I, personally, can't get enough. So here is a my attempt at revamping this blog a bit by beginning a series of posts called A Question for My Brothers. I will pose a question, hand out the sledgehammers and call for us all to "swing away."
Today's question:
In popular music, what is the worst case of the 'U2 Effect'?
The U2 effect being the tendancy for a band/musician to start off good, or even great, and then fall into utter ruin. Examples of course would be U2 (though, by virtue of the effect being named after them, do not qualify), Coldplay (ha), Paul McCartney, Jay-Z etc.
A follow-up question could be has anyone ever reversed the trend?
7 comments:
I can tell when I'm being baited; it's one of my favorite sensations… I must respectfully take exception with your premise that U2 has "fallen into utter ruin". I would quickly concur that their best music is behind them, but being on the other side of their peak doesn't mean that they've descended into "utter ruin". The twin-summit of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby sets an impossibly high standard; I would suggest that U2's lowlands are more like high plains than the desolate valley that your terminology suggests.
To answer your questions, Stone Temple Pilots made some horrible music in their later years. I almost wonder if making great music became boring and they decided to try a hand at making the worst possible music.
I've had the benefit of having access to the complete Beatles catalog my entire life. I imagine that The Magical Mystery Tour phase would have irritated me immensely, and I would have viewed it as the Beatles' downfall. Thankfully, the Beatles overcame (or learned from it) and produced some of the best music ever. That's my answer to your second question.
Of course it's bait, welcome to the internet :)
Maybe I should have called it the Jack Johnson Effect and we all would agree.
I think it's interesting that you refer to the Beatle's Magical Mystery phase as their low point when it gave us Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, The Fool on the Hill and I am the Walrus.
Seriously, I am the Walrus?
... I thought you'd like that.
I think to answer this question the band in question has to have at least five albums with at least the first two being great while at least the last one is horrible and the second to last is boring at best. Coldplay did have two great first albums and the last one is so far the worst album of 2014 so they could be the answer to this question. In my opinion the Avett Brothers had a bunch of great early material with the last three albums being boring at best. I wouldn't be surprised though if Matt is correct, but the fact is I don't think I have heard anything by Amy Grant after House of Love and that is the bees knees. So in the end I'll say Counting Crows is my pick. I love their early stuff but my ears start bleeding when I hear anything new by them. This is a band I no longer want to see live for fear they would only play the new garbage. I'll end by saying that Pearl Jam deserves an honorable mention.
I thought the U2 effect was when a band starts off bad has bad music in between and ends as bad as they started which is to bad that they haven't yet "ended"
KOL
That is my answer.
Kings of Leon might not be the best band ever to play, but they started off with a sound that didn't really sound like anything good and since then have only gone up.
-Stevo
Steve, I like how you simultaneously showed that you've never listened to U2's earlier stuff (some of which actually sound kind of like KOL) and that you hadn't read the question because you didn't answer it. Nice try though, welcome to the blog little brother :)
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