The Three Album Theory (prove me wrong)

alldatndensum wrote:

Raegoul wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:Bands should "pivot" over time, not drastically change from album to album.

That keeps it fresh while also giving old fans what they want.

It also expands the types of styles a band can play, over time.

I agree. If established bands with a fanbase feel adventurous and want to try a new style they should do so under a different name to avoid to alienate said fanbase.

Exhibit: Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves

Or, stretch just a little and do one or two songs on an album.  If it hits with the fans, you have clearance to do more.  If the fans reject that, then you know not to tread those waters again.

This is exactly what I was suggesting, not side projects.

Side projects these days are completely pointless since music sales in general are so low across the board.

I thought Infectious Grooves was cool when it was it’s own separate thing. But then it crossed over into Suicidal Tendencies! What’s the point of having two bands that are essentially the same? I didn’t mind the little bits of funk incorporated on Lights Camera Revolution, but ever since “Freedumb” it’s been way too much.

Metal and slap bass almost never works well together.

It's clear that bassist secretly wanted to be in another band than the one he was stuck in.

To be honest I stopped caring for ST way before Freedumb.

Raegoul wrote:To be honest I stopped caring for ST way before Freedumb.

They're easily one of the most overrated 80s/90s bands.

More of a "fashion" or "cool" band than a band about actual music.

And what about bands who didnt get really good until album number 3 or 4? Pantera comes to mind (though I do like Projects, I Am the Night, and Power Metal,,Metal Magic isnt that great).

Temple of Blood wrote:

Raegoul wrote:To be honest I stopped caring for ST way before Freedumb.

They're easily one of the most overrated 80s/90s bands.

More of a "fashion" or "cool" band than a band about actual music.

I wouldn‘t go that far. The debut is a hardcore classic and was extremely relevant in the skate scene. The next albums up and including Art of Rebellion were all relevant in their own way and had some standout tracks. You can’t deny that You can’t bring me down is a masterpiece. After that it went down hill but tbh I can‘t say I listened to much of the newer stuff so I might be wrong…

All I wanted was a Pepsi, just 1 Pepsi! 

WildWorld wrote:And what about bands who didnt get really good until album number 3 or 4? Pantera comes to mind (though I do like Projects, I Am the Night, and Power Metal,,Metal Magic isnt that great).

I believe we already worked out that Bride goes into this category.

The 3 album throry don't hold up:

Whiteheart put out some fo their best material after Hotline. 

Out of the Darkness is a good Bloodgood album. 

Impellitteri put out some of their best albums in the 90s and have really loyal support in places like Japan and South Korea.

Dancing on the Head of a Serpent and Those Were the Days are good Jerusalem albums. 

Rez and Petra released really good albums in the 80s and 90s.

Whitecross released really good 3 albums in the 80s. After they signed on to Star Song around 1990, even though the next 2 had a few too many ballads, they maintianed their hard rock sound and had even more success.

Soldier777 wrote:The 3 album throry don't hold up:

Whiteheart put out some fo their best material after Hotline. 

Out of the Darkness is a good Bloodgood album. 

Impellitteri put out some of their best albums in the 90s and have really loyal support in places like Japan and South Korea.

Dancing on the Head of a Serpent and Those Were the Days are good Jerusalem albums. 

Rez and Petra released really good albums in the 80s and 90s.

Whitecross released really good 3 albums in the 80s. After they signed on to Star Song around 1990, even though the next 2 had a few too many ballads, they maintianed their hard rock sound and had even more success.

Hmmm, you catch me off guard here as I am not a huge fan of the bands you cited and, thus, not familiar with their entire catalogue.

As for Petra it kinda depends if you see the change of the lead singer as a new start. Imho, they had their strongest output between 1987 and 1990 with This Means War, On Fire and Beyond Belief -> Three Albums   (just kidding, I know I am clutching at straws here).

As a general rule it works well. Most bands deliver their best work with their first album(s), the ones that don't usually are the exceptional ones.

I think KISS also defies this.  They had several great albums in the 70s before they began to tinker with their sound.  After their little foray into disco and pop sounds, they then morphed into an 80s metal band and had several more great albums before experimenting with grunge metal sounds.  Then, they finished up with a duke's mixture of 70s and 80s sounds on their final trilogy.

A Christian band that defies this, in my opinion, is Lordchain.  Their first album was more 80s metal, but they changed then to the more groove metal sound that they've continued in for some time.  While some of the 80s stuff does leak back in from time to time, they've stayed the course of who they are and what they do for their full length albums and have experimented some with their sound with their worship EPs.

Also, while not metal per se, the band Seventh Day Slumber has stayed true to their sound after their demo album.  I would also have to say that The Letter Black have done the same.

Raegoul wrote:

Hmmm, you catch me off guard here as I am not a huge fan of the bands you cited and, thus, not familiar with their entire catalogue.

As for Petra it kinda depends if you see the change of the lead singer as a new start. Imho, they had their strongest output between 1987 and 1990 with This Means War, On Fire and Beyond Belief -> Three Albums   (just kidding, I know I am clutching at straws here).

Ah, but you have Petra Praise in between On Fire and Beyond Belief though.

WildWorld wrote:

Raegoul wrote:

Hmmm, you catch me off guard here as I am not a huge fan of the bands you cited and, thus, not familiar with their entire catalogue.

As for Petra it kinda depends if you see the change of the lead singer as a new start. Imho, they had their strongest output between 1987 and 1990 with This Means War, On Fire and Beyond Belief -> Three Albums   (just kidding, I know I am clutching at straws here).

Ah, but you have Petra Praise in between On Fire and Beyond Belief though.

I agree with the Petra Praise album being lesser than the others.  I also don't understand why "Unseen Power" and "Wake Up" call aren't included in more fan's list of greats.  Those were fantastic albums!

alldatndensum wrote:

WildWorld wrote:

Raegoul wrote:

Hmmm, you catch me off guard here as I am not a huge fan of the bands you cited and, thus, not familiar with their entire catalogue.

As for Petra it kinda depends if you see the change of the lead singer as a new start. Imho, they had their strongest output between 1987 and 1990 with This Means War, On Fire and Beyond Belief -> Three Albums   (just kidding, I know I am clutching at straws here).

Ah, but you have Petra Praise in between On Fire and Beyond Belief though.

I agree with the Petra Praise album being lesser than the others.  I also don't understand why "Unseen Power" and "Wake Up" call aren't included in more fan's list of greats.  Those were fantastic albums!

I love Petra Praise but wouldn‘t count it as a „regular“ album, rather a project.

Thankfully bands like Disciple and Demon Hunter have evolved consistently, never lost their original sound entirely but, for my tastes, have actually gotten better with time. They moved progressively away from the trappings of their original genres and expanded logically for 20 years.

I also listen to a lot of Christian death and black metal and because it is not popular even among Christians they aren't driven as much by popularity or trends. They struggle more with motivation for regular releases because they need full time jobs and get little reward for what they do.

The bands that did 2-3 albums and died tended to be a part of a rising genre at the height of that genres popularity, i.e. 80's rock/metal, mid to late 80's/early 90's thrash, 90's death metal, 2000's metalcore (not to mention pop punk, hardcore, etc.). Bands that started early as originators tended to have a longer ark. Christian bands just weren't originators and tended to come in late.

The secular scene and Christian scene are the same. Bands who never explode in popularity and are never quite a part of the in crowd have more freedom to create. Rush is the classic example. Death I think is the most classic example of a slow, progressive innovation with integrity. 

Adding in family and changing life circumstances and it all makes sense to me how it shakes out.

I agree with Disciple and Demon Hunter (I debated bringing DH up earlier).

Petra's evolution breaks the mold (at least within Christian circles) and how many style changes they have depends on how fine you slice it.  Unseen Power and Wake Up Call are awesome but each a step back from Beyond Belief.

Raegoul wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

WildWorld wrote:

Raegoul wrote:

Hmmm, you catch me off guard here as I am not a huge fan of the bands you cited and, thus, not familiar with their entire catalogue.

As for Petra it kinda depends if you see the change of the lead singer as a new start. Imho, they had their strongest output between 1987 and 1990 with This Means War, On Fire and Beyond Belief -> Three Albums   (just kidding, I know I am clutching at straws here).

Ah, but you have Petra Praise in between On Fire and Beyond Belief though.

I agree with the Petra Praise album being lesser than the others.  I also don't understand why "Unseen Power" and "Wake Up" call aren't included in more fan's list of greats.  Those were fantastic albums!

I love Petra Praise but wouldn‘t count it as a „regular“ album, rather a project.

For me, Petra’s peak covers everything from Never Say Die to Praise 2.

Petra has been brought up a few times in the past several posts. They are one of my all time favorite bands. For me, I like their first one and Come and Join Us. I also like Washes White Than which is mellower and has rock, light rock and adult contemporary/pop. I also like Never Say Die. For me their best period for the most part is from More Power to Ya to Wake-Up Call Those series of albums are really good. No Doubt has some great songs but too many ballads - 2 or 3 too many. Starting with We Need Jesus to Jekyll and Hyde and 2 Guys From Petra I'm not into them as much but I have those albums as well and there are some good songs on these albums but not as good as the 1980-1993 and their 70s period. 

However, I am really enjoying current the Classic Petra/CPR period and have the 2 albums Back to the Rock (2010) and Back to the Rock 2 (2017). Even though these are mostly rerecords, they are done really well. They are working on a 3rd album which will have original material. 

I figured I would mention them since we are talking about bands with the 3 album theory and this is somewhat related. Any thoughts?

Soldier777 wrote:...For me, I like their first one and Come and Join Us. I also like Washes White Than which is mellower and has rock, light rock and adult contemporary/pop. I also like Never Say Die...

...Any thoughts?

Yeah, how old are you?!!

Soldier777 wrote:Petra has been brought up a few times in the past several posts. They are one of my all time favorite bands. For me, I like their first one and Come and Join Us. I also like Washes White Than which is mellower and has rock, light rock and adult contemporary/pop. I also like Never Say Die For me their best period for the most part is from More Power to Ya to Wake-Up Call Those series of albums are really good. No Doubt has some great songs but too many ballads - 2 or 3 too many. Starting with We Need Jesus to Jekyll and Hyde and 2 Guys From Petra I'm not into them as much but I have those albums as well and there are some good songs on these albums but not as good as the 1980-1993  and their 70s period. 

However, I am really enjoying current the Classic Petra/CPR period and have the 2 albums Back to the Rock (2010) and Back to the Rock 2 (2017). Even though these are mostly rerecords, they are done really well. They are working on a 3rd album which will have original material. 

I figured I would mention them since we are talking about bands with the 3 album theory and this is somewhat related. Any thoughts?

I like every Petra album to some extent. The only 2 I never spin are Double Take and Revival, but I don’t hate them.

In the secular scene I think the theory is valid for Helloween with Walls of Jericho and the Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and 2 being their best albums in my opinion.

And I think many fans of Sonata Arctica would agree with the theory as well...

Amorphis also changed not for the better after their third album "Elegy" ... but fortunately returned to form later on.

Tobi Elektrik wrote:Proof: SAVIOUR MACHINE!
They already believed in this theory when they started to work on their third album. To avoid releasing weak material after the third album, the third album was divided into three parts. And the third part was divided again - a fourth part could only have been weak!

 

... and Eric announced that the upcoming new album would be Saviour Machine "III"  

Very clever!