Bands with Appalling Back Catalogues

[Pagan Saviour]

The Soulfly chat had me looking at their wiki - Chama is their 13th record which is unbelievable in itself. I mean who the fuck listens to or buys this stuff. There's not a decent album or playlist between those albums. I get that there was some good will towards Max a the beginning but surely that ran out ten records ago?


They're not the only guilty party - there's plenty of bands that release genuinely dreadful music over and over, how does Anvil or Six Feet Under for example have such lengthy careers? 

[Bürggermeister]

Nightwish, Epica, etc, that kind of music is total fucking muck to my ears, watered down pop-metal mixed with Eurovision and Peppa the Pig, cringe metal for people who like black t-shirts and cosplay, just fucking childish wailing for people who cry for help frequently. THere's not a good tune to be found in their entire catalogues.

I just don't get the appeal of it, if I'm honest, yet it's massively successful 

[jobrok1]

Soulfly are the worst perpetrators, for sure.
I remember getting the debut back in the day, all excited for Max's next chapter and being so utterly disappointed. I knew he was going to lean into the whole Roots thing a bit more, but he really shit the bed with the first Soulfly album.
Second didn't fair much better but like a junkie I kept hoping...
Then the third abortion was passed. And I got off the bus.

The 'Tree of Pain' song... Fuck my life!!! 

[Bürggermeister]

You didn't want to jumpdafuckup?

[Carnage]

Soulfly are the worst perpetrators, for sure.
I remember getting the debut back in the day, all excited for Max's next chapter and being so utterly disappointed.

This. Playing it on the discman on the bus home, I was quite deflated by it all. I was naive I suppose, in hoping for something along the lines of Nailbomb.

[Pagan Saviour]

This is exactly it, I was the exact same. Identical with Six Feet Under - it's got Chris Barnes Alan West it has to be killer but no. Like with soulfly I gave the second one a go but here they are 14 albums into their career and not one of them a classic or even decent

[jobrok1]

Machine Head have to fall into this category, as well.

First two... Great!
Everything else has either been mostly muck with a couple of OK, but bloated, albums.

[Trev]

Annihilator, first two are classics, and I really like the two with Joe Comeau on vocals, but that's four out of, I think, 19 albums?

They've got the odd decent song scattered across the rest but in general it's a pretty poor discography

[Bürggermeister]

The second one with Comeau is a shocker. That fucking guitar tone is unlistenable and unforgiveable. The one before Comeau joined, Criteria For A Black Widow, with Randy Rampage, is essesntially them trying to redo the first album. It's ok, better than all but the first two and the Comeau one which came after.

[John Kimble]

Much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't averse to nu-metal at the time (really liked Roots much as I can't abide it now) so I was looking forward to the Soulfly debut when it came out. Massive disappointment, just a load of lumpen, stodgy riffs and nothing memorable. Remarkably consistent band in that respect, considering they kept that formula going over 13 albums.

Regarding stuff like Nightwish etc, yeah you could say they have an appalling back catalogue but most of us aren't their target audience. I wonder what most of their fans would think. Actually no, I couldn't give a shit, I doubt they'd be the most discerning in the first place so they probably think everything is great.

Could you make the argument for bands like Metallica and Slayer who've released some undeniable classics, but then proceeded to shit all over their legacy? Numerically, the bad almost outweigh the good.

Machine Head get my vote. Burn my Eyes was great and everything since has been bang average, at best, or appalling shite.

Fear Factory...everything after Demanufacture was shit.

In Flames. Post Whoreacle is balls.

Six Feet Under. Meat and potatoes at their best, then a solid back catalogue of utter poo.

[Bürggermeister]

You could put Obituary in that kind of zone, beyond the first two albums, who really gives a fuck?

[Carnage]

Ah now, The End Complete is decent and I'd say the s/t a few years ago is the best thing they've done since.

Cradle Of Filth deserve a mention here. Principle, V Empire and maybe Midian aside, a big pile of shite.

[Bürggermeister]

Ah come on, The End Complete is shite. It gives nothing you haven't got from the first two, except worse.

[John Kimble]

I'd even be inclined to give Obituary a pass on World Demise, although maybe that's because it was the first album I ever got by them. But yeah, more misses than hits.

[open face surgery]

But their misses are better than the entire Soulfly discography and they invented something, so different buzz. Same applies for CoF. All good upto and including Cruelty depending on who you ask.