Author Topic: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over  (Read 3406 times)

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SebastianPratesi

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #35 on: July 18, 2016, 10:29:06 AM »
My two cents:

One of my favourite bands, The Cure hasn't released new music in the last 7 years, and for a long time, their albums were being released 4 years apart from each other (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008). So, I don't think anyone would say the band has been prolific in the last 25 years.

Plus, amongst fans and critics, none of the last 4 albums has been particularly praised, or at least not nearly to the same extent as their early output. Their so called 'masterpiece' was released in 1989. So, all in all, it would seem as if The Cure's peak is over.

Yet, for the last 4 years they have been touring many parts of the world, visiting places they hadn't for a long time (such as Hawaii and South America). They give long, long shows - a main set of 20+ songs, and another 15+ songs in the form of encores. In 2013, on Robert's birthday, they played 50 songs, over 4 hours. Their longest show ever, and (as far as I know) one of the longest rock shows by any band ever.

They've been touring for the last few months, playing a wide and interesting selection of hits, fan favourites, obscure b-sides and rarities, and 2 new songs. The setlist includes stuff from all of their discography. (They've played 80+ songs on this tour so far) They change the setlist constantly, every couple of shows, so each audience might experience something unique. (Pretty much what DT used to do until 2012) All in all, in my opinion, they work very hard and make it very interesting to fans and casual listeners.

So, I agree with Stadler - it depends on what you consider an artist's "peak". To me, The Cure is on a peak. They have no label or new release to support, yet they still tour the world over, playing a mix of everything, with great success.

Offline TAC

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #36 on: July 18, 2016, 12:02:32 PM »
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #37 on: July 18, 2016, 03:26:01 PM »
If I were Metallica I would definitely be fed up with rehashing the same stuff, indeed. In the same vein as Metallica though, you have AC/DC, Guns 'n Roses, The Rolling Stones,  any band that mainly plays stuff from decades ago when they were 'more' popular.

People probably don't like to hear this, but Iron Maiden fits this moniker as well, to some extent. Yes, they release material every couple of years and they play their new stuff as well, but people mainly want to hear Hallowed be Thy Name, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Powerslave; these guys play the same bunch of songs (albeit drawn from a much larget pool than for instance Metallica) every tour they do as well.

Then again, how far do you sttretch the term 'peak'? Metallica and Iron Maiden are still insanely popular. People want to hear those same songs. Same goes for McCartney, the Stones, et cetera.


I think Death Magnetic sold between 8 and 10 million copies too.

Offline rumborak

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #38 on: July 18, 2016, 03:34:54 PM »


Err, unless I am not mistaken, they were planning for Saucy Jack. It was supposed to be a rock/musical kind of thing with an underlying plot and big stage show. I don't know about you, but to me it sounded ... astonishing.


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Offline TAC

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #39 on: July 18, 2016, 03:57:49 PM »
 :metal :metal :metal
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Skeever

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #40 on: July 18, 2016, 04:15:56 PM »
Yeah I don't agree with the whole "peak" thing. Some artists peak in their 20s, some put great music out in their 60s and beyond.

Offline rumborak

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #41 on: July 19, 2016, 09:39:48 AM »
I think it's an inside vs outside kind of thing. The artist him/herself just does whatever they've been doing so far, and is maybe wondering why things are slowly fading away. The outside listener looks at it and probably has a more obvious picture of the artist just doing variations of the same theme.
"I liked when Myung looked like a women's figure skating champion."

Offline nattmorker

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #42 on: July 21, 2016, 04:40:53 PM »
I currently can't think of a band that used to fill the hell out of stadiums but has since reverted to being a club-festival band in such an extreme way as the OP proposes.

I can, however, think of a band that managed to almost be popular and had a fairly considerable popularity peak, and that happens to be Dark Moor. That band has its popularity peak with Tarot and has since been on a constant decline. Sure, their following albums have been great (Autumnal) or average at best (Ancestral Romance/Ars Musica) , but their live performances have suffered greatly.

The venues where they play are small, the stage is also unconfortably small. Their gear and their live recordings are ridiculously amateurish and much of the show is a tape because they have no keyboard player (and their songs abuse of it). It is very odd because I recall being told that their early to mid '00s performances were way above these, and their studio quality is great.
I almost feel sorry for this band, if it wasn't because they're in a great position to reinvent themselves yet they don't, instead they launch albums that get progressively simpler.

I don't mean to derail this thread, I didn't know this panorama about Dark Moor. I have listened to Ars Musica, Ancestral Romance & the new album.i thought they were getting more popular, I absolutely love Ars Musica and much of that has to do with the bass player back then, but since he quit I lost some interest, besides the new album sounds much more "simple".

Offline Darkstarshades

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Re: Musicians knowing their "peak" is over
« Reply #43 on: July 21, 2016, 10:44:26 PM »
I currently can't think of a band that used to fill the hell out of stadiums but has since reverted to being a club-festival band in such an extreme way as the OP proposes.

I can, however, think of a band that managed to almost be popular and had a fairly considerable popularity peak, and that happens to be Dark Moor. That band has its popularity peak with Tarot and has since been on a constant decline. Sure, their following albums have been great (Autumnal) or average at best (Ancestral Romance/Ars Musica) , but their live performances have suffered greatly.

The venues where they play are small, the stage is also unconfortably small. Their gear and their live recordings are ridiculously amateurish and much of the show is a tape because they have no keyboard player (and their songs abuse of it). It is very odd because I recall being told that their early to mid '00s performances were way above these, and their studio quality is great.
I almost feel sorry for this band, if it wasn't because they're in a great position to reinvent themselves yet they don't, instead they launch albums that get progressively simpler.

I don't mean to derail this thread, I didn't know this panorama about Dark Moor. I have listened to Ars Musica, Ancestral Romance & the new album.i thought they were getting more popular, I absolutely love Ars Musica and much of that has to do with the bass player back then, but since he quit I lost some interest, besides the new album sounds much more "simple".

The new album is the prime definition of lack of ambition, it's the ultimate playsafe thing disguised as a risky topic (sci-fi). They didn't even use an orchesta and actual choir, it's just Enrik and Alfred as well as a random gospel singer (they confessed in an interview) over 10 times each. While it sounds nice, it's not like they were going to do that live anyway.

Everytime I see a video of a Dark Moor show I keep wondering why the hell they don't get a goddamn keyboard player at least for touring. The technical proeficiency they had displayed so far (and most recently, Living in a Nightmare from Ars Musica, which is gold) is totally gone in Project X.

Now, don't get me wrong, Ars Musica is a good album, it is average by their previous standards in my opinion, but a great album nonetheless. They aren't getting any more popular, just check their Youtube views and their Spotify plays, they're far lower than they were back in Ancestral Romance and Tarot, they only toured Mexico as far as I know this year and the people who organized the tour were retarded enough to set the tour the week before holy week vacations..

They have the potential to fill a relatively large venue here in Mexico, but their shows aren't very promising, Enrik is just missing something, the drummer appears to be bored with what he does, the bass player could be a random guy from the audience (Agree that Mario was a great bass player, but this one idk just who he is). Alfred, for me, is great as always.
It's very awkward to see everyone stop playing while a keyboard tape starts playing, just check their live videos lately, and if you can, the Guadalajara/Mexico shows from this year, they appear to be your regular bar-playing band, which is totally unlike what their albums sound, which always have top notch quality.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2016, 10:50:51 PM by Darkstarshades »
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