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Bands that got better

Pennywise. I know they're getting old, but the last record they did just flat out kicks a$$. I'm glad my favorite band is still trying to get better.
 
AC/DC
The Clash (anyone think of a bigger jump from The Clash (debut) to London Calling in 2 years?)
Talking Heads
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
 
A few of the bands mentioned in this thread I've never even heard of. I have more homework to do, I guess. That's one thing I love about AK! :thmbsp:

I have mixed feelings about one or two groups mentioned. The Beatles, for example, got tighter (in both senses of the word, I believe! :D) and better produced, more polished as time passed... but I think for the time, their early works were actually more consistently good. In the later era, they were heading off in various exploratory directions, which you might say made them more innovative, but often they were disappointing experiments, interspersed with moments of musical brilliance. I can listen to any of their early LPs, and while the edges may sometimes sound a bit ragged, the toe-tapping musicality is there. On some of their later LPs, I want to skip every other song. I'm not sure if, overall, I'd call that getting better, even if I can see (hear) the argument that says it was. I'd call it more of a trade-off.

Groups and performers that got worse or stayed the same are legion, IMO. The best LP Elton John ever did was his first one (Eponymous, with his head against a black background). Ditto for Cat Stevens (Tea for the Tillerman). Steppenwolf peaked with their second LP, although they continued --and even continue!-- to turn out some good stuff.

I suspect that in many cases, bands spent a long time working in obscurity to make their first good LP, released it to acclaim and then rushed later ones, under pressure from their labels to cash in on the popularity of the first successful ones, before the audience appeal faded. The result is that second (and subsequent) LPs are often worse than the early ones. The only groups that could resist this somewhat were the mega-performers who were worth SO much that they could somewhat dictate their schedules, and the record labels didn't dare to say too much. Just speculating here; I may be wrong about this.

But bands that consistently got better? :headscrat Hhhmmm, I have to go flip through my records and think about this...
 
Johnny Cash's "American" albums were truly incredible works, IMHO. As good or better than anything he had done at any other point in his career.
 
Fast_Eddie said:
XTC, The Replacements (well, not there at the end) The Beatles.. off the top of my head.
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I agree except for XTC, they definitely got better and/or went up and down with each release but I feel they peaked then matured into something I just wasn't as interested in somewhere after English Settlement. But they remain one of the bands whose albums I'll just automatically buy.

Arkay said:
The Beatles, for example, got tighter (in both senses of the word, I believe! :D) and better produced, more polished as time passed... but I think for the time, their early works were actually more consistently good. In the later era, they were heading off in various exploratory directions, which you might say made them more innovative, but often they were disappointing experiments, interspersed with moments of musical brilliance. I can listen to any of their early LPs, and while the edges may sometimes sound a bit ragged, the toe-tapping musicality is there. On some of their later LPs, I want to skip every other song. I'm not sure if, overall, I'd call that getting better, even if I can see (hear) the argument that says it was. I'd call it more of a trade-off.
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Just a matter of taste, all of this I guess. To me they went from an impressive pop/rock and marketing machine to blowing everything wide open with such unbelievable innovation that I'm perhaps guilty of overlooking the some of the weaker experiments in light of the bulk of creative growth. I can see your point, though.

Sam Cogley said:
Johnny Cash's "American" albums were truly incredible works, IMHO. As good or better than anything he had done at any other point in his career.
Click to expand...
:thmbsp:
 
Quickly looking through what's on my iTunes (no! the horror!)...a few bands, mostly indie acts, that got better. But..I also think most of them peaked at some point then declined.

The Replacements (as mentioned)
Yo La Tengo
Flaming Lips
Radiohead
The Magnetic Fields
The Go Betweens
Pulp
The Zombies
Bob Dylan
My Bloody Valentine

I think the second album by a band is the one that tells whether they'll be great or not. Radiohead could have gone away after Pablo Honey but The Bends was one of the best guitar albums of the '90s..and then they still evolved after that...
 
I agree with the Replacements (except for the last album which was basically a Paul Westerberg solo album) and Yo La Tengo (who has never released a bad album).
 
Hard to say, as, IMO, nobody just keeps getting better. Everybody has creative peaks and valleys, and if you hang around long enough, you get stuck in a rut creatively, descend into self parody, or experiment with new sounds or trends that don't quite work. Also, this thread doesn't appear to be limited in time or scope.

I would say the following maintained a certain quality throughout their careers, without a pronounced decline that we too often see with long running groups, though few did their best work at the end of their runs.

Roxy Music
Little Feat (Lowell George era only)
The Police
John Hiatt
The Beatles
Jimmy Hendrix
Velvet Underground
Talking Heads
Leonard Cohen
The Decemberists
The New Pornographers
Dire Straits
 
I think all bands have an arch to their careers. Even the bands that took a little time to work into their great albums did--in my opinion--eventually taper off as time went on. I guess only the bands that broke up really avoided this mortal inevitability...

So with that said...
Bands that got better with a few albums under their belt:
U2
Talking Heads
Rolling Stones
Beatles
Kate Bush
The Feelies
Bob Dylan
Wilco
Beach Boys
The Cure
The Eagles
Radiohead
Marvin Gaye
Rick Nelson
 
I'm going to add another here, Queen, who is probably my second favorite band after Rush.

I'm a fan of their '80's output more than their '70's.

Again, like Rush, their later material is not necessarily "better", just different. But while different, it is just as good or better as their earlier albums. They achieved a more mature, controlled, and polished sound, and most of my favorite Queen songs are from the '80's, a few even from the early 90's: "Innuendo" and "The Show Must Go On". Incredible songs those. Too bad Freddie got so sick and died when he did, but they probably would of broken up anyway.
 
The bands with consistent or better quality do seem to be obvious to many of us here. I 100% agree that

Johnny Cash
Neil Young (with the exception of the 80s)
Calexico
Yo la Tengo

I'd add Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett or Rogers Waters I don't really consider the last two Floyd albums to be real Pink Floyd IMO.

The somewhat obscure band Bongwater released 4 outstanding albums with no drop in quality as well IMO.



All kept experimenting and refining their chops and making interesting msuic which is all you can ask for IMO.
 
Kyuss got better...
David Bowie got better (for a while...)
Beastie Boys got better
The Pixies got better
Judas Priest got better (for a while...)
Ministry got better (for a while...)
Pantera got better
Prince got better (for a while...)
Slayer got better
Thin Lizzy got better
The White Stripes got better
White Zombie got better
 
icenine said:
AC/DC
The Clash (anyone think of a bigger jump from The Clash (debut) to London Calling in 2 years?)
Talking Heads
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Click to expand...

Rave on re the T. Heads. Excellent choice. :thmbsp:

In fact, I think Naked (their last album) is waaaaay undervalued. After they crossed the globe to get the African polyrhythms into Remain in Light, they nailed the Latin rhythms in Naked and, to my mind, were about the first pop band at the start of the launch of Latin music.
 
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