Moments in music when you realized that artist/band still "has it"

She'd never made any really bad albums at this point, but Madonna's Ray Of Light in 1998 took things to another level for her.

 

The Slider was his pinnacle for me. Then Electric Warrior, Tanx and Dandy In The Underworld.

 

Tonight watching Bob Dylan at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne.

Wow. He was captivating. Just owning the new songs. Sheer brilliance.

Edit: I know this isn't generally considered a 'down' period for Dylan, but his last Australian tour was not received well (especially his Bluesfest performance.)

 

Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth : I know that a lot of the music was reworked from 30 year old demos, but the lyrics, the playing, even current Dave's vocals were top notch. Maybe not a home run, but definitely a solid triple.

 

It was a major revelation when Red Hot Chili Peppers put out Stadium Arcadium, and especially the song Hump De Bump, because it it is genuinely funky in the style that they hadn't been in years. Like, it reminded me a lot of the Freaky Styley tracks Hollywood and Yertle The Turtle but with an incredible chorus (the 'it must have been a hundred signs' part). The songs Charlie, Warlocks and Readymade and B-Sides "I'll Be Your Domino" and "Mercy Mercy" also helped.

In fact, it had the retroactive effect of making me reevaluate the previous album By The Way (which nearly put me off the band initially) as an experiment in melodic music, and not the band abandoning their old style (I've since come to view By The Way as the album they put most effort into and it's my favorite of the post OHM albums).

Anyway, Stadium Arcadium does, as the band have said, have something representing every style of the band. It may not all be perfect and it would probably have benefitted from dropping a few tracks and replacing them with some of the B-Sides (Mercy Mercy, I'll Be Your Domino and A Certain Someone were clearly better than If, Hey and Hard To Concentrate in my estimation) but it is what it is.

 

I watched Lou Christe on one of those P.B.S oldies concert things tear the roof off with Lightning Strikes..
Made me say "He still got it"..

 

Mission of Burma's reunion after a 19 year hiatus, with their post-reunion albums easily as good as their earlier material.

 

Even though it doesn't get talked about much, I found Echo and the Bunnymen's 2001 album Flowers to be an excellent return to form. No, it doesn't reach the highs of their best material from the early to mid-80's, but you've got to love that The Doors influence was still alive and well in tracks such as this one:

 

I think you're confusing "'Til I Die" with "Surf's Up".

 

Paul McCartney - Queenie Eye
Paul McCartney - How Kind of You

 

Paul McCartney's New was his best solo album in at least 20 years. I admit I bought it not expecting much, and got a very pleasant surprise. Even in his 70s his talent for melody is as strong as ever.

 

Diana Ross' diana album in 1980 was her best in years. Only 8 songs, but not a bad one amongst them. It even had a great sleeve! Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers did an amazing job with this one. Ross and Rodgers got together again on 1989's Workin' Overtime, with less spectacular results.

 

Who could've predicted that cult band The Grateful Dead would've had a top 10 pop hit in 1987 with "Touch of Grey"? It's certainly one of the better tunes out there about getting old.

 

Agnetha Faltskog's A album last year was her best ever solo work. At 64, her voice had barely changed also.

 

Listening to how both Arthur Lee and Patti Smith's voices had become stronger when I saw them in Dublin around the turn of the millenium. Not sure if Arthur's voice was like that at his peak in the late 60s, wish they'd been recorded live with the Forever Changes line-up.

Listening to the last 2 Nick Cave lps when they came out. & each was really strong and compelling listening.

 

Peter Frampton for me. I saw him in concert a couple of years ago and was blown away.

 

The Johnny Cash album simply called CASH was an album that rejuvenated his career

 

Seeing John Fogerty live and hearing "Blue Moon Swamp". Of course the album he did AFTER that (not the live album mind you) was pretty mediocre but, considering where he is in his career, the fact that he came up with songs like "110 in the Shade" and others on that album is remarkable to me.

 

Liars - Todd Rundgren

 

No, it was even stupider than that. I vaguely noted the album cover and assumed that the OP was referring to 'Surf's Up'.

 

Surf's Up dates from late 1966, while 'Til I Die was first worked on three years after.

The moment I'll always remember is watching The Chart Show on ITV one Saturday morning in mid 1989 to see the video for Queen's long-awaited comeback single, I Want It All. Following a string of disappointing material starting with The Game (in other words, I preferred the "no synthesisers" era), they had promised a return to the harder classic sound. With its layered acapella introduction, rocking guitar work and even Roger Taylor using a double kick drum pedal for the first time, it certainly didn't let me down, although I did groan a little at the subtle use of keyboards. Parent album The Miracle had its problems (well, two songs in particular), but Innuendo really was a return to form. I'm still gutted that it took the deterioration of Freddie Mercury to shake the group into such a level of quality again, but now those last three records - Made In Heaven included - compensate for the mostly spotty previous decade's output. Against incredible odds, Queen proved they still had "it" for a short while. On the other hand, I've always suspected that had it not been for the various members suffering personal issues, their comeback as a unit might never have even happened, or would at least have seen further decline before they eventually broke up for good. With the stakes raised, Queen stepped up and delivered goods far beyond what many expected of them at the time.

 

Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

After a couple of below par albums - Know Your Enemy & Lifeblood, the first single released from Send Away The Tigers, and the album itself, were a return to form.

 

Dylan´s Time out of Mind
Cash American Recordings
Macca Chaos & Creation.....
Recently, I was pretty impressed with Johnny Marr´s The Messenger

 

Well, I always thought Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights were two massive comeback hits considering Glen Campbell hadn't had one for several years. I could say Charlie Rich had gone about 15 years really when he hit with Behind Closed Doors.

And I did find That's Why God Made The Radio catchy!