Artists Currently Riding on the Coat Tails of Their Former Glory
Submitted by BuckGS71 on Thu, 06/28/2001 - 10:40
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- Elton John: I still, to this day, cannot forgive him for the Lion King soundtrack. I loved him to death when I was younger, but now I find him utterly embarrassing. This is the guy who co-penned some truly classic pop masterpieces, but now his stuff is so vanilla even a sap-meister like Michael Bolton would find trouble singing one of his new tunes.
- Phil Collins: Whoa, what happened to his career? Oh, yeah, he's taking the Elton John scored Disney cartoon films route. Really. Okay, so the big-band thing he did was pretty interesting, but I think it's safe to say we're going to hear a lot more of the kind of songs he penned for "Tarzan" than great songs like "In The Air Tonight". Frankly, he was more fun when he had that slight edge to him.
- Stevie Wonder: He lost me after "I Just Called To Say I Love You." This is a sad case of a truly innovative artist that merely lost his focus (no pun intended) and made unremarkable music just for the sake of making music.
- Paul McCartney: Yes, Sir Paul himself. I know it was trendy to bash his post-Beatles output for being just a little too sugar-coated, and to be honest, the man does deserve the retrospection and accolades he's currently receiving. Yes, I love Mac to death, and I'd probably keel over of a heart-attack if I ever met him or got within 50 feet of him, but the truth is he's more of a figurehead than a vital musical force. I've learned not to expect much out of him creatively.
- Jimmy Buffett: Would somebody PLEASE explain to me what his appeal is? He's a so-so musician, a somewhat decent songwriter whose best songs were penned a long time ago, a lousy novelist, and one cunning businessman; I passed by his Margaritaville restaurant in New Orleans every day and it was packed to the gills, so he must be doing something right.
- Michael Jackson: No, I'm not targeting him here because of his constant tabloid entries; I'm frustrated at him for the fact that he is one phenomenal performer who is foolishly squandering his talent. Anything he's recorded after "Thriller" isn't worth discussing, because it's al been shallow, lightweight fluff that doesn't capture the Gloved One's essence whatsover.
- Prince: You know, I really don't want to add him to this list, but his post I-don't-wanna-be-called-Prince-anymore material really never came close to matching the breath-taking scope of his previous work. He's alienated too many of his fans (like me), and despite his prodigious output, a lot of his material is unfocused and forgettable. Here's hoping that since he's now calling himself Prince again, he can regain much of the glory that made him Prince.
- Metallica : Hmm...let's see. "Load", "Reload", that garbage they did with the San Francisco Symphony...oh, and something to do with Napster. Never has a band turned around and crapped on their fans worse than these clowns. Enjoy the retirement, boys, it's coming sooner than you think.
Author Comments:
Is it better to burn out than to fade away?
Recently updated, due to popular demand that the members of Metallica be hung, drawn, and quartered from the nearest tree...
May I suggest the addition of The Rolling Stones. As to Jimmy Buffett's appeal. I can expalain it thusly; Baby-boomers are allowed to get Drunk and act foolish at his concerts so the music is either the trigger to act accordingly or at least bring up some hazed induced memories that make people feel young and free. Of course as this is his appeal he has become somewhat of a joke, but you are correct in stating a very rich joke.
Any list about artists living off past glory should include Metallica. Load, S+M, MTV Contests, need I say more?
You are so right. I can't think of any band recently that has managed to alienate their fans worse than Metallica. And remember when they used to say they would always think of the fans first?
a big f@#king AMEN!!! (a "metall-amen", if you will.) i became a metalli-fan as soon as i heard "seek and destroy" when i was a kid. when i first heard Load, i defended the band because i thought it was great that they wanted to toy with new sounds. but reload sounds like a band without a purpose. then they followed it up with a cover album and a live/greatest hits album... i mean, what are they thinking?!? THEN, they start performing with the likes of kid rock, who reminds me of some of the flashy 80's glam rockers that metallica supposedly reacted against.