Knowing when to jump ship

[KevShmev]

It's never easy to tip your cap to a band or artist on a career well done and then move away from them while they are still an active band, but sometimes you just know that the downhill slide has begun and it's been to get off on the way down instead of forcing a multitude of bad albums on yourself praying for a return to form that you just know is never coming.

Has anyone ever pulled this off?  I mean quitting a band cold turkey and not bothering to check anything new out anymore.

I think I am about at that point with the Flaming Lips, after two now blah releases in a row (The Terror and Oczy Mlody).  It's clear as day that their creative peak is long gone, especially since the last show we saw of theirs wasn't nearly as good as the two we had seen prior.

I pulled it off successfully with Queensryche.  Hear in the Now Frontier was the start of the slide, but I still stuck it out and tried Q2K, which wasn't any better, so I jumped ship and I still to this day have barely heard anything new they did with Geoff Tate in the band after Q2K (maybe a few songs I eventually checked out on YT and realized they were crap).

[TAC]

 I've quit Rush a couple of times!

[Mosh]

Dunno if I can think of any. I'm always curious when a band I used to be fond of puts something out. I'll try it at least once usually.

[Crow]

i mean i haven't gone and gotten the new tesseract, periphery, or opeth albums yet and those have all been out for a while

could've. didn't.

i probably will not buy another dream theater album either.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Opeth, yeah. It seems like Mikael's not really interested in making the kind of music I enjoy, which is fine, but there's really no need for me to check out their albums anymore.

Can't really think of any others at the moment.

[Adami]

Iced Earth, kind of.

I'll still check out their new stuff, but the odds of me liking it are slim to Zook.

[Mosh]

Iced Earth, kind of.

I'll still check out their new stuff, but the odds of me liking it are slim to Zook.

Yea this one for me too. I'll listen to each album but they haven't made a half decent album in a really long time.

[Nick]

Hmmm, the one that immediately comes to mind is Firewind.

There might be others, but I got to a point to them where I don't pay any interest whatsoever after a few really mediocre releases.

[Adami]

Even though they're my favorite band, I almost bailed on PoS. If In the Passing Light of Day wasn't as god damn great as it was, I'd be gone.

[SoundscapeMN]

Murder By Death. The moment their singer started sounding like Johnny Cash and they got rid of the piano I said goodbye sans for the 1 all-instrumental soundtrack "Finch."

[lordxizor]

BE killed Pain of Salvation for me. I've barely listened to them since then even though I was a huge fan before.

Ghost Reveries killed Opeth for me as well, though I still listen to them occasionally.

[Crow]

BE killed Pain of Salvation for me. I've barely listened to them since then even though I was a huge fan before.

Ghost Reveries killed Opeth for me as well, though I still listen to them occasionally.

ghost reveries is the best opeth album though 

[Adami]

BE killed Pain of Salvation for me. I've barely listened to them since then even though I was a huge fan before.

Ghost Reveries killed Opeth for me as well, though I still listen to them occasionally.

Weird, Ghost Reveries is the only Opeth Album I regularly listen to.

And BE is my 3rd fav PoS album, though I am probably alone in that one.

[KevShmev]

To clarify, I don't mean you stop listening to the stuff you still love; I just meant you stop checking out new stuff they release.

[Adami]

Godsmack - IV

Not a good album at all. Never checked out their stuff after.

[pogoowner]

BE killed Pain of Salvation for me. I've barely listened to them since then even though I was a huge fan before.

Same here. I really lost interest after that. The newest one is surprisingly good, though.

I've pretty much jumped ship with DT. I SHOULD have jumped ship somewhere between Train of Thought and Systematic Chaos, but I liked their earlier stuff so much that they kept stringing me along. But I've basically ignored the last two albums.

[Zook]

The Offspring. Splinter was pretty decent, but a clear sign of the end. Everything after has been terrible.

I'll second Godsmack. Although I've found a few good tracks among their post Faceless albums, they've generally been pretty shitty. They reached their peak with Faceless, then tripped and fell off the mountain, hitting a soft patch now and then.

Also:

Iced Earth, kind of.

I'll still check out their new stuff, but the odds of me liking it are slim to Zook.

LOL

[bl5150]

Have done this with some of my all time favourites and rarely regretted it.


Queensryche - interest waned at Promised Land and gave up at HITNF.  Only got back on board when Tater got booted.  Didn't miss much from what I can tell.

DT -  basically dropped off after FII and never really got properly back on board until the style of DT I love returned with ADTOE.   I have bought all of the albums eventually , but never really listen to anything much outside of the first 3 , ADTOE and DT12.

Ozzy - interest waned at Ozzmosis and dropped off at Down To Earth.  No regrets there either from what I have heard.

[Nel]

...Dream Theater for me. I haven't completely written them off. I never got into the self-titled, but I just considered that a fluke for me. And then The Astonishing came out, and after one listen I never went back to it. But I don't count that as a strike because it wasn't *just* an album, it was a concept album with media that expanded beyond the music into ARG games and lore and such. If the next album doesn't grab me though, then that might be it. I didn't really like BCaSL and loved ADToE, so I know the current line-up has it in them to put out great stuff. Just hope I get to hear another album like that in the future.

I suppose Incubus too. It was a long gap between the 2006 album and the 2011 one, and the 2011 album was so damn boring I wondered if the band was just losing it's creative spark as the guys approached their late 30s/early 40s. I'll give the new album a shot though.

[erwinrafael]

Bon Jovi. Very big fan up to These Days and then I forgot to buy their next album. Never bought another album since.

[bl5150]

Bon Jovi. Very big fan up to These Days and then I forgot to buy their next album. Never bought another album since.

Ditto for them too .  I dropped off after Keep The Faith though and have never regretted that. 

[Nel]

I'll third Bon Jovi. So many bands like that have devolved into boring dad rock. I'd add Goo Goo Dolls to that pile. 

[?]

I'm pretty bad at jumping ship completely tbh Even when bands like In Flames have gone down the gutter, I've listened to their new albums out of morbid curiosity, though I won't buy them.

[Zydar]

Judging from their recent couple of albums (especially TA) DT could sadly be in this category for me. I'll give 'em another shot with the next one, but I've moved on to other bands and genres.

[jjrock88]

Not much interest in Ozzy after Ozzmosis

Haven't been checking out newer Iced Earth either

[PowerSlave]

...Dream Theater for me. I haven't completely written them off. I never got into the self-titled, but I just considered that a fluke for me. And then The Astonishing came out, and after one listen I never went back to it. But I don't count that as a strike because it wasn't *just* an album, it was a concept album with media that expanded beyond the music into ARG games and lore and such. If the next album doesn't grab me though, then that might be it. I didn't really like BCaSL and loved ADToE, so I know the current line-up has it in them to put out great stuff. Just hope I get to hear another album like that in the future.

I've been done since Black Clouds. They went from being my favorite band to being almost completely ignored.

[BlobVanDam]

If it's a band that I've gotten in to based on their new/recent material, I'll almost always keep up with what they release out of interest. If the last 3 DT albums haven't stopped me, I don't think anything will.

[Train of Naught]

Kind of just did this with Iron Maiden and Metallica with their latest releases

Weirdly enough, Iron Maiden's reunion era has most of my favourite songs and albums, but I could never sit through that Book of Souls album, found it really boring. Maybe I'll give their next one (if this happens) a try but I seriously doubt it.

I've put on some of the Hardwired to Self Destruct songs on youtube but same for them, no interest in finishing the album as there was simply not enough to like. Similarly, Death Magnetic is one of my favourite Metallica releases, though that release has been a pretty long time ago, seems like they kind of moved away from that style.

[Lowdz]

Rush for me after Roll The Bones. Haven't liked a single song they did after that until Clockwork Angels.

Queensryche after Promised Land.

Bon Jovi after New Jersey really, though I still kept buying albums until they went country.

Every 80s hair metal band that tried to go grunge. Yuk.

Guns n Roses after Appetite. I'd come to hate Axl by the time UYIs came out. Still don't own them or Chinese Democracy.

Def Leppard after Adrenalize. Again I kept buying albums hoping it would change but every album was worse than the last.

[Polarbear]

Judging from their recent couple of albums (especially TA) DT could sadly be in this category for me. I'll give 'em another shot with the next one, but I've moved on to other bands and genres.

I agree unfortunately..

Haven't listened to the self titled since 2014, and while i appreciated their efforts with the latest, it never resonated with me unlike their old albums.

I also agree with others about: Iced Earth, Def Leppard, Queensryche and In Flames.

I'd like to add: Melodic Death Metal in general. Years ago i listened nothing but MDM, but i just got sick of the style eventually. I still listen to Soilwork occasionally, and always check their new stuff.

[Mladen]

I saw the thread title and immediately knew it was KevShmev. 

I'm not sure about this, because I sort of gave up on certain bands in terms of not expecting return to form or a pleasant surprise, but I still check out the albums once they're out. Bands like Megadeth, Gamma Ray and Symphony X are not very likely to release anything I'll be blown away by, but I check out the new stuff nevertheless. Just to see what they're up to. I'm not sure why I do it. Maybe I pick apart a song or two I enjoy. Or maybe it's the need to having heard the entire discography and still be familiar with the current works.

[jingle.boy]

Judging from their recent couple of albums (especially TA) DT could sadly be in this category for me. I'll give 'em another shot with the next one, but I've moved on to other bands and genres.

   

80s bands that couldn't keep up their mastery of the 80s (and early 90s) output - Bon Jovi and Def as mentioned, but I'll also throw in Whitesnake, Tesla, Mr. Big and a handful of other B and C list bands.

Metallica for me - 80s = excellent; s/t was great; I liked most of Load.  Nothing since has had any appeal.
U2... Rattle & Hum was mediocre; Achtung Baby was 1/2 killer, 1/2 filler; They totally lost me at Zooropa (other than a few tracks here and there)
Kiss... lost interest in them after Hot in the Shade

[ariich]

I don't find this too difficult now that we have streaming services, which make it very easy to check out a new album with zero commitment or cost (beyond the streaming subscription I'm paying anyway). So there are definitely bands that I've lost interest in. But if I'm still a fan, even if their recent output doesn't interest me anymore then I'll normally still check out a new album at least once.

[King Postwhore]

There was a time after the album "Yield" that I lost interest in Pearl Jam.  The last 3 albums were so good that I'm back on the PJ Train.

[KevShmev]

I don't find this too difficult now that we have streaming services, which make it very easy to check out a new album with zero commitment or cost (beyond the streaming subscription I'm paying anyway). So there are definitely bands that I've lost interest in. But if I'm still a fan, even if their recent output doesn't interest me anymore then I'll normally still check out a new album at least once.

Okay, but if you check their new album out for free, then that goes against the idea behind this thread. 

To reiterate, when I say jumping ship, I don't mean losing interest, but still checking stuff out; I mean losing interest to where you stop listening to almost anything new (barring hearing something on the radio, TV, etc.).

In that regard, streaming services makes it much harder to jump ship on a band completely, since it's pretty easy now to check out their new stuff for free somewhere, while back in the day, it was buy the CD to hear it or you probably hear it anywhere.