shitting on their own legend

blissblogger

Well-known member
most artists carry on long after they should have stopped, so the Q might equally be "who hasn't shat on their own legend?"

but who are the ones who have most soiled their own discographies?

it might not even be a question of bad records, just the sheer quantity of 'pretty good / decent' clogging up the discography - and also the way that the dogged persistence into the present serves to strip away the mystique and romance of their legendary phase, bound up as it is with a different era

in that category, I would suggest Faust (cover stars on this month's The Wire)

in "our" corner of the world, maybe Dillinja (although there are plenty of other golden-age junglists who soldiered on into the linear fastplod not-so-golden age)

(I suppose you can't blame artists for carrying on - what are they supposed to do with the rest of their lives?)
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
thinking specifically of musical-shitting-on-self, rather than extra-musical offences in the area of personal conduct, ideological self-soiling, etc that tarnish the work by association e.g. Ian Brown covidiocy, Lydon as Brexit / Trump supporter, Morrissey across the board disgrace, Van Morrison etc

(although the musical beshitement also applies in those cases)
 

the ig

Well-known member
Beach Boys after the great (and still underrated) Holland (from ’73). Massive falling off in quality with the nostalgic ‘15 Big Ones’ (‘76), and final victory of the conservative faction in the band over the weirdos, so there was no coming back from that. Pretty much all good for the bin minus bits of ’Beach Boys Love You’ and poss one or two other things. Hugely disappointing after that fascinating broadening out in the late 60s and early 70s, which Brian’s semi-retirement both made necessary and possible.
 
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wild greens

Well-known member
I think its more applicable to dance music & DJs than traditional musicians really- there are plenty of men in mid-40s DJing to kids and reinventing themselves 2/3 times over to keep abreast, or latching onto scene to scene to keep the money coming in. It looks weird

Fiscally it is the big issue of making good money in your twenties but not quite enough to support yourself forever - if they have been full-time in music then unless they've started businesses or had secondary income then how do you "get a job" with no experience.

People like Ian Brown are curious ones as you're not really allowed to have a personal opinion on what's going on if it doesn't fit into a societal norm. I dont agree with him and he's probably a knobhead but its the trap of fame fucking him up, especially with liberal political tastes dominating music press.

As for suggesting the omen post is "uncalled for" if you're dishing it out you have to be able to take it i guess
 

luka

Well-known member
As for suggesting the omen post is "uncalled for" if you're dishing it out you have to be able to take it i guess
maybe but there is a scattering of people on here who only turn up to say something cunty and hes one of them. waste of space.
 

wild greens

Well-known member
It must be difficult being one of the artists who have the big world-renowned debuts and then struggling to meet expectations too

Loads of rappers like this. Nas
 

woops

is not like other people
tarantino's got some plan to stop after 10 films. the closest i can think of in music terms is television who deliberately took 20 years of making records. someone else will know the details
 

maxi

Well-known member
Nas is the perfect example. started with a 10/10 album then a 2% hit rate from there
 

the ig

Well-known member
PRINCE ..all those fusty, over-stuffed, supposed return-to-form albums, with everything over-worked, produced to death…utterly fatuous perfection. the confined-to-studio airlessness of them, the sense of joyless effort. retreads of pastiche. awful.
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
Its the same with journalists though isn't it? You should have stopped after Energy Flash ?
i knew someone would come back with something like that! i almost preemptively added something along those lines - "applies to writers too, some would say"
 

maxi

Well-known member
2pac's released more albums dead than alive, and they're all shit except one (makaveli). and i think he made that one when he was alive anyway

in a way thats more the legend shitting on itself rather than the artist shitting on the legend.
 

maxi

Well-known member
I bought this 7" recently for the bronski beat song and when the U2 song came on the B-side I kind of got into it. its not that great but I was surprised at how it wasn't total shit.

if they were some random post-punk band that stopped early i might be checking out that early stuff now. but the fact that it's U2 puts me off even pursuing it. I don't want to find myself liking U2 lol.
 

maxi

Well-known member
if there was any legend there to begin with I would say its long since and thoroughly tarnished
 

subvert47

I don't fight, I run away
in "our" corner of the world, maybe Dillinja (although there are plenty of other golden-age junglists who soldiered on into the linear fastplod not-so-golden age)

As to that, it's hard to name many classic dnb producers at all who've come back successfully once they've dropped off. When they've gone to crap, it seems they've usually gone for good.

Errmm...

Krust
Blame (judging from his recent releases)

Can't think of any others.
 
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