Bands who's earlier albums are better then their current stuff?

[Duosphere]

Listen to Operation: Mindcrime, then listen to Dedicated to Chaos. Or Master of Puppets and Death Magnetic.

Yes, there is an objectively better and objectively worse.

But some people prefer Dedicated Chaos and Death Magnetic.
I prefer Empire and Black Album.
No better or worse.
Some even prefer ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKR2n-G-wdM

 

[Nag]

OP : Like 99% of bands in existence

/thread

 

[extendedsolo]

Good call on Slipknot, they fell off a cliff after Iowa, which I still think is one of the greatest albums of all time.

I actually really liked Vol 3, but yea their last 2 have been really meh. A couple of really good songs on the last 2 albums and then nothing really that interests me. I think for them though it's one of two things. They don't really like metal all that much anymore, which is possible! The guitar players have been well known to prefer jimi hendrix and the beatles to something like cannibal corpse. Or they do it because they are looking to stay relevant and in the mainstream. Which for 9 guys from Iowa who grew up lower middle class, not out the of the question.

 

[wankerness]

Vol 3 was where a lot of people took notice of them as being more than an adolescent attempt to shock. I never listened to anything later, but I definitely got a lot of play out of Vol 3 and a lot of my prog-nerd friends that scorned them actually liked the album as well.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

OP : Like 99% of bands in existence

/thread

Basically.

I really like The Gray Chapter. Vol 3 and All Hope Is Gone is meh, although All Hope is Gone gave us my favorite Slipknot songs.



The video of Mick tracking this song is ....ing insane, too.

 

[Zalbu]

Surprised Iced Earth hasn't been brought up. Everything after Horror Show (and some people even hate that album ) has been a snoozefest.

Dream Theater as well. First 3 album (.... you guys I include their real debut ) are gold, and their next 2 (or 3) are awesome. Everything after that is eeeeehh. DT13 was a step in the right direction, same with The Astonishing, but everything between 2003 - 2013 was eeeew for me.

Queensryche was infamously bad for this. Kicked ass up until HITNF, when things got... weird. And it was just weirder from there. Some people will disagree, but I feel like they got back on track ever since Geoff was kicked out.

Even Octavarium and Systematic Chaos?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I always found Octavarium boring, and never really gave Systematic Chaos a full listen because I didn't like several of the songs I've heard from it.

 

[BucketheadRules]

Bodom.

Agreed on DT as well, the only post-2000 albums of theirs that I consistently like are Train of Thought and Black Clouds and Silver Linings. I only like a couple of songs from Octavarium, I don't know Systematic that well, and I've barely even listened to the Mangini stuff because I found most of it so dull at first listen. And even those two consistently good albums have shonky lyrics and "meh" vocals.

 

[wankerness]

The first detailed listen my friends and I gave Octavarium was the worst musical experience I've ever had. We were all depressed by the end! The only track I turned around on was Panic Attack, thanks to Rock Band.

I liked The Astonishing quite a bit the two times I listened to it. I guess we'll see if any more ever happen. There were a few corkers on the previous two albums, too, particularly "Bridges in the Sky." Come to think of it, I don't actually dislike any of their albums besides Octavarium, they just kind of go in one ear and out the other.

 

[SD83]

I have to strongly disagree on Slipknot. Vol.3 was boring and All hope is gone was worse, but to me, The Gray Chapter is easily their best record yet and has their best songs so far.
I'll add Vader. Impressions in blood might still be my favourite album of all times, but after that I lost track, just recently listened to one track from the new EP and it sounds like a really bad Slayer song...
+ 1 for Dream Theater, but then again, my favourite albums of theirs are Systematic Chaos and Octavarium. New stuff is not bad, but it's the stuff I tend to forget about almost while hearing.

 

[extendedsolo]

Basically.

I really like The Gray Chapter. Vol 3 and All Hope Is Gone is meh, although All Hope is Gone gave us my favorite Slipknot songs.



The video of Mick tracking this song is ....ing insane, too.

WOW. I love that song, but man that video should be shown to any band wanting to enter the studio. That's someone who has practiced a ton and is a true professional. I kinda get the vibe that him and Jim Root are very old school about recording.

 

[gunch]

Whitechapel. This Is Exile was their pinnacle, in my opinion. The new stuff isn't bad, per se, but I'll never get into their newer stuff like I did TIE and The Somatic Defilement.

Agreed. Suicide Silence too.

Somatic Defilement remaster is turds, its like they ruined everything that made that album heavy as balls

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I see people say that Whitechapel's been going downhill since 2012.

But honestly I find their self-titled and Our Endless War to be their 2 best albums. I love the death/groove metal feel they have. Mark of the Blade is a pretty big departure and a simpler sound, but .... man that album grooves.

EDIT: The new album actually reminds me of Feared, which is a popular band to hate on, so I guess I can see why.

 

[Konfyouzd]

KoRn. I'm optimistic about the new album based on the first single though, I'm really digging it. Sounds a bit like the old stuff IMO.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

+1 to Korn as well. Everything after Untouchables has been... bad.

Paradigm Shift was a very, very needed shift in sound. The old-school Korn sound, but more up-to-date. The new songs are even sounding moreso like that.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

+1 to Korn as well. Everything after Untouchables has been... bad.

Paradigm Shift was a very, very needed shift in sound. The old-school Korn sound, but more up-to-date. The new songs are even sounding moreso like that.

havent got to listen to the new album since head joined back up...have things improved? they were meh after he left imho.


*goes to find new album interwebz...

 

[MFB]

Surprised Iced Earth hasn't been brought up. Everything after Horror Show (and some people even hate that album ) has been a snoozefest.

I always give them up until Glorious Burden, given that 33-minute trilogy is deserving of a mention. After that? Eh.

 

[MikeH]

Agreed. Suicide Silence too.

Somatic Defilement remaster is turds, its like they ruined everything that made that album heavy as balls

The original mix of TSD was super organic, and even though it wasn't the clearest of mixes, I think that's what gave it its edge. Same with The Cleansing by Suicide Silence. The raw mix just made it so much heavier.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

havent got to listen to the new album since head joined back up...have things improved? they were meh after he left imho.


*goes to find new album interwebz...

There's a thread showing off 2 new songs. Like I said, sounds like Korn, but more up-to-date.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I always give them up until Glorious Burden, given that 33-minute trilogy is deserving of a mention. After that? Eh.

Glorious Burden is pretty good, but it's when the band starts to get really, really boring.

Jon needs to stop blowing Alex Jones and 'Murica and start writing epic speed metal again. Jon's a huge inspiration of mine but Jesus the more patriotic he gets, the worse the writing suffers.