Do bands have an "expiration date" of inspiration?

[Mister Freeze]

I've come to believe that most bands have a set "shelf life" of chemistry and inspiration. And once it's gone, it's never the same, no matter how hard they try.

Success tends to ruin the natural flow of human behavior, forcing bands to stay together out of obligation.

Motley Crue is the best example. Whether the albums were good or not, Motley Crue was still "Motley Crue," when they were hungry and knew who they were, from the debut to GGG. (I'd argue their biggest album, Feelgood, falls outside the window.)

The Rolling Stones are good at fighting it, squeezing out good music, even recently, despite the "gang mentality" disappearing decades ago.

Like them or not, a band like Coldplay might be the exception, able to comfortably make new music with the same lineup and at least feel relevant for close to 30 years.

For the most part, just like in the real world, we're not meant to have the same friends, date the same people, or have the same co-workers our entire lives.

[Spongie]

Absolutely. But I think of it less as a time expiration, and more of a dry well. Everyone’s got X amount of the good stuff in ‘em. Use it wisely.

[Love_Industry]

Generally yes, but there are many exceptions - Rush and Motörhead stayed true and maintained quality as long as they made records and toured, and Judas Priest made a return to form after three decades (!!) of mediocrity - from Ram it Down (1988) and until Firepower (2018)....

[Olivia Sophia]

Alex vanHalen said yes, they knew they had a small window

[ParaDime77]

Yes, after the 3rd album goes platinum and the label extend your contract. It’s usually by the fifth album huge bands drastically fall off. Add or drop from the label completely.

[Traxan]

Generally yes, but there are many exceptions - Rush and Motörhead stayed true and maintained quality as long as they made records and toured, and Judas Priest made a return to form after three decades (!!) of mediocrity - from Ram it Down (1988) and until Firepower (2018)....

Rush strayed from their guitar sound in the mid- to late-80s and a lot of fans drifted away, me included, before they got back on track with Counterparts in 1993.

As to the original question, I have long maintained that bands have a 5 to 7 year peak. After that they lose it for whatever reason -- lineup changes, drugs, running out of inspiration, trauma, what have you. After that they live off inertia for a while. But sometimes they get a great second wind, like Priest with Firepower, AC/DC did with Who Made Who and Overkill did with Ironbound.

Pick any long running band and they all have a peak and a fall off.

[Van Ailin']

I thought Rush's peak period was Moving Pictures through Power Windows. Don't like the earlier material as much, especially the ridiculously over-rated 2112.

[Ryan81]

I've thought about this a lot too. Even though musically they sold their soul Aerosmith brought in the outside writers for the Bruce Fairburn albums and that completely rejuvenated/resurrected them and they got a second life. There were a few other factors at play too. One, they had been away for bit so people weren't completely sick of them at that point (although I suppose being away could work against you as well). Two, they had gotten clean so they had newfound energy. Three, the crossover with Run DMC was HUGE for them. Without that I question if the comeback would've even happened. Basically it was a different band than what they had been.

I don't mean to take anything away from them because even though they were kind of cheating (if you look at it that way) by bringing in professional outside writers they still were the ones playing the music and they worked their asses off and did what they had to do by using MTV to their advantage and touring hard. In a nutshell what they pulled off was pretty remarkable. They made a lot of good decisions and they caught a couple breaks as well. For example, I seem to remember the first few months after releasing Get A Grip it looked like it was going to fall well short of the success they had with Pump, but then came the Alicia Silverstone trilogy of videos and they became bigger than ever. Also, something that cannot be mentioned enough is that if they had any other front man than Steven Tyler it may not have happened. He had such a big personality that even if he came across as obnoxious sometimes you couldn't help but tell that the guy was having a good time and that personality was perfect for how MTV was back then which helped them considerably.

[LurkingAtWork]

Overkill is an interesting one. Their stuff from Ironbound forward is, I would argue, their BEST stuff.

[SchenkerFan]

Most musicians seem to lose their inspiration once they're past 40 or 50. After that most of the stuff becomes pretty generic.

[kwf]

7 years on average

[Mister Freeze]

Alex vanHalen said yes, they knew they had a small window

Van Hagar came to mind when I posted this thread. Even if you hated the albums, those guys loved working together and Eddie seemed rejuvenated with what he saw as a "real" vocalist. You can't say they weren't motivated.

By the time Balance came around, the relationship was running its course.

[kingrolfus]

Most musicians seem to lose their inspiration once they're past 40 or 50. After that most of the stuff becomes pretty generic.

I would like to counter with Deep Purple and Duran Duran.

[FreddyFender]

All artists do, regardless of medium.

For every 1 Martin Scorsese, there are 1,000 Michael Ciminos.