went too commercial, ie "Jumped The Shark", or went in a different direction artistically and you could no longer listen to their music from that moment.

I will start with a few:

1) Styx - "Mr. Roboto"
2) Heart - "These Dreams" - really liked early Heart music like "Barracuda" or "Magic Man"... but Heart took a completely different turn in the mid 80s
3) Bryan Adams - "Everything I Do" from the Robin Hood Movie. I really liked his early stuff with "Cuts Like A Knife" and "Reckless" album...but this Robin Hood song went completely wrong.

Probably dating myself a bit for most of you, but you get the idea...

alphaneedle said:

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went too commercial, ie "Jumped The Shark", or went in a different direction artistically and you could no longer listen to their music from that moment.

I will start with a few:

1) Styx - "Mr. Roboto"
2) Heart - "These Dreams" - really liked early Heart music like "Barracuda" or "Magic Man"... but Heart took a completely different turn in the mid 80s
3) Bryan Adams - "Everything I Do" from the Robin Hood Movie. I really liked his early stuff with "Cuts Like A Knife" and "Reckless" album...but this Robin Hood song went completely wrong.

Probably dating myself a bit for most of you, but you get the idea...

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Merle Haggard was a great country artist until he put a saxophone in his band. Been downhill ever since.

Eagles were great through most of their first three albums. Screwed it up when Don Felder joined. Got worse when Bernie Leadon left and Joe Walsh joined. The biggest selling album of all time was their Greatest Hits was from their early period with mostly the original lineup. The current Eagles are all replacements except Henley.

After guitarist and harmony singer Don Rich died in a motorcycle wreck, Buck Owens never had another hit.

Garth Brooks first two albums were great but then his ego got out control, he divorced his wife and hasn't had a decent record since.

Chicago was great until guitarist/singer, Terry Kath, shot his ownself playoff Russian roulette. They've been through 30 something members since. Barely hanging on.

More later

Elvis with a couple of exceptions was never quite as good after he got out of the army' as he was before he went in.

The Beatles never really sounded as good after the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums. A combination of drugs, fame and Yoko caused uneven output through the Sgt. Pepper, White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road albums. There were some great tracks in that period but there was a change in their sound and you could hear that the end was coming.

Pat Green

The Doobie Bros with Michael McDonald.

Ole Garth Brooks early stuff was spectacular but he kinda went off the deep end.

"The Ultimate Sin" has some pretty good stuff, but Ozzy was chasing radio air play, and looked a little ridiculous trying to fit into the "acceptably safe metal" scene.

curtpenn said:

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The Doobie Bros with Michael McDonald.

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That was the first one I thought of

alphaneedle said:

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went too commercial, ie "Jumped The Shark", or went in a different direction artistically and you could no longer listen to their music from that moment.

I will start with a few:

1) Styx - "Mr. Roboto"
2) Heart - "These Dreams" - really liked early Heart music like "Barracuda" or "Magic Man"... but Heart took a completely different turn in the mid 80s
3) Bryan Adams - "Everything I Do" from the Robin Hood Movie. I really liked his early stuff with "Cuts Like A Knife" and "Reckless" album...but this Robin Hood song went completely wrong.

Probably dating myself a bit for most of you, but you get the idea...

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I would argue even earlier for Styx. They peaked at Grand Illusion

Just about any Texas Country artist that decides to make a bit more money doing a crappy radio pop country album in Nashville.

Fleetwood Mac when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined them. Originally they were extremely bluesy with lots of very cool stuff written by founder Peter Green. Green sort of had a breakdown and stopped playing and then they went very commercial and pop with Buckingham and Nicks. They were fine as a pop group, but I still love and much prefer the early Peter Green stuff.

Stranger said:

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Chicago was great until guitarist/singer, Terry Kath, shot his ownself playoff Russian roulette. They've been through 30 something members since. Barely hanging on.

More later

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Have you seen the documentary on Kath? He stated that if he was to ever be in another band, it wouldn't have horns! He thought the Horns were a big mistake!

Kath's Death certainly impacted the group...

But you will recall that back in the day, FM radio had all the food stuff and would play the long track. Chicago was asked to cut the length of their songs ... and that is when they "hit" AM radio and had a ton of top 40 hits....

But their best stuff was their early albums ... Chicago Transit Authority album with "Soith California Purples" and their cover of "I'm a Man" was greatness!

But my favorite was from Chicago II, the long version of "Make Me Smile".

Similar to Chicago, Elton Johns early stuff was far superior to his top 40 stuff. Yes, he had a lot of huge hits, but it just wasn't the same!

He started "down" (in my opinion) with "Don't Shoot Me" and then continued with "Yellow Brick Road". I think the last album of his I bought was "Caribou".

Don't get me wrong, I love Elton.... but "Elton John", "Tumbleweed Connection" and "Madman Across the Water" were some of the best... and they still are.

His "11-17-70" was also a good album...

How many of you have his "Friends" soundtrack album? I do!

Fat Daddy said:

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Similar to Chicago, Elton Johns early stuff was far superior to his top 40 stuff. Yes, he had a lot of huge hits, but it just wasn't the same!

He started "down" (in my opinion) with "Don't Shoot Me" and then continued with "Yellow Brick Road". I think the last album of his I bought was "Caribou".

Don't get me wrong, I love Elton.... but "Elton John", "Tumbleweed Connection" and "Madman Across the Water" were some of the best... and they still are.

His "11-17-70" was also a good album...

How many of you have his "Friends" soundtrack album? I do!

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I have that album. I agree that his first three were his best. I also think when he came out he quit working so much on his records and started becoming more concerned on his stage show and trying to be and appear outrageous. I was in the radio business in those days and saw him several times during that period. Seems he went from a simple musician with a solid band to an outlandish showman with more effects and more and more people on stage.

Marvin Gaye "Sexual Healing".

curtpenn said:

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The Doobie Bros with Michael McDonald.

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Is this a popular opinion? I've only heard select songs but didn't realize people didn't like the McDonald version of Doobie Bros

Brandwin said:

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curtpenn said:

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The Doobie Bros with Michael McDonald.

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Is this a popular opinion? I've only heard select songs but didn't realize people didn't like the McDonald version of Doobie Bros

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The original Doobies had a rocking sound and a distinctive rhythm. The first two albums were killer. When McDonald came along the sound totally changed. He's a talented guy but in most folks minds the real Doobie Bros. ceased to exist.

No shark has ever been jumped quite like crooner Pat Boone doing metal covers