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Thread: Who had the biggest 80's era fall from grace?

  1. #26
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    For me Chicago started sucking with album 6. They just became so lightweight and more pop oriented. Yeah the 7th album was a statement. It was like they were saying goodbye to their hardcore fans from the first 5 albums and saying hello to a new fanbase with the second disk of album 7. After the 8th album I just threw my hands up and said adios to Chicago. Such a creative, progressive group with great musicians and then they became this cheese factory. The wheels fell off this band long before the 80s.

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Landing on Water was a great album!
    Unless you're a Neil Young fan, used to so much better. One of three worst albums he ever made.

  3. #28
    Another Genesis thread in disguise.
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

  4. #29
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    For me, the falls from grace occur when an artist changes their whole sound to adapt to the time and tries to get a very commercial sound. If you do it well, like Genesis, that’s fine. Not my cup of tea, but they made quality commercial music. What is truly pathetic is when the sound is changed and the end result is a complete and total failure.

    One of the biggest falls was Ted Nugent. In the seventies he kicked ass, but by the end of the 80s? Bon Jovi records had more balls. His last album “If You Can’t Lick Em, Lick Em” might be the worst record I ever bought. Yes, there was plenty of guitar solos, but they were laid over a bed of absolute shit.

    Kiss ended up copying those bands that were originally influenced by Kiss. Seventies Kiss was great, but the 80s stuff was mostly really bad.

    I know a lot of people love all of Queen’s career, but their last few albums had a few good (but not great) tracks and lots of boring crap that doesn’t even come close to what they did in the 70s.

    Some other artists that really took a turn for the worse in the 80s: Cheap Trick, Rush, Aerosmith, ELP, Zappa, Yes

  5. #30
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeterG View Post
    Unless you're a Neil Young fan, used to so much better. One of three worst albums he ever made.
    Neil & The Shocking Pinks is the only one of the Geffen albums I really can't listen to (except I'm Wonderin, which goes back many years for Neil). Although even that album was fun to listen to a few times. I really like Trans, that's the best of them. Landing on Water has Hippie Dream, which is a great song. There are a few other very good ones on there too.

  6. #31
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuz View Post
    Some other artists that really took a turn for the worse in the 80s: Cheap Trick, Rush, Aerosmith, ELP, Zappa, Yes
    Ah, yes, Rush's terrible "successful and popular" period, featuring those turds "The Spirit of Radio," "Limelight," "The Analog Kid," "Between the Wheels," etc.

  7. #32
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    Milli Vanilli
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
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    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

  8. #33
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    Milli Vanilli
    Doesn't one have to be at grace in order to fall from it?

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow View Post
    Another Genesis thread in disguise.
    Ha! I thought it would be. They get my vote; apologies in advance to those who dig their post-Duke stuff.

  10. #35
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    Doesn't one have to be at grace in order to fall from it?
    Well, they did have to give back a Grammy
    For best new artist they closed the 80's with a thud and kept up the downward spiral.

  11. #36
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    The wheels fell off this band long before the 80s.
    and even before Terry's unfortunate demise.

  12. #37
    But then I remembered Magma's Merci album. I actually enjoy that record, but I can see why many don't: drum machines (and you thought Phil Collins using a drum machine was obnoxiously redundant), over reliance on synths, and the opening song's "Ooh, ooh, baby" refrain (at least I'm assuming that's what Stella's singing, there could be a Kobaďan that sounds exactly like "Ooh, ooh, baby" ...of course, for that theory to work, there'd have to be Kobaďan phrases that sound exactly like the rest of the English lyrics on that album).
    And yet, here it is, 2014, and they are playing it now and it sounds great!

    I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Neil & The Shocking Pinks is the only one of the Geffen albums I really can't listen to (except I'm Wonderin, which goes back many years for Neil). Although even that album was fun to listen to a few times. I really like Trans, that's the best of them. Landing on Water has Hippie Dream, which is a great song. There are a few other very good ones on there too.
    Agreed, personally I love "Trans" and all of the Geffen era albums have at least a few great tracks on them. "Hippie Dream" is indeed a great song.

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    Oh, so many to choose from. I mean, there's always Rod Stewart, although his slide began long before 1980.
    I just started reading Stewart's autobiography, but am not too far into it yet. For me he really started falling off towards the end of the 70's, but yea he has been very up and down ever since.

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuz View Post
    One of the biggest falls was Ted Nugent. In the seventies he kicked ass, but by the end of the 80s? Bon Jovi records had more balls. His last album “If You Can’t Lick Em, Lick Em” might be the worst record I ever bought. Yes, there was plenty of guitar solos, but they were laid over a bed of absolute shit.

    I know a lot of people love all of Queen’s career, but their last few albums had a few good (but not great) tracks and lots of boring crap that doesn’t even come close to what they did in the 70s.

    Some other artists that really took a turn for the worse in the 80s: Cheap Trick, Rush, Aerosmith, ELP, Zappa, Yes
    Agree with Nugent, he took a major dive in the 80's. Queen and Cheap Trick are also good examples, although in my opinion both bands eventually came back in a big way from a quality level later in their career.

  16. #41
    cunning linguist 3LockBox's Avatar
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    I agree with the Ted Nugent assessment. I bought Little Miss Dangerous when it came out. Gawd, what a turd.

  17. #42
    cunning linguist 3LockBox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    All true, but Neil Young's output doesn't really jibe with what the original poster was asking, which was "So who do you think made the worst bid to remain "relevant" to the pop music audience of the 1980's?"

    Neil Young got sued for making music *without* as much commercial potential as his earlier stuff. His most obvious turn of style to remain "relevant" was Trans, which is widely regarded as one of his only good '80s albums.
    who knows what Neal was thinking back then (or even what he says of it now) but I haven't personally met anyone who wasn't appalled by his '80s stuff. That video of Touch The Night was dreadful - I was embarrassed for the guy. But like I said, he at least made a full recovery by the '90s.

  18. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by 3LockBox View Post
    I agree with the Ted Nugent assessment. I bought Little Miss Dangerous when it came out. Gawd, what a turd.
    I remember when If You Can't Lick 'Em, Lick 'Em (great album title, btw) came out, Nuge was quoted in Guitar World, I think it was, that his entire catalog from Double Live Gonzo up through Little Miss Dangerous was "one great big clusterfuck". On the other hand, I also remember him saying Little Miss Dangerous herself (inspired by Ted's Hawaiian girlfriend, who was like 20 years younger than him) had his best guitar playing.

    I wish I could remember which record it was that he once said had a "stupid" drum sound on it, one of the early or mid 80's records.

  19. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by 3LockBox View Post
    who knows what Neal was thinking back then (or even what he says of it now) but I haven't personally met anyone who wasn't appalled by his '80s stuff. That video of Touch The Night was dreadful - I was embarrassed for the guy. But like I said, he at least made a full recovery by the '90s.
    Was Touch The Night the one where he's supposed to be a news reporter covering an interstate car accident, and there's a gospel choir in the background? I remember that being a big "WTF?!" moment even back then.

    I think the highpoint of the 80's, for Neil, was the highly satirical This Note's For You being banned by MTV (for slightly obvious reasons, not just in terms of lyrical content but also the video itself), then it won the Viewer's Choice award at the Music Video Awards that year, which in turn forced MTV to relent and actually play it. Dumbasses! They must have been thinking "Sure, we'll give it a nomination, it's not like the kids are gonna vote an old geezer like Neil, right?!". Oops!

  20. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by 3LockBox View Post
    who knows what Neal was thinking back then (or even what he says of it now) but I haven't personally met anyone who wasn't appalled by his '80s stuff.
    Well, here's one. I think Reactor is very good. I think Trans is excellent. I think Freedom is very good as well. Life isn't bad.

  21. #46
    Quote Originally Posted by Dana5140 View Post
    And yet, here it is, 2014, and they are playing it now and it sounds great!

    Well, first of all that video is a different arrangement from the take heard on Merci, so I don't think the comparison quite fits. I think it's fair to say there were a lot of fans who were aghast when they heard that album. I have to admit that the first time I heard Call From The Dark, I couldn't believe it was Magma.
    Last edited by GuitarGeek; 03-11-2014 at 01:37 AM.

  22. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    but yea he has been very up and down ever since.
    You would be too if you had that many hot women chasing after you.
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

  23. #48
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Originally Posted by PeterG

    Unless you're a Neil Young fan, used to so much better. One of three worst albums he ever made.
    Neil & The Shocking Pinks is the only one of the Geffen albums I really can't listen to (except I'm Wonderin, which goes back many years for Neil). Although even that album was fun to listen to a few times. I really like Trans, that's the best of them. Landing on Water has Hippie Dream, which is a great song. There are a few other very good ones on there too.
    In themselves, all these 80's Neil albums aere not bad albums per se (I even likeThis Note's For You), but none of them are typically Neil-esque

    By itself, the Shocking Pink album is not that bad (it's probably even OK), but it's rejected by most NY fans... My problem is even worse with Trans, really... Of all these Geffen albums, only Landing On Water is really not good... (I definitely do not like Old Ways either)

    I don't like the Geffen chartacter, but it's little wonder why Gaffen sued NY for making unsellable NY-like albums - though some did sell rather well >> Trans and Shocking Pinks did sell in bucketloads, if memory serves.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  24. #49
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Ah, yes, Rush's terrible "successful and popular" period, featuring those turds "The Spirit of Radio," "Limelight," "The Analog Kid," "Between the Wheels," etc.
    µ

    Yeah, Rush's slide is pretty bad as well.... I didn't even care to listen to their late 80's albums... I totally gave up at Power Windows ... hear them once or twice in the very late 90's, and knew I hadn't missed anything back then...
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  25. #50
    Icehouse, Mister Mr, Extreme to name a few. All massive at one point & then zilch.

    However, the quickest dive bomb was Genesis with CAS. They couldn't even sell a ticket in the USA resulting in a cancelled tour!!!

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