One of the saddest case to me was Roxy Music:

(I would like to post this video but the sound is too bad)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhzG9cQGgc
So better watch this one: 

The final part of this song still blow me away ;)

But then,
how could they turn into something so awfully bad?

Also David Bowie disappointed me whit the making of "Let´s Dance" in ´83
But I love all the stuff he has done before, till "Scary Monsters"!

(Deep Breath) Weeell, you could make a case for the Clash sucking after their 1st LP.

London Calling was a watershed album for them, but was it punk rock? Too many pastiches of various types of music.

I didn't like anything else they did, even tho' I loyally bought it.

Sometimes a band just has 1 classic album in them.

I did'nt like Caribou latest record.

Jack White sucks balls and have been for some years now.

Earth change their cool drone to some boring post shit.

didnt like Black Lips latest record.

One of the saddest case to me was Roxy Music:

(I would like to post this video but the sound is too bad)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhzG9cQGgc
So better watch this one: 

The final part of this song still blow me away ;)

But then,
how could they turn into something so awfully bad?

Also David Bowie disappointed me whit the making of "Let´s Dance" in ´83
But I love all the stuff he has done before, till "Scary Monsters"!

I've managed to find the All Music Guide entry about them, which tells their story. That said, "Blue Tomato" looks like an early 90's boy band cover or updated Village People. Village idiots, more like.
John Battles said:

Good God , is that group from 1990 really the same band , or some of the same people , even?

I've seen modern Garage bands lose the script , but ,not like THAT ! AS I SAY , I WAS'NT FAMILIAR WITH THESE GUYS. ONLY IN NAME.  PEOPLE WERE ALREADY CALLING BANDS LIKE THIS "CLICHE" BY 1986, BUT , I WOULD HAVE DAMN NEAR KILLED TO HAVE HAD A BAND LIKE THIS WHERE I LIVED , IN '86. AND , DON'T THINK I DID'NT TRY TO START ONE OF MY OWN !

Good God , is that group from 1990 really the same band , or some of the same people , even?

I've seen modern Garage bands lose the script , but ,not like THAT ! AS I SAY , I WAS'NT FAMILIAR WITH THESE GUYS. ONLY IN NAME.  PEOPLE WERE ALREADY CALLING BANDS LIKE THIS "CLICHE" BY 1986, BUT , I WOULD HAVE DAMN NEAR KILLED TO HAVE HAD A BAND LIKE THIS WHERE I LIVED , IN '86. AND , DON'T THINK I DID'NT TRY TO START ONE OF MY OWN !

This is quite awful, it sounds like a boy band playing their own instruments. It makes me wonder whether it was a gradual process or just an abrupt turn to the dire. How did it happen in the space of four years?  

Gringo Starr said:

They went from garage gods to boy band - Well, I'll let the music speak for itself:

1986:

1990:

Chris Henniker said:

How did that happen?

Gringo Starr said:

One of the saddest cases was The Creeps. I'm surprised that John didn't include them in his list. I'm sure that he will elaborate.

They went from garage gods to boy band - Well, I'll let the music speak for itself:

1986:

1990:

Chris Henniker said:

How did that happen?

Gringo Starr said:

One of the saddest cases was The Creeps. I'm surprised that John didn't include them in his list. I'm sure that he will elaborate.

How did that happen?

Gringo Starr said:

One of the saddest cases was The Creeps. I'm surprised that John didn't include them in his list. I'm sure that he will elaborate.

One of the saddest cases was The Creeps. I'm surprised that John didn't include them in his list. I'm sure that he will elaborate.

There's so many. Sometimes a change of direction is'nt a bad thing , but , other times , it's fatal.  Some of the bands I could recall probably are'nt even well known enough to warrant a mention , HERE.

The Saints - In the Late 80's , I passed on seeing them , as they were starting to sound like REM (As was nearly everyone.).

They recovered , many years later , with two boss Punk - oriented albums , and , I'm told , some great shows.  

Plan 9 - Eric Stumpo stepping down as lead vocalist (When he has such a great voice.) , and bringing in a younger guy  with that melancoly Echo and The Boringmen kinda sound , did'nt seem to musically make sense , nor make them any more popular. 

Pandoras - God Rest Paula's Soul...... I admired her for her 'tood as much as her music. Their first two albums , with two different lineups , are still great, but , when they got into that "Metal" thing  with "Rock Hard" , they lost me. Some fans might have dug it , anyway , but , I thought they could have done much better. 

Pink Floyd - Syd leaves. A year or two of good material spread out over parts of their next few albums. I'm being kind.

Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green leaves. The band puts out at least one very good album afterward , but , it's the beginning of the end. We all know , in 1975 , they jumped a shark that would have devoured The Fonz.

Sex Pistols - Glen Matlock leaves. The sensationalism is just beginning with Sid Vicious in tow , but , the music takes a dive. It was'nt entirely their fault , when they were'nt allowed to gig in The UK , and a tour of The American  South and San Francisco almost did'nt happen , and meant their undoing , anyway. One great album , with an uncredited Matlock on board as a "Studio Bassist".

The Beatles - Stu Sutcliffe dies suddenly. Pete Best is fired.  Now , NO ONE in the group can grow a proper quiff.