... Well, They USED to Be Good!

[Tenta]

We all had that one band that we used to absolutely love. The one band that we'd go to the edge of the world for, and would admit that we love to the world. You collected all the CDs, followed them on tour. They were the band that you couldn't wait to see blow up.

... And then they came out with that one song, and it completely fucked it up for you. The band completely goes against everything that they stood for, and gives in to some sort of Demon to trade their talent in for fame and riches. And you hate it.... You wonder why. This was your band. You followed them before they were anything. And then... They turn on you, complete 180. The question is, which singer/band did you love, before one song came along and completely ruined the band for you.

My instance... It's still a healing wound...

Cobra Motherfucking Starship​

Yes, they used to be extremely good. I've actually been following Gabe Saporta. I actually followed Humble Beginnings and Midtown, two of his earlier bands before joining up with the boys and girls of Cobra Starship. The guy had a magnificent voice. It wasn't particularly the most manly of voices, but it was still infectious... For example, take this song done by Midtown. Some of you that have played Madden know this was on one of the games (I think it was 05. I'm not sure), but this is actually one of my favorite songs, and actually has a message to it. This song actually helped me when I was in the midst of a bad breakup. It's about losing that identity, and trying to get back that sense of who you are, before it becomes a mistake, and you change everything about yourself. Perhaps Gabe could take a good listen to this song...

[youtube]8W3Pr6XW_3M[/youtube]​

Anyway, aside from that, the lyrics they used were funny, thought provoking, and to some extent, genius. They didn't conform to the mainstream media. Rather, they embraced how counter culture they were. Just take a listen to this terrific parody, that I used to be completely entertained by. This is their rendition of "I Kissed A Boy" which was hilarious, and actually made me think of the contradictions of gays.... Trips into lesbianism are hot and titillating, while gay guys kissing just fucks things up.

[youtube]FtCKhQw0x8U[/youtube]​

Yeah, it was actually pretty funny.... and be glad I didn't play Hollaback Boy. That was just as good. Still, the voice of Gabe still made the band stand out. The album, "While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets" is filled with classics like "It's Warmer In The Basement" and "Being From New Jersey Means You Never Have To Sorry". And yes, they did have one media friendly song, In "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)". Of course, the song also featured Will Beckett of The Academy Is..., so it made it more of a favorite to me. Still, it was smart, quick, and very well sung. Here it is, for those of you that have never heard of it...

[youtube]2I1vEgIsYzE[/youtube]​

So, they came out with a new album recently... And what's the first single sound like....

[youtube]IpOdAfs8jr0[/youtube]​

...... Ahem..... If I may....

Fuck You, Cobra Starship

I mean, you proved two years ago you could be mainstream, while keeping your overall style the same. You proved that people could like you as you were. Shit, you out quircked the quirky Fall Out Boy (Gasp!) And then you seemingly go out of your way to provide a single with unintelligent lyrics, and titillation. You went out of your way to provide a party song, and went completely against your style, just to make a cheap buck. And the sad thing is, this is what people are going to remember you for. Not Gabe's outstanding work with Midtown. Not for anything else you've done. No, this abortion of a song is what folks will think of you for.

And I hope that buck was worth it.

..... *Turns off angry rant*

Anyway, who did you use to love before... Well, they pulled a Cobra Starship?

 

[Nitafrong]

Honestly I can't really see much of a difference between the older examples you showed and the new single- all of it is Rock-Pop albeit with lyrics slightly more tongue in cheek. Bands can't stay quirky forever- to grow older tends to mean you grow more conservative.

This "used to be good factor" tends to occur to a lot of punk style bands- as well as to bands which share a similar background though it may be a different kind of music. Artists like Eminem, The Streets, and even to some extent Alanis Morrissette, all started with a bang, their anger and frustration young and keen. The value of diminishing returns seemed to apply though to all the later work that they produced- the more successful they became the less they were able to tap into what put them there in the first place. So yeah, as enjoyable as it is to listen to these styles of music- its not really a stable emotion to draw on for success.

But yeah, I can't really think though of any band I used to love which I changed my mind over due to one song. I am a big Sigur Ros fan. If you hadn't heard them- this is typical of the kind of music their early albums had.

[youtube]HFEQHpIkKxk[/youtube]

Their new album though announced a bit of a change in direction- their early songs taking on much more of an indie poppy vibe, whereas in they had been epic, atmospheric and uttery essential. Here is the first song from the new album which quite surprised me when I first heard it.

[youtube]zfKw5r7M7MQ[/youtube]

Despite this change to more Flaming Lips territory, I still like the new songs and I understand that they all don't have to sound the same. If bands don't evolve their sound they tend to stagnate- a bit like Oasis who to my knowledge still sound exactly the same

 

[Dexter]

Korn. That's the first band that came to mind. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I used to like these guys at this point. They've become a fucking joke, but once upon a time they were actually decent.

Exhibit A, from the self-titled album:


Pure metal anger. There's nothing pretty about this, it's just raw emotion, and I love it. "To a world that never appreciated shit, you can suck my dick and fucking like it." I was a teenager when this came out, so that kind of anger really spoke to me.

Exhibit A, from Life is Peachy:


A bit more of a hip-hop influenced sound this time around but the anger and grittiness are still there, and it's still a metal song (and album) at its core. Not as good as the first album, but I still enjoyed it.

...and then they got popular, and it must've just gotten to them or something, because everything went to shit after that.

Exhibit C, from Follow the Leader:


The anger and grittiness are gone. This is a hip-hop song, on a hip-hop album. Now, there's nothing wrong with hip-hop in and of itself, but it's not why I listened to Korn, and not what I wanted from them.

I'll spare you any further examples because it just spirals into pop mediocrity from there, but I think you get the point. I'm not sure what happened with these guys. I think Jonathan Davis just lost his edge. He was an angry, tortured artist making angry, tortured music for the first two albums, but fame and fortune just took away all his passion and all we're left with is a crappy nu metal band. It's a damn shame.

 

[TM Punk]

AFI literally changed my life. Now I hate to use a cliche like that but musically, its true. They got me into punk rock, and metal. Now most of you out there reading this are probably thinking something along the lines of "how could that gay emo band AFI get him into metal?" I'll give you that explanation in a short period of time.

My friend first introduced me to AFI when he found that I desperatly needed something better to listen to than Motley Crue. He gave me Very Proud of Ya AFI's second full length cd released in 1996. It was purely punk rock, or east bay hardcore, which is a sub-genre of punk rock that started in bay area California. This was AFI's beginning. Vintage.

AFI - He Who Laughs Last



This is them in their beginnings. Catchy, and raw, but I wasn't convinced they were as good as my friends tattoo's indicated. It wasn't until I borrowed Black Sails in the Sunset, the bands fourth full length cd released in 1999. This is when AFI began to come into their own. Jade, their new guitarist at the time, cemented the sound, and guitar tone that would be standard in all of AFI's music from then on. Davey Havok grew more confident with his vocal abilities, and his lyrics, which love them or hate them are second to none.

AFI - Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (live quality)


AFI - Malleus Malefucaum


Great songs, great cd. I was hooked. I listened to everything they put out. All of their ep's, all of their cd's, became a member of the despair faction. They completely consumed my life. Their first major label cd Sing the Sorrow is my favorite cd of all time. They went in a slightly different direction, but still managed to stay true to their roots.

AFI - The Leaving Song pt. 2


Then it happened. They went far too mainstream for my taste. Decemberunderground was techno/alternative rock. Very unexpected.

AFI - Love Like Winter


Something just went wrong. He wasn't projecting his voice. The guitar tone that put Sing the Sorrow into Rolling Stone magazine top 100 guitar albums of all time was gone. It was just blah. FAIL. Though there were some good songs on the album, it was nowhere near as good as the previous 7. Up until Decemberunderground I had not listened to a single AFI song that I didn't like. Though the cd still did get some considerable play time in my cd player, AFI is still my favorite band, and I'm still going to buy anything they put out, it really was not up to my expectations.

So I guess for this one post, you could say ...well the USED to be great... but now their good.