Bands who were way too long-lived
 

I know the overwhelming answer is going to be the Rolling Stones.

REM
U2 (their earlier stuff was actually pretty good)

In case anyone is wondering, Status Quo are well worth checking out live.

Otherwise, I think Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Lou Reed and a litany of others. There are far too many people with record deals on the back of dwindling public interest over 15+ years.

def stones, no question.

butthole surfers, their 80's catalog is impeccable and their 90's stuff is spotty at best, i also lost a lot of respect when they fucked over touch and go, the indie good guys.

flaming lips shoulda stopped after the soft bulletin, theyre not gonna get better than that.

lou reed for sure, shoulda stopped after berlin.

iggy pop shoulda stopped after his collabs with bowie.

Nooooo! Metal Machine Music!

Looking at his discography, there is some merit to the post-MMM records - there's more than one pretty good tune on the bells, Magic & Loss is passable and I like Ecstasy & the Raven for about a week each... but generally, there's about 2 or 3 good tunes a decade. More than the lifetime of most bands, in fairness, but still. Cruel to be kind etc.

Oh, and Vanishing act off the Raven... my goodness, that was special.

Seeing as there's a trend towards 3-in-a-row posts in this thread already, and OT also - what about bands whose later stuff is better than their earlier stuff? I'm thinking Pulp and Otomo Yoshihide, and I'd say the Fall because their first three albums are not up there with their best albums of this decade.

The Fall's first three albums are three of their best.

Bah, they're still producing great records.

Weezer. The Blue Album was great, and Pinkerton was even better, but then look what happened.

Live at the Witch trials has enough drum fills to kill a small child. Just wrong.

zepplin, the rolling stones, and rush all need to chill back, fe real. those dudes are old. I believe Sabbath already chilled back, though when I heard ozzy sing "he's not gonna give it up" i can't help but cheering him on, that old bastard! so while technically no, my sheer love of sabbath supports them in the 21st century, though as of 2008 i believe was not on tour anymore.

and for the record, Journey needs to bring back Steve Perry, not that douche they had with them last year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_B6p9n5SmA

the rolling stoens needed to quit a long time ago.

The Cure
The Replacements
Magma
Hawkwind

when are you going to realise that it's all been downhill for the fall since marc riley left?

Not mentioned: Pink Floyd

All.

the band all?

Nah, All are good. I liked the Descendents better of course.