Rock groups that hit their commercial peak when their best work was behind them
Take a look at the peak US Billboard Album chart position for all of their albums from Kill 'em All to Reload.
Kill ‘em All (1983) - #66
Ride The Lightning (1984) - #48
Master of Puppets (1986) - #29
And Justice for All (1989) - #6
Black Album (1991) #1
Load (1996) #1
Reload (1997) #1
We also agreed that Metallica's best work was in the rear view mirror, but the time of the breakthrough into the rock main stream- i.e., the Black Album in 1991.
The closest analog I could think of was AC/DC. They were considerably less commercially successful than Metallica at first - arguably due to their being an a foreign act - but their journey from unknown to mega band / superstars only took roughly 4 years in the US (i.e., 1976- 1980). But like Metallica, AC DC's artistic peak had already come and gone by the time of their first #1 record.
High Voltage (1976) – #146
Let there Be Rock (1977) - #154
Powerage (1978) - #133
Highway to Hell (1979) - #17
Back In Black (1980) - #4
For Those About to Rock (1981) - #1
Another comp, I wanted to pull was Van Halen. By comparison, the were already one of the biggest acts in rock by the second album, but didn't actually top the charts until the shitty, Van Hagar era.
Van Halen I (1978) - #19
Van Halen II (1979) - #6
Women and Children First (1980) - #6
Fair Warning (1981) - #5
Diver Down (1982) – #3
1984 (1984) - #2
5150 (1986) - #1
OU812 (1988) #1
Comments
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Good call on AC DC
I think Yes has a place on this
From prog rock to dance music stars. Their later hits boosted sales on their earlier better work
The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge were their peak
Those ended up with pretty good US sales but barely cracked top 40 when released
FM radio baby -
Fragile was a #4 Album and Closer was #3. So I'd argue this was actually their commercial and artistic peak happening concurrently.RaceBannon said:Good call on AC DC
I think Yes has a place on this
From prog rock to dance music stars. Their later hits boosted sales on their earlier better work
The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge were their peak
Those ended up with pretty good US sales but barely cracked top 40 when released
FM radio baby
90125 was #5.
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Yeah the biggest interesting point to me with Metallica is not only the duration of them toiling in "relative obscurity" (they were not at all obscure to hardcore metal heads but the broader world had no idea at all who they were until One went on MTV in 89), but the point that the best music they ever made was during the 8 year period they weren't super popular. The Black album was the inflection point - probably the worst (or second worst) album of the first five, but the one that launched them to be the biggest global touring draw of the entire 90's and a bonafide icon status.
Just a weird career arc. Yella and I podded back and forth quite a bit on this. ACDC was the most analogous we could come up with.
edit: You look at the other MEGA bands of the last 60 years - Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, CCR, GnR, etc. - and they were all big right out of the gate. -
The Who are a little bit of an outlier. I took them a few years to get to make it over to the US to play live in 1967 (their first album was 1965). And they didn't really become a mega band until Tommy (1969) and Woodstock.Swaye said:Yeah the biggest interesting point to me with Metallica is not only the duration of them toiling in "relative obscurity" (they were not at all obscure to hardcore metal heads but the broader world had no idea at all who they were until One went on MTV in 89), but the point that the best music they ever made was during the 8 year period they weren't super popular. The Black album was the inflection point - probably the worst (or second worst) album of the first five, but the one that launched them to be the biggest global touring draw of the entire 90's and a bonafide icon status.
Just a weird career arc. Yella and I podded back and forth quite a bit on this. ACDC was the most analogous we could come up with.
edit: You look at the other MEGA bands of the last 60 years - Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, CCR, GnR, etc. - and they were all big right out of the gate. -
Hard to argue with any of that.
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Those pre Highway to Hell albums are loaded with all time classics for AC DC but they just didn't sell worth a shit initially until Mutt came into make their sound more accessible.dflea said:Hard to argue with any of that.
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I think a case could be made for ZZ Top...
ZZ Top's First Album (1971) - #201
Rio Grande Mud (1972) - #104
Tres Hombres (1973) - #86
Fandango (1975) - #91
Tejas (1976) - #124
Deguello (1979) - #58
El Loco (1981) - #141
Eliminator (1983 - #5...I want my mTv
No #1's, but still...
It is certainly subjective, but at their commercial peak, I stopped listening to the new stuff -
I think a lot of this has to do with the popularity of the music video in the 80s and early 90s. Just think how many bands would have never been big without a music video, and others died due to not making one or making a bad one.
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This is a pretty good pull. Clearly, early to mid 70's ZZ Top was better than 80's MTV ZZ Top and it's not close.Fishpo31 said:I think a case could be made for ZZ Top...
ZZ Top's First Album (1971) - #201
Rio Grande Mud (1972) - #104
Tres Hombres (1973) - #86
Fandango (1975) - #91
Tejas (1976) - #124
Deguello (1979) - #58
El Loco (1981) - #141
Eliminator (1983 - #5...I want my mTv
No #1's, but still...
It is certainly subjective, but at their commercial peak, I stopped listening to the new stuff
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MTV was the Ed Sullivan of the 80's.alumni94 said:I think a lot of this has to do with the popularity of the music video in the 80s and early 90s. Just think how many bands would have never been big without a music video, and others died due to not making one or making a bad one.
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@swaye possible analog with Metallica and Fleetwood Mac. In their pre Lindsey Buckingham/ Stevie Nicks iteration, they only (barely) cracked the US top 50 a couple of times in their first 9 attempts from 1968- 1974. Then "Fleetwood Mac" in 1975 and "Rumors" in 1977 both topped the charts and they were arguably the biggest band in the world at that point.
But it seems with Fleetwood Mac, it's really a tale of two completely different bands that happened to have the same name and same drummer and bassist. -
Like David Lee Roth said on Rogan in 2019, if you look at any rock or rap video of today, there's a little bit of David Lee Roth in all those videos.alumni94 said:I think a lot of this has to do with the popularity of the music video in the 80s and early 90s. Just think how many bands would have never been big without a music video, and others died due to not making one or making a bad one.
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I think was the only Rogan pod I ever got the whole way through. Just never got into his show for what ever reason (nothing Tug related or anything like that).DerekJohnson said:
Like David Lee Roth said on Rogan in 2019, if you look at any rock or rap video of today, there's a little bit of David Lee Roth in all those videos.alumni94 said:I think a lot of this has to do with the popularity of the music video in the 80s and early 90s. Just think how many bands would have never been big without a music video, and others died due to not making one or making a bad one.
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These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
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I think The Flame is Cheap Tricks only number one hit and they had to get an outside songwriter for it.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums. -
The Beegees album sales peaked with Saturday Night Fever, but their stuff from the late 60s and early 70s is way better.
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I feel like Aerosmith’s comeback was fueled by not only letting Run DMC do Walk This Way but making it a joint effort.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
If you find a greatest hits album from Run DMC, it’ll have Walk This Way on it but Aerosmith’s greatest hits will only have the original version. -
Solid pull on Aerosmith @El_K . The judges will accept. They never hit #1 until Get a Grip and Nine Lives. Well past their mid 70's artistic peak. Rocks did make it to #3.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerosmith_albums_discography
Same is true for Heart. Their commercial peak came in 1985 - 90. Not with their mid 70's classics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_discography -
Great suggestions. I never liked Aerosmith and still don't, but couldn't agree more that their peak period was pre 80s.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
Heart owned the 80s big hair, power ballad genre. They weren't as prolific as Chicago (another candidate for this) or Foreigner, but better than both.
I hated them for it back then. Nowadays I even appreciate how good they were at that.
In reality the best thing either Wilson sister did after the 70s was when Anne joined Alice In Chains on the Sap EP. -
I didn’t even think about Aerosmith, who I loved right up to Draw the Line, when they had the v.1 meltdown. Toys / Rocks was the peak for me…
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Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:
https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE -
Too soon @chuck ?chuck said:Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE
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I've said many times that newbs shouldn't mess with handguns.YellowSnow said:
Too soon @chuck ?chuck said:Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE -
I think these bands would be considered
The Cure
Before Disintegration they had a not charted, 186, 193, 133, 180, 59, and 35
After Disintegration went to #12, they had a 2, 12, 16, 7, 16
Depeche Mode
Before Violator they had 192, 177, 51, 90, and 35
Violator went to #7.
after Violator they had a 1, 5, 8, 7, 3, 6 and a 5, probably can’t name a song from those albums. -
Is Terry still alive with a good, old fashioned wheel gun instead of a 9mm? His .38 didn't get him but the 9mm did.chuck said:
I've said many times that newbs shouldn't mess with handguns.YellowSnow said:
Too soon @chuck ?chuck said:Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE -
I actually didn't know any details. So it was a 9mm eh?YellowSnow said:
Is Terry still alive with a good, old fashioned wheel gun instead of a 9mm? His .38 didn't get him but the 9mm did.chuck said:
I've said many times that newbs shouldn't mess with handguns.YellowSnow said:
Too soon @chuck ?chuck said:Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE
Yeah, probably. -
He was fucking around with the roadies 9mm. The mag was empty but there was one still in the chamber and as a joke he put the thing to his head.chuck said:
I actually didn't know any details. So it was a 9mm eh?YellowSnow said:
Is Terry still alive with a good, old fashioned wheel gun instead of a 9mm? His .38 didn't get him but the 9mm did.chuck said:
I've said many times that newbs shouldn't mess with handguns.YellowSnow said:
Too soon @chuck ?chuck said:Chicago at their artistic peak, 1970:
https://youtu.be/-daSUCz-IFo
Chicago at approximately their commercial peak, 1982:https://youtu.be/1A0MPWseJIE
Yeah, probably. -
WHAM!
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Foreigner suckschuck said:
Great suggestions. I never liked Aerosmith and still don't, but couldn't agree more that their peak period was pre 80s.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
Heart owned the 80s big hair, power ballad genre. They weren't as prolific as Chicago (another candidate for this) or Foreigner, but better than both.
I hated them for it back then. Nowadays I even appreciate how good they were at that.
In reality the best thing either Wilson sister did after the 70s was when Anne joined Alice In Chains on the Sap EP. -
El_K said:
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.JoeEDangerously said:
I think The Flame is Cheap Tricks only number one hit and they had to get an outside songwriter for it.El_K said:These are just off the top of my head. Not sure about the numbers and such
Aerosmith. I remember buying Permanent Vacation on a whim. Turned out to be I was onto something. Then Aerosmith became huge again.
Heart. I liked early Heart. Then it got really MTV-ized.
Sammy Hagar.
Cheap Trick. Granted their #1 song was it. They then went back to making not good albums.
My first introduction to Cheap Trick was via MTV and their lame cover of “Don’t Be Cruel.” It wasn’t until years later that I heard “Surrender” and realized they were once something before being lame.
Never heard of “The Flame.” I’ve always assumed “Surrender” was the hit that carried that band.
