Do you ever wish bands/people/books/tv shows stopped when they reach their best?

[Luckynumber3]

Hmm, I was thinking for the past few days about bands that had theirbest cd as their first one, and was probably going to make a thread about it (still probably will). I think some bands get discovered and have a bunch of material laying around, use their best stuff, then after that, after being pressured into producing new cds, they have to use worse content or just plop out songs.

Anyways, as far as this goes, Red Hot Chili Peppers should have called it quits. I didn't think their new cd was bad, but I wouldn't say it is memorable. If they want to make anything of it, they need to release a few more singles from the album, orit will be remembered by "the adventures of rain dance maggie," which is like the worst song on the album!

Also, creed came back in 2010, and put out their worst album ever! They should have stayed dead, because I liked their old stuff, and that album was pretty lame.

I will have to think of others, but I know there are plenty that have tainted their legacy by going on.

[Skintaster]

LOTS of things I love should have ended before they jumped the shark into suckville.

The Rolling Stones could have broken up in 1978 (Sooner really), and I don't thinkthe world would have missed out on much. Tons of bands actually... Most have a "golden period", and then never really get back to those glory days.

Movies? Almost any with more than one sequel.

Notably:

"Halloween" and "Friday the 13th". The first Halloween is considered a classic for good reason, and really, even part 2 kind of sucked compared to it. Everything after that sucked a LOT more though... H2O was somewhat good, but yeah...

"Alien". "Alien 2" was a different kind of movie, and has it's fans, but nothing hits like that first one does for me. Everything after #2 really blows.

Tons of movies could make this list.

TV shows too, but I expect most of them to suck after a while. The American version of "The Office" is a good recent example. Kill it with fire already!

[FUS44]

Lynyrd Skynyrd shoulda hung it up.
Jane's Addiction is now a joke.
The Pepper's are shells of themselves
Bush ALWAYS sucked
Sadly, although somewhat close to my heart, the Misfits
Creed~Surely you jest......
Stones: It's painful
Bon Jovi and Styx, because I highly dislike them both.

At least Dino Jr. came back and didn't suck profusely.
and the list goes on

I will stick up for Friday the 13th sequels because it just got campy, but fun. (Lightning rod, planted in Jason's chest by Horshack as the means to bring him back in part 6?) classic.

Elm street: after 3 redeemed 2 they shoulda stopped.

After halloween 2, shoulda stopped.

and exiled(edit) the person who let Rob zombie direct the new ones.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Zep should've called it quits with Physical Graffiti -- swan song, indeed.

Joe Montana should've retired when his elbow went kaput.

Nixon should've done one term and walked away.

I haven't seen any of the Star Wars prequels, and I'm not going to.

Rob hit on a favorite example of mine -- Frank Herbert. The original Dune trilogy was good, but even there the downward progression was evident. The first book was concentrated dynamite, a peculiar combination of Wild-West tale, visionary ecological treatise, and philosophical musings on the meaning of time and self. By the time Children of Dune was out, the storylines had devolved into political thrillers dressed up with the sci-fi trappings of lasguns and plasteel.

[Luckynumber3]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

Zep should've called it quits with Physical Graffiti -- swan song, indeed.

Presence is my favorite Zep album, and I am pretty sure it came out after Physical Graffiti.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Originally Posted by Luckynumber3

Presence is my favorite Zep album, and I am pretty sure it came out after Physical Graffiti.

Opinions are beautiful things, thanks.

[Luckynumber3]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

Opinions are beautiful things, thanks.

If it wasn't for presence, I'd probably agree with them quitting after physical graffiti.

[Malikon]

Originally Posted by HibuniaMaiden

Iron Maiden UNFORTUNATELY with their new album The Final Frontier.
Maiden will always be my number one band..but they messed up lot of things in their last 2 albums (TFF) to be specific :S

Also Adrian Smith is having a solo project with a band called Primal Rock Rebellion and they just released a debut album called Awoken Broken and the songs just SUCK!!! i'm not talking about Adrian's playing but about the vocals, lyrics, and ugly video....here you go check it by yourselves


Primal Rock Rebellion - No Place Like Home - YouTube

there's nothing like Maiden in the 70's and 80's

It started off with so much attitude.

Shame the drums kinda kill that when they come in. I hate 'happy' sounding drums. That happy 80's beat has killed more cool riffs..........

[Malikon]

Originally Posted by Skintaster

Movies? Almost any with more than one sequel.

Notably:

"Halloween" and "Friday the 13th". The first Halloween is considered a classic for good reason, and really, even part 2 kind of sucked compared to it.

I'm not talking to you for 5 minutes.

[68_Mustang]

Originally Posted by FUS44

Sadly, although somewhat close to my heart, the Misfits

Yep, they were never the same after Glenn left.

[Gin&Pentatonic]

The Matrix should have been left at just one movie.

[danohat]

Then we would have never seen Fonzi water skiing in a leather jacket.

Fonzie jumps the shark - YouTube

Fonzie jumps the shark - YouTube

[Phil47uk]

Re: Do you ever wish bands/people/books/tv shows stopped when they reach their worst?


I disagree....
If that were the case we wouldn't have the pleasure of Vasco's scintillating company.

[Malikon]

Originally Posted by Gin&Pentatonic

The Matrix should have been left at just one movie.

Ok,....t-e-c-h-n-i-c-a-l-l-y I agree with you.

However Monica Bellucci is in Matrix 2 and 3, so.....win.

[Bluesky]

Originally Posted by Thundergod

I mean, why not stop there and let the world enjoy it forever and remember it as a great thing?

I know nobody wakes up and says "today I'm gonna let down a lot of people" but let's face it, when you reach a certain level of win it's really improbable to best it.

Throughout history it's almost always other guys/gals/teams that best their predecessors, it's not common to find one individual or team surpassing their own record again and again.

You may be asking yourselves "What's this about?"... Well it's about a little of everything but especially musicians, tv shows, movies and books.

IMO there's only so much you can come up with during your life and most of the time it depends on how you are feeling. You write different music when you live on the street and have no food than when you live on a 10 million dollar estate and spend the day surrounded by the most gorgeous blondes with the sexiest learning disabilities.

Same goes for tv shows, movies and books: when they become hits they set a certain standard. But then they need to best that in order to remain profitable and most fail to do that.

Lots of times I've wished they stopped at season 1 and they didn't make it a trilogy and that they had left the ending of that book open so everyone will have to guess what happens next.

I also wish GnR stopped after use your illusion or even after appetite for destruction. Same goes for Aerosmith, iron maiden, judas priest, Ozzy, LZ, and every other band. After they released their top hit they just started going down and ended up being just another band trying to keep up with the times (I find Aerosmith to be the most horrible nightmarish example of this).

So, are there any examples you'd like to name?

NOPE. The Allman Brothers Band. Their finest hour will always be The Fillmore recordings from 1970. But they continued to Kill it for 40 more years. Sometimes a band at half best is still WAyyyyyyyyyy better then most others in their prime.

[Mantis]

Originally Posted by deepblue

There used to be a site called Jump The Shark. It was dedicated to peoples opinions as to when a show lost its zip. The site is gone now.

gone, yes, but "bone the fish" has taken over.
Bone the Fish - "Jumping the Shark" - Has your favorite TV Show, Celebrity, Music Group or Movie Series passed it's prime?

[oirishsteve]

Just to add my pennyworth. I like to think I'm open minded, live and let live and all that, and give resurrected bands a chance. I used to listen to Skynyrd non-stop, I still do....'70s Skynyrd that is...I won't listen to the other stuff, it isn't Skynyrd!! They've continued to.... 'kill it' as they say...for many years they've basically killed it!!! I don't mind bands creating new music, heck no-one's making me listen to their stuff with a gun shoved up my nostril, but to carry on churning out what once sounded fantastic in an original format but now under a different guise but with the same band name...whaatt!! I've tried several times to get into it and although Gary Rossington is still playing his heart out bless him it dosen't have the same spark, not for me anyway. Can anyone guide me to something that Skynyrd have written after the crash that is either on a par or better? Be serious now, I'm open to any suggestion 'cos I'm still stuck back in the '70s ..along with Lizzy, Zeppelin....

[bbutler123]

Originally Posted by acstorfer

The Who

After Keith Moon passed, they should have followed Led Zeppelin's lead.

Pink Floyd

Should have wrapped it up after Roger Waters left.

M*A*S*H

Sometime after Trapper, Burns and Blake left. Or at the very least, ended it after three seasons. Instead they made it eight years longer than the actual Korean war. When it went from a comedy to a drama, it went to hell.

Mash went from comedy to drama? Maybe that's why I can't stand to watch it. I never consciously noticed the switch to drama. At one point I loved it I think, but for some reason I seemed to start to detest it.

[EasyAce]

Originally Posted by acstorfer

The Who

After Keith Moon passed, they should have followed Led Zeppelin's lead.

Do you mean they should have broken up and then predicted John Bonham's death?

[JDB 1696]

Metallica should've stopped after Black Album or Reload
Megadeth after Cryptic Writings

[Thundergod]

Nickelback should have stopped after first grade.

[TheRover09]

No. you know why? Because I find it incredibly asinine and selfish to impose some form of restriction on a person's expression. The band doesn't owe you anything, they create their music, you can either enjoy it or not. I appreciate the fact that Metallica didn't make 10 more Master's or AJFA ; they did with what felt right to them. You can prefer an era to another or a record to another, but to say "I wish you stopped making music after my personal interest in you peaked" is insane.

[FrankieOliver]

I have to agree with Omar there. Sure, you certainly don't need to continue patronizing an artist when you feel they aren't doing it for you any longer, but to say that they should stop creating is ridiculous.



Now you you get the hell out of here.

[acstorfer]

I think it is obvious to anyone who watches football that John Elway went two years too long!

[Scooter2112]

How do you know that they've achieved their best, if they don't put out shit afterwards?

[Pennyman]

Sons of Anarchy jumped the shark in Season 4. Right when... well, I'm not going to give away any spoilers... but that whole deus ex machina bit towards the end of the season left a pretty sour taste in my mouth.


Dexter just jumped el tiburon at the end of the last season. They really should have ended the series right there, but they'll try to milk another couple of weak seasons out of it.


Breaking Bad, on the other hand, is doing it right, knowing when it's time to end it.

[MagPel]

The best example of a TV show that DID stop at it's peak is Deadwood in my oppinion. I'm always going to wish they would have done a fourth and last season but at the same time i love that it left you wanting more.

[Bubbletonic]

Originally Posted by Pennyman

Dexter just jumped el tiburon at the end of the last season. They really should have ended the series right there, but they'll try to milk another couple of weak seasons out of it.


Breaking Bad, on the other hand, is doing it right, knowing when it's time to end it.

I'm willing to give Dexter more time even though I didn't find the last season was it's best. I've been waiting this whole time for the scenario that this season just ended on so I'll wait and see the results..... not the incestuous part

I have to disagree with Breaking Bad though, I love the show but felt like it really wrapped up the main story for me at the end of the last season. Now they're planning on another 16 episodes - 2 x 8 episodes split a year apart. It seems like they're going to have to start a whole new story in there and then rush it to get it to fit within what is essentially one season.

I'm finding the final season of House pretty flaky, I'm not fully caught up on this season yet but I've disliked how all the supporting characters seem to be on a revolving door system and the new season seems to be a lot more technical in the medical conversations, I'm finding it a lot harder to follow the diagnostics.

[Byron999]

What's the old adage? It certainly appears that way sometimes.

"To rest on your laurels" - to be so satisfied with your own achievements that you make no effort to improve.