Bands you went off after they "discovered" synthesisers / drum machines / etc

hotopinions
synths
#1

It’s something of a cliche of the last few years for bands to produce guitar centric debuts and then discover drum machines or synths and lose that live band sound that made you like them in the first place. Fans are always “shocked” at the new direction and the band are always “happy with the results”. I’m looking at you The Big Pink, The Kills and now Now, Now. Now.

Which bands did you lose interest in when they went “electro/synth/pop” and which bands got better. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed Radiohead more since they “went Erasure”.

#2

Ed sheeran

#3

Any examples of the opposite of this happening?

#4

Mötley Crüe (no, YOU shut up) - Shout At The Devil, Theater Of Pain, Girlsx3 and De Feelgood are all bona fide hair metal classics. For some reason, at the absolute height of their popularity, they decided to explore their ‘industrial’ direction and have been shit ever since :-1:

#5

Wild Beasts who went off the deep end after releasing Smother

#6

Kraftwerk after they ditched all live instrumentation after the first three albums?

#7

Yes, I forgot about them. Another good example. It always happens when they’re having writer’s block or some such shit. Ooh, look, knobs and buttons, now I don’t need to write any tunes. If it’s good enough for Ajax Twin or whatever.

#8

To be honest, Radiohead went shit as soon as they started using drums.

#9

Animal Collective?

#10

until I came to my senses and realised that all their stuff is ok, the only wolves in the throne room album I liked was Celestite

#11

And I’m being unfair on The Kills, cos they really it got it right with Midnight Boom (which meshed the beats and guitars very well). No Wow was poor though.

#12

I might be in the minority, but I thought Wye Oak pulled it off pretty amazingly on Shriek.

#13

The third Twilight Sad album is an example of a group not doingnit right. Then their fourth is an example of what they ate like when they do it right.

#14

Yep. I knew there were many, many reasons why I started this thread. That third concrete-grey Twilight Sad album was one of them.

#15

He did it so seamlessly and masterfully that I almost forgot to include him in this thread.

#16

Still maintain that Reflektor is a quite good album, just doesn’t really hit the mark all the way through, but there’s a lot of massive jams in there. Everything Now is crap though, no debate there.

Favourite Twilight Sad album does change a lot but I properly love No One Can Ever Know, brilliant album.

Early guitary Radiohead sounds like proper shit to me, can’t really be doing with OK Computer at all. Kid A is a very good album though, I have no personal connection to it at all because I first listened to it last year at the age of 25 so it didn’t open any doors to me or leave a big impression on me or whatever it is that keeps nerds obsessing over Radiohead, but I can stick it on and be like “yeah, this is really good, this is what I like”. In Rainbows also pretty good, most recent two were decent for a couple of listens. (None of this is a hot take, don’t accuse me of one).

TAYLOR SWIFT is the correct answer to this thread. Obviously 1989 gets a free pass for being a pretty much perfect album. But when Red came out I laughed out loud at how bad I Knew You Were Trouble was, and Reputation is awful and it hurts me.

#17

Talk Talk

#18

Such a disappointment

#19

Bloc Party

Second album is a bit synthy… isn’t it? Can’t really remember

#20

I loved this album. Not 100 percent sold yet on what I’ve heard of the new one though.