Musical Jumping the Shark

[csberry]

I was reading recently in Entertainment Weekly about a new phrase: "nuking the fridge." Apparently (since I'm a complete recluse and parent and haven't been to a theater in MONTHS), there is a scene in the new Indiana Jones movie involving a nuke and a fridge. This scene was such a turning point for some fans, that they decreed "nuking the fridge" to be the movie equivalent of "jumping the shark."

Just a little while ago, I went to the Cure's site and was listening to their new single. The band's longevity and this article attached themselves together in my noggin and made me ponder about rock/pop artists and bands. Is there a "Just Called to Say I Love You"(Stevie Wonder's drowning death in sappy pop music) or "Steel Wheels"(Nope, no more memorable singles for the Stones) or "Smile" (Beach Boys' aborted album post-Pet Sounds) for music? What album was the one that made you go,"Okay, I need to stop buying albums from this artist?"

Was it "Out of Time" or "Automatic for the People" with REM?

Did Tears for Fears jump at "The Seeds of Love?"

What about Madonna?

While I primarily listen to "For You" to "1999"-era Prince, I would say he jumped with the "Black Album/Lovesexy." I love "(eye) Wish U Heaven" but my copy of the album has collected a lot of dust through the years.

Who hasn't jumped the musical shark?

Did the Beatles? Was it downhill after "Sgt. Pepper" and the "White Album" merely has a cult following based on the Manson connection and folks that accidentally buy it thinking it is a greatest hits collection?

I don't know about U2. I would have said that Zooropa was the beginning of the end before the band's revival with "All That You Can't Leave Behind"

Comments

[chris21718.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Tears For Fears -- I'd say "Songs From The Big Chair" was their last good one, and although there were quite a few hits from "The Seeds Of Love", I never enjoyed that album like Big Chair.

Prince's last bit hit album was "Diamonds and Pearls" but to be honest, my favorite two albums were "1999" and "Purple Rain". Although I liked some of the singles after "Purple Rain" and "Diamonds and Pearls", I didn't care to buy the albums/CDs until much later when I was filling in holes in my music collection. For a few years, he seemed to be into the annoying habit of releasing a new album every year with only one relatively large hit on it, unlike several other albums which had several each. A comprehensive greatest hits collection plus the entire "1999" and "Purple Rain" would pretty much satisfy me.

How about some other big artists?

Michael Jackson -- "Off The Wall", "Thriller", and "Bad" would suffice. After "Bad", I lost interest.

Janet Jackson -- "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" would suffice. I totally lost interest during the end of the "Rhythm Nation 1814" period.

Billy Joel -- I lost interest after "An Innocent Man", which was a great album that had a huge chain of hits.

George Michael -- "Faith" was always my favorite and after that, I lost interest.

John Cougar Mellencamp -- after "Scarecrow", the last album with a lot of hits.

Steve Miller Band -- after "Book of Dreams". They came back briefly 5 years later in 1982 with "Abracadabra" and the one hit by that title.

Kenny Rogers -- after the years with The First Edition. 4 years after that period, he turned into a sappy mellow, sickening country artist. Give me "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and the original recording of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" over that later stuff any day!

Bob Seger -- after the album "Against The Wind".

Rod Stewart -- after "Young Turks" and "Tonight I'm Yours" singles. I cared little for the later more mellow stuff.

[shabudaquae.livejournal.com]

I don't know about all your questions, but thanks for giving me something besides Wikipedia to look at when the Corpus makes my eyeballs bleed!

Corpus Torture

[csberry.livejournal.com]

I feel for you. No, really, I do.

*snickers*

R.E.M.

[auronsgirl.livejournal.com]

Out of Time and Automatic for the People are two of my favorite R.E.M. album. Not my all time favorite (Fables of the Reconstruction), but up there on the playlist.

I stopped with them when New Adventures in Hi-Fi came out. Just could not get into that album.

I stopped buying albums from The Church after Gold Afternoon Fix, and hearing some of their stuff post GAF, I'm not entirely sorry for that. I still listen to Starfish and GAF quite often, though.

Haven't had a new Cure album since Disentigration and the remix album whose name eludes me at the moment.

On the other hand, even though I didn't care for Apple Venus 2 as much as Apple Venus 1, I'd never stop buying albums from Andy et al. Same thing for Ben Folds albums. He's got a magic hook into the Barry Manilow section of my brain. I love a man who can rock a piano, especially with panache, which is something Billy Joel lost a while back.

Re: R.E.M.

[csberry.livejournal.com]

While I wasn't into Automatic for the People much at all, New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the last REM album I bought...and sold a year or so later.

Re: R.E.M.

[chris21718.livejournal.com]

The Cure's remix CD was called "Mixed Up" from 1990. (Elektra 60978).

[otopico.livejournal.com]

I think the reason a band like The Cure do last so long is that while they are famous, they never got to the peak of fame. They are a bunch of pals that happen to make music and sold a few albums to keep themselves financially while the continue to be pals and make music.

The Beatles broke up at the right time, they were declining and thy all really wanted to be out of the band to do things they wanted. They didnt plan it, but it did work for them.

REM is one of those bands that didnt survive their mid life crisis.

Madonna hasnt done anything good since she left Sean Penn. Now she is that old lady that used to sing.

I think Prince has done ok. Sure some of his stuff has been crap, but overall he still has it. On top of that the songs he as written for other people and produced have made him almost an American version of Bowie. Not everything is going to be a hit and when you miss you step back and a take some time to figure what happened.

U2 was gone by Auchtung Baby. They came back though, like a lot of 'old' bands as these fatherly rockers that people appreciate because they have been able to stay relevant musically for the bulk of my lifetime.

The world is ready for non cookie cutter music again. Hell, Roxy Music is in studio again with ENO.

Once you separate the chaff, we have been lucky that real musicians still exist and want to produce music. Once you get rid of the people chasing money, there is still a huge amount of old and new artists making their particular form of art.

also, Metallica has always, and will always suck ass.

[wc-helmets.livejournal.com]

Beach Boys output post Smile to somewhere around '72 was generally good, though not consistent. I enjoyed "Darlin" and "Country Air" from Wild Honey, "Be Still" from Friends (maybe Dennis' best). Sunflower and Surf's Up had a lot of great songs, with much of the material better than the pre-Pet Sounds singles. I'd say it was sometime after Surf's Up that that they jumped the shark, though I enjoy Brian's 10 minute Pied Piper song from Holland and The Beach Boys Love You is a bizarre curiosity I bought a few years ago that I've been revisiting lately.

Prince has swam around the shark (Rainbow Children), but his last album was quite good. I don't think he's jumped the shark yet. Madonna's latest is pretty bad, and has made me realize Timbaland exposure is turning lead into leadier lead lately (also Duran Duran's new album has this effect).

[cosmosmariner.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of people would say that all country music jumped the shark during the 80's, but...

Kenny Chesney has jumped the shark, then the shark jumped back and bit his ass.

He used to have decent songs, and then he suddenly decided he wanted to become the New Jimmy Buffett. Started adding steel drums to his steel guitars. The collabo with Uncle Kracker was the last straw. I hate his guts now.

[fettman.livejournal.com]

I'd say Aerosmith after "Pump". and that's being nice to "Pump". I probably would have stopped after "Permanent Vacation", making that their last good album.

I couldn't get into Guns N Roses after "Lies" except for a couple of songs during the "Use Your Illusion" debacle. I just couldn't tolerate it.

Thankfully, I love The Beatles enough that even their worse songs are tolerable sometimes.

Maybe this doesn't count, but I couldn't really get into "Some Devil" by Dave Matthews, and then I just couldn't get into anything after that. I dunno. :P

[fettman.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. And Van Halen after "OU812".