When did that artist or band jump the shark?
 

Inspired by another thread which got way off topic, I'd like to ask you if you can name a song or album when you knew (either then or now through hindsight) that a certain artist or group had gone over to the darkside.

In an effort to stay on topic, here are the rules:

1) Please keep it short and in the following format:
Artist or group name - Song or album title

2) Since I know you can't resist, please keep any additional comments to a sentence or two.

I'll start us off with a couple:

David Bowie - Tonight, the album AND song.

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire

Iggy Pop - Fire Girl from Blah Blah Blah (ugh)

David Bowie has jumped the shark many times, but he always comes up with something to redeem himself. He arguably jumped the shark when he released The Laughing Gnome in the mid 60's. :D

The Cure - Wild Mood Swings - the whole dang album was just so incredibly suck. I was going to pick Friday I'm in Love from Wish, but I really like that song. The rest of Wish could be considered a massive shark jump for Fat Bob and Friends, though.

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kiss Them For Me off Superstition. A shame, really. They put out Rapture after this album, and that was when they fell off the musical map entirely.

I can probably think of more shark jumpers, but I'm being distracted by bad Japanese anime at the moment.

Metallica - Everything after M.O.P.

S & M - Only for the listener!

Here's an easy one:

Radiohead - Kid A

You are going to get flamed for this, but I agree.

like I have said, I think that a lot of people who like this, feel this way so they can think that they are smart enough to "get it", and tell people if they didn't like it that "they just don't get it"

back to the topic at hand, I would say U2- Zooropa this is when they went from good solid rock music, to some kind of electronic sounding crap. They have returned to form somewhat with their new CD, but Zooropa and pop sucked.

I know I'm gonna get flamed for that, but I really don't care.
I was a huge fan since Pablo Honey, I had all the import singles, posters, books, etc....and then Kid A and Amnesiac came along. I didn't buy the live CD, and will never buy a Radiohead item ever again.
I totally agree with your assesment about the people who feel they "get it".

You're also right-on about U2.

I think that Kid A is horrible, however, I think Amnesiac has a few good songs. Overall they seemed to have really jumped ship though.

I would argue that U2 jumped earlier than that, in fact I can pinpoint the exact moment it happened: When they decided to remix Desire shifting from good old rock and roll into that techno/Las Vegas thing (you never even hear the original any more).

You may be right, but as far as their CD's go, Achtung Baby was pretty decent, but the next album (Zooropa) was where they instantly became unlistenable IMHO. Maybe Desire was testing the water before they decided to JTS

Another band to jump the shark very recently

No Doubt - Rock Steady Hey baby is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. Sure they werent the greatest before, but I kind of liked New and Bathwater. Hey Baby sounds like Pink or some crap.

Here's a few more:
 

Another really easy target (easier than Kid A!) would be:
The Clash - Cut The Crap

Bad Religion - No Substance
The Gray Race could take this spot, but "Streets Of America" is a great song.

Filter - Title Of Record
Losing a founding member of a 2 man duo, promoting the touring band to full-member status, and completely losing all shreds of originality just made for an awful album.

Plastilina Mosh - Juan Manuel
What the hell happened here!?!?

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Bedlam Ballroom
Half the group is new on this album, and the band takes a completely different direction towards more modern styles. It doesn't work at all.

Now, if you ask me (which you didn't but hey), Kid A is their first truly GOOD album. I think "OK Computer" is the most overrated disc to come along in some time - it's not terrible, but it's overlong, rambling and lacks identity. Kid A was the first time the band struck me as not trying to "save" alternative rock and going off and exploring their own muses, which made it MUCH more interesting to me. Diff'rnt strokes, I guess...

Here's how Metallica jumped the shark:

First, Cliff died. Fonzie is revving up the bike

They put out a video on MTV. He's heading down the ramp!

They hire Bob Rock to produce a self-titled album. Airborne!

Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute

DMB- Everyday
Creed -Weathered
Garth Brooks- In The Life Of Chris Gaines

Some bands also (IMO) tend to lose it if they put out a greatest hits album when it seems a little too early for that

[StrongBad] Here, I come, back from the dead... oh-AH HOLY CRAAAAP! [/StrongBad]

The Smashing Pumpkins lost it around Adore. A lot of people like Siamese Dream, but I think Mellon Collie was by far their best album and also one of the best 10 albums of the 90s.

I disagree on Radiohead. I think OK Computer and Kid A are both equally brilliant. Amnesiac is also very good(Pyramid Song is one of their best songs ever) but it doesn't hold up as the previous two. Radiohead has very much evolved over the years and I'm looking forward to what the finished version of Hail to the Thief will show us.

Not going to flame, but I also love Kid A (albeit, OK Computer is by far the best). However, I think it is the height of stupidity to just say someone doesn't like an album because they don't "get it." But when a band can alter their style without altering their signature, it says a lot.

In sum, there isn't anything "to get." There is just something to either like or dislike.

A weird thought just occured to me: I've never met anyone that sits on the fence with Kid A; people either seem to love it or hate it.

Re: Here's a few more:
 

I was thinking the same thing, but I was going to still go with The Gray Race. Thankfully the returned to form IMO (with the return of Mr. Brett) on The Process of Belief.

That's a lame generalization. I like Kid A (and all radioheads albums) but I don't feel smarter because of it or think that I "get" something other's don't. It's just a matter of taste. It sounds good to me so I like it. Liking or disliking music isn't a matter of intelligence.

Sepultura - Chaos AD

I had the misfortune of hearing this *before* I'd heard Arise or Beneath the Remains. Chaos is just so much weaker than the 2 albums that preceded it..... :(

-rolleyes-

Did it ever cross your mind that people might like the album?

for one thing, i think we are mixing up the definition of jumping the shark. <i>to me</i>, jumping the shark is aiming for the lowest of the low in order to succeed at the highest of the high. hopefully that makes sense. to me it's akin to "selling out" - another term that will be debated until the moon crashes into the earth.

this is why artists like springsteen have never jumped the shark. if you make music for the sake of making music, then you will never jump the shark. but, if you make music for the sake of making the market, you will inevitably jump the shark.

anyway, i have to disagree with what has been said about U2 and Radiohead. here's why:

U2 - they jumped the shark with <i>All that You Can't Leave Behind</i>. why? because up until then they had been aiming for new sounds. they consciously tried to bring back an older sound in order to bring the fans back. that is being more true to the market than to yourself (although, that does not mean that you are not being true to yourself).

Radiohead - they have yet to make an album with the market in mind. you may not like what they have made, but at least they are not trying to make the same song again and again (a la Goo Goo Dolls or Sugar Ray).

as for my list of bands and when the jumped shark:
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication (i would say One Hot Minute, but then i realized that it was just a mediocre album but not a conscious aim at the market)
Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff (trying to capitalize on what they lost by not releasing the music known as the Lillywhite Sessions)

there are certain bands that only make music <i>for</i> the market and this is not altogether bad. but, IMO, these bands are not going to go down in history as largely known favorites, for the most part (Madonna being an example of an exception).

just my 2 cents.
-di doctor-

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication, and that's not my best one. By far, the biggest, souless jumping of the shark award goes to the guys from Rage Against the Machine and Chris Cornell with their Audioslave. That was my last attempt to understand any type of popular music. But also deserving some honerable mentions

Primus - Antipop and all Claypool side projects after Antipop(you have to give it to them for not jumping shark for 15 years, but that album was weak, which is weird because all other albums were worth their weight in gold)

Hole - Celebrity Skin - I never liked hole, but were somewhat familiar with Live through this.

Marilyn Manson - whatever album came after Mechanical Animals - I always like manson as a person, very intelligent and witty during most interviews, and kind of liked his music (it was enjoyable), but all of his stuff after mechanical animals was pure garbage.

RHCP - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik - easily the most overrated album of the 90s. Easily. There jumping the shark is very similiar to Metallica's. Wow, I just noticied that. If you don't believe me, you can hear it start taking affect in Mother's Milk (very slightly, I might add, but it's full force with BSSM) and then listen to UpLift Mofo Party Plan or Freaky Styley.

Re: Here's a few more:
 

I'll take it one step further and say:
The Clash: "Sandinista" Combat Rock is overrated.

Sonic Youth: "Goo" Before this they were pure genius, after this, there were chinks in the armor.

REM: "Green". Before this they were a very distinctive and excellent band, after this they were fairly standard (Automatic for the People being the notable exception)

Prince: "Sign O'The Times": Prince's best album, followed by a precipitous fall.

The Rolling Stones: "Exile on Mainstreet" this was their greatest album. After this, the Stones made some OK stuff (eg: "Some Girls"), but the magic was gone.

The Who: "Who's Next" a lot of people will point to Quadrophenia as their last great album, but I beg to differ.

The Stone Roses: "The Stone Roses" These guys create a classic debut and then peter into nothingness.

Sly and the Family Stone "There's a Riot Goin' On": the greatest pop-soul-funk band of all time makes this classic, terrifying album about drugs and then drops of the face of the planet. Truly one of the saddest destructions of a pop icon ever.

Sinead O'Connor "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" say what you want, but I believe her first two albums are absolute classics. Everything after ripping up the pope on SNL sucked ass.

Led Zepplin: "Physical Graffiti" after this, man did they suck.

Yes "Close to the Edge" THE prog rock album. Then they made "Topographic Tales..." ugh. They went too far over the top with the pomposity.

Blur "13": "Modern Life is Rubbish", "Parklife", "The Great Escape"... these are three of the best albums of the past 20 years. "13" was a big let down, IMO.

..there are lots more.

Wow, I disagree on both. The RHCP have had a huge comeback with "Californication" and "By the Way" in my mind, they're both great albums. And, BSSM is a early ninties classic and clearly their best album...IMO. :)

The Beasties did not fall off at all with "Hello Nasty", there are some terrific tracks on that one.,

He was on water skis....