Why do metal bands decline as they gain experience?

[rapidshare]

From another thread:

Why is it that so many classical musicians and composers get BETTER as they age, but metal bands universally head toward the worse side of their careers?

Several factors leap immediately to mind:

1. The economic model of the recording industry not only doesn't encourage artistic development, it actively impedes it.
2. Fan expectations (if you make us feel inadequate, we'll stop buying your records)
3. The practical limitations of distorted guitar, bass and drum combo
4. Lack of formal training

I'd think life would be like D&D: the more experience you get, the more hit points you can inflict.

[lolmetal]

The decline in quality of albums is a pattern found in many metal bands, but not all.  I can be gradual of sudden (Metallica for the later.)  Some bands can actually get better with time, especially in the case that their first album is amateurish.  Others have fairly random patterns (Megadeth.)  The reasons for the declining pattern that have already been mentioned are valid.  When I thought about this before, I had some other theories.  I think age has a lot to do with it, and metal is honestly best made by 18 year-olds.  As bands grow older they just become less inspired.  In a more intellectual aspect, it is necessary to 'reinvent' yourself as a band.  The first album is basically every good musical idea you have thought of up to that point.  A subsequent album would consist of a year or two's worth of new ideas and/or rehashed old ideas.

[ForgottenLore]

I honestly think some bands just get tired, burnt out, or they lose their sense of purpose.

I don't think a true musician ever runs out of ideas though, they just move on to new forms of expressing them. However, this can be a problem if you've got a steady gig.

It's like being trapped in a lackluster relationship.

[devolved]

Good classical musicians have job security; good composers used to as well, with the system of patronage. Metal musicians have to decide whether their music is a money-making scheme or a hobby.

[The internet shelters weaklings.]

You have your whole life to create your first album but only a year or two for the following.

[JewishPhysics]

-Drug abuse
-Self-injury
-Exhaustion
-Brain trauma from headbanging

The possibilities are endless.

[scourge]

I'd think life would be like D&D: the more experience you get, the more hit points you can inflict.

The other half of that analogy is the challenges become much more difficult, foes deadlier, odds of survival less likely, treasures greater but more often in a well administered game all an illusion with experience and survival the only real reward remaining.

[istaros]

Those four initially-given reasons, though they surely contribute to the problem, all share a common trait - they sound like the whinings of a rape victim. When, obviously, the most likely possibility is that its the artists' own fault that they start to suck. Integrity comes at a high price - accept that or move on(if you are a false...). Just ask yourself what Beethoven's or Bach's motivations were for making music, vs. what metal artists' motivations are. Conveying glimpses of the divinity of totality, or... trying to scare soccer moms and pastors. Not that they shouldn't be scared - they're going to die!

[AnHero]

Just ask yourself what Beethoven's or Bach's motivations were for making music, vs. what metal artists' motivations are. Conveying glimpses of the divinity of totality, or... trying to scare soccer moms and pastors. Not that they shouldn't be scared - they're going to die!

It might be important to recognize that Bach and Beethoven made a living off of their music without compromising their standards, where as metal musicians are able to get by with a day job and doing music part time, all while they gradually do compromise their standards.

There is also this "idiot savant" theory I've seen mentioned before, and if it were true, then these guys can't even manage to evaluate their new work against their old - how are they supposed to know they did it right in the first place?

Morbid Angel makes Blessed are the Sick - "Hey that sounds cool"
then they make Domination - "Hey that sounds cool, too!"

That line about scaring soccer moms ties in with the Improving Metal thread. Better motivation, better music, less likely to decline.

[Sammaellofi]

A reason that is mentioned here often (possibly simply for derogatory purposes) is that the band doesn't want to go back to working at Target.


But really, that is pretty much the truth, isn't it.  Classical music isn't about touring, fame, drugs, promised sex etc etc

A band makes a good album, like Blessed are the Sick, gets recognition for it, makes another album, but this time courts a little bit of popular attention with populist music, and gets even more recognition.  Good job.

BUt then they find themselves at a point where they see that they are making no money on this music and this heavy life of vice needs fuel.  Their music does not selll enough to ultimately help them make a living, at least not serving their sensual needs as well, so they look at it this way: "I did something great, and now I can keep doing it, but in a more popular way, and I can make an actual living off of it."   

Why should artists have day jobs?  Seems reasonable, yet most of the better albums out there are made by people who are broke and still have jobs that high schoolers would be embarrassed by and bad albums are made by people who decided the life was more important than the art.


Maybe that's why the best metal was made by someone who never toured, never lived the life, and in fact spent his later years in prison, until now.

[proggy]

^ I agree with you full on man.

As an aspiring metal musician in high school, I chose not to move from the ametuer level to the professional level for fear of comprosing music integrity to make a buck. Lets face it, underground metal artists are not making nearly enough as Roadrunner label bands.

So far, it seems everyone has valid points. I suppose the question is, how can we supress the need to live such a indulgent life and put focus back on the music itself?

Part (read: most) of the problem lies in the industry itself, which I feel we can all agree to. Thoughts?

[Cargést]

There's no point in ruining Art by turning it into a job.

Which reminds me: +1 to Fenriz for being a Postman.

[JewishPhysics]

I suppose the question is, how can we supress the need to live such a indulgent life and put focus back on the music itself?

The best we can hope to do is try to remove those who make music for nothing but profit and fame from the picture.  We can do this by practicing musical eugenics, as promoted by this site (download tons of music, find out what is good and has lasting power, and only spend money on that), and encouraging people who make music purely for money and fame to go into a more appropriate lines of work (e.g. making pornography).

[proggy]

I suppose the question is, how can we supress the need to live such a indulgent life and put focus back on the music itself?

The best we can hope to do is try to remove those who make music for nothing but profit and fame from the picture.  We can do this by practicing musical eugenics, as promoted by this site (download tons of music, find out what is good and has lasting power, and only spend money on that), and encouraging people who make music purely for money and fame to go into a more appropriate lines of work (e.g. making pornography).

The only problem I have with this site is that it hardly promotes newer metal bands. You guys seem pretty stingy with who gets the praise and who gets the hammer of hate.

Also, as a side note, I'm pretty sure the porn industry has a natural selection in place to weed out "inadequate" males.

[JewishPhysics]

The only problem I have with this site is that it hardly promotes newer metal bands. You guys seem pretty stingy with who gets the praise and who gets the hammer of hate.

Well, there is the main site, which is run by a small staff that is incredibly strict.  Then there is the forum community which is far more diverse in musical taste.  Ask / look around enough on the forum and you'll find praise for newer stuff.  The audiofile is a good place to find music recommendations or to upload music you think others here may enjoy.