Rockers Who Should Just Stop Making Records?

MSN music recently published an editorial entitled 10 Artists Who Should Stop Making Records. While there is ten of them, I’m going to weed out the Rock relevant ones and a snip of their article with my views on it at the end.

The Black Crowes
MSN Said:

”Remember the recent controversy in which Maxim magazine reviewed the new Black Crowes album before the writer had even heard it? Well, that is obviously inexcusable, but here’s the thing no one seems willing to say: He was right. (They must not have read my post at Metalmartyr)

You don’t really need to hear a Crowes record to know what you’re going to get, because you always get the same thing: roots rock with an overstated, Southern hippie twang.

The Who
MSN Said:

””Endless Wire,” the putative Who album from 2006 was one of the most painful listening experiences I can remember — not one good song, not one good part. How was this the Who? Well, it wasn’t. And now they’re working on a new one. Here’s hoping they never finish.”

Ray Davies
MSN Said:

”And although you’d have to think at least twice before suggesting that the man who wrote “Waterloo Sunset,” “You’ve Really Got Me,” “Lola” and about three dozen other perfect songs was anything other than a genius, you need only suffer through “Café” once to know that the pistons have stopped firing.”

Bryan Adams
MSN Said:

”Umm … how to put this gently? Never good (not “Summer of ‘69,” not “Heaven,” not even “Cuts Like a Knife,” which I heard just last week), and only getting worse with age. If indeed, everything you do, you do it for me, I have but one request: Pull the plug.”

The Rolling Stones
MSN Said:

”it’s been at least three decades since “the world’s greatest rock and roll band” could genuinely lay claim to that title. And yet, every time they mount a new tour, a new album comes along to diminish the worth of what should, in fairness, be called “the world’s greatest rock and roll brand.”

Elton John
MSN Said:

”His dew-stained do-over of “Candle in the Wind” should have gotten him banished from polite society. Instead, it saved his bacon for the millionth time. How many “Lion King”s can he pull out of his straw boater before the whole toupee comes flying off with it? Time will tell.

Def Leppard
MSN Said:

”Not because it’s more rock to be old, but because anyone who isn’t 20 has no business making music so brainless — just ask their new album. Pour some ointment on them; they’re done.”

This was a pretty ballsy editorial. I can be a huge cynic when it comes to some bands and I can also agree with a few of these, especially not being a fan of the ones I agree with. But that’s just the thing. If you’re not a fan of the band you really don’t want them to make anymore music. However, if you are a fan sometimes that’s the case as well because it all becomes just a mediocre parody of their classics that don’t quite hit the spot. A band that is a classic icon announces that they are coming out with a new record and it’s hype up beyond necessity and when it comes out it just another short fallen rock album that becomes a part of a collection instead of an album that you are interested in. It’s nice to look at among the rest of your cd’s but it’s going to get dusty. There are also fans that not matter how bad a new record is by their favorite band, will somehow convince themselves that it’s an epic album and defend it to the death…or just defend it.

So who do I think needs to stop making new records? KISS. They need to stop making new records, stop making new compilations of the old records and stop re-recording the old records. Just sell your trinkets and tour to the oldies. Dee Schneider said in a statement awhile ago that Twisted Sister would keep touring and playing the old stuff. He said they were not interested in making new music because nobody wants new Twisted Sister music and he’s not about the follow that trend. Dee Schneider may not be the best looking dude, but underneath that thick head of 80’s blonde hair is a brain that most rock stars will never have. You can also thank Dee and Frank Zappa for saving us all from the PMRC.

Read it all here: 10 Artists Who Should Stop Making Records