As a young lad he would regularly beat the likes of Jamie Cullum and Chris Martin* in young musician competitions. Ended up paying his way through uni doing paid hotel/bar gigs and is a phenomenal pianist but can play just about anything. But he couldn't sing well enough, so never got the chance to marry a supermodel or Gwenith Paltrow.
Doesn't seem to have held him back in his career as a divorce lawyer tbf - business is booming.
(*my sister in law's claim to 'fame' is she once cooked him a spag bol' before his vegan days)
Syd Barrett. Cooked his brain with LSD, would spend pink floyd gigs staring into space and eventually the band stopped picking him up before gigs. He then randomly turned up to the studio when they were recording “wish you were here” - an album dedicated to their friend, overweight and bald, trying to brush his teeth by jumping up and down whilst holding his toothbrush still.
his rhythm guitar playing was great and his lyrics had a delicate English charm to them. What a waste.
Not such a dramatic decline, but Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode. The man who's arrangements helped turn Martin Gore's songs into epic records, left the band in 1995 to do his own "eclectic" stuff, but it's never sold well and he seems disillusioned with the whole music business now.
Depeche are still going strong, but their music has never been the same since.
George Michael to me rather wasted the second half of his career, when you consider how prolific he was in the 80s and early 90s, and the quality of his singing and writing, as the drugs then started really taking a toll.
Not such a dramatic decline, but Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode. The man who's arrangements helped turn Martin Gore's songs into epic records, left the band in 1995 to do his own "eclectic" stuff, but it's never sold well and he seems disillusioned with the whole music business now.
Depeche are still going strong, but their music has never been the same since.
That's a great call. I remember thinking it might be the end of them when Vince Clarke left, but under Gore and Wilder they were never better.
John Kongos. Made one excellent album ( there was a previous one which I've never even heard) with some really good session musicians then completely disappeared, apparently writing TV music and ad jingles. Of course his first hit, "He's Gonna Step On You again" regained popularity when The Happy Mondays recorded it as "Step On You" with the original sampled. Probably one of those songs many don't realise is actually a cover version.
Very genre specific and not to everyone’s taste but R Kelly was a fantastic R&B songwriter and producer. Then, because of his deviancy, he pissed it all away. Literally.
Leona Lewis for me, fantastic singing voice in line with Whitney Houston but her music career stopped for some reason.
She did (does) have an quality voice and I thought she’d be making music for the long haul. Shame she isn’t.
Another female vocalist who should be still flying high is Corinne Bailey Rae. She won two Grammys but the drug and alcohol related death of her first husband when she was 29 seems to have effected her musical inspiration and it appears she’s happy being a mum to her two children now.
After a few band practises in the BB hall in Belmont Rd and a dive of a church in Mill Rd and getting through various drummers who had a kit but couldn't drum we seemed to give up without even a row for crying out loud, 30 years ago and still disappointed......
Not a wasted talent, but rather a "lost" talent in Sam Brown (daughter of Joe Brown) who was a brilliant singer, but sadly lost her singing voice in 2007 (a cyst on the vocal chords and issues the muscles apparently)
Pete Willis- Def Leppard kicked him out for boozing and being unable to play the Guitar smashed infront of Legendary Producer Mutt Lange in the Pyromania recording sessions. DL then went on to huge success with Hysteria album. He must be gutted. Why are they always called Pete?
Not a wasted talent, but rather a "lost" talent in Sam Brown (daughter of Joe Brown) who was a brilliant singer, but sadly lost her singing voice in 2007 (a cyst on the vocal chords and issues the muscles apparently)
I saw her with Pink Floyd on the Division Bell Tour, fantastic voice.
Muse. They were amazing, absolutely loved them and then they released The Resistance in 09 and it was the start of the decline, the stuff they're releasing now is like a parody of themselves. It's awful garbage
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread. I’m actually listening to a podcast series about them at the moment which is very good.
Origin of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations were strong enough to make me think that we were on the verge of having the next dominating rock band for our generation, and then it just petered out so quickly.
What happened to them? I don't follow their career but bought their first few albums many years ago and watched some of their live shows. Thought they were one of the absolutely best live bands.
Muse. They were amazing, absolutely loved them and then they released The Resistance in 09 and it was the start of the decline, the stuff they're releasing now is like a parody of themselves. It's awful garbage
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread. I’m actually listening to a podcast series about them at the moment which is very good.
Origin of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations were strong enough to make me think that we were on the verge of having the next dominating rock band for our generation, and then it just petered out so quickly.
What happened to them? I don't follow their career but bought their first few albums many years ago and watched some of their live shows. Thought they were one of the absolutely best live bands.
They still are, saw them @ the Olympic Stadium on their most recent tour and it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Phenomenal show.
They just can't seem to put a whole album together like the three mentioned anymore. All since have had some absolute belters but they've also had some absolute dross.
The most dazzlingly talented musician, whose first two albums (Lewis Taylor and Lewis II) are just stunning pieces of work.
He was the muso’s muso. Basically what you’d get if you put Marvin Gaye, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, Radiohead, a bit of Barry Gibb and sone Hendrix with his wahwah into a blender. I remember Elton John raving about him in a TV interview, D’Angelo flying him to the US to collaborate, MDing Gnarls Barkley, him doing a cracking 18 with a Bullet with Carleen Anderson for Lock Stock. But he basically hated the business of music.
So he vanished, and removed every last shred of himself and his stuff from the internet, and changed his name. Still on Spotify but I guess only reluctantly.
Muse. They were amazing, absolutely loved them and then they released The Resistance in 09 and it was the start of the decline, the stuff they're releasing now is like a parody of themselves. It's awful garbage
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread. I’m actually listening to a podcast series about them at the moment which is very good.
Origin of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations were strong enough to make me think that we were on the verge of having the next dominating rock band for our generation, and then it just petered out so quickly.
What happened to them? I don't follow their career but bought their first few albums many years ago and watched some of their live shows. Thought they were one of the absolutely best live bands.
They still are, saw them @ the Olympic Stadium on their most recent tour and it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Phenomenal show.
They just can't seem to put a whole album together like the three mentioned anymore. All since have had some absolute belters but they've also had some absolute dross.
I really like The Resistance, I think things became more patchy after that
To be fair, most bands struggle to maintain the standard after a certain point. They either start repeating themselves or try different directions which don't really work. It's pretty common for bands/artists to tour a new album, knowing full well that hardly anyone in the crowd really wants to hear the new stuff!
Muse. They were amazing, absolutely loved them and then they released The Resistance in 09 and it was the start of the decline, the stuff they're releasing now is like a parody of themselves. It's awful garbage
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread. I’m actually listening to a podcast series about them at the moment which is very good.
Origin of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations were strong enough to make me think that we were on the verge of having the next dominating rock band for our generation, and then it just petered out so quickly.
What happened to them? I don't follow their career but bought their first few albums many years ago and watched some of their live shows. Thought they were one of the absolutely best live bands.
They still are, saw them @ the Olympic Stadium on their most recent tour and it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Phenomenal show.
They just can't seem to put a whole album together like the three mentioned anymore. All since have had some absolute belters but they've also had some absolute dross.
I really like The Resistance, I think things became more patchy after that
To be fair, most bands struggle to maintain the standard after a certain point. They either start repeating themselves or try different directions which don't really work. It's pretty common for bands/artists to tour a new album, knowing full well that hardly anyone in the crowd really wants to hear the new stuff!
I loved those first 3 Muse albums. Can't recall listening to any of their following albums since. As you say the odd good song but Absolution was my favourite.
Kings of Leon were similar. Some great early albums then they became massive and their music went meh.
The most dazzlingly talented musician, whose first two albums (Lewis Taylor and Lewis II) are just stunning pieces of work.
He was the muso’s muso. Basically what you’d get if you put Marvin Gaye, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, Radiohead, a bit of Barry Gibb and sone Hendrix with his wahwah into a blender. I remember Elton John raving about him in a TV interview, D’Angelo flying him to the US to collaborate, MDing Gnarls Barkley, him doing a cracking 18 with a Bullet with Carleen Anderson for Lock Stock. But he basically hated the business of music.
So he vanished, and removed every last shred of himself and his stuff from the internet, and changed his name. Still on Spotify but I guess only reluctantly.
the lads in Delphic, produced one of my favourite debut albums in the last 10/15 years, then took 3 years to produce a complete mess of a second album, got dropped and then did an EP which was what the second album should have been.
I had a "penny" whistle from a Christmas cracker when I was about 5 & was obsessed by trying to play the first bars of the National Anthem, driving my Mum & Dad insane.
Needless to say I wasn't very successful but refused to give up, envisaging that rotating stage at The London Palladium....
Sadly, my ambition was thwarted when, by some mysterious means, the pea inside this amazing instrument disappeared.
My parents pretended to be upset too but I did become a tad suspicious when they told me that said whistles were only found in festive crackers....and 12 months later, I had completely forgotten my disappointment, yearning for that elusive "diamond" plastic ring instead.
I barely manage to stifle a sob every time a new series of Britain's Got Talent is advertised.
Just think what might have been....
The Valley faithful has been deprived of a unique experience.
A centre circle Fanny & Thomas duet before kick off at next season's 1st home match.
Muse. They were amazing, absolutely loved them and then they released The Resistance in 09 and it was the start of the decline, the stuff they're releasing now is like a parody of themselves. It's awful garbage
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread. I’m actually listening to a podcast series about them at the moment which is very good.
Origin of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations were strong enough to make me think that we were on the verge of having the next dominating rock band for our generation, and then it just petered out so quickly.
What happened to them? I don't follow their career but bought their first few albums many years ago and watched some of their live shows. Thought they were one of the absolutely best live bands.
They still are, saw them @ the Olympic Stadium on their most recent tour and it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Phenomenal show.
They just can't seem to put a whole album together like the three mentioned anymore. All since have had some absolute belters but they've also had some absolute dross.
I really like The Resistance, I think things became more patchy after that
To be fair, most bands struggle to maintain the standard after a certain point. They either start repeating themselves or try different directions which don't really work. It's pretty common for bands/artists to tour a new album, knowing full well that hardly anyone in the crowd really wants to hear the new stuff!
I like The Resistance too, so that makes 4 decent to great albums.
I think we'll see more of this in future. With the streaming model bands like Muse will earn a decent amount from their back catalogue and can just tour/do festivals each year to make a very decent living. Not many on tour wants new stuff, and nobody at festivals wants new stuff. So once a band has a big enough back catalogue to support a 1-2 hour set, if they don't enjoy being in the studio there is no actual need.
As an example, Mr Bright side has been in the top 100 for 13 of the last 17 years. It's on over 20,000 Spotify playlists and in theory The Killers may never need to release anything else. Another example is The Weekend. Blinding Lights has been in the top 40 for around 18 months at this stage and because people keep streaming it, it's not going to move out of the top 40 anytime soon.
Some artists love the creative process and being in the studio, whilst others prefer performing, or simply run out of creatives juices at some stage. The modern media landscape means they can still make a very good living if they have the back catalogue to support it.
Brilliant young French guitarist who could can cover the most technically demanding metal solos. Hearing her shred Vivaldi is really something. Started her Youtube channel in 2007 aged 8 and packed up in 2016. She has amassed over 160 million views, but has now just given it all up, or so it seems.
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As a young lad he would regularly beat the likes of Jamie Cullum and Chris Martin* in young musician competitions. Ended up paying his way through uni doing paid hotel/bar gigs and is a phenomenal pianist but can play just about anything. But he couldn't sing well enough, so never got the chance to marry a supermodel or Gwenith Paltrow.
Doesn't seem to have held him back in his career as a divorce lawyer tbf - business is booming.
(*my sister in law's claim to 'fame' is she once cooked him a spag bol' before his vegan days)
Such a shocking difference in just 5 years.
Depeche are still going strong, but their music has never been the same since.
He died only 53
She did (does) have an quality voice and I thought she’d be making music for the long haul. Shame she isn’t.
Another female vocalist who should be still flying high is Corinne Bailey Rae. She won two Grammys but the drug and alcohol related death of her first husband when she was 29 seems to have effected her musical inspiration and it appears she’s happy being a mum to her two children now.
He must be gutted. Why are they always called Pete?
They just can't seem to put a whole album together like the three mentioned anymore. All since have had some absolute belters but they've also had some absolute dross.
The most dazzlingly talented musician, whose first two albums (Lewis Taylor and Lewis II) are just stunning pieces of work.
He was the muso’s muso. Basically what you’d get if you put Marvin Gaye, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, Radiohead, a bit of Barry Gibb and sone Hendrix with his wahwah into a blender. I remember Elton John raving about him in a TV interview, D’Angelo flying him to the US to collaborate, MDing Gnarls Barkley, him doing a cracking 18 with a Bullet with Carleen Anderson for Lock Stock. But he basically hated the business of music.
So he vanished, and removed every last shred of himself and his stuff from the internet, and changed his name. Still on Spotify but I guess only reluctantly.
Check out those first two records though. Jeepers. There’s an interesting piece on him from 2016 at souljones (http://souljones.com/exclusive-features/2016/6/14/questions-answers-lewis-taylor ). He basically didn’t think his talent was that remarkable. He’s bloody-well wrong though!
To be fair, most bands struggle to maintain the standard after a certain point. They either start repeating themselves or try different directions which don't really work. It's pretty common for bands/artists to tour a new album, knowing full well that hardly anyone in the crowd really wants to hear the new stuff!
Kings of Leon were similar. Some great early albums then they became massive and their music went meh.
Broke up, one them, Rick Boardman is part of a song writing collective call The Six who have written a load of tunes that have charted
Needless to say I wasn't very successful but refused to give up, envisaging that rotating stage at The London Palladium....
Sadly, my ambition was thwarted when, by some mysterious means, the pea inside this amazing instrument disappeared.
My parents pretended to be upset too but I did become a tad suspicious when they told me that said whistles were only found in festive crackers....and 12 months later, I had completely forgotten my disappointment, yearning for that elusive "diamond" plastic ring instead.
I barely manage to stifle a sob every time a new series of Britain's Got Talent is advertised.
Just think what might have been....
The Valley faithful has been deprived of a unique experience.
A centre circle Fanny & Thomas duet before kick off at next season's 1st home match.
I think we'll see more of this in future. With the streaming model bands like Muse will earn a decent amount from their back catalogue and can just tour/do festivals each year to make a very decent living. Not many on tour wants new stuff, and nobody at festivals wants new stuff. So once a band has a big enough back catalogue to support a 1-2 hour set, if they don't enjoy being in the studio there is no actual need.
As an example, Mr Bright side has been in the top 100 for 13 of the last 17 years. It's on over 20,000 Spotify playlists and in theory The Killers may never need to release anything else. Another example is The Weekend. Blinding Lights has been in the top 40 for around 18 months at this stage and because people keep streaming it, it's not going to move out of the top 40 anytime soon.
Some artists love the creative process and being in the studio, whilst others prefer performing, or simply run out of creatives juices at some stage. The modern media landscape means they can still make a very good living if they have the back catalogue to support it.
Brilliant young French guitarist who could can cover the most technically demanding metal solos. Hearing her shred Vivaldi is really something. Started her Youtube channel in 2007 aged 8 and packed up in 2016. She has amassed over 160 million views, but has now just given it all up, or so it seems.