Every musician's dream is to reach the top of the charts. While it takes a lot of hard work and luck to achieve a big hit, the biggest names in the world of music have managed to stay relevant for decades, churning out hits that are still being heard today. However, artists like Oasis and Fleetwood Mac, when they were at their peak, didn't think about what a decline would look like.
After a lineup change or a poorly-reviewed album, some have quickly squandered the credibility they've built over the years. A few missteps were enough to make fans wonder what really happened to their favorite band.
Major downfalls rarely come from one bad song, more often they are the result of a series of bad decisions, creative wanderings or ambitions that have gotten out of control. The greater the fame, the more visible the downfall, and the less forgiving the audience.
Yet the history of music shows that a crash doesn't have to be the end. Some have emerged stronger from the ashes, redefined their sound or launched successful solo careers. In an industry where expectations are high, a crash can sometimes be the beginning of a new phase.
10 biggest falls of big artists:
George Harrison
It's almost impossible for any member of the Beatles to seriously tarnish their legacy. Although Ringo Starr had the least ambitious solo career, he too had a string of notable moments after the band's breakup, with hits that rivaled those of his former bandmates. George Harrison, with the album "All Things Must Pass," seemed on the verge of a major solo breakthrough, but the following decades brought a cooling of relations with the public.
The first serious decline came in the mid-1970s with albums like "Dark Horse", and the 1980s were not kind to him either. Although he achieved success after the death of John Lennon with the tribute album "All Those Years Ago", Harrison's lack of interest in adapting to a younger audience resulted in a series of poorly received releases.
The turning point came when, in collaboration with Jeff Lynne, he recorded the album Cloud Nine and returned as an empowered version of himself, fusing spirituality with modern production. Although he went through the 1980s with a touch of resignation, the songs that felt his genuine passion far outweighed those that sounded like he recorded them without any willpower.
Green Day
Few pop-punk bands manage to fundamentally change their sound and image. When Green Day exploded with the album "Dookie," their brash, youthful punk was based on raw humor and energy. Such music usually doesn't "grow up," and the moment they started taking themselves too seriously proved to be a double-edged sword.
After the success of two rock operas, Billie Joe Armstrong decided to be even more ambitious, resulting in a trilogy of albums that yielded some of the most unimpressive songs of their career. Tracks like "Nightlife" and "Fuck Time" left fans wondering what was really going on with the band.
Armstrong, in hindsight, did not defend those decisions, admitting that his judgment was influenced by his addiction to prescription drugs. Although they were still considered one of the leading names in the rock scene, it took time for the album "Revolution Radio" to put them back on track.
Weezer
No one expected Weezer to last long after the late 1990s. Although their witty pop-rock attracted millions of fans looking for something fresher than the heavy garage sound, the album "Pinkerton" nearly destroyed their career. Although the second album subsequently received acclaim, Rivers Cuomo tried to distance himself from that sound as much as possible.
In the early 2000s, Weezer reunited, but their early attempts at a safe approach led to a pop-oriented approach, resulting in songs that lacked power on the album "Make Believe." Although they fared slightly better on Weezer (Red Album), the quality of "Raditude" was significantly lower than any rock fan had expected.
By collaborating with the biggest names in pop music, Rivers Cuomo tried to portray himself as a confident frontman, which didn't work, especially on impersonal party songs like "Let It All Hang Out" and "Can't Stop Partying." While Cuomo has never spoken negatively about Raditude, releasing "Everything Will Be Alright in the End" as a retroactive apology confirms the problem with the quality of the previous release.
The Clash
In the early 1980s, punk rock seemed to be losing momentum. As the Sex Pistols and Ramones went through lineup changes during the MTV era, it seemed that The Clash would take the lead, and the album "Combat Rock" launched them into rock legends. However, as soon as they tasted success, things went downhill.
Nervous about Mick Jones' desire for the spotlight, Joe Strummer made the mistake of parting ways with his songwriter, forming a new line-up for the album "Cut the Crap." Although he attempted to freshen up the band's sound on the next album, the result was the most electronic kitsch music the band had ever worked with, almost as if they had forgotten the lessons they had preached earlier.
Although the song "This Is England" still holds up well, Strummer discarded the album after the band's breakup, and it was not included in the box sets with the complete Clash material.
Van Halen
In the mid-1980s, Van Halen was recovering from a blow that would have broken most bands. After tumultuous years with David Lee Roth, his firing after the album "1984" left fans worried about how the band would replace their vocalist. Although the band enjoyed even greater success with Sammy Hagar, the situation worsened when Hagar left the band in the 1990s.
During a hiatus, Hagar's departure led to the hiring of Gary Cerone for Van Halen III, which became one of the band's most infamous mainstream releases. Although Edie Van Halen was still at her peak, the songs were drawn out and lacked catchy choruses, with several sections stretching over eight minutes.
Cerone soon left the band, but the biggest blow was the shake-up of Eddie's confidence as a songwriter, resulting in only one more album in his lifetime, "A Different Kind of Truth." Roth and Hagar had their own unique sound that worked with Van Halen, but working with Cerone sounds like no one knew what to do.
Fleetwood Mac
It's hard to fathom what happened to Fleetwood Mac for most of their career. They started out as a band on the English blues scene in the 1960s, but it wasn't until they worked with Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Baker that they found their true form, bringing a different approach to rock 'n' roll on albums like "Rumours" and "Tusk." When prominent members leave, the question is where to go next.
After several interchangeable albums in the 1980s, Fleetwood Mac went through a turbulent period, with members working on solo projects and occasionally recording a joint album. Although everything seemed stable, one band meeting ended in violence between Nicks and Bakengeam, leaving the rest in chaos.
The band had worked without Buckingham before, but the inclusion of several unknown musicians for albums like "Behind the Mask" and "Time" made them sound diluted, while Christine McVie didn't want to be in the studio. Compared to the magic of "Rumours," the 1990s releases feel more like a half-hearted Fleetwood Mac tribute band than a real band.
Eagles
It can be said that the Eagles have never really had a real slump. Although some albums have underperformed, they have never had a complete failure in their catalog. However, any "slump" must be recorded on an album, and for the Eagles, it happened during the tour.
After the troubled recording of The Long Run, the members' growing animosity came to a head during a charity concert. Enraged by Don Felder's comments, Glenn Frey ran backstage and stormed onto the stage in a rage. Throughout the concert, insults could be heard hurled at each other and threats of beatings when they left the stage.
After fulfilling their contractual obligations, the Eagles broke up, each member pursuing solo careers, only to reunite for the "Hell Freezes Over" tour. While it's easy to reminisce about the glory days, no one expected a new "Hotel California" or even "Take It Easy" after that performance.
Oasis
For a brief moment in the mid-1990s, Oasis looked set to become big enough to rival their idols. Although they praised themselves in interviews, their love of classic rock yielded the biggest hits of the decade on albums like "Definitely Maybe" and "What's the Story Morning Glory." Noel Gallagher wanted the third album to be even more dramatic, but "Be Here Now" became one of the biggest flops of the decade.
Although fans and critics were lukewarm on the album's release, the enthusiasm quickly waned, and fans slowly began to change their minds. At the height of their success, Oasis recorded songs with excessively long durations and the most ridiculous lyrics, including Noel's nonsensical song "2Magic Pie" and the "Hey Jude"-style anthem "All Around the World".
Although they recovered from their previous mistakes in the 2000s, Noel's songwriting became more introspective and serious, in contrast to the confident style of his earlier songs. A great album could have been made by stripping away the excess from "Be Here Now", but history shows that it may have been for the best if Oasis had broken up after their gigantic Knebworth shows.
Pink Floyd
Part of Pink Floyd's success lies in their ability to overcome one setback after another. Although they began in the world of psychedelia, their prog-rock heyday was marked by immense sadness over the loss of founder Syd Barrett and his inner demons. While "The Dark Side of the Moon" was groundbreaking for its time, the band's decision to continue without Roger Waters led to one of the most dramatic declines in music history.
While there have been no shockingly bad releases since Waters' departure, albums like "The Division Bell" have provided pale imitations of what Floyd was known for. While David Gilmour's epic guitar riffs have satisfied the most loyal fans, the soul of the band has always been with Waters, who had a broader vision of what their music should be, as opposed to endless improvisations.
The downward trajectory continued on the "reunion" album "The Endless River," where David Gilmour's songs sounded more like ambient background music than what we knew as Pink Floyd. While Floyd's earlier work revealed colors we didn't know we could see, all post-Voters releases remain a gray slate of solid but uninventive rock.
Guns N 'Roses
It's not easy to manage multiple egos within a band. While it takes everyone to contribute to creating magic, it's much harder to get everyone in sync when it comes to translating that magic to a recording. While Guns N' Roses already had enough success to feed their egos, Axl Rose had an ego bigger than all the others combined.
After the ambitious double album "Use Your Illusion", Rose took creative control of the band for the next release. After a grueling tour that nearly destroyed them, none of the band members wanted to follow Rose's vision, and they left one by one, leaving Axl as the only original member.
When he returned ten years later with "Chinese Democracy," fans were more confused than delighted, hearing songs that sounded like they were created by a madman, rather than the streetwise, conscious rock and roll they had come to expect. Guns N' Roses are still legends, but what fans hear on "Chinese Democracy" is Rose's desperate attempt to relive the life of the world's most dangerous frontman.
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