Why do Bands Start to SUCK later in their career

As for the original topic, I'll say nothing stays the same. The time, the place, the personnel, circumstances of people's lives, etc. Not all mature artists suck. Most don't, I think. 

Consider also that the listeners, the consumers of the artist's product, start to suck later in life as the artist's efforts become less important to listeners than in their mutual heyday. 

Ha! I meant that in the context of the original topic header. What a listener was rabid for early in life may not endure life's progression. 

Another point, at the end of the preverbal day, it's the song that counts, not that much the singer. If you've got a song that can touch people, you'll do fine with an audience. But wide music machine exposure and promotion of said song is a window of opportunity that may well close for many mature artists who once were fab. There are undiscovered gems out there..

Example: In 1975, about the time I wrote "Don't Fear the Reaper"  I bought a Ray Charles record "Renaissance" through my NARAS membership. According to Wiki it charted at 175 on Billboard and was virtually unknown to pop music consumers. But it had versions of Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City," and Randy Newman's "Sail Away" that to me were just as good as anything Ray ever did. It's a fine record!

Let’s call it the Billion dollar Taylor Swift factor, what means the world to you at 15 means far less at 51, but every time you hear that tune that hit the mark at 15 it takes you back. It’s not just music, it’s art, books, drama. When we are in that hormone filled environment we look for some kind expression that says what we are feeling, forgetting everyone around us goes through something very similar. At 51 we realize getting old sucks and everyone is going through something similar, but cue up something from our youth and for 3.5min we are 15 again.

Tom Waits has gotten better and better with each release, in my opinion (not that he hasn’t always been great!) He’s one of the few exceptions I can think of.

Tom Petty was also consistently great, throughout his career.

Maybe your name just needs to be Tom…

yes, beeing in a band for a looong time is a whole other black hole galaxy … and most of the time one the big reasons why bands suck after a while.

I dunno, Willie was under 30 when he wrote Crazy, which has my vote for having the best melody of all time, to say the least.

I mean... some bands DO get better. Could also ask - why do some bands suck early in their career?

The secret is that she doesn't try to add fans. She tries to maintain a high quality relationship with them and could really care less about anyone else.

You are officially the first person to compare Taylor Swift to Iron Maiden. Hat's off to you!

You're all correct about Taylor Swift. She's a genius with the songwriting chops to back it up. Straight up doesn't give a s*** if you don't like her which is why kids like my 12 year old daughter worship her.

And no matter how much her 13 year old Nirvana t-shirt wearing sister (my other daughter) makes fun of her, the Swifties don't care. They're prepared for you to mock them and just like their hero they don't care.

Because young people simply are poets. They don't know and don't care. They are creative. They have energy, new perspective. You gain knowledge and skills in the coming years but you lose that whole thing you have in the young days. That doesn't mean you suck, it's just different. Best years for peotry? ~19. Best years for philosophy - 60-70. That is human nature and you cannot do anything about it. Many great songs are produced by old farts but you were talking about early work of great bands so here are my 50 cents.

Their big Tribute Band in China is...
Maiden China.
Chris

Most of the time it's just because their attention and focus changes. They get married, have kids, less time to be 'clear headed.' They have a ton of people throwing opinions at them, making them more confused, less intuitive and trusting in their artistic senses. Motivations change when they make money, they are no longer as driven.


However, I find that if the artist's motivations are deeper than financial success and fame, they often continue to make great music. If the motivation is spiritual, for lack of a better term, or for the intrinsic value of the art, the quality can improve a lot over time. Later Beatles records or Mac Miller come to mind.