Comeback Kings: 10 veteran metal bands that have stayed relevant

Forostar

Forostar

Ancient Mariner
"Comeback" is not a phrase Maiden like to use themselves. But our favourite band wins this title anyway!

One constant in every musical genre is the turnover of acts that come swinging out of the gate, but then go through a commercial and/or creative slump. Music’s most truly enduring acts are able to “weather the storm” and come out the other side.

The heavy metal genre is certainly no exception to that constant. Plenty of acts gain momentum, only to fall to the wayside. In the early 2000s, to give just one example, Shadows Fall was a contemporary of the same Massachusetts metalcore scene as Killswitch Engage, but virtually disappeared after a failed major-label jump. And European guitar-shredders Dragonforce lost steam after gamers moved on from the Guitar Hero series, which had given them a big boost.

Below are 10 acts that persevered through all of the challenges their awkward middle years threw their way. Whether it was personnel changes, ill-advised sound alterations, or a mistimed label jump, these are the top 10 heavy metal acts that managed to successfully navigate a career slump and “weather the storm.” ......


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1. Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson was not Iron Maiden’s original vocalist, but he is certainly their most beloved. The man nicknamed the “Air Raid Siren” took the reins on genre milestones like 1982’s The Number of the Beast. His charismatic stage presence, combined with bassist Steve Harris’ expert songcraft and monstrous band mascot Eddie, helped the band become one of the most powerful – and popular – arena draws during the ‘80s. Dickinson left the group in 1993 to embark on a solo career, leaving big shoes to fill for new vocalist Blaze Bayley on 1995’s The X Factor. The songs were good, but Bayley’s vocal performance was a major step down from Dickinson’s band-defining work. Dickinson returned to the Iron Maiden fold for a 1999 tour and 2000 comeback album, Brave New World. Since then, the band has been a force, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide and serving as a seminal band in the early development of new teenage metal fans.

More about the others go to:

http://www.laweekly.com/music/comeb...metal-bands-that-have-stayed-relevant-5326343
 
I very much agree about Maiden and perhaps Machine Head and Priest, but the others are not relevant in the slightest. Sabbath might be considered relevant, but they're basically a "YAY! Reunion with ____ singer!" band. Anthrax is literally a joke.
 
GWAR is still around? I thought their leader died ... nope, seems they have a new female singer name Vulvatron with blood-spewing giant tits.
 
No Metallica or Megadeth?

I was excited to see Machine Head on the list though.
 
Anthrax, on the other hand... no way. I would have agreed had they put in Slayer instead.
 
Metallica, no matter how popular they are, lives on past merites. That's not being relevant. The difference to the bands on the list is quite clear - they have and are still releasing material that are liked by fans and critics. Metallica has released three studio albums in the last 15 years, two of which were universally panned by both critics and fans alike (St. Anger and Lulu).

How is Accept not on that list, by the way? Oh, it's American.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Anthrax is literally a joke.
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Not sure I agree with that: Their latest record was formidable, although granted, Belladonna had little/near zero input in the writing, and recorded his vocals away from the rest of the band. I have given it a few spins and it's solid.

Now had you said, Scott Ian is an annoying prick, and the band chemistry is lukewarm I'd agree with you. But Worship Music is probably, in my opinion, the best release in 10 years by any of the Big 4 bands (although Testaments two latest albums smokes it).
 
Maturin said:
Metallica, no matter how popular they are, lives on past merites. That's not being relevant. The difference to the bands on the list is quite clear - they have and are still releasing material that are liked by fans and critics. Metallica has released three studio albums in the last 15 years, two of which were universally panned by both critics and fans alike (St. Anger and Lulu).

How is Accept not on that list, by the way? Oh, it's American.
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Yeah, avoid Death Magnetic because it doesn't suit your paradigm, right? "Material that are liked by fans and critics." That has nothing to do with relevance. If you're interested in what Metallica does, they're relevant.
 
Not to mention stuff like the Through the Never movie and the huge tours. It's not like Metallica doesn't do anything. Also personally I think their strength is in the live shows now anyway. The reason it takes so long for them to make an album is because they don't have it in them to write anymore. Death Magnetic sounds so poorly cut and pasted together, like a random onslaught of riffs. I liked the album a lot but it showed a huge hole in their songwriting skills. Honestly I don't mind that they spend more time touring than making albums cause their live shows are awesome. And their setlists are pretty varied, it's not like they're dependent on their own material.
 
I think Metallica have stayed relevant (although I rarely listen to anything they did after Justice), but they have never really had a comeback, have they? I think bands like Maiden and Priest are borderline in this context. In the list, Maiden's "dark ages" are considered to be the Blaze years - but the band never went on a hiatus, and four out of five members stayed. It wasn't an Iced Earth-like personnel overhaul. And Bruce didn't hide away only to reappear in 1999 either. So to conclude, I think the term comeback is somewhat misleading for Maiden as well.

Rather a return to old heights after a less successful period. But if one looks past the headline term "comeback kings" I still agree to put Maiden on top. No bands have returned to such heights after being "down". They are winning new fans, touring stadiums, making good new albums. Few veteran bands do all three.
 
Hum, i'm not so sure about it Wingman.

If we think about it, we can say that Maiden's "dark ages" was probably announced in 1989, way before Blaze. First of all, they didn't toured that year - first time ever in Maiden's career. That's 13 consecutive years (!) having gigs at least for one full month.

We can also add 6 months in 1990, that is, Maiden didn't toured for 1,6 years. That's a lot, for Maiden standards. I know they were all starting their families and their interests were probably elsewhere, but that's a big gap of time.

Also, between 1990 and until Blaze era, it's clear Maiden's tour routine changed. 7th son was their last time they did their typical 9-straight months touring, and they reduced their consecutive time on the road for about 5 months, no more than 6. I think we can also say easily that NPFD and FOTD were not such strong albums too. Yes, FOTD went number 1 but... aren't we see signs of tiredness?

Blaze years only happened to increase those signs. Maiden actually did tour a lot promoting XF and VXI but they didn't toured at all in 1994 and 1997. Actually you didn't see Maiden live for 2 straight years in almost 2 different periods (September 93-August 95 and October 96-March 1998). So this means Maiden only toured about 8 months in a period of more than 4 years.

This was a very different decade for Maiden (1989-1998): only 4 big tours (larger than 5 months), 3 full years without a single gig, about 79 months without a live audience.

"The songs were good, but Bayley’s vocal performance was a major step down from Dickinson’s band-defining work" - Well, that's the point. It is not only about Blaze's voice - it's about the band itself, years before the new singer.

If Maiden's trademark is very much their live abilities, then i think we can call it a full decade of clear decline.
 
Why the Anthrax hate?! Worship Music was a great album, and they're a great live act. Best of the Big 4 in the 2010s definitely.
 
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