Which bands have kept up a consistently high standard throughout a long career?

rivercider

Dinosaur Jr, with apologies if they've already been mentioned.

bacchanalian

The Blue Nile, although quality over quantity

I had high hopes for Neil Young's latest album produced by Rick Rubin but am undecided as yet.  I think Rick may be too much of a fan to ask Neil to wind it in a bit.

Rush were very consistent.  Some albums were less likeable for me but still high quality in nearly every way.

darthed1981

digitalkettle said:

darthed1981 said:

digitalkettle said:

darthed1981 said:

..."Leaving New York" sounds less like a paean to one of the world's great cities and more like it should be about how the only good thing in Hull is that big aquarium.

Deep, man.

Sorry, Hull really is a shithole.

I mean I live near Northampton, so have no excuse to talk BTW.

No, it's called 'The Deep'

Oh yeah... duh  

dindude

Also for me Steely Dan, those run of albums from Can’t by a thrill to Gaucho are all absolute classics. The reform albums in the 2000’s not so much. 

dindude

darthed1981 said:

I love REM's Accelerate and Collapse..  - it's the couple before those where the biggest dip happened.

Reveal was alright - it was Around The Sun that the band themselves disowned.

They said the issue was they started recording it then did their whole best of campaign, so by the time they came back they didn't want to go back to those songs.  You can hear it as well, "Leaving New York" sounds less like a paean to one of the world's great cities and more like it should be about how the only good thing in Hull is that big aquarium.

I quite like a fair few things of around the sun, I know I am alone in this though.

darthed1981

dindude said:

I quite like a fair few things of around the sun, I know I am alone in this though.

That's another reason TBF I stay out of these threads.

If an REM song nobody else loved gives you some pleasure it's done it's job, doesn't matter if the band like it or I like it, if you do, then that's all that should matter to you.

Of course like every rem album, it sold loads, probably loads of people liked it!

I find the idea of objective standards for music to quote a word over used on here recently faintly obscene.

Life is too short and too painful to have to be told what music you can or can't like.

One of my favourite Rem albums is the much derided Up.. I have fond memories of the time around it's release.

joetele

Deftones
Fugazi
Mogwai
The Bronx/Mariachi El Bronx
Jimmy Eat World
The Field
Caspian
Bjork

ICBM

dindude said:

I quite like a fair few things of around the sun, I know I am alone in this though.

You’re not. I like that album a lot, in fact a couple of my favourite REM tracks are on it.

Litterick

Half Man Half Biscuit

rlw

Joni MItchell without a doubt.  Not a bad album in her career, in fact each one is better than the one before.  Amazing woman.

Stuckfast

I thought of a couple more: Field Music and Cass McCombs.

MagicPigDetective

The Melvins.... still going stong, now going into their 40th year, they haven't stopped gigging and releasing their uniquely weird and heavy form or rock music. 

Pjon

darthed1981 said:

dindude said:

I quite like a fair few things of around the sun, I know I am alone in this though.

That's another reason TBF I stay out of these threads.

If an REM song nobody else loved gives you some pleasure it's done it's job, doesn't matter if the band like it or I like it, if you do, then that's all that should matter to you.

Of course like every rem album, it sold loads, probably loads of people liked it!

I find the idea of objective standards for music to quote a word over used on here recently faintly obscene.

Life is too short and too painful to have to be told what music you can or can't like.

One of my favourite Rem albums is the much derided Up.. I have fond memories of the time around it's release.

Up brings back memories of listening to it in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, so I rather like it as well.

rustneversleeps

Neil young and the “Horse”
Lou Reed
Joni Mitchell

Kilgore

Supergrass. 
Violent Femmes.

And of course, Brian Pern.

Pjon

Kilgore said:

Supergrass. 
Violent Femmes.

And of course, Brian Pern.

Brian Pern. I miss the man who invented world music!

DarnWeight

Wire

The only survivors of that first wave of punk bands that are making music now that's as good (better in some cases) than the stuff they put out when they first emerged.  The only possible blip I'd concede would be their period circa The First Letter LP (1991) when they lost Gotobed on drums for a while...but even then, I love the "So And Slow It Grows" single from that era. 

ewal

So obviously a matter of taste... Initial thoughts were Mogwai and Low who have both been mentioned. So I'm going to throw in the Kadane brothers in all their band guises.

CHRISB50

Already mentioned a couple of times, Deftones. 

Big Thief are extremely consistent although not a particularly long career. 

richardhomer

bacchanalian said:

The Blue Nile, although quality over quantity

I don’t really agree with you on this. 

Peace At Last has some great songs but is very inconsistent. 

I bought High on the day of release and almost cried with disappoint when I first heard it. A sort of Hats by numbers, without the emotional weight that made that album so special.

If you’re a fan and haven’t heard it, PJ Moore’s recent When A Good Day Comes is worth a listen.