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danny316
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« Reply #47 on: June 10, 2006, 02:52:03 PM » |
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Yes, I've been working on a list for this thread on-and-off for two months....
I wouldn't say that I've disowned all of these, but they are bands who haven't been doing as much for me recently for some reason or another.
KJ-52 - Those guest appearances on Collaborations tricked me. I still like some of the better songs here, like the ones he did with Mars Ill and Pigeon John. Then he had to try the "more of the same" trick, and he couldn't even keep up with the standard set by some of the guests on his album.
Third Day - I really wanted to like these guys. I kind of liked a few of their singles. Once I started to pay more attention to them, I realized that they, like most Christian rock groups, are of the devil.
MWS - Much like Third Day, I liked some of the earlier singles I heard, but was repulsed once I got closer to the albums. Actually, I saw both MWS and Third Day at Creation fest one year and they both repulsed me with their satanic ways live as well. I didn't actually walk out on MWS (at the time I didn't mind boring praise music), but I did walk out on Third Day. Both bands are of the devil, and hence, completely blacklisted for me, unless Corrupt Christianity announces a job opening.
Newsboys / Steve Taylor - It was easy for me to enjoy these guys back when I still could put up with Steve Taylor most of the time. He's still a great lyricist, but I take issue with a number of his beliefs, and frankly, they drag down both Steve's solo material and some of the better Newsboys songs. Also, I didn't care much for either worship album I've heard. Truth be told, I still like most of the highlights from both Steve and the Newsboys, even though I find some of their other stuff merely tolerable most of the time. C'mon, "I Want to Be A Clone" and "Lost the Plot" are just great songs.
U2 - In Christian music, it's expected that you will rip off a popular mainstream group from a few years back when coming up with "your sound". It's a little bizarre, though, when you, as a so-so Christian rock group, rip off your earlier selves, the biggest band in the world. I still listen to all periods of these guys, but c'mon, they've totally jumped the shark with those last two albums.
Paul Wright - I liked his first single but was never completely into his first album, which only had a few decent songs. Then he kind of disappeared.
Creed and P.O.D. - The singles seemed so good, so what happened on the albums?
Vanessa Carlton - You'd think that her label would have produced her album very differently than they did. Some of those songs should have been thrown out, and the dated feel of a few of the tracks was absurd considering how enjoyable the singles were. Of course, when I say singles, I'm including her 'Stones cover but not "Pretty Baby".
Sonicflood - So, how long have you been a member of Sonicflood? So the rest of the band started a few years before you? Wait a second, you're not even the same band? Who are you greedy sickos?
tobyMac - OK, variety is a good thing when you're starting a CD collection. However, once you have a few, you start to look for quality, and well...this album didn't have as much quality as it had variety. I think it was a good purchase for when I bought it, but I also think I made a good decision by giving it to a friend now that it's outstayed its welcome here. (To those who know who you are, shove it.)
I'm still holding out for them, but I probably shouldn't be:
Lifehouse - Good first two albums, mediocre third album, so-so live show, but they had a great opening act.
Switchfoot - Since when did Switchfoot need fairly generic songs to pad out their albums? I like enough of Nothing Is Sound to not dismiss it completely, but c'mon "We Are One Tonight"? What is that crap?
Fold Zandura - You broke up and did WHAT?!?! for the rest of your careers? Big mistakes, all of it.
Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins - Album is just so-so, live show a bit better, but the new songs played at the live show are (with one exception) better than the album cuts. Alas, though, the vocals make me melt, and I do like some musical subtlety....
The Arcade Fire - Because, yeah, right, they're totally going to top "Funeral". Suuuure they will.
Jars of Clay - These guys are still one of my favorite bands, but after "Furthermore", "The Eleventh Hour", and "Redemption Songs", it's getting to the point where I think nearly half of their stuff isn't that good. Four really good (if not great) albums is a decent track record, but once you throw in four fairly dull discs on top of that, it starts to look pretty bad.
Tyler Burkum - Let's face it, he's been the talented guy in Audio A for a while now. He has as much potential as a post-AA solo artist as the band had together in the first place.
Sam Phillips - Yes, I'm ready for the stoning. Seriously though, can't she try to do a bit more on one album sometime? The Turning was so-so pop, Martinis and Bikinis decent Beatlesque stuff, the Fan Dance a short but decent set of songs, and A Boot and A Shoe an overstatement in the subtlety department. Put together, I think she might have one full disc of material that I really love. I mean, she's a talented artist and all, but would it kill her to try more than one major idea per album?
Jennifer Knapp - You are alive, right? Right?
Cool Hand Luke - So how many of the band members are ACTUALLY part of the big reunion thing? Just one? Isn't that a little strange?
Relient K - These guys have enough good songs to make me think that they're still worthwhile, but truth be told, I can't listen to any of their albums from start-to-finish anymore. I made myself a best-of-Relient K mix that I'm pretty happy with though, and I was able to fill a good 80 minutes without a problem.
Barenaked Ladies - "Stunt" and "Maroon" are good albums. Not great, but very enjoyable for the most part. I don't like any post-Maroon singles that I've heard from them though. I should try to find some of their earlier stuff before giving up on them, I think.
I have a new catagory to add: Bands I keep changing my mind on because they both scare me away and impress me at random.
Rebecca St. James - So-so radio singles. Great live show, for the most part. So-so album.
Sanctus Real - Decent first single. Terrible live show. Decent U2 cover. So-so follow-up single. Great live show. Decent CD. Terrible first-single-on-next-CD.
Caedmon's Call - Hated the first song I heard, liked the next, began to tolerate them in general after a while. Then I heard a few songs I really didn't like from what Murlough makes sound like their dark ages. Then I splurged on their self-titled and was impressed (I still don't care for Caedmon's as a band, but I think their self-titled is one of the best CCM albums I've heard).
The Violet Burning - Wanted to like them because Nakedprey and other people whose tastes seemed similar to mine liked them. Splurged on CD and had a hard time getting into it. Realized a few months later when trying to give it another chance that I had missed a truly great album. Fell in love with that CD, then bought another CD, only to find out that their newer stuff isn't anywhere near as good. Then I heard their new one, which was decent enough, I guess, although nothing like their self-titled.
Astronaut Pushers - Matt Slocum's in a new band! Erm, the early streams don't sound exciting. Later heard the EP and a live show and realized how good they were. Now I'm afraid they'll falter when they do release a proper album.
Threefold - Good guests on second album, but the album's not that good. The guests alone attracted me to check them out at a live show, and they do a great show. Since I really liked a little more than half of their second album, I checked out their first, which really isn't anything exciting.
Burlap to Cashmere / Steven Delopoulos - I hated "Basic Instructions", liked the downloads on Steven's site, kind of liked "Eileen's Song", then I got Steven's album and it had to grow on me (but now I love it). After getting into Steven's album several months after buying it, I went to see him live, and didn't like the show at first. Once he played "Jungle Trail" for me after the show, I decided that, on a whole, the show wasn't bad, but it might have gone a bit too far in the "intimate" catagory since he focused on his favorites by other people instead of his own material, and since, well, about 8 other people showed up. Cue long period of contemplating the merits of the "intimate" concert style.
Plumb - Decent singles, so-so live show, great debut album.
John Reuben - Decent singles, so-so live show, better live show, so-so album (Hindsight), solid live show, solid album (Professional Rapper), didn't care for follow-up single (Nuisance). I probably would have loved his serious side-project if that came to fruition, but I'm less than excited about the concept of marrying half of that with an album of party music, so I won't check out his latest until I see it cheap sometime.
Thousand Foot Krutch - Entertaining singles, so-so second album, good live show. They're more about being a fun live band than a creative force and they know it, and that tends to give me a mixed reaction (see Audio Adrenaline).
Steven Curtis Chapman - Yeah, he's generic AC-pop by choice, but he has some decent songs. His singles get mixed reactions from me, but I liked him live at Creation fest. I bought "Declaration" on the cheap but then never felt the urge to give it a shot (although I really should).
I agree with plvarona's first comments on Out of Eden, Tait, and Tree63. I think dgp summed up the Paul Colman Trio pretty well, although I kind of agree with murlough's response to that too. He wasn't always a jerk about the hand motions, you know, and he actually forgot about them for a while there. I know the kid who reminded him about them, and asked him to start doing them again, actually. She's a real snob about getting people to do them.
I actually listen to Coldplay more now than I did in the first place. Parachutes is a bit of a grower, if you ask me. "Shiver" is the high point (of their career), and the other songs are just a bit too subtle if you ask me.
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