Bands/singers who seemed to taper off

[Cartman]

I can think of one or two instances where I liked their early stuff, but wasn't keen on their later material.

Off the top of my head:

Elton John. Thought his stuff from the 70s was great, but more recent songs I wasn't keen on.
Queen. Same comments really, their early/mid 70s recordings were brilliant
Oasis. Loved What's the story morning glory, and their stuff up to about 96/7, then they faded out imo
Abba. 75-80 they were brilliant, their last year or so 81/2 was a bit weak in comparison
Lady Gaga. Her first album The fame monster was brilliant, the second was ok, the third was weak

Probably more

[Sparky]

Nov 7, 2021 13:27:18 GMT Cartman said:

I can think of one or two instances where I liked their early stuff, but wasn't keen on their later material.

Off the top of my head:

Elton John. Thought his stuff from the 70s was great, but more recent songs I wasn't keen on.
Queen. Same comments really, their early/mid 70s recordings were brilliant
Oasis. Loved What's the story morning glory, and their stuff up to about 96/7, then they faded out imo
Abba. 75-80 they were brilliant, their last year or so 81/2 was a bit weak in comparison
Lady Gaga. Her first album The fame monster was brilliant, the second was ok, the third was weak

Probably more

Elton John on there.

I saw some his 1971-1975 stuff shown on various Old Grey Whistle Test retrospectives - he had quite a show, a great/tight backing band, some great numbers.

For me, he started to taper off after "I'm still Standing"in 1983.

Oasis

Early on, some great albums and singles. A good live band.

I never got into anything they did post 1999. I think it showed the way the band was going.

Abba.

As you say - 1975-1980, they were great. I think they had lost interest by about 1981 - and their marriages had dissolved. So they had run out of source material to write about.

Again - live, they had an amazing, tight and regular backing band.

Fleetwood Mac

Quite liked some of the early Peter Green era stuff from the late 60s.

Then came the mid-late 70s, with Lindsay Buckingham - some great tunes came out of the marital spats there (see Abba!).

I felt by the late 80s, some of their stuff was a bit repetitive - once you had heard one, you'd heard them all.

Coldplay

Loved a lot of their early stuff.

Anything post 2006 - apart from Paradise, just makes me feel like slitting my wrists.

Madonna

Loved most of her stuff up until around the early 90s. And she went off at a tangent. Though Ray of Light and the track from Austin Powers weren't bad.

I won't dare comment on the cover of American Pie.

Snow Patrol

A handful of good hits - and then they vanish into the wilderness. (Topic for another thread - what happened too....!)

[Three Litre]

Nov 7, 2021 13:27:18 GMT Cartman said:

I can think of one or two instances where I liked their early stuff, but wasn't keen on their later material.

Off the top of my head:

Elton John. Thought his stuff from the 70s was great, but more recent songs I wasn't keen on.
Queen. Same comments really, their early/mid 70s recordings were brilliant
Oasis. Loved What's the story morning glory, and their stuff up to about 96/7, then they faded out imo
Abba. 75-80 they were brilliant, their last year or so 81/2 was a bit weak in comparison
Lady Gaga. Her first album The fame monster was brilliant, the second was ok, the third was weak

Probably more

I don't really know Gaga's work very well but I agree with your assessment of the others, all their early stuff was excellent.

I'd add Bowie in, anything beyond '83 is not in the same league as his earlier work.

[Cartman]

Good shouts on Fleetwood Mac and Bowie. Fleetwoods high point was the brilliant Rumours album, and I was a huge fan of Bowies early/mid 70s stuff.

Gagas early stuff is very good indeed, but she seemed to run out of creativity a bit, the Star is Born collaboration with Bradley Cooper alone of her later stuff is ok.

[Sparky]

Good shout with Mr Bowie too.

I loved most of the stuff he did from 1969 - the Ziggy era and all that.

As 3L said, post 1983 it all seemed to taper away.

Mind you, Bowie was one of his own - any of his "themes" never over stayed; he quickly killed them off and moved on to the next.

I suppose once he had done something - that was it. Move on to something new and different.

For me, the Bee-Gees kind of tapered away during the late 80s.

I love everything they did from the 60s, 70s, a bit of stuff from the 80s - and by the 90s - I think "Secret Love" (Top of the Pops 1991) was about the last I took any real notice of.

Again, great musicians, a great show and in the day, another great backing band too.

People tend to be split over the trials and tribulations of Pink Floyd.

Though as many of the band members have said - there was 4 different eras of the band.

The Syd Barrett Era / The Gilmour & Waters era / The Gilmour&Mason era (due to legal reasons) and then the Gilmour/Mason/Wright era.

For me - all era's had their "Pros & cons" (sorry about the pun) - but produced some great albums.

I think they tended to taper off after the release of the "Wall" - but that was due to internal politics.

[Cartman]

The Bee Gees were at their peak in the late 70s disco era, their stuff then was just outstanding, agree, they faded out a bit in the 80s, of their later stuff, I liked Alone, was it 1997?

Pink Floyd are just not my bag at all so can't comment.

[Del Boy]

I agree with a lot of comments here. 
Elton John
His 70s stuff was fantastic and I'm lso a fan of his early 80s work . His post 85 stuff however was not my cup of tea at all.  Never liked Nikita etc.

Queen
I like their early stuff and most of their 80s output. The band were still on top form with the  It's A Kind Of Magic album, One Vision for example is a is a great track. They were a great stadium filling band at the time post Live Aid but I struggle to even remember their recordings after this point.

Oasis 
The first two albums were great then it was a rapid downward slide. 

Blur 
They like Oasis burned bright throughout the 90s but had tailed off by the time of their album 13 in the late 90s. The last record The Magic Whip from 2015 I thought was a better record. 

Fleetwood Mac 
I'd agree that Rumours was their seminal album and the following output disappointed. I do think that Tango In The Night from 1987 was a very good album indeed.   

[Sparky]

Nov 7, 2021 18:17:04 GMT Del Boy said:

Blur 
They like Oasis burned bright throughout the 90s but had tailed off by the time of their album 13 in the late 90s. The last record The Magic Whip from 2015 I thought was a better record.

Agree there Del.

A couple of early good albums and singles. Suppose, I didn't mind the mid-late 90s stuff.

I think by then, Alex James was more interested in making cheese and Damon was off doing that Gorillaz thing he did.

Also, by that time, the whole Brit-Pop/Guitar Band thing was (sadly) fading away, giving way to the crossover from the Nightclubs - when the charts were filled with "DJ this" and "DJ that".... And every kid of a certain age wanted two turn tables for christmas plus a couple of obscure white label 12" dance mixes.

I admired the talents of some DJs who could "mix" and mash up tracks together just using two CD players/Turntables and a mixer - quite a skill.

Though, not my scene!.

[Cartman]

Some of the dance/club type stuff from the early 2000s I didn't mind, it was lively, but this seemed to fade out and this awful rap noise became dominant

[Sparky]

Nov 7, 2021 18:59:08 GMT Cartman said:

Some of the dance/club type stuff from the early 2000s I didn't mind, it was lively, but this seemed to fade out and this awful rap noise became dominant

Even when you take a brief walk to the shop, there are always a group of kids with the stuff blaring out on phones.

Dreadful.