For example, a band like Joy Division. Two masterpiece albums in the form of Unknown Pleasures and Closer, and the untimely death of Ian Curtis cut it all short. They were even heading into the direction that New Order eventually went in, and it would have been interesting to see what Ian Curtis would have done if they fully made the leap into electronic music while he was still alive.
I don’t have any bands that just… Disappeared after releasing a banger or two, but I do lament how Kings of Leon drastically changed after their first album.
Loved the way the singer sounded on that first album. But the subsequent releases sounded like a totally different singer and band and musical style, and I don’t like them beyond their first album.
No wait… I do know of a couple bands that disappeared way too soon. Fastball, who was deemed “too ugly for music videos” when MTV was at its height making it difficult for them to go anywhere, and Blind Melon, whose frontman died at a young age and kinda destroyed the band.
The Civil Wars. Apparently, they has a falling out and split up. Too bad, both are very talented.
Same here, I listened to their solo albums and while I didn’t think any of it was bad at the time, I don’t remember any of it. None of it stuck, which is so sad as every song on their albums were so good.
Black Country, New Road. The lead singer had some mental health issues and quit the band. They said they are going to keep going, so it’s not completely lost yet. I’m holding out hope.
I saw them at Glastonbury a few weeks ago! The band is still going on, albeit without Issac
Presidents of the United States of America
aka POTUSA
I still sing Peaches to myself all the time, lol… great memories!
Greatest rock band ever. Just pure fun and energy. And bugs.
If you have young kids (or maybe even if you don’t) check out Casper Babypants. Same singer as POTUSA and it’s solid kid music.
Ok will do, thanks
Mother Love Bone: broke up before they’d released their first album. RIP, Andrew.
Also, School of Seven Bells (RIP, Ben)
Slint. They broke up before dropping one of the greatest, most influential albums of all time.
Came here to say this, if I had a time machine I’d just go back and catch a Slint live show.
I haven’t heard Slint, but I have caught the reference to Slint in a couple Pinback songs.
Listen to Spiderland and remember that it was recorded by college kids in the 1980’s.
Jane’s Addiction.
I knew there was someone else
Sublime.
Fuck, that was so tragic. Would it have changed his life if he had lived a couple more months? Would he have cleaned up and gotten his shit together? We’ll never know. The news really cast a pall over that year, especially for those who already knew of Sublime. It just felt so unfair, man. We had finally come to accept Kurt’s death, were still mourning Shannon’s passing, and now Brad, who never got to reap the fruits of his labor, was gone. He left us a gift, and I mean one hell of a gift because it’s a freaking beautiful album, but it’s hard to not wonder “what if?”
Like Kurt and Shannon, he was just so wonderfully talented and beloved, the world suddenly felt very cold and slightly less bright in his absence. Just so unfair. Pour one out for Brad, he is still sorely missed.
Hard to say whether it would have changed anything. He was in a vicious cycle that’s claimed many before and since, but it would have been nice to at least have him see the magic he brought into the world.
Well said. I also think people would dig more of their catalog/non mainstream recordings. Brad’s voice was magic imo.
Pure gold, without a doubt. I’ve seem them with Rome and while I do like his style, it’s just not the same. I was supposed to see them right before Brad’s passing.
Rome is no Bradley, but he’s excellent in his own respect.
For any mid 2000’s metalcore fans out there I’m sure yall can agree that Catherine fits the answer to this question. Their album The Naturals was absolute perfection and then cancer had to be a piece of shit and take the vocalist from this world. Their follow up with a new vocalist, Inside/Out, had a couple of good songs but it just wasn’t the same. Always wondered what that release would have been like with their OG vocalist.
Juice WRLD. Was introduced to his music about a year after he died, and was bummed there wouldn’t be any new songs from him.
I was today years old when I realized he’s dead…
I’ve got two nominations, in very divergent tastes -
Zeigeist - a fun pop electronica art project that was intended as a one-and-done experimental piece. Obviously, shut down as intended - after producing one of my all-time favourite albums.
World/Inferno Friendship Society - sure they were around for a while and pumped out a lot of albums, but it’s also felt like they were just on the cusp of breaking through and getting the acclaim they deserved, at any given moment, with each new release. … Jack Terricloth died in 2021, and while revival & tribute projects are ongoing, the band will have died with him.
The original Drowning Pool.
Mutemath.
Drummer Darren King (an amazing drummer btw) abruptly quit the band for good in the middle of a tour one year, and while they did find a replacement for him to finish out the tour, that was the thing that started the unraveling of the band. It wasn’t long before all the remaining members left, leaving the founder and lead singer, Paul Meany, alone with the name. He’s tried to do some small things with it since that time, but he admits (as he should) that Mutemath’s real existence is in the past now.IMO a full third of Mutemath’s essence was Darren King’s drumming. It made sense for the band to cease existing without him or someone like him. The replacement they used on the tour was ok but just not the right fit. He (seemingly) couldn’t do what Darren did.
Oh, I know of that band! I’ve heard a few of their tracks on streaming radio…Poptron, I think. Yeah, they’re great, I didn’t know they dissolved like that. It’s a shame, they were real good.
In terms of song quality, even I as a fan can admit they were hit and miss. But I still loved their stuff overall and there was no denying the talent involved, ever.
Also, I’ve seen them in concert 4 times, which makes them my #2 artist on setlist.fm :)
Power Trip. I don’t even know what happened to the guy but I’ll respect the family’s privacy.
Apparently it was Fentanyl
Definitely Pretty Vicious for me. British rock group, dropped like 2 EPs and an album before breaking up, I believe due to health reasons.
